My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Optimize for decision quality and strategic thinking over activity and busyness
Investors, executives, or entrepreneurs who have achieved sufficient wealth and want to focus on high-leverage decisions
Long-term lifestyle design (years to decades)What Success Looks Like
Clear daily schedule with time for deep thinking, reading, and strategic decisions. High-quality decision making without the stress of constant activity. Sustainable energy through proper rest and minimal distractions.
Steps to Execute
Eliminate non-essential team members and meetings
Block time daily for reading and thinking
Institute regular nap schedule for cognitive performance
Focus on a few high-conviction decisions rather than many small ones
Create physical spaces optimized for deep work and rest
Say no to most requests and opportunities
Checklist
Inputs Needed
- Sufficient wealth to not need active income generation
- Capable team or systems to handle operations
- Discipline to say no to opportunities and requests
- Comfortable living and working spaces
Outputs
- Higher quality strategic decisions
- Better physical and mental health
- Deeper learning and knowledge accumulation
- More creative and contrarian thinking
Example
“Mohnish maintains minimal staff, takes daily naps, spends hours reading across multiple disciplines, and makes a few high-conviction investment decisions per year rather than constantly trading or managing operations.”
Related Knowledge
Hated and Unloved Investment Strategy
An investment approach that specifically targets assets that are widely disliked or ignored by the market, betting that negative sentiment creates undervaluation opportunities.
Passion Project Connection Strategy
A relationship-building approach that focuses conversations on people's current passionate interests rather than their well-known achievements, creating deeper engagement and authentic connection.
focus_vs_diversification_regret
What Experts Notice Framework
A learning strategy where you observe what captures the attention of domain experts, using their selective focus as a guide to understand what matters most in their field.
The most successful people optimize for being useful to others rather than extracting value
Building relationships and business success should focus on contribution rather than acquisition
I look for things that are hated and unloved
Investment strategy focused on assets with widespread negative sentiment, betting that hatred creates undervaluation opp