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We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

TIP757: Richer, Wiser, Happier Q3 2025 w/ Stig Brodersen & William Green

Published September 28, 2025
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About This Episode

Host Stig Brodersen and co-host William Green have a wide-ranging quarterly Richer, Wiser, Happier discussion on universal truths, money and happiness, and the role of books and teachers in living well. They explore epistemic humility, cultural and psychological differences in values, and how these insights apply to investing decisions. They also examine research on income and happiness, how wealth can and cannot improve life, and share their own reading habits and spiritual influences that shape their thinking about how to live.

Topics Covered

Investing Personal Development Decision making Cognitive biases Financial independence Happiness Value investing Stoicism Meditation Reading and literature

Disclaimer: We provide independent summaries of podcasts and are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by any podcast or creator. All podcast names and content are the property of their respective owners. The views and opinions expressed within the podcasts belong solely to the original hosts and guests and do not reflect the views or positions of Summapod.

Quick Takeaways

  • Stig and William argue that very few values or life approaches are truly universal; what works for one person or culture often does not generalize, so beliefs and principles should be held lightly.
  • William emphasizes that in both life and investing, overconfidence and dogmatism are dangerous, while questioning assumptions and accepting uncertainty can prevent major errors.
  • Research discussed in the episode suggests that, for most people, higher income up to at least $500,000 is associated with more positive emotions and fewer negative ones, though money cannot fix deep psychological or relational problems.
  • Both hosts stress that financial security mainly provides a cushion, optionality, and reduced anxiety; inner qualities like equanimity, acceptance, and gratitude still determine whether one experiences life as heaven or hell.
  • They highlight that some of the happiest wealthy investors they know focus on purpose and contribution-using their time, money, and knowledge to help others-rather than on beating the market alone.
  • Stig experiments with reading fewer new books and more re-reading, learning to abandon "walking dead" books that are mediocre rather than forcing himself to finish everything.
  • William reads in a highly nonlinear, intuitive way, diving into Tibetan Buddhist texts and fiction to understand the mind and expand empathy as part of his broader quest to understand how to live.
  • Both describe the importance of teachers and role models-whether investors, spiritual figures, or family-whose specific qualities they try to clone, rather than idealizing anyone as perfect.

Podcast Notes

Introduction and framing of the quarterly Richer, Wiser, Happier conversation

Stig sets up the themes of the episode

Quarterly conversations with William often drift into big philosophical questions[0:00]
• They wrestle with what it means to live wisely, how to deal with uncertainty in investing and life, and why everyone is tempted to see their own perspective as more enlightened than others
Outline of three main topics[1:46]
• 1) Universal truth, 2) Money and happiness, 3) Books that made them richer, wiser, and happier over the past quarter

Universal truths, perspective, and epistemic humility

Stig questions whether universal truths about a good life exist

Difficulty of finding universal truths beyond simple facts[1:40]
• Stig notes that while statements like "two and two equals four" are universal, he struggles to find universal truths about how to live a good life
Marrakesh anecdote about multi-generational living[2:58]
• A local man in Marrakesh told Stig that if someone in their 40s or 50s doesn't live with their parents (if parents are alive), they are "spiritually poor" because living with multiple generations under one roof is seen as a great gift
• Stig personally loves his parents but does not want to live with them and thinks their good relationship is partly because they have not lived together since he left for college
Biased career advice as an example of non-universal preference[4:04]
• When asked for career advice, Stig often reflexively tells people to quit their job and start a company, because the idea of having a boss drives him "nuts" and entrepreneurship has led to many good things in his life
• He admits this advice reflects his own bias and that many friends and family are happy having a job and a boss and view running a business as masochistic because one is never truly off work
Mike Tyson prison quote as a challenge to assumed truths[5:07]
• Stig cites Mike Tyson saying that the best three years of his life were when he was in prison, which undermines the assumption that prison is universally terrible
Stig's core question to William about universal truths[5:53]
• He asks: if universal truth is defined as something always true and agreed by everyone, what universal truths, if any, capture living a richer, happier, wiser life, and how to ensure they are not just reflections of era and personal experience

