My Kind of Writing -- "Repetitive Affirmation Creates Belief" - by Alex Brogan

 

Repetitive Affirmation creates belief. Beliefs become conviction. Then things begin to happen.

Most people wait. They’re passive observers of their own lives. They think beliefs just happen to them. They don’t.

Your beliefs are not random. They’re deliberately constructed. Either by you or by others. The person who controls your affirmations controls your future.

Look at the most successfull people. They didn’t stumble into conviction. They hammered it into existence through daily ritual. They said the same things to themselves over and over until the impossible became inevitable.

The average person’s mind is a battlefield of conflicting affirmations. One day they’re worthy. The next they’re not. One day then can. The next they can’t. This mental chaos produces exactly what you’d expect — nothing.

Conviction isn’t born from variety. It’s born from repetition. The same words. The same thoughts. The same images. Day after day after day.

Most people’s self-talk sounds like this: “I hope this works.” “Maybe I can.” “Let’s see what happens.” This is the language of the spectator, not the participant.

The conviction-builder speaks differently. “This will work.” “I can.” “This is happening.” — Simple, direct, absolute. No hedging. No escape hatches.

The most dangerous affirmation is the one you don’t know you’re making. The unconscious one. The one that runs in the backround while you sleep. These are the affirmations installed by others that you never chose.

Your job isn’t just to create new affirmations. It’s to find and destroy the old one’s. The ones sabotaging you silently.

Most people try positive thinking for a day. Then quit when the universe doesn’t instantly rearrange itself. This isn’t magic — it’s agriculture. You plant. You water. You wait. You harvest.

The gap between affirmation and manifestation is filled with one thing: persistent action. Belief without action is fantasy. Action without belief is drudgery. Together, they’re unstoppable.

-- Alex 

4 Books on Identity, Freedom, and Becoming

4 Books:

✅1. James Dale & William Rees — The Sovereign Individual (1997)
✅2. Alexandre Dumas — The Count of Monte Cristo (1844)
✅3. Peter Attia — Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity (2023)
✅4. Anna Lembke — Dopamine Nation (2021)

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Theme:

Humans never genuinely pursue happiness; they only pursue relief from uncertainty. Happiness emerges momentarily as a byproduct whenever uncertainty briefly disappears.

Here's a glimpse of each book. The order is deliberate. The Sovereign Individual takes the crown for most compelling, powerful, and urgent for an eagle-minded person.

1. James Dale & William Rees — The Sovereign Individual (1997) ⭐

Rees and Davidson argue that the Information Age rewards those who master digital tools and reject dependence on traditional institutions. The sovereign individual is not employed—they own skills, assets, and leverage that transcend geography and government control. Digital literacy is not optional; it is the dividing line between those who thrive in the new economy and those left behind. Code, networks, and portable expertise become the foundation of freedom, replacing physical capital and institutional credibility. The book's core insight: your ability to operate independently in a digital world determines whether you command your future or remain subject to forces beyond your control.

• Chapter 1 Distilled:
• Chapter 8 Distilled:

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2. Alexandre Dumas — The Count of Monte Cristo (1844) ⭐

Edmond Dantès is a young sailor on the verge of marriage and promotion when jealous rivals falsely accuse him of treason. He is arrested on his wedding day and thrown into the Château d'If, a fortress prison, where he is forgotten for fourteen years. But Dantès does not merely escape—he vanishes completely, shedding his former self to construct something new. With the help of a fellow prisoner, Abbé Faria—a brilliant scholar and polymath—he educates himself, discovers a hidden treasure, and emerges as the wealthy, calculating Count of Monte Cristo. His transformation from naïve sailor to aristocratic mastermind happens in isolation, beyond society's gaze and judgment. The lesson is profound: true reinvention requires withdrawal from the world that defined you. You cannot rebuild your identity while still performing for the audience that expects the old version. Dantès emerges not as a reformed version of himself but as an entirely different being—wealthier, wiser, and unrecognizable. To disappear is to reject continuity with your past self and create the conditions for radical transformation.

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3. Peter Attia — Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity (2023) ⭐

Attia dismantles the illusion that health is intuitive or self-evident. Longevity requires measurement: blood markers, metabolic data, strength metrics, sleep quality. What you don't track, you cannot improve. Most people drift through life reacting to symptoms rather than optimizing inputs, and they pay for this neglect in their final decades. Attia's framework is simple but uncompromising: if you want to live well at 80, you must behave like an athlete at 40. Tracking is not obsession—it is clarity. It converts vague intentions into actionable data and forces confrontation with reality rather than hopeful assumptions.

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4. Anna Lembke — Dopamine Nation (2021) ⭐

Lembke reveals that modern life is engineered to exploit our dopamine systems, turning normal people into addicts—not to substances, but to behaviors: phones, food, validation, comfort. She introduces the brain's pain-pleasure balance: every intense pleasure (porn, binge drinking, social media) is followed by an equal and opposite pain (guilt, craving, emptiness). The bigger the dopamine spike, the deeper the crash. The escape is not moderation but radical honesty about what controls you. Most people deny their dependencies because naming them demands change. Lembke argues that breaking free requires confronting the truth without euphemism: you are addicted, it is harming you, and only complete transparency (with yourself and others) creates the conditions for recovery. Dopamine-driven cycles thrive in secrecy and self-deception; they collapse under honest scrutiny.

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These four books shaped how I think about freedom, health, and identity. If you read one, make it The Sovereign Individual. If you read all four, read them in this order.

Sam Madlala

ZIZO - Zoom-In Zoom-Out

Let's talk about Transformation!

For context:
This article explores all 16 Hardwires from A2B Transformation – helping you move from dependency (A-levels) to independence and self-direction (B-levels).

What are Hardwires? Neurological patterns formed throughout your life – from birth to now. Shaped by your DNA, environment, parenting, choices, and experiences.

Exploring the first one on our list: 1/16

Independence & Risk Taking

2 minutes reading.  

The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted.
— The journals of Kierkegaard

Last night I realized I'd stopped thinking like a builder and started thinking like an employee. Here's how it happened.

