@Spiritofthepines had a short thread on Twitter calling on dudes, maybe in his age cohort, to essentially man up through a bunch of different activities including lifting weights, hunting and working on dirt bikes. I chimed in, adding reasonable risk taking, splitting firewood, building confidence and helping others. My buddy Phil Bak had a similar thought with "The more I hear about the metaverse and the more time I spend on my phone and computer the more I crave doing real, tactile work. Woodworking, gardening and painting feel like escapes from a digital prison."
I think there is value in these things in the literal sense if you want to look at it that way but a subtler message that I take from all of the above is about simplicity. Seeking simplicity where possible, doing what needs to be done in a basic simple fashion when possible. If simplicity can be maintained then the actual thing that needs doing will probably get done faster and done so with less time spent in your head post-analyzing the task.
This works on so many levels. Related to diet and exercise, everyone knows that "too much" sugar is bad for them even if they don't fully understand what sugar is (anything with carbohydrates, carbs=sugar). Everyone knows they should exercise even if they might not know the most efficient and effective way (traditional cardio does nothing for building/maintaining muscle mass, lifting weights done correctly builds muscle mass and provides cardio). Simple, even if not easy.
In personal finance, everyone knows they should save money and live below their means. People certainly struggle with that but they know. Again it is simple even if it isn't easy.
Simplicity in work should lead to more success in actually fixing the problem. There is also psychic value in performing simple but important work.
We heat our house with propane. In the winter, on cold days we have a fire in our wood burning stove. The above picture is our current wood pile. When we get low in the house I go out to get more. Usually I have split it a little more. It is a simple task but when I am doing it, I don't think about anything else I just empty out for a few minutes like a little reboot. It is potentially hard work, if done for a longer time but either way it is a nice break from the day and to Phil's point requires no electronic visual stimulation.
I get the same sensation deadlifting. Maybe this could be thought of as a sense of Zen, Zen in the simplicity of doing simple, manual tasks to help balance out the electronically stimulated parts of our lives. I certainly spend a lot of time on the computer doing the basics that my job requires along with trying to learn more beyond the basics that my job requires and of course leaving a little time for fun. We all do this to some extent but we should not get away from doing stuff, simple stuff that is important like making a drafty cabin warmer on a cold day or putting in the work to stay fit.
The simplicity, the basics have a direct application to investing. I've long said that for most people a simple portfolio is the best, put differently, if you are managing your own portfolio you should think it's a simple portfolio that is easy to understand. If you hire someone to manage your portfolio then I think they should be able to explain it to you in an easy to understand fashion.
I remember years ago a mutual fund manager coming on CNBC, his fund was wildly complex, placing thousands of trades per day. He couldn't really explain how the fund was positioned, I'm not even sure he was a finance person so much as the boss of the tech and math guys who maintained the algorithm. If something goes wrong, you have no idea what happened as opposed to owning the REIT of a mall operator that drops in value because the stores closed during the pandemic.
The starting point to a simple, Zen-like portfolio is understand that a basic equity index fund and an adequate savings rate can get the job done. The volatility might be tough at times but it can get the job done. If that sort of volatility would be too much, it can be dampened with just a couple of other funds to help smooth out the ride. It can be something you don't have to make a full time job out of, with less time spent in your head post-analyzing the portfolio.
When you get closer to retiring, things will get a little less simple because you will need to manage sequence of return risk (the risk that the stock market goes down a lot right before or right after you retire), figure out an efficient way to draw from your portfolio and navigate the Social Security/Medicare minefield.
Keep it simple whenever possible.
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