What Are You Looking For?, Favorite Podcasts, Testing Mobility Plus Community Wins

What Are You Really Looking For?

Charlie Munger's mental model of "invert, always invert" is useful in so many areas of life.

I’ve usually heard it associated with decision-making strategy where you ask "What would cause failure?" or "What should I avoid?" This involves looking at the end result, thinking backward, and eliminating potential causes of failure.

But another useful area I’ve found for this model is to look at a situation in life and ask myself, “What am I really looking to get out of this situation?”

Some examples:

• Boarding a flight early: Nobody actually wants to board a flight early, even though the “better” boarding groups allow for precisely this. Why would you want to sit in that metal tube any longer than you need to? What you actually want is to get your bag in the overhead bin, and the best way to do that is to be in an early boarding group. You would think the airlines would realize this and allow us to pay for guaranteed overhead luggage storage. The true luxury is time and not needing to board early but guaranteeing an overhead space allows for more of this luxury.
• Happy hours: We used to go to happy hours at local breweries, but then realized that the desired outcome was just spending time together with friends. Instead of spending $7+ per beer at a brewery, invite friends over more often or set aside time to be together and talk.

These are just two random examples, but I think using this mental framework will help you see life more clearly and identify what you really want out of a situation.

My Favorite Podcasts

I listen to a lot of podcasts.

Because I’m vocal about that, I get a large number of emails asking me for my list of current favorites, so I thought I’d quickly jot down some I’m enjoying.

Maybe I’ll elaborate on why these are my favorites on a future episode, but for now, here’s a list of shows I’m enjoying:

• The Prof G Pod - I listen to Prof Scott Galloway on both this pod and Pivot every week
• The Tim Ferriss Show - My all-time favorite show
• Modern Wisdom - I don't always agree with Chris, but I love how he challenges himself and his audience
• My First Million - Great for brainstorming business ideas
• The Koerner Office - If you’re looking for tactical business advice, this one is amazing
• The Survivor Buff - Season 49 of Survivor starts next week!
• Afford Anything - Paula is a remarkable interviewer
• BiggerPockets Money - Mindy and Scott are really stepping up their game -- I love how practical the show is
• Money with Katie - Katie is one of the smartest minds in the personal finance world

Testing Your Balance and Mobility

I listened to Episode 664 of the Tim Ferriss show recently with Dr. Kelly Starrett, a renowned physical therapist, author, and performance coach.

In the episode, Kelly discussed a few mobility and balance tests you can try at home (each under a minute) to quickly determine your mobility level on certain key metrics:

• Sit and Rise Test (YouTube tutorial): Can you sit down and stand up from a cross-legged position without using your hands or knees for support?
• ‘Old Man’ Test (YouTube tutorial): Can you stand on one leg, bend over to pick up a sock, put it on, and then pick up and put on your shoe all without letting your other foot touch the ground? Try both legs!
• Single-Leg Balance with Eyes Closed Test (article from The Guardian): Kelly says you should be able to easily stand on one foot for 20 seconds without putting your other foot down, and ideally do this with your eyes closed. Try both legs to see if you have any imbalances.
• Broomstick Overhead Test (tutorial video): Lie on your stomach, hold a broomstick with both hands, extend your arms overhead (like "Superman flying with a broom"), and then lift the broomstick off the ground while keeping your arms parallel and not bending at the elbows.

If this interests you, I highly suggest listening to that Tim Ferriss episode and then check out some of Kelly’s books. I’ve read all four highlighted on his website and think you’d get a lot out of any of them. I’ve had good luck getting them from my public library.

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