Last week, I wrote about my mom's 85th birthday and the value of living a purposeful life.
The older I get, the faster time flies, and the more important living with the time I have left becomes.
The idea hit home for the first time following the death of my Dad in 1999.
At the end, to him, one more year of living seemed priceless. Yet, at that point, he was older and more infirm than at any other point in his life.
Wouldn't it be better to recognize the importance of living fully earlier?
In other words, the best way to capture and leverage the value of this year is to live it fully now.
That idea inspired my 2014 TEDx talk, "The Time Value Of A Life Worth Living." It was a reflection on my struggle with juggling work-life balance. It was about a year that brought my Dad's death, the forced sale of my company by venture capitalists, and a divorce (in that order). Luckily, sometimes, life's darkest days bring the greatest gifts … if you are willing to look for them.
via TEDx
In finance, the "time value of money" refers to the principle that the purchasing power of money varies over time (meaning that money today has more purchasing power than money later). This is partly because the value of money at a future point in time might be calculated by accounting for other variables (like interest earned, inflation accrued, etc.).
I realized that a similar calculation applied to life ... or living.
The above video is 13 minutes long. I hope you'll watch it, but if not, I've added some of my favorite excerpts below.
- Many people get stuck moving away from pain, and they forget to move toward opportunity.
- When you are stuck, a shift in role or perspective can help you find a new path or possibility.
- You can decide to stop playing the games you're playing and find a new—better—one.
- The difference between good and great is infinitesimal. People who are good take advantage of opportunities ... but people who are great create them.
- Many people see opportunities, but few take action. "Life" (the noun) often gets in the way of "living" (the verb).
Everyone has the same 24 hours each day, but some use them better than others. Some build businesses transform lives, or create art that will last far beyond their lifespan, while others die without ever truly living.
The average life expectancy for men in the U.S. is 76.
How many amazing vacations do you have left? How many jaw-dropping moments? How many fantastic meals? How many Super Bowls?
What about time with your parents or older relatives? It's easy to forget to call or miss an important event because "life happens," but if you realize you may have already used 95% of your in-person time with that person, doesn't it become more special?
The Time Value of Time
In many senses time is relative.
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand this quote from Einstein.
" When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
It is about more than perception.
Here is something that highlights the relative value of time.
- To understand the value of a year, talk to a student who has failed an important exam.
- To understand the value of a month, talk to a mother who has given birth to a baby a month prematurely.
- To understand the value of a week, talk to the publisher of a weekly newspaper.
- To understand the value of an hour, talk to a couple in love who are separated and want only to be together again.
- To understand the value of a minute, talk to someone who has just missed their train or plane flight.
- To understand the value of a second, talk to someone who has lost a loved one in an accident.
- And to understand the value of a millisecond, talk to someone who won the silver medal at the Olympic Games.
Time waits for no one. So it is important to remember to make the best use of the time you have.
A Change of Pace:
When I jog, the beginning and the end are the hardest for me. Yet, after I find that initial pace and settle into a comfortable rhythm, most of the run is relatively painless. My mind and body switch to nearly automatic modes, and I have time to think about many things.
Work is similar in many respects. Once a team gets into a rhythm, work and progress become somewhat automatic. Breaking inertia is a challenge, but people recognize that it's a challenge. The more insidious problem is failing to recognize that the work rhythm that's comfortable and produces progress is still a rut. It doesn't stretch and challenge the team to strive for more. Yet, this stretching is what drives innovation. Sometimes you need to sprint. Other times you need to jog. Sometimes you need to rest ... but you won't get different results if you continue to do the same things the same way.
Changing your pace can be an incredible catalyst to create change, and better take advantage of the life you have left.
In my TEDx talk, I mentioned "living like you only have a year left," and how much more "life" we got out of the last part of my Dad's life.
How do you replicate that?
To start, think of some of the activities you do, places you go, and special experiences that make you feel like your best self.
- Hitting flow-state and creating something new and exciting;
- Taking an amazing vacation and experiencing something completely new;
- Having a moment with someone you love that makes you stop and say - Wow!
- Making a difference in someone's day or giving back to your community;
- Experiencing peace and relaxation;
- Feeling pure joy.
It's easy to get lost and take for granted these moments when they happen, but when you think about how much time you have left, they take a whole new meaning.
What would it take for you to get the most out of your life, today? How can you maximize the time you have left? Fill it with the best experiences, activities, and people you can.