Risk taking, or rather, the spirit of risk taking moves parallel to feelings of self-reliance and autonomy. Whereas the spirit of settling for a job, corporate or otherwise, with minimal risk or minimal uncertainty on behalf of the individual, moves parallel to feelings of dependency and self-doubt.

When I dedicated over 3 years to learning investing and active trading — living on a $25 government subsidy and my mother's support — I mostly planned and visualized what I would build, how I would recruit, how I would diversify my wealth, how I would explore countries...

However, in recent months after landing a job in 2023, though I still develop myself and invest portions of my income and am no longer reliant on subsidies, I can notice my attention leaning more on: How I am perceived by colleagues, how I could get promoted to this or that role, how I could polish my CV for a higher paying job, how I could meet some employer who'll be impressed by my work.

It's crucially important to recognize something here — and I've tried to write about this before in Bruised but Not Broken:

"The universe is so designed that we humans and animals alike must get acquainted with the fact that life has guaranteed challenges.."

When I was unemployed, I had other challenges, which were as uncomfortable, but not greater: I worried about rent, food, and losing large invested capital. Now employed, I have other challenges which are as uncomfortable, but not greater: now I worry about colleagues' and bosses' impressions, ruminating over saying the wrong thing in a meeting, and losing out on promotions & bonuses. 

Likewise, there are benefits. But here, there are serious differences and one is greater.

Now I can pay the rent, have monthly income, and my corporate skills are being sharpened. But the spirit hovering over me is dependency and a quiet erosion of self-reliance.

Before, I couldn't pay rent and I didn't have monthly income — but I had autonomy over my time, I was sharpening self-sustaining skills, I was focused on building my empire. And the spirit, now looking back, that hovered over me was self-reliance and independence.

"Independence in thought, philosophy, morals, and culture are as important as financial independence", writes Morgan Housel in an article: Pure Independence

Kierkegaard was right: I was noble-hearted when the task was difficult and mine. Now the task is easy and someone else's.

In closing, I value and appreciate my job for the sustenance and privileges it has exposed me to — but I recognize where it is leading. And frankly speaking, I highly doubt the dots will "connect" and somehow find myself in my once envisioned empire where I called the shots. Most likely to happen is just a wasting away of years, with the flicker of fire in me getting dimmer and dimmer. And my corporate camouflage getting larger and larger — the mask of someone who's grateful just to be here, who's learned to stop wanting what he wanted.

But awareness restores choice. The moment you see the drift, you can steer again.

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the comfortable swamps of good-enough, the almost, the not-yet, the never-will-be. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
— Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Sam Madlala

• Notes: Unemployed = material anxiety but spiritual freedom. Employed = material security but spiritual captivity. 
• Other reads:
• Bruised But Not Broken 
• The Sovereign Individual - Summaries 1997 

🧠 Transformation and Rewiring: The 16 Hardwires Series

Let's talk about transformation! 

This article explores all 16 Hardwires from A2BTransformation – helping you move from dependency (A-levels) to independence and self-direction (B-levels).

What are Hardwires? Neurological patterns formed throughout your life – from birth to now. Shaped by your DNA, environment, parenting, choices, and experiences.

How to assess yours? A2B offers assessments for all ages. Interpretation coaches help break down your results and their implications. Learn more: Hardwires Assessment 

THE 16 HARDWIRES:

1. ZIZO (Zoom-In & Zoom-Out) - Read 
2. UP (Unconducive Parenting)
3. ABU (Abuse)
4. MOM (Matters of the Mind)
5. ADD (Addiction)
6. OLM (Old-Minded)
7. ATT (Attitude)
8. VIC (Victim)
9. ECO (Ecosystem)
10. LOC (Locus of Control)
11. LOR (Low Resources)
12. LIB (Limited Beliefs)
13. VEN (Vengeance)
14. EGO (Egotism)
15. WIS (Wolf in Sheep's Clothing)
16. HEA (Heartless)

In the coming posts, we'll break down each hardwire in simple terms. Jump to the ones that interest you most!

Next up: Deep dive begins 🧵

• ZIZO (Zoom-In & Zoom-Out)

Are You Self-Aware or Self-Absorbed?

People don't care about our problems, just like we don't care about other people's problems. And this is okay.

But it gets interesting — Most people don't even care about your wins & life-defining achievements, because they're too absorbed in their own wins.

I saw this clearly, recently, when catching up with a high school friend. He lit up talking about his grade 9 rugby season—how his team went undefeated, the thrill of that winning streak. I was in the same grade, I saw him nearly every day. But I remembered none of it.

While he was recounting what was clearly a defining achievement, all I could recall was seeing him lug heavy sports bags and wear that funny-fitting team jersey.

"Why?", I introspected. But the answer was simple. It is because I was living in my own highlight reel. In grade 9, I'd made the 1st Team soccer team and earned the number 10 jersey—the best player spot. I walked around thinking everyone noticed, everyone admired me for making first team so early. And till this day — I am happy to recount to anyone willing to hear, that I made first team squad so early in High School…

Standing there watching my friend's face glow with his memory while I drew a complete blank on his triumph—that's when it hit me. We're all doing this. We assume we know what others notice, what they value, what they remember about us. But we're mostly just projecting our own movie onto everyone else's screen.

This self-absorption isn't good or bad—it just is. But here's what changed for me: I stopped assuming my version of events is the accurate one. When I think 'they must remember this' or 'surely they noticed that'—I pause. Do I actually know? Or am I just seeing my own reflection everywhere I look? That small shift—from certainty to curiosity about how wrong I might be—changes everything.

Sam Madlala 

Just How Difficult Is Change in the Wrong Environment?

Incredibly difficult.

Years ago, there was a man who was dear to me. He had made his way in our community from taxi driver to Taxi Association Rank Manager.

In his forties, he was warned by doctors that his health was deteriorating rapidly - daily bouts of drinking, numerous cigarettes a day. And here's the saddest part:

He KNEW what to do. And he BEGAN taking steps to change.

He ran at 5am for a couple of days. He stopped drinking for a few weeks. He cut down to two cigarettes a day. But to sustain change like that, you can't stay in the environment that encouraged the behavior in the first place.

