10 Takeaways from the Anti-Course (So Far)
I’ve written a lot of personal backstory… behind a paywall, because it’s, well, personal. It’s not terribly sensitive, but I don’t want certain stories or images floating around search engines.
That said, I get that not everyone wants to pay five bucks a month to read one guy’s life story on the internet.
So here are 10 distilled lessons from the first three chapters of The Anti-Course… no paywall, just perspective.
Chapter 1: The When and Where Before the Why and How
Your Messy Background Can Be an Engine for Growth
What hard-earned edge does your background give you that others overlook?
Growing up around trades, trauma, and chaos gave me an edge most resumes can’t measure — self-sufficiency, judgment, quick thinking, and grounded perspective.
You Can Turn One Day Into Multiple Days
Where in your day could you stretch across different contexts and build range instead of a routine?
Business guru Ed Mylett became a meme claiming he can “change and manipulate time” to create three days in one through productivity hacks. There’s a sliver of truth there, but you don’t have to lose your sanity by moving so fast. You can accomplish the same by finding opportunities to context switch within the same day. Context switching means deliberately shifting gears — mentally, emotionally, even physically — between entirely different environments or modes of operation.
In my early 20s I’d spend the first 8 hours of daylight working or studying in relatively calm and analytical settings, then spend my nights driving an ambulance or treating patients in raw, chaotic emergencies. It was intense. But looking back, not only did I essentially live two lives in the span of one day, I grew adept at entering new situations cold, making quick judgments, and resetting my energy without dragging old context into new situations.
This became a kind of superpower because while most people need warm-up time, fixed routines, or one-track focus to function, I had trained myself to pivot, recover, and re-engage quickly.Sometimes the Door Finds You
How many doors are already open to you — if you’d just walk through them?
I didn’t go to a target school or get recruited. My first finance job came from a conversation at a construction site.
Foundations Are Built First
Don’t rush past or dismiss your roots. They often explain everything.
This whole story only makes sense in hindsight because strong roots grow tall branches and broad canopies only years later.
Chapter 2: Finance Finally
“Pay Your Dues,” But Quickly
Where can you quietly overdeliver without needing accolades or applause?
Yes, it’s important to be humble and helpful early on. I did my share of lunch runs, broom duty, and low-level gigs. But eventually, “paying dues” becomes an excuse to avoid growth.
Boring Can Yield Gold
Don’t skip the “boring” stuff… it builds durable skills.
I learned the most about markets and money in a soulless office park far from Wall Street. It wasn’t glamorous, but it gave me leverage for the years ahead.
Find the Margins on Your Map
What if your conflicting interests could combine and pull you towards something greater than the sum of their parts?
I was obsessed with both equities and branding — a strange combo that ended up defining my career in consumer sector investing and strategy.
Chapter 3: Planning The Rebellion
Know Your Script Before You Go Off It
Before you rewrite the rules, you have to deeply understand what the previous rules said.
I was always the kid who questioned authority and I never really stopped. But rebellion without purpose or reflection is just aimlessly lashing out.
Your Inner Rebel Probably Has a Point
What have you secretly been planning all along, but societal “norms” pull you back from what it wants you to think is “the brink?”
The seeds of my “escape plan” — quitting corporate life and moving abroad — were planted over a decade ago.
Your Personality is Your Compass
Be curious about how you’re wired. Your wiring might be whispering your next move.
A professional personality assessment revealed what I already suspected but didn’t understand the career or life implications... that I wasn’t designed for rigid systems and, worse, I would change into these uncomfortable forms in order to fit into those systems... to my detriment.
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