The Geopolitics Explained 2023 Review
Good Books, Lessons From This Year, And People To Thank
Some quick notes before we start:
The Christmas Sale is still active. If you were considering a paid membership, prices are currently £4 per month or £40 for the year. These prices won’t be seen again so if you wish to secure your membership, you’ll be locked in at this price for as long as you hold your membership. The deal will end on January 1st, with prices returning to £6 per month and £60 for the year.
I’ll be taking the week off after this post, and no posts are scheduled for release. I’ll return with the Geopolitics and Markets Review on January 1st.
I’d usually release this kind of post on my second newsletter, Something Greater. For today, I decided I want more people to see it since I’ll take the week off next week and this will tie up the year for Geopolitics Explained. If you enjoy it, head over to Something Greater to find more.
I find myself in a rather reflective mood as we approach year-end. I think it’s difficult not to, especially in the week between Christmas and New Year when nobody knows what’s going on, who they are, or why they exist.
Every year during this period, I complete a Yearly Review. This will be my third year, and it’s a great way to track progress realistically. We can easily focus on the short-term, stressing if we haven’t gained as many readers this month as we did the month prior, or perhaps our posts didn’t get as many likes this week when compared to last week.
A Yearly Review allows us to get into the long-term mindset. It’s here that we can truly see how far we’ve come and how much progress we’ve made.
There is also value in short-term thinking. Every weekday I review the day using various metrics. The day reviews help to drive my weekly journalling, which builds up to drive the yearly review. Short-term thinking is something we can’t avoid. But it shouldn’t drive us. We can best partake in short-term thinking when it complements our long-term thinking.
During this year, there are many things I’ve changed my mind on, and a few principles and mental models I’ve picked up along the way that have become a huge part of who I am. These are lessons that will help drive my yearly review.
As a 25-year-old with very little left to learn about the world, I’ve decided to instil this wisdom in you all.
Of course, I joke. I find I learn best when I write. These are lessons learned this year, that I hope to remember as we head into 2024.
Lesson 1: What I truly know, is nothing.
There comes a certain level of self-awareness with knowing that we truly know nothing. The cycle of knowing repeats itself throughout our lives. Like an infinite Dunning-Kruger Effect. We don’t know something, then we fail, and we know we don’t know something. We’ll then truly know something, then some other concept comes along to help us realise we truly know nothing yet again. The cycle repeats if we pursue self-learning and improvement every day. There are always things to know.
Lesson 2: There’s little we can control. Focus only on what you can.
You can’t control other people. That removes a lot of stress from our lives. If you can’t control others, don’t try. You can control your thoughts, your self-love, your schedule, and how you treat others. Focus on this individually and you’ll find your relationships improve. You’ll naturally grow closer with those you’re aligned with since you won’t try to change them. You’ll accept them for who they are.
Lesson 3: Freedom is a multi-term equation, and the answer is individual.
“We are attached to our smartphones not liberated by them.”
“We are obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder not freed by the income it yields.”
“We are bound by material possessions not uplifted by their utility and beauty.”
Freedom is to be content and at peace with life. We don’t know why we’re here, or what we’re doing most of the time, but that’s ok.
Freedom is Money X Time X Mobility. There are a few caveats to this. Firstly, know what is enough. Secondly, money is needed. Consider how much of this you need. Cut out expensive habits that don’t bring you peace, and find less expensive habits that do. Start with a simple step. How can you find an extra half an hour in your life this week for free time? Aim to increase this over time.
Lesson 4: Track your failures in life and learn from them.
Mistakes are a good thing. Make them. Learn from them. Even better, learn from other people’s mistakes so you never make them. This supports the importance of reading history. There are around 120 billion people that have ever existed. There are a lot of mistakes involved in 120 billion people, so study them.
Lesson 5: Track your wins and revisit them in low times to see how far you’ve come.
Sometimes, we can lose focus and motivation to pursue long-term thinking. Tracking your wins acts as a motivating factor when you need it. I write a weekly list of my wins from the previous week, and it can be the smallest thing. Looking back at this gives us a guide to how far we’ve come, and can help us to continue pushing.
Lesson 6: The only battle is the battle against yourself from yesterday. Each day, learn. Be better than yourself from yesterday.