Worse, he had to HIDE. He used back routes during his morning runs because his taxi friends would ridicule him: "He wants to run the marathon, hehehe."

Worst of all, he was consumed by anxiety about what people thought - which worsened his chances of quitting. Why? Black townships tend to be crowded. By age 25, most people know a lot about a lot of people. By 40, you're convinced everyone's watching you - because you yourself know everyone.

So those 5am runs didn't last. The alcohol abstinence didn't make it past a month - not around buddies who hadn't seen a doctor in years, who didn't care about their internal organs. In a community where healthcare access was limited and distrust of doctors ran deep, health was dismissed as "a white person's problem, or for nerds, or grannies." It wasn't a priority. It was seen as a luxury.

Here's what I learned from watching him struggle:

Change is difficult, but not really. What's difficult is changing a behavior or mindset while you're still in the environment that introduced and encouraged it.

Alcohol. Cannabis. Cigarettes. Porn. Gossip. Cheating. Illiteracy. Endless scrolling. Fixed mindsets. Laziness.

These behaviors destroy health, self-esteem, longevity, and clear thinking. But in certain households, communities, provinces - they're everywhere. They seem cool, normal, harmless.

But they're not. Looking at research, history, and what happened to the man I loved - they're harmful, destructive, and leave families vulnerable to poverty, aimlessness, and economic failure.

That man passed away five years later. Two years of affliction. Hospitalized. Wheelchair-bound. Swelling. Diabetes. Multiple diseases.

That man was my father.

And he couldn't sustain change in the wrong environment.

I left a month after burying him. I now live and work 100 km away. I read. I maintain routines. I lead teams. I write these words.

Not because I'm stronger than my father. But because I had the privilege of distance - something he never gave himself permission to seek.

If you're reading this and recognize yourself in toxic patterns - whether it's drinking, gossip, doomscrolling, or just going through the motions - ask yourself:

Is my environment helping me grow, or keeping me stuck?

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is leave. Not forever. But long enough to become who you're meant to be.

— Sam Madlala

The Mental Benefits of Long-term Investing Beyond Money Making

 

Reading time: 2 minutes

From 2018 to 2023, I dedicated myself to mastering active trading—stocks, currencies, crypto. By 2023, I had to admit the truth: I needed a job to sustain my growing needs as a growing man. The dream of trading for a living was threatening my relationship and financial independence.

I got a job—and slowly transitioned to investing because there just wasn't enough time in a day to sit in front of screens, analyzing and researching. I have nothing against short-term trading, but it didn't work for me, nor do I think I'll try it again in the future.

Lessons as an Investor

Thankfully, every genuine effort yields results—so my active trading experience with patterns, mindset, and market information was now being applied to longer-term investing. And this is what I've learned.

Long-term investing teaches us "Active Patience." Because you know returns will take time—not months, but years to accumulate—you naturally don't sit in front of the screen praying, wishing, or trying to control their direction. Instead, at least what I do, I teach myself skills that will increase my income outside of investing: project management, writing, public speaking. And as my income increases, I invest more in my portfolio, which in turn yields more profits in the form of dividends and percentage returns.

The mental benefits are notable: I certainly sleep better, waking up early to practice skills rather than frantically checking my P&L dashboard. I notice more objective thinking versus wishful thinking, and reduced stress and emotional swings that trading, like gambling, comes with.

In the long run, I believe I'll be a better manager of my wealth with the extra career skills I'm developing. For example, with project management, I'll better invest my funds in initiatives that I can manage myself instead of hiring qualified managers. I can write my own quarterly reports to stakeholders, and I can market my own ideas and values to my staff and clients.

This path offers something trading never could: the space to build a life while building wealth.

Thanks for reading.

Sam 

Great Minds - A Series 1/4

 

Grab a cup of coffee and prepare your mind for powerful, transformative words from some of the greatest thinkers of the last 2,000 years.

Every day, I read—a book, an article, an essay, or simply scroll through X for motivational quotes. I've developed a system for capturing the best insights I find: they progress from daily discoveries to 'Best Monthly Quotes,' and eventually to 'Best Yearly Quotes.' Below, I'm sharing my Monthly & Quarterly Best—the quotes that stopped me in my tracks and changed how I think.

On Action & Achievement

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."
— Leonardo da Vinci

"When you think something's impossible, consider this: people who achieve extraordinary things are willing to endure what others won't.

Take SpaceX. In 2002, most experts said private companies couldn't build orbital rockets. Musk accepted years of failure and ridicule that others wouldn't.

What you call impossible is often just pain you're unwilling to endure."
— Shane Parrish

On Focus, Mastery & Growth

"The secret to success in almost all fields is large, uninterrupted blocks of focused time."
 — Ryan Holiday

• Simplified: The most valuable skill you can build: The ability to focus for 2-3 hours a day and get your most important work done.

"The more you exercise, the more high-energy you become; the more you write, the more clear-minded you become; the more you take risks, the more ambitious you become."
— Orange Book "

"The right direction in life is full of painful rejections, you should actually be concerned if the journey doesn't hurt at all."
— Orange Book

On Happiness & Human Nature

"Humans never genuinely pursue happiness; they only pursue relief from uncertainty. Happiness emerges momentarily as a byproduct whenever uncertainty briefly disappears."
— Chris Williamson

On Character & Wisdom

You draw out of the world what you put into it.

• Want to attract exceptional people? Be exceptional.
• Want to attract reliable people? Be reliable.
• Want to attract trustworthy people? Be trustworthy.
• Want to attract welcoming people? Be welcoming.

— James Clear

"In a society where fewer and fewer people read books, if you just make it a habit to read old books, you will nurture a perspective that no one else has, you will get ideas that no one else has, you will naturally stand out by the quality of your thoughts."
— Orange Book

In Closing

"There's no short-cut to any place worth going."
— Beverly Sills

Sam Cancelo Madlala 

Why Business Models Fail in the Township Economy

 

I saw this quote on X: "Forget climbing the corporate ladder, the most valuable skill of the future is building something of your own."

My first thought? Educational content, subscriptions, consulting. Then reality hit me: none of that works where I live—in black communities where the average person is unemployed, doesn't own a personal computer, goes through 5+ stages to get married, doesn't read, thinks politics is culture¹ and is steeped in traditional dogma.