William argues for questioning universality and recognizing bias

Global upbringing and reporting reveal arbitrariness of values[6:17]
• William grew up in London, then lived in New York, Hong Kong, and back to New York, and reported globally as a journalist, which gave him a vivid sense that his own prejudices and views are not necessarily correct
• His kids attended Canadian International School in Hong Kong, were often the only white children in largely Hong Kong Chinese classes, and were called "guilos" (white ghosts)
• He recalls his kids sharing snacks: his kids' Western food (sandwiches, cookies) contrasted with classmates' foods like congee, and his daughter preferred Asian breakfast foods like dumplings at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur
• These experiences underscored how arbitrary many "standard" Western values and habits are
Montaigne and Sarah Bakewell on customs and uncertainty[8:48]
• William references Sarah Bakewell's book about Montaigne, "How to Live or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and 20 Attempts at an Answer"
• Montaigne collected examples of different customs worldwide to remind himself how arbitrary his own culture's beliefs were and to "defamiliarize the familiar"
• Examples Montaigne noted: some cultures blackened their teeth because white teeth were considered inelegant; some shaved hair only on the left side of the body; some nursed children until age 12
• Bakewell writes that we can never escape our limitations and always have a partial view of reality, leading Montaigne to conclude we shouldn't be dogmatic and that nothing is fixed truth
• Montaigne's writing is filled with qualifiers like "perhaps" and "it seems to me", reflecting his sense that nothing is absolutely certain
Famous quotes on uncertainty and fallibility[11:11]
• In his study, Montaigne wrote quotes on wooden beams, including "Only one thing is certain that nothing is certain"
• William links this to Socrates' statement "All I know is that I know nothing," and Sarah Bakewell's twist: "All I know is that I know nothing, and I'm not even sure about that"
Practical implications for investing and avoiding bias[10:58]
• Accepting that truth is provisional and nothing is certain helps investors avoid overconfidence, recency bias, and assumptions like "stocks always go up" or "buying every dip will always work"
• William notes widespread assumptions such as America always being the best place to invest are vulnerable to change, and history shows long periods when such beliefs fail
• He cites Bill Miller as an investor steeped in philosophy who questioned conventional assumptions, including those of Buffett and Munger about Bitcoin
• Buffett had said he would not buy all Bitcoin in the world for $25 because it produces nothing; Miller retorted, "Who said the goal of investing is to own assets that generate cash? I thought the goal was to make money"
• William suggests Miller's philosophical questioning allowed him to reconsider assets like Bitcoin and gold, rather than rigidly applying rules like "only own cash-generating assets"

Approximate truths and value investing principles

Looking for principles that are "approximately true on average over time"[15:31]
• When promoting his book, William realized he was seeking insights that are not always true but are approximately true on average over time, such as buying assets for less than they're worth
Overpaying vs underpaying for assets[15:52]
• Howard Marks told William that the biggest risk in investing is overpaying for an asset and that the real question is how much optimism is already priced in
• Joel Greenblatt told him that the essence of investing is valuing an asset and buying it for much less than its value
• Charlie Munger told William that successful investing always involves "getting more than you're paying for", though this can be done in different ways (e.g., Bill Miller buying misunderstood Amazon, Howard Marks buying neglected distressed debt)
Changing attitudes to asset classes and questioning assumptions[18:09]
• William references Barton Biggs' book describing eras when stocks were deemed inappropriate for institutions, illustrating how entire asset classes can be wrongly shunned
• Howard Marks' early success partly came from investing in distressed debt and junk bonds when they were considered inappropriate, finding that they were paradoxically less risky than overpriced "nifty fifty" stocks
Questioning the goal of beating the market[19:37]
• William notes the common assumption (including on their own podcast) that the goal is to beat the market, but recounts a fund manager who prioritized 1) preserving capital, 2) compounding long term, and only 3) beating the market
• That manager explicitly said he would not jeopardize capital preservation and long-term compounding just to outperform in the short term, because his primary goal is resilient long-term wealth building

Stig on interruption styles, politeness, and saying "it seems"

Anecdote about Guy and conversational norms in Israel[21:29]
• Stig recalls a conversation with Guy where Guy urged him to interrupt more; Guy said in Israel frequent interruptions show engagement, whereas letting someone speak for 15 minutes can signal disinterest
Using tentative language to reflect uncertainty[22:25]
• Stig read a book arguing one should avoid being too confident and instead say "it seems" or "could it be that"; he likes this because he genuinely does not know and wants his language to reflect that
• He notes Grammarly often flags such phrases as insufficiently confident, but he intentionally resists sounding overly certain

