Some Things I’m Never Going To Do

A list of things I never plan on doing:

I will never go all in or all out with my portfolio. I’m never going to take my entire portfolio to cash because I’m worried about a crash or some terrible economic outcome.

Sure, I hold the majority of my investment portfolio in stocks but it’s diversified across geography, market cap and strategy. Plus I also have plenty of cash and a substantial investment in real estate.

I believe in creating an investment plan that is durable enough to withstand a variety of environments, not trying to predict what’s going to happen in advance.

Going to extremes can make it easier to hit a home run but you’re also more likely to strike out.

I will never get rich overnight. It’s not as sexy but I’m okay with building wealth slowly.

I will never see the Lions make it to the Super Bowl. I’m convinced the franchise is cursed.

I will never be certain about the future. I’ve read too much about the past to be confident about the future. History is full of unpredictable events so the only thing I am confident about is that the future will be full of them too.

I will never worship a number in my portfolio. I’ve witnessed far too many people get hung up on their portfolio’s market value to the point where they can’t force themselves to spend their own money for fear of falling below a certain threshold.

The whole point of saving and investing is delaying gratification in the present to enjoy some gratification in the future.

I’m spending my money.

I will never buy premium gas. Seems like a scam to me (this could also be tied to the fact that I’ll never buy a premium vehicle).

I will never go deep sea scuba diving. I read Shadow Divers. I’m not messing around with the bends and nitrogen gas in my bloodstream. Nope.

I will never drink coffee. I’ve made it this far. Why start now?

I will never stop exercising, writing, reading or drinking. Exercise is my favorite form of meditation. Writing is my favorite form of learning. Reading is my favorite respite from all the screens. And drinking is one of my favorite ways to relax, socialize, celebrate or drown my sorrows.

I’m never going to be at the forefront of a technological revolution. I’m not an ear-to-the-ground guy when it comes to new technologies.

I’ve been following the AI buildout but consider myself more of a dabbler than a power user of the LLMs. But it feels like I’m constantly being bombarded by the early adopters who think they have it all figured out:

You have to use the newest version of ChatGPT! No you have to use Claude now! Actually Perplexity is the best model! Sorry now it’s DeepSeek!

It’s fascinating to watch the AI revolution play out in real-time because it shows just how little anyone actually knows. While the tech industry was busy trying to sell us on crypto and the metaverse, OpenAI quietly launched and turned the world on its head.

Now we have a new LLM from China that comes out of nowhere, knocks the big tech stocks down a peg and completely changes how people view this space.

The tech people didn’t see this coming. The stock market didn’t see this coming. Even the guy who created DeepSeek didn’t see this coming. Greg Zuckerman profiled DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng at The Wall Street Journal:

Liang has been keeping a low profile and was surprised to see DeepSeek turn into a frenzy overnight, they said.

The sudden surge of people using DeepSeek’s models to pose queries caught Liang and the company off guard, and DeepSeek’s services have repeatedly crashed since Sunday. Liang worked with his team to address the demand before taking a break for the Lunar New Year holiday in China.

If the people who work directly in AI can’t figure this out I don’t see how anyone on the outside looking in will.

Just tell me when we can all have the Scarlett Johannson AI personal assistant from Her in our ear and I’ll dive in head first.

I will never let AI engulf my entire life. The world will certainly change if everyone has their own AI bot to make them more efficient. I’m sure my wife would love to have a personal assistant to help her plan out our kids’ calendar of practices, games and playdates.

Life will be easier when we can tell our AI assistant to book our travel, restaurants and business trips. Day-to-day tasks on the job will also be more efficient when you have a computer program that will never get tired, irritated or sick of your constant requests.

I’m sure there are dozens of ways this will impact our lives that no one is even considering at the moment. I’m all for it.

But I don’t see AI upending the things that truly matter in my life — watching my kids play sports, playing catch with my son, shooting hoops with my daughters, boating, taking the dog for a walk, going for a run, traveling, hanging out at the lake, etc.

The hope is that AI will allow us all to do more of the things that matter most.

At least that’s my hope.

Further Reading:
Some Things I Don’t Want When I Grow Up