The Reality We're Ignoring

When poverty is the common denominator, you can't grow via subscription fees or selling habit trackers.

You can't "coach" anyone because they are saving up for their aunt's 4th stage of marriage in 4 months, which will cost the family over R40,000. (A cow for the community, free food and expensive dresses). You can't grow in consulting, because your target market doesn't own any business that needs problem solving or expert advice.

What is the typical picture of black communities? This: 60% unemployment⁴ , drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, a cycle of traditional events, and taxi violence.

What Might Actually Work

What ideas might work in these conditions? First, anything that directly lowers the 60% unemployment rate.

If I'm trying to make money out of black communities, I'm destined to fail. Unless I'm selling drugs or own a nightclub. A better approach is building a regenerative model I can advertise to corporate or government funders — one that creates jobs and restores dignity.

So what actually creates jobs in communities such as these?

There’s a lot: cleaning cooperatives, recycling projects, delivery services, construction, plumbing, repair technicians, solar energy technicians, data collection, and tutoring programs³.

In my country, this is where I can grow and be profitable. It's harder, steeper, and more uncertain, but I'll share an encouraging passage from Lord of the Rings, novel by J.R.R Tolkien:

Frodo: "I wish it need not have happened in my time."

Gandalf: "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

In South Africa, this is our time — and our decision.

Notes:

1. The reference to “politics as culture” was meant to suggest that many people treat politics as something to follow loyally, like religion, rather than as a democratic practice grounded in competence, care, and lawfulness.

2. My initial thoughts on “building something of my own” also leaned toward investing, day trading, and creative projects like podcasting — but these are 1% domains.

3. Tutoring programs could be designed through partnerships with schools, universities, and companies that want to upskill their employees in specific areas.

4. The 60% unemployment rate mentioned here is based on Google Search data and refers primarily to black townships in South Africa.

5. IDC 1 min video: Bhavanesh — I truly admire the efforts of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for their Social Employment Fund (SEF).
   I also echo the words of Bhavanesh Parbhoo, SEF Project Manager, who says:

   “The mandate of the IDC programme is to stimulate real job creation, support micro-enterprises, and promote soft industrialization — providing technical skills and enabling individuals to create their own pathways out of poverty and unemployment.” 

Author: Samkelo Madlala, DUCT Rivers Project Coordinator 

Letters from Underground

Letters from Underground

What does it look and feel like to live in an environment that’s slowly downgrading?
I’m speaking here about my current city — Pietermaritzburg.

I write this because of a recent and rather embarrassing failure by the municipality to maintain the city’s only stadium, the Harry Gwala Stadium. A team recently promoted to the First Division had to bring their own lawn cutters to clear the field before their match. That was embarrassing — and symbolic.

But back to the point: what does it actually look and feel like to live in this city — the so-called “capital city” of KwaZulu-Natal, and apparently, of South Africa?

Well, it feels like being in any other city in the country — perhaps even the world. Our feelings, after all, are within our control. But what does it look like?

It looks like any other city in South Africa: the poor growing poorer, while the rich continue to enjoy beautiful homes, drive beautiful cars, and access better services.

This is crucial, because I can’t confidently pinpoint the exact moment when the decline began — especially since I wasn’t here ten years ago. What I can accurately point to is the growing incompetence I observe daily: people throwing litter out of their car windows, inconsiderate drivers blocking traffic to chat with friends while others struggle to pass, professional soccer players disappearing into obscurity after impregnating university girls, and the spreading waste, drug addiction, and poverty in the inner city — all symptoms of an incapable municipality and indifferent government officials.

What I’m trying to communicate is that decline takes time, just like success. It takes repeated actions and reinforced beliefs, in a specific direction, to produce tangible results — whether for individuals, cities, or entire countries.

— Cancelo Alvarez 

The Sovereign Individual - Chapter 8

 

The Revolution in Earnings Capacity in a World Without Jobs

Chapter 8 

"God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." — GALATIANS 6:7

The Big Shift

Major changes in how we produce goods or protect ourselves always reshape society. They change who has wealth and who has power. The Information Age isn't just about computers—it's about a complete transformation in how we live, work, and distribute resources.

In this new age, physical location matters far less. Organizations tied to geography—governments, labor unions, regulated professions—will lose influence. Because governments can no longer control resources through force as easily, their power to redistribute wealth will decline.

Wealth that governments once seized will stay with those who create it. The most capable entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide will accumulate growing fortunes.

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Winner-Takes-All Economics

Globalization means the most talented people in every field will earn exponentially more than everyone else. This mirrors what we already see in sports and entertainment: a few top performers earn vastly more than the rest.

The problem? Success in the Information Age requires high literacy and mathematical skills—and millions lack these basics.

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The American Competency Crisis

A U.S. Education Department study found that 90 million American adults over fifteen cannot write a letter, understand a bus schedule, or do basic math—even with a calculator. As writer Bill Bryson put it: "They couldn't find their way out of a paper bag."

If you can't read a bus timetable, you won't navigate the Information Superhighway. This group—roughly one-third of Americans—forms an emerging underclass unprepared for the digital economy.

At the opposite end sits a small elite (perhaps 5%)—highly educated information workers and capital owners. They are the Information Age version of feudal landowners, except they specialize in production, not violence.

Ammon's Turnip: Why Talent is Rare ⭐

In the late 1800s, German economist Otto Ammon studied why some people succeed while others don't. He argued that success depends on the random distribution of human abilities—like drawing numbers from a lottery.

1. Intellectual Traits

This encompasses all aspects of rational thinking: quick comprehension that allows you to learn fast, strong memory for retaining and applying knowledge, sound judgment for making good decisions, inventive power for creating new solutions, and other cognitive abilities that form the foundation of mental capability.

These traits determine how well you can process information, solve complex problems, and adapt to new situations. Intelligence is the engine, but it's only one part of the machine.

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2. Moral Traits

These character qualities include self-control in managing impulses and desires, willpower to pursue long-term goals despite obstacles, industry in maintaining consistent effort, perseverance through difficulties and setbacks, moderation in avoiding excess, deep regard for family obligations and relationships, unwavering honesty in all dealings, and similar virtues that build trust and reliability.