Different lenses, development, and overconfidence

William on levels of consciousness and changing views

Stages of development shape perception of reality[23:27]
• William references writers on stages of consciousness such as David Hawkins, Tara Springett, and Ken Wilber, noting that reality is seen differently at different developmental levels
• He gives the example that views of God change with development: from a punishing external God to something imminent (within), and for some very evolved people, everything is seen as the light of the creator
• He suggests that seeing the world as alien and hostile may be appropriate at some stages, while at others one can see everything with wonder, echoing Einstein's idea that one can live as if nothing or everything is a miracle
Male overconfidence and the Marie Curie anecdote[27:08]
• William cites a Columbia University study on overconfidence discussed by Michael Lewis, noting men overestimate what they know by about 30%, while women systematically underestimate what they know
• He shares a story of a woman saying she is a direct descendant of Marie Curie; a man overheard and "corrected" her, saying it's pronounced "Mariah Carey", illustrating male overconfidence in action
• He and Samantha McElmore (Bill Miller's successor) laughed at this example as emblematic of men confidently explaining things they misunderstand

Conviction vs humility in investing: Howard Marks in 2008-09

Howard Marks' aggressive buying during the financial crisis[28:22]
• William recounts Marks investing about $500-600 million per week for 15 weeks during the 2008-09 market crash
• Marks had strong conviction to go against the crowd yet still accepted the possibility he could be wrong and that markets could melt down
• Marks reasoned that if one of the greatest buying opportunities of their lifetime passed and they failed to act due to fear, they would have let down their shareholders; that episode ultimately made Oaktree about $9 billion in profit
• William concludes that the ability to hold conviction and humility in balance-to act decisively while knowing you may be wrong-is crucial

Money and happiness: research, experience, and purpose

Stig introduces Killingsworth study and revisits Kahneman & Deaton

Summary of Kahneman & Deaton 2010 findings[46:35]
• The Kahneman and Deaton study found that beyond about $75,000 in 2010 dollars (roughly $110,000 today), extra money did not reduce "unhappiness" further, though they noted differences by location like New York vs rural areas
Killingsworth's newer data up to $500,000 income[48:15]
• Stig describes Matthew Killingsworth's US data showing that for household income up to $500,000, more money correlated with more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions
• He notes about 20% of respondents did not experience increased happiness with income due to deep psychological, relationship, or life challenges that money could not fix; this group was not simply the richest or poorest
• He emphasizes that the marginal happiness per extra dollar declines with higher income, but the trend of more income correlating with more happiness continued up to the study's $500,000 cap
Emotional reaction and Upton Sinclair quote[50:46]
• Stig admits he did not want to believe the study because much of their prior discussion has stressed that more money does not buy more happiness
• He quotes Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it," applying it to his own reluctance to accept findings that money buys more happiness at higher levels

William's skepticism of studies and focus on lived evidence

Preferring observations of very rich investors[55:22]
• William is wary of happiness-income studies, seeing them as containing some truth but preferring insights drawn from decades spent interviewing and befriending extremely wealthy people
What money did for Howard Marks and Irving Kahn[56:57]
• Howard Marks told him that wealth made him less afraid, giving him greater freedom and security as a multi-billionaire
• William recounts that Irving Kahn, who lived to 109, kept roughly a 50% cash reserve; his son said Irving was not trying to maximize returns but wanted to solve problems and live comfortably within his means, spending mainly on books
• Irving preferred hamburgers to fancy restaurants, and his son said, "If the market goes down, so what? You can still eat hamburger"-illustrating emotional resilience from living far within one's means
• Tom Gayner told William that if you're living within your means, you are already rich
William reads his own summary on money and inner life[59:00]
• He reads from his book that money can provide a cushion and lifeline against uncertainty and misfortune, but quality of life depends more on inner attributes like equanimity, acceptance, hope, trust, appreciation, and determined optimism
• He quotes Milton from "Paradise Lost": "The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven," illustrating that mindset can override external conditions
Practical benefits of savings, optionality, and low leverage[1:02:01]
• William notes that as he has saved more and lived within his means, some of his anxiety about uncertainty has quieted, though he still feels bodily signs of stress when thinking about uncertainty
• He values having little debt, no leverage, positive cash flow, and a diversified portfolio because his family history includes relatives fleeing different countries, so he wants optionality
• He mentions Stig does not own a car, while he bought a Hyundai Tucson with cash, enjoys features like the stereo and sunroof, and lets it get filthy without caring about appearances

