Understanding Human Nature

I have been studying the work of Alfred Adler. His writing correlates with Viktor Frankl’s and, to a certain extent, Stoicism. Adler talks about self-reliance and how our personalities take form depending on our reactions towards life.

The ability to face life with courage and to be calm is the ultimate freedom. Irrespective of your circumstances.

There are days in which we are sleep deprived, overworked, and still have to take care of important tasks. Every day you must pay attention to your loved ones.

There are moments where I wish I had more money to travel with more comfort. A bigger house, less business drama, more founders that figure things out by themselves, etc.

If I face all the problems in my life with fear and complain about them, I will not evolve. You must face adversity with gratitude.

Find a way to have a healthy behavior with life’s challenges.

Tranquility to move forward irrespective of circumstances.

You will start finding joy in life when you lose the fear of death.

I continue to believe that discipline is the best path to freedom.

After losing the fear of death I started enjoying life to the fullest.

We are coming out of a massive work sprint at ONEVC, now with another new GP joining full-time (welcome Bruno Yoshimura!) and wrapping up the final close of the fund while closing on new investments. I have dropped balls with several special and incredible founders since there is only so much time in one day. Nobody is perfect, but we are all doing our best.

My health is a bit deprecated and I can't wait to take time off to recharge. I will be out for most of July. Not 1-2 days of "rest"… I am taking a couple of weeks to expand my creativity and refresh the brain, after 2 years of very intensive work.

Irrespective of what happens to you, understand that when it comes to the reaction, you'll always have a choice.

I found this excerpt helpful to frame Adler’s work.

Onward. It is amazing to be alive.

“We have been at some length to show how we can understand the personality of the individual only when we see him in his context, and judge him in his particular situation in the world. By situation we mean his place in the cosmos, and his attitude toward his environment and the problems of life, such as the challenges of occupation, contact, and union with his fellow men, which are inherent in his being. In this way, we have been able to determine that the impressions which storm in upon every individual from the earliest days of his infancy influence his attitude throughout his whole life. One can determine how a child stands in relation to life a few months after his birth. It is impossible to confuse the behavior of two infants after these months because they have already demonstrated a well-defined pattern which becomes clearer as they develop. Variations from the pattern do not occur. The child's psychic activity becomes increasingly permeated by his social relationships.”

— Alfred Adler, Understanding Human Nature