Juan David's Newsletter - August 15, 2021
Optionality: The Standard of Young People
Why did chasing optionality become the standard of young people?
Since high school, we get involved in all sorts of activities (clubs, sports, volunteering).
To get ready for college.
If you’re mildly ambitious, you play sports. If you’re somewhat ambitious, you enroll in extracurricular activities in school. If you’re ambitious, you’d play sports and take part in extracurricular activities.
If you’re crazy ambitious, you do all the above and go beyond like starting companies, nonprofits, public speaking, etc.
𛱶 But regardless of how ambitious you are, there's still some level of optionality attached.
Why?
To become the most rounded person with a diverse resume.
But why?
"Well, the future is random so hopefully one of these activities become useful."
Basically, whatever ends up happening, we hope we can catch the wave.
Instead of creating or finding our waves, we hope we catch one.
Is the future actually random?
That's a more complex question depending on where you live and the life you want to have. We can, however, dominate luck (i.e. conquer entropy by building technology).
Yet if you believe the future will be promising and exciting, it makes NO SENSE to:
🔻Chase OPTIONALITY,
🔻DIVERSIFY your resume,
🔻or become WELL ROUNDED.
If you believe the future will be promising, you will have strong opinions (hopefully loosely held as Naval).
That way, you won't join stupid boring clubs in high school/college to make your resume look "good." Or you won't feel obligated to do every available opportunity.
If you believe the future will be promising, you will find your "thing."
An activity that follows your comparative advantage and that feels like play.
And you will relentlessly pursue it regardless of seemingly other "good options" (the most optimal choice is choosing).
If you believe the future will be promising, you will think for yourself.
You will build and create the future, not "build" resumes.
You will develop projects, not attend club meetings.
You will follow your curiosity, not do what others are doing (avoiding mimetic desire).
If we want the future to be PROMISING and EXCITING. We must 1) want to create it, and 2) actually build it.
This starts by giving up optionality and having the conviction to create an optimistic future.
Ciao,
Juan David Campolargo
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