Purpose, generosity, and using wealth to help others

Examples of investors focused on contribution

Arnold Vandenberg's desire to leave people with something useful[1:07:05]
• William describes a call with Arnold where, after about an hour and 26 minutes, Arnold said, "It's always important for me to be able to leave people with something they can use in life" and thanked William for his time
• Arnold invited William to contact him with further thoughts before an upcoming class, saying he wanted to do everything he could to be ready to help the participants
Nick Sleep and Monish Pabrai on wealth's purpose[1:08:15]
• William recalls an email from Nick Sleep asking, "What's the real point of generating excess wealth?" and answering that it is to do something for your fellow man
• He cites Monish Pabrai's work with the Dakshana Foundation and Tom Gayner's philanthropic activities as examples of wealthy investors who use their resources to lift others

Stig's reflections: thresholds, drive, and personal choices

Thresholds and realism about income targets[1:11:15]
• Stig notes the Killingsworth thresholds like $200,000 vs $100,000 may realistically reduce worries for many people depending on circumstances, even if the very rich they discuss are far above such levels
Drive, discontent, and extreme success[1:11:39]
• He mentions the saying "the world belongs to the discontented" and suggests that some extremely successful people may be driven by deep dissatisfaction, though he admits this can sound like sour grapes
Friendship, travel, and using money for relationships[1:11:31]
• Stig describes a friend in British Columbia; they aim to meet whenever one is on the other's continent and are considering meeting halfway in Halifax so his wife can visit Prince Edward Island due to her interest in "Anne of Green Gables"
• He notes you do not need to be a billionaire to fund such trips, but money and time help you maintain relationships with kindred spirits who live on other continents
Optimizing for happiness and its indirect nature[1:14:15]
• When asked whether someone optimizes for happiness, he says happiness is hard to optimize directly; he compares it to sleep-you cannot command "1-2-3 sleep" but can create favorable conditions
• He points to studies suggesting parents often report low moment-to-moment happiness with young children but high meaning and positive retrospective feelings about that period
Why very rich people keep working hard[1:16:16]
• Stig wonders why very rich people do unpleasant things for money they do not need, but suggests that if you are the world's best surgeon (or an 83-year-old fund-raiser), doing demanding work may be integral to being the best version of yourself
His low-budget wedding as an example of aligned spending[1:17:37]
• Stig and his wife married about 15 years ago with a total budget under $1,000, including her gown, his first suit, and home-cooked food; the officiant was a friend of a friend so cost nothing
• He says he would not change anything about that wedding even now with more money, as it was perfect for them, while acknowledging others happily choose more lavish weddings

William on spending that truly enriches his life

Custom bookshelves and a "room of one's own"[1:20:24]
• William had a craftsman build floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in his study, including a small nook for his coffee mug; this made his space more orderly and surrounded him with books he loves
• He has sections devoted to Kabbalistic books and Tibetan Buddhist books, plus business and investing shelves; being able to sit and dip into these books has tangibly improved his life
• He connects this to Virginia Woolf's idea that one needs "a room of one's own" and some income to think and write, seeing his study as such a room
Selective spending and not buying for show[1:21:40]
• William spends freely on books and on some things like good hotels and high-quality shirts, but avoids buying things like fancy cars just to impress others
• He enjoys being able to take vacations with his wife (such as a trip to Anguilla where he did not skimp on the room) and to go to a nice restaurant for his birthday without worrying about the bill
• He describes the joy of giving, such as giving books to others and giving speech fees to a charity he and a friend value, and feeling a deep peace afterwards because he felt there was nothing more he wanted in that moment
Creating spaciousness and easing up[1:25:25]
• William refers to a friend, Matt Ludman, who talks about "easing up"-achieving enough financial security to create more spaciousness in life, such as time to meditate, go on retreats, or vacation with one's spouse
• He admits he still works too hard but sees the goal as having freedom to give time and money, not counting every penny, and choosing projects that align with his values

