In today’s world it sometimes bothers me to see that everyone concerns themselves with being “Cool” rather than just being themselves most of the time. Growing up and all throughout school including medical school, I have always been seen by my peers as one of the cool kids. I never asked for it, and I really don’t like to be the center of attention.
I am naturally athletic, and I can dunk a basketball at only 5’10”. I only weigh 165-170lbs but I can bench press around 325lbs. Since I grew up with a wealthy Dad, I always had “cool” and nice things. The truth is though I only play basketball because I enjoy playing it so much, and it is a great way to make friends. I only lift weights to stay in shape. The nice clothes that my Dad and Mom used to encourage me to wear, I don’t find comfortable. I prefer to go around town in my gym shorts and an old loose fitting gym shirt. Sometimes I get tired of the Brooks Brothers and Burberry clothes. It draws too much attention.
My immediate family and my few very close friends know that I am one of the biggest nerds in existence though. If I could stop the world for a few days and just relax, I would probably spend those days playing Halo on Xbox, Mega Man X or Mega Man 7 on SNES, and/or Pokemon FireRed or LeafGreen on the Nintendo DS. Halo has an epic story line that I love playing through. It is even better when I play with someone like my brother who gets into it just as much as I do. We may take a break to go grab food or go to the park with our Mom and our pets, but we can often spend most of the day playing video games if we have no responsibilities to tend to. As for Mega Man X and Mega Man 7… they are two of the best Mega Man games in my opinion. Mega Man X is loved by many people so that is no surprise, but Mega Man 7 gets crushed by critics for some reason. No one I know enjoys playing those as much as I do. It’s a shame. They are two classic games. As for Pokemon…I have always been a Pokemon fan. I grew up playing the original Red and Blue games on Game Boy. When the revamped Pokemon FireRed came out, I gave it a shot one summer, and I fell in love with the game all over again.
I also have an enormous Pokemon card collection from my childhood. I have several first edition Charizard cards and literally every card from the early sets and many duplicates, triplicates, et cetera. I have 500+ Holographic cards alone. While Charizard 4/102 may be one of the most recognizable cards in the game, I think Flareon 3/64 is one of the prettiest cards.
Most of my friends just find these nerdly facts of my life to be easy sources for jokes, and I often laugh with them. However, some people literally cannot associate themselves with things that are not “cool.” When I was younger everyone thought I was weird for reading and studying topics such as investing and economics while they thought the video games and Pokemon cards were cool. Now it is quite the opposite. Regardless of what people think, I have always based my decisions on what I want out of life and what I enjoy.
Right now I am in one my lazy, lounge around moods. I have been doing everything in my gym shorts and old shirts, and I have been enjoying the simple things in my life rather than focusing on building wealth and attaining luxurious merchandise. It is a wonderful state of mind. If I lost 90% of my net worth tomorrow, yet I maintained my current state of mind, I wouldn’t mind one bit. I think I am at one of those transitional times in my life. I am going from caring about annual returns and dividend yields to things like video games and watching sunsets on the beach weather permitting. Of course, all of the financial aspects of my life will take care of themselves as it doesn’t take much for me to keep track and maintain all of that stuff. I have been embracing the fact that I am a giant nerd by spending my day off from surgery playing Mega Man X and admiring some old Pokemon cards. Investing and building wealth is a hobby of mine and a challenge to me, so it will continue, but one day I may find myself with tens of millions of dollars and not know what to do with it if I maintain this current minimalist mindset. It will be nice to have financial freedom though and the ability to help others in the world!
“The secret to happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
-Socrates
Money and Medicine for Millenials 