To start, think about different time frames:
- What activities could you commit to doing at least once a year?
- What activities could you commit to doing at least once a month?
- What activities could you commit to doing at least once a week?
- What activities could you commit to doing at least once a day?
Make those lists ... it is a simple way to get a better return on the time value of your life.
My Thoughts on Deepseek as an AI Entrepreneur & Hedge Fund Manager
Every now and then, a moment comes along that forces everyone to stop and rethink what they thought they knew. DeepSeek—a relatively unknown AI startup—just delivered one of those moments.
Imagine this: a company most people had never heard of before last week claimed to have built a cutting-edge AI model for just $5.6 million – and they made it open source. Meanwhile, industry giants like Meta, Google, and OpenAI spend hundreds of millions—sometimes billions—on similar efforts. The implications are massive, and investors felt it immediately.
Within hours, Nvidia’s stock price plunged 16.86%, wiping out over $600 billion in market value. Other AI-heavy stocks followed suit. The reaction? Panic, speculation, and a flood of questions:
What’s happening here isn’t just a new startup making waves. It’s a fundamental shift in how AI is built—and it could change the competitive landscape for years to come.
What makes DeepSeek different?
To me, the main point is that recently, AI companies have been treating LLMs like an arms race—the more GPUs, the better. That’s part of why LLMs have become so expensive. Meanwhile, DeepSeek took an efficiency-first approach that reduced computational waste and more efficiently used GPU resources.
It’s not just a technical breakthrough, it’s now the blueprint for future AI development. You no longer need to stock up on Nvidia’s best GPUs to have an advantage.
But that begs the question: Will the demand for high-end GPUs decline if AI processing needs start shrinking? If other AI companies also use efficiency-first architecture, will Nvidia’s dominance weaken?
From my perspective, the answer is obviously no. I’m excited about a world where the companies that can afford to spend the most money don’t necessarily win. Increased accessibility to high-performing AI models means more entrepreneurs can join the space and create new businesses with novel approaches.
AI isn’t just about computing power anymore – it’s about creativity. Constraints have always bred innovation, and as companies begin to do more with less, I think you’ll see a shift in the balance of power.
What about America and data privacy?
Despite my excitement about the AI boom, there are valid privacy fears. When I discussed TikTok a few weeks ago, it was clear that the U.S. was taking a stronger stand on protecting its citizens from foreign interference. DeepSeek presents challenges.
To start, it does censor content deemed sensitive by the Chinese government – that also means that particular historical and political topics are met with ambiguous or sanitized responses.
It collects all of your user inputs, any personal information you share, and technical details like your keystroke patterns. They do explicitly tell you this in their Terms of Service. The data is stored in China, raising concerns about legal oversight and the country’s privacy laws.
You likely have very little recourse if your data is accessed by or shared with external entities.
My Thoughts
First, DeepSeek is undoubtedly exciting. Even if they’ve embellished their story, the result is impressive. However, it’s also not the end of Nvidia or American-based AI companies.
Knowing when to sprint and when to jog is an important skill.
AI is undoubtedly shaping our digital world, and DeepSeek is a massive force function in the industry. It is ultimately a good thing for AI (yes, even the Chinese competition).
However, you should probably ask yourself if the benefits of using it outweigh the risks.
When I coach people on using generative AI, I’ve always urged caution about sharing your sensitive IP with publicly hosted GPTs. Even with OpenAI or Meta, there are clear risks.
It’s also clear that China isn’t the only entity trying to track you or better use your data. As a reminder, if you don’t know how someone is making money off a product … you’re the product. They’re commoditizing you and your data.
It’s important to be proactive, and it seems to become even more important every week. The landscape is shifting so quickly.
Even so, you have time.
Being proactive also means being smart. As a user of the tools, you don’t need to switch to DeepSeek. Even as a non-tech entrepreneur, now is the time to explore the AI uses that excite you.
If you’re like me and an entrepreneur in the space, you should certainly take the lessons from DeepSeek and think about how to apply them to your ecosystem.
But my #1 lesson for AI adoption is the same as my #1 lesson for building any habit: Start small and start in a way that gives you energy.
Humans are good at seeing big changes on the horizon but notoriously bad at predicting what those changes will be.
The goal isn’t to be so fast that you beat everyone else … just to be fast enough not to be left behind.
Onwards!
Posted at 11:32 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Gadgets, Market Commentary, Science, Trading, Trading Tools, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
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