Books, reading habits, and the search for how to live

Stig experiments with reading less and re-reading more

Feeling he might read too many books[1:34:12]
• Stig says many people struggle to find time to read, but he sometimes feels he reads too many books and decided to test restraining himself from new books over the past quarter
His compulsive planning and "no unread books" rule[1:35:55]
• He describes having eight unread books on a table and already planning the next five reading sessions with calculated pages per minute; this is effortless for him and feels like breathing
• To discipline himself, he tried not having any unread books in his condo, likening it to not having candy in the house or going keto/vegan for others
• During this period he kept his total reading time constant but shifted towards more re-reading of existing books, often choosing what to re-read by standing in front of shelves and seeing which books "called" to him
Learning to abandon "walking dead" books[1:38:40]
• Stig recalls William's "superhuman" ability to stop reading books he doesn't like; he has been learning to do the same, especially with books that are not terrible but not great-what he calls "walking dead" books, borrowing the term from venture capital
• He cites starting Tolstoy's "War and Peace" (about 1,200 pages) and ultimately stopping despite its classic status; for him, stopping mid-way was harder than either finishing or quitting after a page
Ray Dalio books and macro lessons[1:40:33]
• Stig highlights Ray Dalio's "How Countries Go Broke", which he considers the least good of Dalio's four major works but still good enough that he read it three times in the first month
• He suggests even people focused on personal finance and financial independence can apply Dalio's macro principles and pitfalls, since countries are aggregates of individuals
• He says his favorite Dalio book is "The Changing World Order" and notes that William's first episode on the podcast was an interview with Dalio about it
Voice-message exchange on living richer, wiser, happier[1:43:05]
• Stig describes a format he tried with a friend from a mastermind community: sending each other 10-15 minute voice messages about how to live a richer, wiser, happier life
• It began with the friend sending a brief "what's going on" message; Stig responded at length, and they developed a pattern of daily asynchronous audio reflections that allowed time to think, walk, and re-listen before replying
• He contrasts this with three-hour real-time conversations and with casual daily office chats, noting each interaction pattern has a different dynamic
Echo chambers and shared influences[1:46:02]
• Stig notes that he and William see themselves as very different, but an outsider might see them as similar because both make a "pilgrimage" to Omaha and interpret Charlie Munger's words with slight differences while agreeing on most
• He suggests that reading the same authors (like Buffett and Munger) may place them in a similar "echo chamber" even if they interpret ideas differently
• He mentions the Lindy effect idea that things surviving a long time, like the Stoics, may have validity, but notes even Stoicism was considered immoral for long periods, so survival is not a perfect guide

William's nonlinear reading and Tibetan Buddhist focus

Intuitive, nonlinear, and re-reading-heavy style[1:50:03]
• William reads constantly but in an unstructured way, often starting in the middle of a book, reading backwards, and repeatedly re-reading heavily marked-up chapters
• He sometimes chooses what to read based on intuition and chance, likening it to his teenage habit of randomly buying music albums and then exploring related artists
Tibetan Buddhism as "science of mind"[1:52:35]
• William devotes significant reading to Tibetan Buddhism, viewing it as a "science of mind" developed by people who spent years in caves studying how the mind works
• He mentions reading teachings of Tsoknyi Rinpoche (a past podcast guest) and his father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, as well as classics like "The Way of the Bodhisattva" and Patrul Rinpoche's "Words of My Perfect Teacher"
• He discovered a short book titled "Way of the Realized Old Dogs" through footnotes and read it one night on Kindle, choosing it largely because the unusual title appealed to him
• His aim in this reading is to understand how to deal with thoughts and emotions, build equanimity, and gain some degree of freedom from his "crazy mind"
Fiction (Isaac Bashevis Singer) to expand empathy[1:56:39]
• William is listening to and has bought the hardcover of Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel "Shadows on the Hudson", about Jewish refugees in New York after the Holocaust, some of whom lost families in Auschwitz
• He notes that characters respond to trauma in diverse ways-some become deeply spiritual, others chase physical pleasures, others lose interest in living-so the novel explores different ways of finding meaning
• He values fiction for putting him inside other minds and expanding empathy, especially regarding how people cope with catastrophic events like the Holocaust

Teachers, role models, and learning how to live

William's sense of purpose: studying and sharing "how to live"

Framing his work as an inquiry into how to live[2:01:08]
• William says that, like the Montaigne book subtitle "How to Live", his own book and podcast are essentially about the question "how to live"
• He views his role as reading, studying, interviewing people, observing what works and what does not, then passing on the most helpful lessons to others, not because he knows the truth but because these tools help him get through life

How he identifies teachers "further along the path"

