The purpose of volatility is to make people make stupid decisions.

In most cases, the boss thinks about the employees they like the best, and gives raises to them, regardless of job performance. Your job is not your job. Your job is to be friends with your boss. Go out to lunch, go golfing, do what you have to do; but if you don’t have a good personal relationship with your boss, if your boss personally dislikes

If you invest in an index, you get the returns of the index, which is very good; but you also get the volatility of the index, which is bad. If you invest in the stock market, as represented by a broad market index fund, you will experience all the volatility of the stock market—the ups and downs, the highs and lows. And so will your emotions.

It works because it has the best risk/reward characteristics of any portfolio. It allows you to stay invested.

What I am in search of is scalable businesses. An internet newsletter is a scalable business. It takes the same effort to write one copy as it does a million copies. The business can grow rapidly, without much increase in overhead. If you look at all the really profitable businesses out there, they are all scalable, weightless businesses.

In fact, all of these things require effort: getting a raise; working more hours; getting a new job. I can tell you one thing for certain—money is not going to simply come to you. You have to go out and get it. You have to take action.

And the business has suffered. They are no longer dynamic, risk-taking entities. In the 2000s, they would spend money on technology, payroll, and client entertainment—because they always knew they would make more. Now, no more holiday parties. Make sure you work in an industry that still has holiday parties.

Remember, volatility is the enemy; the purpose of volatility is to make people make stupid decisions. Volatility is also the enemy of your lizard brain. It stresses you out, and makes you feel anxious.

When I think of making more money, that’s the first thing that I think of—all the good that I can do with it. You don’t have the ability to do any of these things if you don’t want money.