Chris Stanley

$10 at The Masters. Build your order.

This is it. There are 3 levels to success—but they don’t work the way you think. 🪜 Level 1 is climbing the ladder and chasing success as society defines it ($). The ladder has infinite steps, and most people stay on it forever. A few start to question why they’re climbing… 🪜 Level 2 is stepping off the ladder, redefining success on your terms, and taking bold steps to live in alignment. You still play the game but you are not the game. It’s a good life, but eventually it dawns on you: You’re still chasing… just different things. 🪜 Level 3 is climbing back down the ladder. It’s not a goal, it’s a state of being. There’s no score. It’s knowing the secret that Jason Mamoa describes: —Less is more —Only a few things really matter (and they can’t be bought) This is true whether you’re a billionaire or broke. Level 3 is rarefied air—not because it requires credentials, but because it requires that you break your programming and want less. It’s not sacrifice, it’s liberating in a way that financial wealth can never be. There’s no conflict here—Jason Mamoa still makes movies (and millions of dollars). He can visit that world and walk the red carpet while inhabiting another world. A question for you: Are you leveling up… or climbing the infinite ladder? I stepped off the ladder to Level 2 about 8 years ago (better late than never). Now, at 55, I’m eyeing Level 3. I couldn’t be more excited.

If we assume the point of investing is ultimately to improve your quality of life and the quality of life of those you most care about, investments that consistently add stress over long periods of time probably don’t make sense. Money is traded for things or experiences that catalyze certain feelings. If your investments are generating the opposite spectrum of feelings, it might be time to reassess. It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. Money is a means, not an end. And in the end, most things matter very, very little. Do what helps you sleep at night and wake up with a low heart rate. To me, those are the hallmarks of a world-class investor who gets the big picture.