Discipline and habits are vital for this. It can seem like you’re not making any progress by drinking 2 litres of water a day, or by screaming every time you step into a cold shower. This is another element where long-term thinking in life benefits us. Over time, these disciplines and habits change us, certainly over a year they do.
Another pitfall is we look at others in our lives and compare ourselves to where they are and what they’re doing. We think if we aren’t doing what they’re doing, we’re falling behind. We all run our own race. Some of us are hares, but some feel better represented by the tortoise. It doesn’t matter who wins the race in the story, what matters is the tortoise is the one who never stops.
Lesson 7: Cut yourself some slack.
Cut yourself some slack. By thinking long-term, any short-term mishaps are less important. We can still learn from them, but often they seem bigger problems than they are. Like everything, they eventually pass.
Over time, you’ll find any mistake you make becomes a good thing. It’s an opportunity to learn.
Lesson 8: There exists good and bad discomfort. Pursue good discomfort.
Would you rather try and fail, or not try at all and regret later?
Lesson 9: Every situation has trade-offs. We have to choose the trade-offs we want to tolerate.
It’s easy to sit in our present situation we dislike and say the grass is greener on the other side. The truth is the grass is multicoloured. Fun, right?
Some patches of grass are greener than our current pasture, but others are areas of dying grass.
Every situation has good and bad aspects. The best trade-offs are those where the good aspects outweigh the bad aspects and contribute to our overall well-being.
In every situation, consider the trade-offs.
Lesson 10: Don’t try to be clever, try to not be an idiot.
A Charlie Munger classic. Trying to be clever naturally puts us on a path to assuming we know things we don’t. Remember, we truly know nothing.
Lesson 11: “People will forget what you said or did, but remember how you made them feel.”
This is one I’ve learnt as I’ve been writing this year. I look back to the start of the year and my writing read like the world’s dullest history book. This Maya Angelou quote had a big impact on me. As a result, I try to write many of my pieces to tell a story. This is something I struggle with.
Outside of writing, consider how we make people feel in our daily interactions. Share a laugh or a bite of food. Be kind at any opportunity. It will help others remember how you made them feel, but it also helps you too.
Lesson 12: Always ask yourself, is this assumption true?
We make assumptions about what we believe is true. This can often not be the case. Don’t blindly assume anything. First, recognise where we are making assumptions, and then challenge their validity.
Concluding Remarks
To any reader who opens all of my ramblings, I greatly appreciate you. As I’m sure fellow writers will understand, sometimes writing can be a lonely endeavour. Those of us with an introverted sense can sometimes relish in this loneliness as it’s when our best ideas come. But sometimes it can be a tough thing to deal with. Writing can be a very self-motivating pursuit. The interaction with readers and writers on Substack makes me feel a lot less lonely and motivates me to carry on. So again, thank you.
We’ve had a great year, and I’m excited to continue to see how things develop. I hope I can add more value for you going forward. Ultimately I write for myself, and I’ll continue to do so. But know if anything I write along the way resonates with you, I’m beyond glad to have you on board.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish you all a happy holiday period and a great end of the year. I’ll be taking the week off fully with no posts scheduled. Thanks again.
Dylan
Geopolitics Explained 2023 Reading List
A list of my favourite books from this year and years previous that I often revisit.
Power of Geography - Tim Marshall
The Asian Financial Crisis - Russell Napier
Connectography - Parag Khanna
Mastery - Robert Greene
Digital Silk Road - Johnathon E.Hillman
Principles For Big Debt Crises - Ray Dalio
The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think - Brianna Weist
Manias, Panics, and Crashes - Charles P. Kindleberger & Robert Z. Aliber
Man’s Search For Meaning - Viktor Frankl
The Fourth Turning - William Strauss & Neil Howe
The Future of Geography - Tim Marshall
Quantum (A Guide For The Perplexed) - Jim Al-Khalili
Principles - Ray Dalio
Principles For Dealing With The Changing World Order - Ray Dalio
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck - Mark Manson
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Eric Jorgensen
There exists a wonderful community of Substack writers I’ve interacted with in the last year. They continue to inspire me every day with their work, and I’d highly recommend you explore their works. Check them out and subscribe below:
Hey Dylan, thank you so much for the mention. It has been wonderful getting connected with you on Substack and reading your work. Wishing you a very Happy 2024.
Loved this post Dylan. Thank you so much for the recommendation. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!