At 49, after +26 years in finance, I’ve finally figured out what we’re really solving for.
And it’s not what you think.
The Evolution of Want
In my 20s, the goal was simple: make a million before 30.
In my 30s: make Managing Director at Goldman.
At 40, I got lucky enough to pause and ask different questions. I landed on four things: freedom, learning, interesting people, and yes: money.
Now, approaching 50, I’m asking again.
The Real Game
What are we actually searching for when we chase money, status, fame?
For most of us, it’s not even about the money. It’s a puzzle: infinite pieces, endless complexity. It’s fun. And that’s fine.
But is there a deeper why?
I think there is. And I think it’s the same for all of us, even if we’d phrase it differently.
Maybe the point is love. Validation. Connection.
Maybe it’s knowing we mattered. That we were good. That we had impact.
So I keep coming back to two questions:
What really matters in the end?
What is the point of our lives?
I won’t guess at your answer. But somewhere in your heart, you know it.
How We Got Here
I’ve been in Israel for the last few days, to see both ancient history and the future. It was a reminder that we live in dangerous times. The risks of war, debt, AI bubbles inflating, SaaS bubbles deflating, inflation, demographic collapse are all present on my time line.
We could spend days cataloging the chaos in the world and markets.
But here’s the question that matters: How did we get here?
Is this just how civilisations evolve? How empires die? You could blame policies, the gold standard, social media. Maybe the causes don’t even matter.
What’s clear: the world is going through a phase shift.
The old order is breaking down. Something new is being born.
The Problem With Us
Travel always loosens by synapses and here’s the sad thing I’ve realised: we all think pretty similarly.
We read the same newsletters. We talk to the same people. We’re trapped in our filter bubble.
We’re largely western, middle-aged folks who grew up in the same culture, survived the same markets. We’re left-brain return-on-investment thinkers, comfortable with spreadsheets, logic, linear analysis.
We’re really good at being rational.
But is that the right tool kit when the world is changing?
When the rules are being rewritten, logic that worked for the old game won’t win the new one.
My Trade Idea
So here it is, the best trade you’ll make this year, I guarantee it.
The Trade: Be More You
For us logical, analytical, left-brain types, that means growing the right brain.
Invest in your intuition. Your imagination. Your emotions. Your creativity. Your uniqueness.
I guarantee it will make you:
Happier
More interesting
A better investor
And more importantly, it will help with what actually matters in the end.
The Subtraction Method
I could give you a list of “right-brained activities.” But you already know what those are.
Here’s what’s better: it’s not about adding, it’s about subtracting.
Three practices I borrowed from my friend Stephen D’Souza (check out his books):
1. The Art of Not Doing
Create space in your life.
“The trouble with you is that you go to work every day and you think that because you go to work every day, you should do something. I don’t go to work every day. I only go to work on the days that make sense to go to work. And I really do something on that day.”
— George Soros
2. The Art of Not Knowing
Get comfortable with uncertainty.
“Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say ‘Look!’ and laugh in astonishment.”
— Mary Oliver
“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
— Epictetus
3. The Art of Not Being
Let go of identity and ego. Let go of who you are to become who you might be.
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
— Lao Tzu
The Counterintuitive Path Forward
In a world of short attention spans, AI slop, populism, and the perpetual rush to action, the way forward is paradoxical:
Be more human.
More curious about questions than answers.
More open to different people and experiences.
Kinder. More whole. More connected.
That’s what matters. That’s the trade.
Embrace space, uncertainty and letting go.
Stop doing, being and knowing.
P.S. What’s your real why?
I close with a reminder that if you enjoy reading The Curious Mind, please do me the huge favour of simply pressing the like button. It costs you nothing, means the world to me, and makes the algorithm work for us.
I breathed a sigh of relief on reading this.
Thank you