Morning all.
Definitely a significant amount of topics to cover this week:
I promised a partial review of Cry Havoc, Jack Carr’s new thriller based on MACV-SOG in the Vietnam War. I will probably turn that update (Wednesday or Thursday) into a larger book list.
Markets are moving northward again with crypto showing some impressive momentum
Major layoff news including 30,000 from AMZN 0.00%↑ and a good amount from Paramount were announced this week
US Politics are heating up with Mamdani poised to take the win in New York City
We will be covering all of this through the end of this week.
This morning however, I want to explore a topic getting a significant amount of attention and traction online. Yes the title says “Modern Man’s” but this applicable to anyone, it just happens 90% of my audience is men.
The tweet on X below dominated timelines last week and this past weekend. I saw similar threads from those in finance talking about burn out and fulfillment in buy side hedge fund roles, namely the aftermath once someone achieves the title of Portfolio Manager and is close to “having it all”.
Increasingly in the last few years young people seem to have come across a lack of fulfillment and happiness. It’s no coincidence that this has arrived alongside the rapid rise of tech, social media, and the modern wonders we have at our fingertips (Amazon delivery, Seamless, Video Games, Gambling apps, Porn, Dating apps, etc.)
The World Happiness Report 2025 showed the U.S. dropping from 15th in 2024 to 24th in 2025 in the global ranking of national happiness.
There is a robotic trance people find themselves in that seems to be stemming from many areas: relationships, finances, jobs, life in general, and even how to navigate the world we live in now.
The sad fact is many will find any reason they possibly can NOT to make a change or break out of old patterns that could give themselves a chance at a higher level of happiness or fulfillment.
The good news is there are outlier stories that should show us what is possible when people break the status quo trend of simply suppressing their urge to make a change in their lives.
Jonathan Kleisner was a former commodities trader who left his high paying Wall Street career to become a paramedic and rescue medic for the FDNY.
Talk about a 180.
“I was a person who created nothing, gave nothing to anybody”.
He says the move was a chance to escape a previous life that brought him no joy, and to prove himself in another arena.
Today we deviate a bit to a topic that in my opinion, doesn’t receive much if any serious discussion, especially among men.
Nobody gives it much direct thought until they realize (often later in life) that they have significant regret and/or something big is missing from their lives.
I want to explore a few things:
Purpose: The sense that what you’re doing actually matters.
Autonomy: Control over your time, money, and direction.
Connection: Real relationships and community that anchor you.
Progress: The feeling of moving forward “growth over stagnation”
Security: Enough stability to quiet financial anxiety.
And additionally:
What it means to really be “happy”? Does this state exist at all or should you be pursuing other things?
Distractions, noise, and fake fulfillment in the modern world and why 90% of people stay stuck in the same monotonous and shallow cycle
Active changes you can make to become “happier” and eliminate the emotional volatility that seems to plague so many
Many of the concepts we cover in Arb Letter mean nothing without your own peace, without some sense of happiness or contentment with the life you live and how you are spending your time.
What are you pursuing or working on that gives you meaning?
Are you able to end everyday with the satisfaction that comes from challenging work that requires you to grow?
Are you getting closer to your goals or staying in a stagnant decay pattern?
Today we will hopefully examine the common drivers that lead to achieving “happiness” and “fulfillment”.
We will also examine the classic pitfalls that “normies” and the rest of the masses will double down on in the ensuing years, unable to admit to themselves that the short term pain of an honest assessment of what they want in life and how they are tracking towards it is preferable to a lifetime of regret.
The only real test of intelligence is if you get what you want out of life.
— Naval