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Every two weeks, I share my writing on investing, career transitions, meaningful work, parenting, living intentionally, and other topics that engage me.

I'm still trying to figure stuff out.

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Study Mode

It's 5:45 on a Sunday morning, and I'm staring at practice problems for the CAIA Level 2 exam. Again.

The mock exam scores aren't where they need to be. I'm hovering around 60% when I should be hitting 70% to feel confident about passing.

With two weeks until exam day, the pressure is mounting.

This morning, as I worked through another set of problems on asset allocation rebalancing strategies, I realized I still had a newsletter essay to write.

I think it’s important to show up. I committed to delivering this newsletter to you every two weeks. But given my need to prioritize in the final stretch, I also know this essay would need to be shorter than usual.

And you know what? That's okay.

Sometimes, we need to remind ourselves that performing below our best in one area is perfectly fine while we focus intensely on another.

Right now, my energy needs to flow toward exam preparation.

It's a lesson I keep learning. We can't maintain peak performance across every aspect of our lives simultaneously. The key is recognizing when to dial back in some areas to excel where it matters most at that moment.

This doesn't mean compromising our standards entirely. It means being realistic about our capacity and making conscious choices about where to direct our limited resources of time and energy.

So here I am, writing a shorter newsletter than usual. Am I happy about it? Not entirely. But I'm at peace with the decision because it aligns with my current priorities.

For those of you who are also slogging through some challenging projects or preparing for important milestones, consider this permission to be okay with being okay. Sometimes, that's exactly where we need to be.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some studying to do.

Other Stuff

Four Thoughts Jonathan Clements has published his final lead essay for the Humble Dollar, his insightful personal finance blog/newsletter. Clements has a terminal diagnosis and has chosen to write for as long as possible, but it's getting more difficult. Upon reflecting on his long career writing about personal finance, including 20 years at the Wall Street Journal, he wants readers to remember these four thoughts: 1) Worry less, 2) Talk it through, 3) Think for yourself, and 4) Understand what's influencing you.

​Read the article (4 mins)

Can AI Match Sell-Side Analysts? Testing OpenAI’s Deep Research An interesting test by Jason Derise, a former colleague and sell-side analyst turned data scientist/newsletter writer. It's a long piece, so here's the TLDR: "AI Won’t Replace Analysts, But It Can Reshape Sell-Side Research." The general conclusion seems obvious at this point, but seeing the practical application of AI in this context was insightful. Deep Research produced a 10,000-word report in only 7 minutes. And more impressive than the volume of content is its quality. While the report lacked proprietary insights, it's not far from your average sell-side write-up.

​Read the article (1 hour 47 mins)

How do you navigate career uncertainty? Anne-Laure Le Cunff, founder of Ness Labs, is making the podcast rounds to promote her new book Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal Obsessed World, which is on my list. This interview with Khe Hy focuses on the liminal space between jobs and navigating uncertainty in a career change. You can also check out Ann-Laure's keynote at SXSW, Rewiring How We Learn.

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​Listen to the podcast (50 mins)

Cora Over the years, I've spent countless hours optimizing my approach to email, from more efficient workflows to modern tools like Superhuman (referral link, not cheap, but awesome). I've recently tried Cora from the folks at Every, and it's a major game-changer. Almost immediately, my email engagement time has fallen by 90% or more. At 8 am and 3 pm, I get a summary of every email in my inbox by category, can reply to any email immediately, or move items to my inbox. The more you use it, the better it gets. More than 14,000 people are on the waitlist, but I have a handful of free invites that allow you to jump the queue. First come, first served.

​Click to email me for an invite (not an affiliate link)

And a Farewell Photo...

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