Exercise, time off and market falls
What I’ve Been Reading
Daniel Lieberman is a Harvard professor with a passion for running. It was his research that was behind the infamous book, Born to Run, that I’ve recommended previously.
In his excellent book Exercised, The science backing mass participation sporting events, he does a deep dive into the history of exercise, why many people don’t find it fun and how best to use it to prevent the aging process and avoid disease. It is packed full of interesting research and stories, and as Lieberman is one of the most quoted researchers in the exercise space, this book delivered on everything I expected.
TED Talk I’ve Found Interesting
Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. In his TED talk The power of time off, he explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali. I particularly like his approach to bringing forward 5 years of his retirement and interspersing them into his working life.
What I’ve Been Watching
The Okavango River Basin provides a vital source of water to about 1 million people, the world’s largest population of African elephants and significant populations of lions, cheetahs and hundreds of species of birds. However, this once unspoiled oasis is now under siege due to increasing pressure from human activity.
From National Geographic Documentary Films, Into the Okavango chronicles a team of modern-day explorers on their first epic four-month, 1,500-mile expedition across three countries to save the river system that feeds the Okavango Delta, one of our planet’s last wetland wildernesses. I was lucky enough to visit this amazing part of the world around 25 years ago, and so this was both a wonderful flashback as well as a stark awakening as to how threatened it now is.
Quote of the Week
“There are two types of pain you will go through in your life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons.”
- Jim Rohn
Finance Theme I’ve Been Considering
I’ve said it here many times, but the markets hate uncertainty, so it’s a shame that more politicians don’t read The Friday Footnotes. If the proper process has been followed, we could have avoided market falls, the pound crashing and mortgage lenders withdrawing already made offers. Cutting the top rate of tax, whilst unpopular, has historically increased the total tax take, as less people then avoid it by residing abroad, but without the correct budgeting reports, and the laughable urgent claim, they really didn’t help any of us.
Hopefully they’ve learnt from their mistake, and we can see more market stability return. In the meantime, tin hat on again!
