001 - Newsletter Jan 11, 2026

Because I found it very difficult to locate articles within my previous blog posts which are a compilation of many random ideas, in 2026 I've decided to organize my blog posts into:

1) Separate, small articles. These are typically inspired by things that I came across on YouTube that resonated with me.

On my iPhone or ipad, I open up a M365 Word document and just type the URL of the video plus maybe a brief sentence on whatever topic I felt worth remembering. The idea is that I can share a link to a blog post on this topic with others in the future if I want.

Being a Word document on the cloud, On the weekend I open this from my main computer with dual monitors, where it's easier to write the blog posts. Blog posts are assisted by Google Gemini.

2) Weekly newsletters, like this one, at the end of which I will include a list of the blog posts so whoever is interested can look at them.

In the video "Our Most Impactful Learnings From 2025," hosts Sam Parr and Shaan Puri discuss the common struggle of retaining information from books and the critical need to prioritize meaningful life goals.

The Struggle with Remembering Books

The hosts acknowledge that reading without a deliberate system often leads to forgetting the material shortly after finishing it.

• Shaan’s Struggle with Memorization: Shaan explains that he used to approach reading as a way to "get information" into his head, which he found difficult. He often questioned how he would memorize it all, realizing he frequently couldn't remember what he had read recently [39:13].
• Sam’s Strategic Approach: Sam mentions that he is very "strategic" about his reading habits specifically so he can remember what he reads [08:06]. He historically used book reports to "master" and memorize content, such as summarizing all 48 laws of power in a Google Doc [37:08].
• A Shift in Perspective: Shaan eventually adopted a philosophy from Naval Ravikant, viewing reading not as a way to "collect stuff," but as a "spark" to catalyze new thoughts [39:27]. This mindset reduced the pressure to memorize everything verbatim [40:22].

The difficulty of remembering things that you read resonated with me because I have been buying and trying to read a tremendous amount of books, mostly non-fiction, in the past year.

The Importance of "Big Rocks"

Shaan uses the "big rocks" analogy to illustrate why people must prioritize their most important life goals first, rather than fitting them around work [18:24].

• Defining the "Big Rocks": These represent the things that truly matter, such as family trips, visiting aging parents, learning a new skill, or launching a major project [19:02].
• The Container Problem: Shaan explains that if you fill your "jar" (your schedule) with "sand"—day-to-day routines, errands, and Zoom calls—the big rocks will never fit [19:18].
• The Solution: If you put the big rocks in the jar first by scheduling them, the "sand" will naturally fill the cracks and crevices around them [19:31].
• Why It Matters: Shaan warns that work is like a "gas" that expands to fill whatever container you give it [18:15]. Without consciously scheduling big rocks first, your life can easily become a "jar full of sand" consisting only of mundane tasks [19:50].

For me, my big rock at present include potentially buying a home in Davenport, Florida this year and moving there. I have set up a meeting with my accountant next week to discuss the tax implications and how best to fund this purchase.

Blog posts this week:

1) Phoebus Cartel, The 1,000-hour rule for lightbulb lifespan and why recently I bought a new set of computer speakers and a new iPad Pro 😦

2) Cool things you can do with NotebookLM this one piece of technology powered by Google Gemini is what I consider the best use of AI for me. It's why I invested more in Google stock, and it's helping me make life decisions like buying a retirement home.

3) Warren Buffett masterclass on Investing. I've bought several books on Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and they inspire my investment decisions. In a video lecture, Warren explains that colas have no "taste memory". You can drink 5 a day and all of them taste equally good. Colas are unique in that you don't get sick of it. This is why investing in Coke is a wonderful buy and hold decision in his opinion.

4) Book Review - Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham. This post features some key learnings and a video about a book first recommended to me by an astute nephew. I found out Warren Buffett was massively inspired by this book too.

5) Invisible Wealth Ladder a video that suggested there are three levels of wealth where one should behave differently. This realization made me forget about investing in both Bitcoin/Crypto and also riskier India-focused private equity funds that I had been considering. The numbers from this video may be debatable, but the concepts are valid...

6) The Decoy Effect on how marketers use behavioral science principles to get us to buy more than we need.

This week I visited Madame Tussauds in New York City. Here is a picture from there of me with Sharukh Khan, the Indian movie superstar who attended the same high school as me. I used Nano Banana Pro to change my outfit to match his.