Well I work out daily. I feel like I have to do it. So, either play tennis or go running or lift weights or something like that
Lauren Templeton
Emphasis mine, but Lauren’s need to workout or be active in some way everyday is strangely familiar.
I don’t actually work out daily but I would love to. My primary exercise of choice is weightlifting. The maximum amount of times per week I can lift without crossing the threshold of over-exercising is four times.
Trust me I’ve found out the hard way.
Even then I tend to only lift for a block of about six or seven weeks, then switch focus to meditating.
Just in the same way that lifting weights leads to a strong body and mind, resetting my nervous system with meditation aids clear thinking, which is what I think Lauren is getting at.
Working out daily: a behavioural finance practice
To ‘work out daily’, I pursue, art making, growing flowers and vegetables from seed, reading, praying, spending time in nature, and spending time with other men away from family commitments and financial markets.
It’s pure bliss to completely switch off from balance sheets and the global financial news flow.
To me working out daily means taking time out for yourself every single day to do something that John Wineland describes as soul-nourishing for men:
The masculine needs four key nutrients for the nervous system to truly ground and reset. The first is time alone with no demands, which is not the same as meditation. The second is creating time to receive the gifts of the natural world. Third is time spent in depth and reflection with other men. Which is even better when there’s no demands and nature is involved…the fourth is making yourself available for the boundless energy in your feminine partner.
John Wineland
John typically works with self-identified hetro men and women, but mostly men, in the realm of love, relationships and truly connecting with the core of who you are from a masculine or feminine perspective.
Grounding your nervous system by engaging in his four key practices and meditation is the way to do it. I’ve adapted it to include lifting and suit my own wants and desires but the principle remains the same.
Working out daily is to swap a cluttered, tense, and unconscious mind and body with a calm, awakened consciousness, and relaxation. I’ve found that this state of consciousness is vital to remaining objective not only in the value investing research process but to decision-making in the remaining aspects of your daily life.
This is the essence of my behavioural finance practice.