Cloning specific qualities, not idealizing whole people[2:03:49]
• William says he does not idealize teachers as perfect; instead, he tries to clone particular qualities they embody, similar to how one might clone Munger's rationality and integrity without copying everything about him
Examples of spiritual and investing teachers[2:04:59]
• He cites Tsoknyi Rinpoche as embodying freedom, joy, low ego, humor, and constant sharing of insights; his translator Adam Kane has confirmed aspects of Tsoknyi's character
• He mentions a Tibetan Buddhist teacher known as Khandro-la (website kandroling.com) as an extraordinary teacher focused on compassion and helping others out of suffering
• Among investors, he points to Arnold Vandenberg as embodying kindness, selflessness, and a desire to help, and notes that seeing Arnold's enthusiasm and generosity transmits lessons beyond words
Emotional impact of encountering profound teachings[2:08:16]
• William describes reading one of Tsoknyi Rinpoche's books and becoming teary-eyed; his wife asked if he had an allergy because his eyes were watery, but he realized he was moved by the depth and generosity of the wisdom
• He feels profound gratitude that such teachers have figured out aspects of the mind and are sharing them, likening their work to flags planted along a mountain path signaling "come this way"
• He suggests we do not need to solve everything from scratch because figures like Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne, Buddha, Jesus, Buffett, Munger, and others have already solved parts of the puzzle, and we can follow their pointers while still thinking for ourselves

Closing reflections and appreciation

Mutual appreciation and upcoming in-person meeting

Stig looks forward to meeting William in London[2:11:06]
• Stig notes that money and time can facilitate seeing friends and mentions he will soon meet William in London and is excited to give him a hug and record more conversations

Awareness that these episodes are not for everyone

William acknowledges potential self-indulgence[2:12:50]
• William admits their conversations can seem self-indulgent or self-referential and not for everyone, but says some listeners tell him these are their favorite episodes because they grapple with the same questions
Stig believes listeners resonate with questions more than answers[2:14:10]
• Stig observes that episodes where they talk personally are often those listeners relate to most; he thinks people resonate with the questions and thought processes and then find their own answers

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Hold your beliefs and principles lightly, recognizing that your perspective is partial and shaped by culture, upbringing, and stage of development, so you should constantly question whether your assumptions still fit current conditions.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Which of my current "obvious" beliefs about work, money, or relationships might actually be products of my upbringing or culture rather than universal truths?
  • • How could I build a simple habit (like adding "it seems to me" to my statements) to remind myself that my views are provisional, not absolute?
  • • What is one long-held assumption in my investing or life decisions that I could deliberately re-examine from multiple angles this week?
2

In investing and in life, the most dangerous risk is often overconfidence-assuming you know more than you do-so cultivate a balance of conviction to act with humility that you might be wrong.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in my current decisions do I feel very sure of myself, and what concrete evidence do I actually have to justify that confidence?
  • • How might my outcomes improve if, like Howard Marks, I acted decisively when opportunities are compelling while still explicitly acknowledging I could be mistaken?
  • • What is one decision I'm facing now where I could write down both my thesis and the main ways I might be wrong before committing?
3

Money is valuable mainly as a cushion and a source of optionality-reducing fear, stress, and dependence-but beyond a point, the quality of your inner life (equanimity, acceptance, purpose, relationships) determines whether you experience life as "heaven" or "hell."

Reflection Questions:

  • • In what ways has having (or lacking) a financial cushion affected my anxiety, my freedom to choose projects, or my ability to say no?
  • • How could I shift a bit of my energy from purely earning more toward practices that build inner stability, like meditation, reflection, or strengthening key relationships?
  • • What specific financial changes (such as reducing debt, building a cash reserve, or living more within my means) would most increase my sense of peace over the next 12 months?
4

Purpose and contribution-using your time, knowledge, and money to help others-often bring more lasting satisfaction than personal accumulation or beating benchmarks for their own sake.

Reflection Questions:

  • • When in the past few years have I felt the deepest sense of meaning, and how much of that was tied to helping or uplifting someone else rather than personal gain?
  • • How might my goals change if I adopted Nick Sleep's framing and asked, "What is the real point of generating excess wealth in my life?"
  • • What is one concrete way I could redirect some portion of my time, skills, or income this quarter to leave others with "something they can use in life"?
5

Your reading and learning should serve your deepest questions, not some external standard; following your curiosity, re-reading what matters, and abandoning "walking dead" material can make learning richer and more aligned with who you are.

Reflection Questions:

  • • If I looked honestly at my current information diet, which books, articles, or feeds are "walking dead" for me-consuming time without really nourishing me?
  • • How could I redesign my reading or learning routine so it better serves the core questions I'm actually wrestling with (for example, how to invest, how to parent, how to live)?
  • • What is one book, teacher, or topic that keeps calling me back, and how can I make intentional space to go deeper into it rather than constantly chasing something new?

Episode Summary - Notes by Reese

TIP757: Richer, Wiser, Happier Q3 2025 w/ Stig Brodersen & William Green
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