These traits determine whether someone can be depended upon and will honor their commitments. Ammon noted that a brilliant mind without moral steadiness would often collapse under the weight of poor decisions or lack of discipline. You can be the smartest person in the room and still fail if you can't control yourself.

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3. Economic Traits

This category covers practical business abilities: organizing talent for managing people and resources, technical skills relevant to your field, appropriate caution in avoiding unnecessary risks, clever calculation of costs and benefits, foresight to anticipate future trends and needs, thrift in managing resources wisely, and other competencies that enable material success.

These traits determine how effectively someone can create and preserve wealth. Intelligence tells you what to do. Moral character ensures you follow through. But economic traits determine whether you can turn ideas into money.

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4. Bodily Traits

To these mental traits, Ammon added a fourth category that's often overlooked: physical capabilities. This includes the power to work long hours without fatigue, endurance for sustained effort over time, ability to handle physical and mental stress, resistance to various pressures and temptations, natural vigor and energy, robust good health that supports consistent performance, and other physical attributes that enable sustained achievement.

These traits determine whether someone has the stamina to execute their plans consistently. You can be intelligent, disciplined, and business-savvy—but if your body gives out, none of it matters.

The Rarity of Excellence

Ammon's key insight: these traits are distributed randomly, like a lottery with millions of combinations. The person who scores highly in all categories is extraordinarily rare—perhaps one in a million.

Most people have a mix of high and low scores. Someone brilliant but undisciplined may fail despite their gifts. Someone hardworking but unimaginative may plateau in mediocrity.

As Ammon wrote:

"Like a lonely mountain peak, or rather like the spire of a cathedral, rise the men of high talent and of genius above the broad mass of mediocrity… The number of the highly gifted is so small that it is impossible that 'many' such exceptional individuals could have been held back simply due to flaws in social institutions."

Translation: True excellence is rare. Society doesn't hold back millions of geniuses—there simply aren't that many.

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Income Distribution: The Diamond Shape

Ammon studied income patterns in Germany and London and found they matched his probability theory. Most people clustered in the middle class, with small minorities at both extremes—very poor and very wealthy.

Modern industrial societies follow this "diamond shape":

• Small wealthy elite at the top
• Large middle class in the center
• Small poor class at the bottom

In London today, there are more millionaires than homeless people.

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The Factory Age vs. The Information Age

The skills needed in the Factory Age (now ending) are fundamentally different from those required in the Information Age. Most people could operate mid-twentieth-century machines. But those jobs have been replaced by smart machines that control themselves.

An entire category of low- and middle-skill employment has vanished.

If we're correct, traditional employment will mostly disappear, replaced by project-based "spot market" work. As researchers Clive Jenkins and Barrie Sherman noted:

"Most unemployed young people have no qualifications whatsoever."

"Qualifications" here don't mean diplomas—they mean technical literacy, analytical thinking, and adaptive problem-solving. These are now prerequisites for economic participation.

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The Bottom Line

The Information Age rewards rare combinations of intelligence, character, skill, and stamina. Those who possess these traits will thrive. Those who don't will struggle.

The question isn't whether this is fair—it's whether you're preparing for it.

Check out the first chapters I posted weeks ago:

The Sovereign Individual 

Finding Balance: The Sweet Spot Between Good and Too Much

 

Finding Balance: The Sweet Spot Between Good and Too Much

Confidence without arrogance

The Sweet Spot: Believing in your abilities while remaining open to being wrong. You speak up when you have expertise, but you also ask questions when you don't. You take on challenges that stretch you without overcommitting to things beyond your capability. Too Far: When confidence becomes the inability to admit mistakes, learn from others, or recognize the limits of your knowledge.

Optimism without complacency

The Sweet Spot: Expecting good outcomes while still preparing for challenges. You maintain hope during difficulties but don't assume success will come without effort. You see opportunities where others see obstacles, but you still do the work. Too Far: When optimism becomes passive assumption that things will work out without your active involvement or contingency planning.

Independence without isolation

The Sweet Spot: Making your own decisions and maintaining your principles while staying connected to others. You don't need constant approval, but you value input and maintain meaningful relationships. You can stand alone when necessary but choose community when possible. Too Far: When independence becomes an inability to collaborate, accept help, or maintain close relationships due to excessive self-reliance.

Skepticism without cynicism

The Sweet Spot: Questioning claims and requiring evidence while remaining open to being convinced. You don't accept things at face value, but you're willing to believe in good intentions and positive outcomes when the evidence supports it. Too Far: When skepticism becomes automatic distrust, assuming the worst in people's motives, or rejecting ideas without fair consideration.

Respect without idolizing

The Sweet Spot: Acknowledging others' achievements and expertise while seeing them as human. You can learn from someone without accepting everything they say. You honor people's contributions without losing your own critical thinking. Too Far: When respect becomes blind worship that prevents you from seeing flaws or thinking independently about someone's ideas.

Loyalty without fealty

The Sweet Spot: Standing by people and organizations that deserve it while maintaining your own moral compass. You support others through difficulties but won't compromise your core values. You're reliable but not servile. Too Far: When loyalty becomes unquestioning obedience that prevents you from speaking up about problems or leaving toxic situations.

Open-minded without gullibility

The Sweet Spot: Considering new ideas and perspectives while applying critical thinking. You're curious about different viewpoints and willing to change your mind when presented with good evidence, but you don't accept everything you hear. Too Far: When open-mindedness becomes accepting any claim without proper evaluation or being swayed by every new argument you encounter.

Opportunistic without FOMO

The Sweet Spot: Recognizing and acting on genuine opportunities that align with your goals without chasing every possibility. You're alert to chances for growth but selective about which ones to pursue based on your priorities. Too Far: When being opportunistic becomes frantically chasing every trend or opportunity out of fear you'll miss out, leading to scattered focus and poor decisions.

Patience without stubbornness

The Sweet Spot: Waiting for the right time and allowing processes to unfold naturally while remaining flexible about methods. You persist through difficulties but adapt your approach when it's clearly not working. Too Far: When patience becomes rigid attachment to a single approach or timeline, even when circumstances have clearly changed.

