“Since Dorsey returned as CEO in July 2015, the company’s shares have fallen 6.2%, while Facebook’s have gained more than 121% during that time.

Bloomberg

“Elliott has a long history of agitating for changes at some of the world’s largest companies. This month, the firm disclosed a stake in Japan’s SoftBank Corp. and said it planned to push for a larger share buyback and governance changes at the firm’s Vision Fund.

Elliott has also pushed for changes at AT&T Inc., EBay Inc., Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Pernod Ricard SA.”

Scott Deveau, Bloomberg

…and some yoga poses

Shocking. Not to have any games of your son (or daughter) to attend and brag about to your co-workers.

Shocking. Not to have “proud married to great ____”fill in the blanks of wife/husband’s name.

We’ve taken married with children to the status of virtue in this society.

The Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Bernstein had an article The Art of Being Single on March 19th. Excerpts:

“Ms. Tomaszewski began treating herself as she would a partner. She bought herself lavish birthday gifts and took herself out to dinner for holidays. And she began making her bed—just as she did when she was in a relationship and stayed at a man’s house overnight.

‘Now, when I get home I look at it and think: Aw, that’s so sweet. I care about me.’”

Guess what ? Life on the single side of the spectrum is not bad.

Being single is not bad ! Wow, you don’t say. I could be single and still be alive ?

Our society has condemned singles to feeling bad, to being outsiders. It is one of the pressures exerted upon men and women. Stand up against the stereotyping that “includes the assumptions that singles are miserable, lonely or selfish; that they are desperate to get married; that there must be something wrong with someone who is single. ” -E.B. It’s a hard job, surely harder on women than it is on men.

Being a divorcee is not bad. (although they want you to think that it is).

” Previously, Ms. Tomaszewski says, she viewed time alone as something sad. She began thinking of it as quality time with herself. Now, if she finds herself alone for a weekend, she treats herself to a session with a personal trainer, takes a workshop on how to journal or goes to an art museum.

‘I am nurturing my soul right now, just as I would nurture a relationship,’ she says.

1. It is better to be single than to be in a strained marriage.
2. If your marriage needs “working” it is probably beyond “repair”. I don’t need any consultant, psychotherapist, coach to lead my relationships.
3. It is absolutely normal for people to change. In fact, if people don’t change over the years, then you have a problem. No change = no gain.
4. People suddenly unburdened by the bonds of marriage suddenly experience the joys of being single. The joy of owning their lives.
5. You can “find yourself” at any age. Better yet, “create” yourself.

Ice cream time ?

Bulletproof Coffee ice cream recipe

This recipe from Lowcarbediem.com uses uses Dave Asprey’s  Brain Octane® oil combined with his Bulletproof® Coffee: only 2 g carbohydrates for the entire 8 servings it provides.

You need eggs, vanilla extract, lime juice, 12 oz coffee, heavy cream or coconut cream, stevia, vanilla extract and butter. Wife Ice cream maker optional.

Snake inside the car pic.twitter.com/ko1ZoIvD0M

— Nature is Scary (@NatureisScary) January 11, 2019

VC by the Numbers discussed “Triple Crowns” and why these make for the best investments as compared to “unicorns”. In this blog (and in my book) I argue unicorns are overrated on a regular basis.

What are “Triple Crowns” ? From Unicorns are overrated, Triple Crowns are Better:  These are the financing that met these three conditions:

1.”Realized a cash-on-cash multiple of at least 10X, and
2. Realized an IRR of at least 100%, and
3. VCs invested at least $1M. “

Correlation Ventures studies have shown that while unicorns make up some 3% of ventures financings since 2006, triple crowns make up only 2%. CV’s David Coats expresses his belief that the focus on unicorns and later stage-greater need for financing is an unhealthy trend for the VC industry.

How are you training for 2019 ?

Since we’re still at the beginning of the year, are you implementing anything new and exciting in your workout ?

A buddy of mine talked to me about Spartan SGX or Spartan Strong Classes and told me to try it out. Here is the link for those type of classes. (these are 90-minutes long)

Winter[fell] is here in 2019

In 2017, I wrote a best-read post on the Season 7 of the Game of Thrones. The expectations are high for this year’s final season. Let’s remember:

What you want to do is first see whether you are a lark (14% of people), a third bird (65%) or an owl (21%). Then find your optimal time. The optimal time for creative tasks for most people (third birds) is in the morning. Pink comes with different examples of how our cognitive capacities decline after midday, and why we slump in the early afternoons. It is important we know our slump time because if you are engaged in a decisive task at 2, 3, or 4 o’clock in the afternoon and it is not going well..well, maybe, you should have picked up a different time.

Daniel Pink tells us that “what ultimately matters is the syncrony effect -that the type, task, and time align.”

Pink has a useful “Time Hacker’s Handbook” after each chapter. These workbook sections are meant to help the reader implement his solutions. For example, to determine your own slump time, Pink suggests you check your mental alertness and physical energy levels thoughout the day every 90 minutes, for a week.

We learn that is not a good idea to schedule medical examinations or medical procedures at 2 PM, 3 PM or 4 PM because of impaired physician vigilance.

Quote of the day:

John Milton: “Free will. It’s like butterfly wings: once touched, they never get off the ground. No, I only set the stage. You pull your own strings.” [The Devil’s Advocate, Warner Bros. Studios]
Max Cantor to John: “Yes, but that butterfly can still walk, John. Most of us walk and don’t fly. Your wings are useless on the ground, buttercup.”

Got a court appearance scheduled? Beware: Judges are more alert and possible lenient in the mornings. Early afternoons, not so much.

“An afternoon nap expands the brains capacity to learn. Napping for 10-20 minutes strengthens the immune system.” Pink is a fan of what he calls “nappuccino” which is coffee , followed by a nap of 10-20 minutes in the afternoon for increasing performance.

Pink largely comes to the conclusion lunch is the most important meal of the day. (those of you on IF skip breakfast anyways.)

Starting fresh

There is more than one day, New Year’s Day, to start fresh in the year: there are as many as 86 days (52 Mondays, the first day of the month, your job anniversary, b-day, etc.)

Pink’s research showed adherence to standards followed a U-shaped pattern.

We learn how a half time lead is a great probability of winning (a six-point half time lead makes for a 80% chance of winning in NBA games.) However, one point behind at half time it’s not a handicap. Things to consider: How much are you behind half way though a project? If it’s just a little, maybe it’s not bad at all.

Pink mentions something apparently used by Hemingway in his writer work, the Ziegardnik effect: the tendency to remember unfinished tasks better than finished tasks.

On the size of your social network

Students in their final year of school displayed the same kind of social-network pruning as their grandparents. So maybe older people are less connected to others by choice.

Watch Pink on Motivation making a case:

NOTE: If you’ve already bought The Book of the Underdog e-book, update it so you get the latest version. I’ve improved formatting and text errors since. Tip: Turn automatic book updates on (How To Set your Kindle for Automatic Book updates)