The Billionaire Minimalist

Feb 1, 2021

What does it mean when the richest man in the world sells everything?

Elon held true to his word, and sold all of his houses in California. The most interesting man in the world is a minimalist. It seems to be an optimization in order to maximize his productivity for his multiple ginormous BHAGs. Tesla, SpaceX, Solar City, Neuralink, OpenAI, and the Boring Company. It is an inspiration.

How is it possible?

I have been attempting to unpack Elon’s alien productivity and it seems like these are the critical elements:

First Principles Thinking - “It’s important to reason from first principles, rather than analogy.” Elon uses a physics approach to problem solving, reducing the problem to fundamental truths.
Focused Audacious Mission(s) - If you shoot for the stars, you’ll at least hit Mars… and if you shoot for Mars, perhaps the technologies developed can help fix Earth. Elon Musk is sometimes overly optimistic, but having an audacious mission that is making steady progress stands out in this age of doomsday climate activism without first principles thinking or actionable solutions.
“He measures pretty much every major decision by whether or not it brings the day when we have a self sustainable colony on Mars sooner or later.” -Garrett Reisman, astronaut
Timeboxing - In addition to having a fulltime staff and private jet to minimizing downtime, and working 80+ hours a week, Elon uses timeboxing in 5 minute increments to plan his schedule with intense detail.
Ruthless Discernment - Elon does not waste time on BS. He makes sure that his sacred energy is focused on the mission, keeps his conversations in lane, and clearly does not have time for energy vampires.
Not Taking Things Too Seriously - Elon also plays video games to decompress and is a master-level troll on Twitter. He also made sure that the new Tesla Model S can play Cyberpunk 2077.

I was planning to publish this post today, and when woke up here in Taipei, the first thing I saw was that Elon Musk is going to be on Clubhouse tonight.