Caution without pessimism

The Sweet Spot: Carefully considering risks and preparing for potential problems while still taking action. You plan for contingencies but don't let fear of negative outcomes prevent you from pursuing worthwhile goals. Too Far: When caution becomes assuming the worst will happen or being paralyzed by potential risks to the point of inaction.

Risk without recklessness

The Sweet Spot: Taking calculated chances that offer meaningful upside while understanding and preparing for potential downsides. You're willing to be uncomfortable but not careless with important resources or relationships. Too Far: When risk-taking becomes gambling with things you can't afford to lose or ignoring obvious dangers for insufficient rewards.

Passion without addiction

The Sweet Spot: Pursuing what you love with intensity while maintaining balance in other areas of life. Your passion energizes you and drives excellence without consuming your health, relationships, or perspective. Too Far: When passion becomes compulsive behavior that harms your wellbeing or relationships, or when you can't function without constant engagement with your passion.

Ambition without greed

The Sweet Spot: Striving for meaningful achievement and growth while being content with enough. You want to improve and succeed but aren't willing to sacrifice your values or harm others to get ahead. Too Far: When ambition becomes insatiable desire for more that leads to compromising ethics, relationships, or wellbeing in pursuit of success.

Honesty without disrespect

The Sweet Spot: Speaking truthfully while considering the impact of your words. You don't sugarcoat important truths but deliver them thoughtfully, with care for the person receiving them. Too Far: When honesty becomes brutal bluntness that unnecessarily hurts people or damages relationships under the guise of "just being honest."

Aspiration without insatiability

The Sweet Spot: Having meaningful goals that inspire growth while appreciating what you already have. You strive for improvement but can also enjoy present achievements and circumstances. Too Far: When aspiration becomes endless wanting that prevents you from ever feeling satisfied or grateful for current blessings.

Intelligence without overconfidence

The Sweet Spot: Using your cognitive abilities effectively while recognizing their limitations. You apply smart thinking to problems but remain humble about what you don't know and respectful of others' perspectives. Too Far: When intelligence becomes intellectual arrogance that dismisses others or overestimates your understanding of complex situations.

Success without ego

The Sweet Spot: Achieving your goals while staying grounded about your role in that success. You're proud of accomplishments but recognize the contributions of others and the role of circumstances beyond your control. Too Far: When success inflates your sense of self-importance, leading to treating others poorly or believing you're infallible.

Adaptable without being erratic

The Sweet Spot: Adjusting your approach based on new information or changing circumstances while maintaining consistency in your core values and long-term direction. You bend without breaking. Too Far: When adaptability becomes constantly changing course without good reason, making you unreliable or directionless.

Learning without cherry-picking

The Sweet Spot: Actively seeking new knowledge and insights while maintaining intellectual honesty about what the evidence actually shows, even when it challenges your preferences or beliefs. Too Far: When learning becomes selectively gathering information that confirms what you already believe while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Brevity without oversimplifying

The Sweet Spot: Communicating efficiently while ensuring your message is complete and accurate. You respect others' time but don't sacrifice important nuance or context for the sake of being brief. Too Far: When brevity becomes reductive explanations that miss crucial details or create misunderstanding.

Simple without vapid

The Sweet Spot: Making complex ideas accessible and focusing on what matters most without losing substance. You cut through unnecessary complexity but retain the essential depth and meaning. Too Far: When simplicity becomes superficial thinking that ignores important nuance or reduces rich concepts to empty platitudes.

Leadership without dominance

The Sweet Spot: Guiding and inspiring others while empowering them to contribute their best thinking. You provide direction but create space for others to grow and lead in their own areas of strength. Too Far: When leadership becomes controlling behavior that micromanages others or requires them to suppress their own judgment and initiative.

Marketing without charlatanism

The Sweet Spot: Effectively communicating the genuine value of what you offer while being honest about limitations. You highlight strengths without making false claims or manipulating people's emotions inappropriately. Too Far: When marketing becomes deceptive practices that oversell benefits, hide problems, or manipulate people into decisions against their interests.

Connection without dependence

The Sweet Spot: Building meaningful relationships while maintaining your individual identity and capabilities. You enjoy others' company and support but don't lose yourself or become unable to function independently. Too Far: When connection becomes codependency that limits both people's growth or creates unhealthy reliance on others for basic emotional regulation.

Luxury without excess

The Sweet Spot: Enjoying quality and beauty in life while maintaining perspective about what constitutes enough. You appreciate nice things but don't define yourself by possessions or constantly upgrade for no meaningful reason. Too Far: When luxury becomes conspicuous consumption that wastes resources, creates financial stress, or becomes the primary source of identity and satisfaction.

Saving without hoarding

The Sweet Spot: Being prudent with resources and preparing for the future while still investing in current needs and meaningful experiences. You're financially responsible but not afraid to spend on what truly matters. Too Far: When saving becomes compulsive accumulation that prevents you from enjoying life or investing in opportunities that could improve your situation.

Praise without flattery

The Sweet Spot: Recognizing and acknowledging genuine achievements and good qualities in others while maintaining honesty. Your positive feedback is meaningful because it's earned and specific. Too Far: When praise becomes empty compliments designed to manipulate or please rather than genuinely recognize merit, making your feedback meaningless.

Safeguards Against Overthinking

 

I regularly go on weekly fasts from anything that's beginning to control me— sugar, YouTube, even certain thought patterns I catch myself spiraling into. The moment I notice I'm reaching for something compulsively rather than choosing it consciously, it becomes a clear sign that my thinking and productivity are also degrading unconsciously in the background. When we're not in control of our inputs, we lose control of our mental clarity.

Clear thinking—connecting past, present and future coherently—is how we turn intentions and lessons into progressive and positive actions aligned with our goals. Having removed YouTube (video scrolling) I feel I removed a burden on my brain! The constant stream of quick dopamine hits was fragmenting my attention span and making deeper work feel unnecessarily difficult.

