I'm No Economist #13: 🧘‍♂️ 2022 Reflections: Ikigai, Effort Focus Vs. Results Focus, Portfolio Update

Take no advice from me. I'm No Economist

Dec 24, 2022

Welcome to the last 2022 edition of I'm No Economist 🎉

This is a very special, reflexive one. Before you read my humble bragging for the year, please share with your friends and help support my work!

I get very reflexive at the end of each year. This year has been a special one for me because for the first time I found a project I could focus more on efforts than on its results.

Before the first edition of I'm No Economist, I did an exercise on what I would love to do. I wanted to work on something that would generate value for others, but something that would at the same time highlight my interests in various topics.

Also before this newsletter, I have never done as much reflection before starting something, all the decisions I've made thus far were merely out of necessity. I just kept going as what needed to be done was actually done.

It was like this when I chose my college degree. I did not make a deep reflection before deciding on what to study, and although I was not too fond of every minute of it, I knew I had to finish it.

It was also like that when I started my digital marketing agency. I didn't know how to do that, but thankfully it was one of the most challenging and edifying experiences I had, that shaped my professional, financial and personal future.

I also started writing projects that did not have a bright outcome. I wrote poetry back in high school and freshman year at uni, and I wrote about minimalism and stoicism around 2 and a half years ago. I also started collab content projects that never took off around 1 year ago.

These projects taught me many things about myself. The first is that I needed to reflect on what would make my heart pump every time I was working on it. And the second is that I needed to focus on effort more than on results.

Something suddenly changed in me

Something really changed in me when in October 2021 I quit my dream job working at a VC firm that I had just joined, about 40 days prior. At that moment, I was simply not ready to forgo other high-paying job offers - for careers I was not particularly passionate about - but that would help me support my newly started personal life with my then fiancé, now wife - to whom I owe most of my most recent personal and professional development.

She was the one who believed and supported us financially for 7 years while I was venturing as a low-income entrepreneur on a quest for a successful exit - that eventually happened - but that was stressful for the better part of 3 years on both of us.

Turning down my dream job was one of the hardest choices in my life. But making such a hard choice makes one prioritize other important aspects of life. Truth is that I knew I had an above-average skillset that would get satisfactory pay while I developed skills to work on something I loved.

My 2022 goal with I'm No Economist

This reflexive exercise I made back in October 2021 is called Ikigai. I asked myself for days on end what were the things that:

I loved doing;
I was good at;
The world needed;
I would get paid for.

That's how I'm No Economist was born. ~~Only it was born 5 months after that first reflection exercise.~~

Ikigai – the Japanese art of finding your true purpose | UAL

I had only one goal: to launch 20 editions by the end of the year. I knew it was ambitious and that I would be happy if I could reach only half of it.

Now, as of December 24th, 2022, I'm super proud of the 13 editions launched - well, 14 if I consider edition #7 parts 1 and 2 - and extremely grateful for the learnings and support from the readers of this humble, yet ambitious project.

Paradoxes

Turns out that, as I focused on effort vs results, results came. Who'd of thought, huh?

I consider I'm No Economist to be a boutique newsletter, still. Although a very niched audience in the financial markets in Latam (Family Offices, M&A executives, VCs and PEs), it's generating incredible conversations with a good portion of the 100 subscribers that get a new edition every 30 days on average (yeah exactly 100 for the first 9 months, isn't it funny).

I know 100 people may seem small, but what stokes me is the growth it gets only from being posted here in Substack and as articles on my personal Linkedin - where it gets 1,000s of impressions from the most interesting people in Wealth Management, PE, M&A, VC, and startup leaders around the globe.

Another impressive stat is that when it started growing north of 50 subscribers, the e-mail open rate kept above 50%, while the average Substack open rate is around 15-25%, thus proving to be engaging, informative, and fun for readers. For that, I'm over the moon with gratitude for the support from all of you!

Doing what you love makes you good at it

Turns out I'm never going to be as good as a professional performance marketer as I am as an amateur macro investor. I'm No Economist is the best way I found to build my investment track record while I can provide for my family with my full-time job.

Here's the proof…

In the year of startup markdowns and melting crypto, I was able to turn a good profit (not yet TVPI) on my alternative assets portfolio with angel investments - told you so - and keep my losses in crypto at only -9,89% while the market saw a -64% from Bitcoin YTD.

My commodities (gold & silver) and stocks portfolio didn't go anywhere since I kept only optionality during the year because I'm waiting for a deeper bottom in both the U.S. and Brazil markets in the next year or so.

And I'm not putting my REITs portfolio there, because I used 2022 as the accumulation year. Didn't feel it was ready to be shown yet. However, is not going so great as interest rates rise - it is around -2% YTD, which is not too bad either.

Now that I humblebragged enough

I can not express well enough how grateful I am for your support this year. I hope to see you again in 2023 when I'll use all the learnings from this year's editions to bring you up to date with all that's going on in the financial markets.

I'm working on ways to make I'm No Economist even more entertaining, informative, and actionable for the next year. Hopefully, I'll be able to provide even more value to you and your clients, investors, and founders.

For now, I'm going to enjoy Christmas and New Year's Eve with my family. Hope you enjoy yours too!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Talk soon,