Hey, I'm Rohan! Thanks for reading. Thursday Thoughts is a weekly newsletter where I share one thought I’ve been pondering during the week and then recommend 4 other random finds from across the internet. Not yet subscribed? Do so here:

In this week’s issue we will cover:

• The Value of A Billion Seconds

• Thomas Jefferson’s Canons of Conduct in Life

• One Big Idea by David Perell

• Minimalism by Matt D’Avella and The Minimalists

• A Quote From Seneca

The Value of a Billion Seconds

I came across a gem of an episode from The Tim Ferris Show this week on a podcast he did with Graham Duncan in 2019 from this tweet from Blake Robbins.

In the conversation that he has with Tim, Graham Duncan talks about the concept of Time Billionaires. In a larger point about the difference between millionaires and billionaires, he says that most people don't appreciate the difference between a million and a billion seconds.

He goes on to quantify this difference between a million and a billion seconds: A million seconds is about 12 days. A billion seconds, on the other hand, is a whopping 32 years.

This concept is one of those things that blows your mind when you take the time to quantify and think about what the results mean.

Duncan then goes on to really speak out specifically to young people and 20-year-olds:

This was quite an eye-opener for me. As a 20-year-old, it's easy to be down on ourselves because we do not have too many material resources. We have no money, young relationships, and many of us don't even have a separate conditioner and shampoo.

However, while we lack a lot of material resources, we are extremely blessed with a wealth of time: a couple of billion seconds as we can expect to live past our eighties in our old age.

We often hear that old adage that time is the most valuable resource, therefore it's criminal to waste it, therefore don't throw away the tens of thousands of other seconds in the day because someone was a jerk to you for 10 seconds. As much as our mothers tell us not to waste time, I at least seem to not take it to heart.

However, stumbling upon this concept that all the 20-year-olds on the planet have actually been secret time billionaires is a pretty enlightening concept to me. Time, as it's said, is the great equalizer after all.

We all have an abundance of time ahead of us, billions of seconds that Jeff Bezos would part with a large portion of his billions of cash to acquire from us. Just buying a couple of million seconds of my time, would give him 6 more years to live his life. A lot can be achieved in 6 years. Realizing this puts the onus on me to make the most of these seconds and stop wasting them.

It's all about using that time effectively and comes down to one question:

What am I doing with my most important resource?

Thomas Jefferson’s Dozen Canons of Conduct in Life

This Monday's Daily Stoic introduced me to these 12 maxims of Thomas Jefferson that he wrote when he was 68 years old to advise his 12-year-old granddaughter. Many of the rules that he put to paper 209 years ago are still applicable in our everyday life:

A Dozen Canons of Conduct in Life

1. Never put off to tomorrow what you can do to-day.

2. Never trouble another with what you can do yourself

3. Never spend your money before you have it

4. Never buy a thing you do not want, because it is cheap, it will be dear to you.

5. Take care of your cents: Dollars will take care of themselves!

6. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.

7. We never repent of having eat[en] too little.

8. Nothing is troublesome that one does willingly.

9. How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened

10. Take things always by their smooth handle. (Look on the bright side)

11. Think as you please, & so let others, & you will have no disputes.

12. When angry, count 10. before you speak; if very angry, 100.

It's interesting because looking back now in hindsight, Jefferson did not live up to all of the things that he himself prescribed. Having owned slaves, Jefferson seems quite hypocritical with his Number 2 rule. Besides, he was known for being prideful and taking on debt during his life. "Do as I say, not as I do" I guess. All the same, these 12 maxims are still as timeless as ever and something we can all strive to implement in our own lives.

One Big Idea - by David Perrell

I came across this excellent essay by David this week about the concept of One Big Idea. The concept is a spin-off of Charlie Munger's advice to "Take a simple idea and take it seriously." Using Rich Barton (a serial entrepreneur and founder of Expedia, Zillow, and Glassdoor) as an example, David explains that numerous successful people achieve what they do because they one unique way of looking at the world and solve problems based on that creed. For Rich Barton, he concentrated on "bringing power to the people" and therefore gave them access to data in the travel, real estate, and recruiting industries through his companies rather than hoard information like so many other corporations do. David makes a great case for trying to find your unique big idea that influences the way that you look at the world, thereby enabling you to solve problems that other people might not even see in your unique way.

Minimalism Documentary on Netflix

Matt D'Avella is one of my favorite YouTubers, but I hadn't seen the documentary that put him on the map until this week. Minimalism is a concept that I love when it comes to design but when applied to personal belongings - it becomes a different story. It can sometimes come off like an unnecessarily restricting ideology, but this documentary changed my opinions about it.

The Minimalists - Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus both have an incredible story and have gone through a lot on the journey from unstable family life, to corporate suits, to the Minimalists they are today. Their message is something that I think a lot of people can take value from and has made me look around my room and reflect on what I could live without.

For anybody interested in Minimalism or living a better life, the documentary is a great watch on Netflix. I would like to leave you with one quote from it:

Quote of the Week

That’s all for this week. Please let me know your feedback on how to improve this newsletter. Would love to chat with you to make sure that each issue is providing you value. If this is your first time reading and you liked it consider subscribing! Until next week - stay safe!