But I'm eager to share a paragraph finely written by Michael Singer that captures why we feel almost overwhelmed with choices and decisions—and why it can be so hard to continually make choices that align with what we want or have planned:

The inside of one's psyche is a very complex, sophisticated place. It is full of conflicting forces that are constantly changing due to both internal and external stimuli. This results in wide variations of needs, fears, and desires over relatively short periods of time. Because of this, very few people have the clarity to understand what's going on in there… As a result, we find ourselves struggling just to hold it all together. But everything keeps on changing—moods, desires, likes, dislikes, enthusiasm, lethargy. It's a full-time task just to maintain the discipline necessary to create even the semblance of control and order in there. — The Untethered Soul

Singer's insight explains why good decision-making feels so exhausting. We're not just choosing between external options—we're navigating the internal weather system of competing desires, fears, and impulses that shift throughout the day. The key isn't trying to control this complexity, but developing practices that create space between these conflicting forces and our actual choices.

Here are three safeguards that directly address this challenge:

1. Movement Without Distraction

Regularly make time to walk without your phone, run without music, or cycle in silence. The physical side-effects strengthen your immune system, but the core benefit is returning home to your work or project feeling lighter, more certain of what you want to do—or DON'T want to do—for that project, decision, or week.

2. Daily Writing

You don't need to write books or essays, but simply writing what you are thinking and feeling consistently will build clarity over time. This directly addresses Singer's observation about the difficulty of understanding "what's going on in there."

Writing forces you to translate the swirling mess of internal experience into coherent language. The act of choosing words makes you choose between competing thoughts and emotions. Over time, patterns emerge. You start recognizing which internal voices represent genuine insight versus anxiety, past conditioning, or momentary mood fluctuations.

3. Deep Breathing as Mental Space

It's almost tragic how we underestimate the power of breath. When you're frustrated and angry, if you had a video recording of your breathing, you'd be starkly surprised how shallow and constrained it becomes right before you rationalize, fight back, or make reactive decisions.

Deep breathing doesn't eliminate the conflicting forces—it creates space around them. This is why professionals make daily meditation their routine. Feelings like spotlight pressure, public speaking nerves, and anger thrive when our breathing is constrained, because shallow breathing signals to our nervous system that we're in crisis mode, making clear thinking nearly impossible.

When you breathe deeply before making decisions, you're not just calming down—you're creating the physiological conditions where you can observe those internal conflicts rather than being hijacked by them.

---

There are many other safeguards, but this week, see how you can practice one of the above. The goal isn't perfect control over our internal complexity—that's impossible and exhausting. The goal is developing the clarity to make choices from a centered place rather than being swept along by whatever internal force happens to be loudest in the moment.

This is how we nurture clear thinking and productively utilize our hours and attention on things that move us forward.

Cancelo Alvarez 

Adversity as Competitive Advantage

Being good at something doesn't promise rewards. It doesn't even promise a compliment. What's rewarded in the world is scarcity, so what matters is what you can do that other people are bad at, writes James Clear.

In my six active years in the financial markets, I have scrutinized my biggest losses, and this is what they reveal:

The business arena is competitive, filled with people overcoming challenges every day. It's the incredibly difficult challenges that give us the opportunity to pull ahead. In a competitive world, adversity is our friend. The harder it gets, the better chance you have of insulating yourself from the competition.

It's like a marathon race: before you can break away from other runners, you have to survive what they cannot survive — a steep hill, a faster pace, weather conditions, etc. You do not break away when it's easy; you break away, if ever you do, when it is hardest for everyone else, including yourself. But, having insulated yourself from failure before, you feel pain, you feel the blows of big losses, but you are not paralyzed by them into inaction. Because you've turned them into a friend. That is, you are more prepared and capable of enduring longer periods of suffering.

I arrived at this observation distinctly while reviewing an investment I made in the commodities market, where I was shaken out with a large loss before the investment proved successful. We'll create another analogy for what it means to be 'shaken' out.

It's more like a large filter, a wall that seems impregnable to inexperienced eyes. If you have run or cycled competitively before, you will understand how difficult the process is: a steep hill will leave you out of breath, a fast pace will force you to walk later on, and hot weather will exhaust you. In business and sports, we face similar challenges. Leverage, which means risking big to win big, will threaten your financial stability. One loss can send you back to your grandmother's house, with little to nothing. Losing months will cause self-doubt and relapse into negative thinking patterns, even relapse into negative lifestyle habits.

But both runner and entrepreneur need to survive these challenges in order to break ahead into victory or profitability. Without risking big, how can you ever break free of relying on JOBS (Just Over Broke)? Without a fast pace, how can you ever get the gold medal?

You have to start by identifying the unspoken rules in your situation. What constraints do others face, and how can you turn those into strengths? Shane Parrish challenges us to introspect.

Cancelo Alvarez

Training Ourselves to Notice Peace

 

Reading time: 2 minutes

You've noticed, surely, how often we take for granted untroubled breathing until we get the flu and air has to negotiate its way in—or how often we take for granted freehand writing until our hand is bandaged from an acute cut. I'm not arguing that we should be kneeling down every hour thanking the heavens for good breathing or writing, but I'm observing something even more underappreciated: peace of mind.

Many philosophers and spiritual writers who made names for themselves agree on this truth:

Life is full of problems. 

On any given day, a typical person is wrestling with a problem in their mind, triggering uncomfortable feelings: lingering anxiety, spotlight pressure, one-way decision, regret that drives away sleep, agony.

I write this to remind us to realize and cherish those moments in a day where we feel at peace with ourselves, with our circumstances, with our life.

We cherish these moments by being present—taking a short walk around the garden, even at work, especially at work. Spending a few minutes looking out of your window, noticing things: children, beggars half-inside waste plastic bags digging for scraps, a dog basking in the sun.

We cherish peace of mind by being present because, really, we do get lost in our problems—they consume every fiber and neuron of our body. They suffocate us.

That's why we must make it a point to catch up with our normal, carefree breathing by being present and grateful. Because ultimately, we're not chasing peace of mind—we're simply training ourselves to notice its presence.

