Q2 2020 Review
This is my second quarterly review. It's a reflection on my goals for the second quarter of 2020. I plan to conduct these quarterly reviews to track my progress on my ten year plan, which I published at the end of 2019 and suggest you read to get the most out of this article.
I'm posting this publicly as a way to hold myself accountable and so others have a framework to follow if they so choose.
As I'm writing this review, two articles keep coming to mind.
The first is an article from James Clear about Warren Buffett's "2 List Strategy." It goes like this. Make a list of 25 goals. Circle the five most important goals. Now you have two lists. The top five list includes the goals you'll focus on relentlessly. The other list contains the 20 goals you'll avoid at all costs.
The basic idea is that you need to focus on a small number of things to make any discernible progress. If you spread your finite time and effort across too many pursuits, you won't be successful in any of them.
I'm keeping Buffett's advice in mind by focusing my goals on a few specific areas: investing, content creation (writing/podcasting), fitness, and generally being a good person.
The second article that comes to mind is Patrick OShaughnessy's article, Growth Without Goals. The central message is that "continuous, habitual practice trumps achievement based success." He views achievements as traps and says they only exist in the past or the future. A better alternative to goals are daily habits - positive things you do every single day.
I don't entirely adopt OShaughnessy's approach. I think goals are useful, so I'm not throwing them into the ditch. I am using his framework to inform my goals and ensure I'm not striving for empty achievements. All of the goals below are something that either contribute to daily habits or are possible because of daily habits.
Keeping the above frameworks in mind, here is my Q2 2020 review.
Complete Successes
These are the goals I nailed.
One investment program analysis
I made several adjustments to my investing plan this quarter. I increased my bi-weekly contributions into VTSAX and VEMAX. I sold AAPL because it's heavily represented in other funds I own. I sold NKE because I made about 13% and wanted to invest that money elsewhere. I'm continuing to hold the three airline stocks I bought in March (AAL, DAL, UAL). Hopefully I'll still see decent returns in the 1-3 year timeframe, but I'm becoming more skeptical.
I started relatively small positions in both SPOT and SHOP, two companies I believe have long term potential and I intend to hold long term. As I have extra cash, I'll buy additional shares of each.
Finally, I built a portfolio of 26 small cap companies based on research I purchased with two friends. I spread a set amount of money equally across the 26 companies and plan to invest the same amount again in November and next May, at which point I plan to hold for 5-10 years. The portfolio has been fairly volatile, but it's currently up about 14%, largely due to great performance of five or so companies. The portfolio currently comprises approximately 2% of my net worth. By the time it's fully funded next May, I predict it will comprise between 5% and 7% of my net worth.
Publish six articles
I've very happy with my performance on this metric. I surpassed my goal and published eight articles in Q2. You can read them here:
I also published eight podcasts this quarter with a wide array of guests and conversations ranging from combat in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan, to universal basic income, policing, and race in America. You can find them all here.
Add one interesting person to my contacts (who I speak with 1-2 times per month)
I added this goal at the end of last quarter in lieu of having "one conversation about risky investments." My thought process had a couple parts:
I want to increase my cash position more before pursuing risky investments.
Investment opportunities come from personal connections. I think it's more valuable to build a habit of developing relationships with interesting people rather than seeking out unique investment opportunities. In building relationships, I will learn about new ideas, have additional reference points for guidance on important decisions, and likely still encounter new investment opportunities through the new connections. This approach reminds me of the timeless advice about finding a boyfriend or girlfriend - you generally won't find one until you stop looking.
I was successful on this goal as well. I added two interesting people to my contacts. The important part of this goal is maintaining the relationships going forward while continuing to build new ones.
Publish one curation piece
I checked this one off the list with my curation of Ryan Holiday's annual life advice articles. This is a fantastic collection of wisdom from one of the most well read and well accomplished creators of our time.
To be frank, I publish curation pieces because they tend to be popular, drive traffic to my site, and add subscribers to my email list. This curation piece hasn't been very helpful in that regard. I think the main reason is that Ryan Holiday doesn't interact on social media. So where Morgan Housel has retweeted my curation on him several times, Holiday hasn't done the same.
One of my primary goals as a writer is to provide useful information for readers. I think this Ryan Holiday curation does that very well. I need to balance the value goal with creating things that have a higher likelihood of being shared widely. I'll keep that in mind when creating my next curation piece.
One podcast appearance
I had the opportunity to be a guest on the Man Oversea's podcast for the third time. In this episode, Brad and I discussed conversation techniques to change minds, Moral Foundations Theory, problems in the universities, and a ton of other topics.
You can find it here:
One workout program analysis
As I predicted in my Q1 review, I didn't need to conduct a workout program analysis this quarter. I'm still not back in the gym due to COVID, but I've been exercising regularly.
The majority of my exercise is split between longer runs (5+ miles), shorter runs (<5 miles), and speed work (field sprints/track workouts). I've also been mixing in ab workouts, light arm workouts, shoulder rehab, kettlebell carries, and weighted vest workouts.
I'm hoping Q3 will see me back in a regular gym or joining a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym, which I've been wanting to do for a long time.
Send 13 newsletters
This one is pretty straight forward. I sent 13 issues of The Lake Street Journal - one each week. Some were better than others, but I got them all out.
Check out issue 26 here, and subscribe if you enjoy it!
Partial Successes
These are the goals I didn't quite nail but I didn't strike out on either.
ROMWOD every day
ROMWOD is a daily stretching routine with video instruction. I highly recommend it.
Although I didn't accomplish this 100%, I'm happy with the result. I only missed five days during the quarter. One of the days I missed was the day I moved out of my apartment. The other four days were while I was on a hiking trip/traveling back from the trip.
Out of 91 days, I spent about 20 minutes on 86 days stretching my body through a ROMWOD routine. I'm definitely noticing greater mobility, and most days I enjoy the routine. I'll continue this habit through Q3.
Failures:
These are the goals I didn't accomplish. They serve as good lessons and points of reflection.
Define my personal monopoly and post an infographic on my site
A personal monopoly is the intersection of a person's unique interests. Finding yours and sticking to it is an important part of building an audience.
I spent a lot of time thinking on my personal monopoly over the past few months. I have some notes in my phone that clarify my thoughts. But I still don't think I have it right, so I decided to wait on making it official. I think the more time I spend reading, writing, and podcasting, the clearer it will become, so I'm not going to force it.
One afternoon volunteering
I failed on this one for the second quarter in a row.
I already have something scheduled for Q3, and I'm optimistic that it will turn into a longer term, regular commitment. Stay tuned for more details.
Conclusions
I'm very happy with my performance in Q2. I plan to continue riding and building upon the momentum I have with investing, writing, podcasting, and exercise. I'm still early in the process, but it won't be long before I see returns begin to compound in all of the above areas.
Even my failures weren't total misses. I spent time thinking on my personal monopoly. I also realized that I didn't follow through on the volunteering goal because I didn't have anything specific I was passionate about. Now that I've identified a cause, I think I'll have a much easier time following through in Q3.
Q3 2020 Goals
One workout program analysis.
One investment program analysis.
Send 13 newsletters.
One afternoon volunteering.
One podcast appearance.
Publish one curation piece.
Publish six articles.
ROMWOD every day.
Journal every day (at least two sentences).
Add one interesting person to my contacts who I speak with at least 1-2 times per month.