Other Readings:
The Quiet Power of Gratitude
An Op-ed from DUCT Rivers 

Sam Madlala 

Blog 85/95

A News Letter -- Surviving The Middle

 

On Playing the Long Game

“You don’t need to be the fastest learner. You need to make your mind up about the few things that you really want to do, and execute with a much longer timeframe than most people. There isn’t much competition left after the first few years. After a decade, it almost feels lonely.”

— Orange Book

A reminder that the real edge comes not from talent or speed, but from time. Time is the great filter. If you can stick with your craft long enough, what once felt like a competition becomes a quiet path with fewer travelers.

On Mastering the Middle

“People only root for others at two times: First, when they’re at the beginning of the race. Second, when they finish. Neither is when you need it. So, you have to master the middle. The boring, exhausting, soul-crushing middle. That’s where the winning happens. On your own.”

This quote hits hard. Everyone shows up to clap at the start or the finish. But mastery is earned in that quiet, thankless stretch in between — where no one is watching, and nothing is glamorous.

On Embracing the Silent Struggle

“In any difficult pursuit, there’s a tough middle where motivation fades. The ability to ‘go dark’ — to block out noise, turn inward, and embrace the silent struggle — is a powerful advantage. Flow and resilience come when you stop explaining yourself and just keep moving.”

— Sahil Bloom

To “go dark” is to stop performing for the world and start performing for yourself. It’s a shift from needing applause to needing truth. The greatest work happens when you no longer need to be seen — only to move forward.

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THE DIP — Book by Seth Godin

Almost everything in life worth doing is controlled by the Dip.

And then the Dip happens.

• The Dip is the tough stretch between starting and becoming great — a grind that looks like a wall but is really the way through.
• The Dip is the maze of bureaucracy and paperwork you have to get through just to register your business — policies, forms, and red tape that test your will before you’ve even begun.
• The Dip is the long stretch between beginner’s luck and real accomplishment.
• The Dip is the set of artificial screens set up to keep people like you out.

Successful people don’t just survive the Dip. They lean into it. They push harder, adapt, and change the rules. Recognizing you're in the Dip doesn’t mean accepting it quietly. The Dip shrinks faster when you work it down with intent.

Thanks for Reading -

Cancelo Alvarez 🇿🇦

You Are Not This Moment

 

Hey,

I know right now everything feels overwhelming — like the ground beneath you has shifted. But I need you to remember something: you are not this moment.

You are not their opinions.
You are not your mistakes.
You are not your salary.
You are not broken.
You are becoming.

Yes — things didn’t go the way you planned.
Yes — you said things you regret.
Yes — they looked at you differently after.

But no — you didn’t lose your worth.

You’ve been underestimated before, and you rose.
You’ve been misunderstood before, and you found clarity.
You’ve been bruised before — but never broken.

And that fire you feel right now? That ache in your chest, that rage in your gut?
That’s not destruction.
That’s direction.
It’s your higher self whispering: “This is not where we stop.”

There’s power in your anger.
There’s vision in your silence.
There’s a new chapter forming — and you get to choose the tone.

So take this moment.
Sit with it.
Cry if you need to. Scream if you must.
Then stand up — chest open, eyes forward.
Not because it’s easy.
But because it’s yours to claim.

You’ve worked too hard. You’ve grown too much. You’ve endured too much to fold now.

They may not know who you are.
But you do.
And that’s enough.

So breathe.

And begin again.

With fierce love,

Cancelo Alvarez 

M. Scott Peck — The Road Less Travelled - An Introduction

Summary taken directly from the book

Problems and Pain

Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

What makes life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending upon their nature, evoke in us:

Frustration or grief or sadness or loneliness or guilt or regret or anger or fear or anxiety or anguish or despair. These are uncomfortable feelings, often very uncomfortable, often as painful as any kind of physical pain, sometimes equaling the very worst kind of physical pain.

Indeed, it is because of the pain that events or conflicts engender in us all that we call them problems. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.

Yet it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity to solve problems, just as in school we deliberately set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said,

"Those things that hurt, instruct."

It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome problems and actually to welcome the pain of problems.

Therefore let us inculcate in ourselves and in our children the means of achieving mental and spiritual health. By this I mean let us teach ourselves and our children the necessity for suffering and the value thereof, the need to face problems directly and to experience the pain involved. When we teach ourselves and our children discipline, we are teaching them and ourselves how to suffer and also how to grow.

What are these tools, these techniques of suffering, these means of experiencing the pain of problems constructively that I call discipline? There are four:

• Delaying of gratification,
• Acceptance of responsibility,
• Dedication to truth,
• Balancing.

As will be evident, these are not complex tools whose application demands extensive training. To the contrary, they are simple tools, and almost all children are adept in their use by the age of ten. Yet presidents and kings will often forget to use them, to their own downfall. The problem lies not in the complexity of these tools but in the will to use them. For they are tools with which pain is confronted rather than avoided, and if one seeks to avoid legitimate suffering, then one will avoid the use of these tools. Therefore, after analyzing each of these tools, we shall in the next section examine the will to use them, which is love.

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On Parenting 

Since we do not have the benefit of comparison when we are young, our parents are godlike figures to our childish eyes. When parents do things a certain way, it seems to the young child the way to do them, the way they should be done. If a child sees his parents day in and day out behaving with self-discipline, restraint, dignity and a capacity to order their own lives, then the child will come to feel in the deepest fibers of his being that this is the way to live. ⭐

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The parents who devote time to their children even when it is not demanded by glaring misdeeds will perceive in them subtle needs for discipline, to which they will respond with gentle urging or reprimand or structure or praise, administered with thoughtfulness and care. They will observe how their children eat cake, how they study, when they tell subtle falsehoods, when they run away from problems rather than face them. They will take the time to make these minor corrections and adjustments, listening to their children, responding to them, tightening a little here, loosening a little there, giving them little lectures, little stories, little hugs and kisses, little admonishments, little pats on the back.

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The feeling of being valuable — "I am a valuable person"— is essential to mental health and is a cornerstone of self-discipline. It is a direct product of parental love. Such a conviction must be gained in childhood; it is extremely difficult to acquire it during adulthood. Conversely, when children have learned through the love of their parents to feel valuable, it is almost impossible for the vicissitudes of adult-hood to destroy their spirit.

To be continued...