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Fast Company
13-06-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How to turn jealousy into a career superpower
I've been feeling grossly inadequate, career-wise. Some of this has been driven by my perception that the economy is failing and I'm going down with it, and my addiction to reading industry trends on LinkedIn. Don't get me wrong, I love LinkedIn. The anticipation of logging on and, fingers crossed, earning my long-awaited prize of a new client, job invite or contract is what drives me. But lately, I've been opening up to anxiety-inducing posts like, 'Last night, an AI destroyed my career opportunities, but now I have a million-dollar business,' or 'My startup sold for $20 million, and I'm an investor now,' and 'I built an app that was so dumb, and then a community of millions downloaded it; here's how I did it!' or 'I just earned a massive sponsorship and partnership with [name your favorite celebrity],' and I just lost it. The upside of envy It seems like everyone but me is thriving in their new super-fab job, reaping the benefits of AI, or sharing highly informed commentary on a topic I know nothing about; then I see 15,000 engaging comments on their posts! Some people take selfies, use skin filters, and celeb-obsess on Instagram. But for me, I'm all about LinkedIn and it's been killing my creator spirit. But the real truth is very painful and inconvenient: I am coldly and blisteringly envious. Warren Buffet quipped: 'As an investor, you get something out of all the deadly sins—except for envy. Being envious of someone else is pretty stupid. Wishing them badly, or wishing you did as well as they did—all it does is ruin your day. Doesn't hurt them at all, and there's zero upside to it.' But what if you could prevent this awful feeling, and turn it into a business opportunity? Even when you aren't religious, this quote from the bible makes sense: 'For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice,' James 3:16. Right now, jealousy seems to be at an all-time high in the United States. Some people are having such extreme career and financial success these days. If you are like me, you scratch your head daily and ask yourself, 'How they are doing this amid layoffs and a souring political and economic environment?' And then, 'What am I doing wrong that I can't succeed too? Don't I deserve success? I work so hard.' I imagine that many of you who are reading this are, like me, not feeling successful or satisfied. I know this to be true because after I read yet another 'I'm winning' post, I go right to the comments. I'm not seeing the glass half full when comments I read are lined with the bitterness of regret and the sour taste of envy. You know those posts, the ones where the first comment makes a resentful or snarky complaint about the privileged, the well-connected, or the trust fund baby, or how they slept their way to the top. The morally upright you tries to dismiss such comments, but the envy in us feels some satisfaction knowing that we are not alone. Feeling envious or jealous is no way to work or grow a brand or a business. At some point, it will consume your entrepreneurial spirit, your happiness, and your time, just like it did mine. But I decided to repackage how to approach my feelings of envy, and it placed me on a path of professional and creative recovery. Give these five ideas a try to see if they help you like they are helping me. 1. Define success Have we forgotten how to do this since we are so focused on other people? Do you define success as financial stability and comfort, or do you define it as having optimal health? Maybe you define success as finding hope, happiness, and abundance even in moments of despair? What does the outcome look like and what does it feel like for you? Defining your own version of success can arm you against self-pity, anger, and most certainly envy. Your version of success will be unique to you. After you define what success is for you, put the vision of success at the beginning of a journey map or flowchart and backtrack to get to where you are now. I find that seeing success first can prevent stagnation. As you build toward your vision of success, know that you will find 'envy potholes' filled with people who appear to have already reached the goals you've been trying to reach for yourself. You may feel that the grass is greener on the other side, and that might be true. But this part of the story is about you finding a place in your own heart first—where you can see your own success on paper and begin to act. 2. Embrace social comparison Social media, with repeated use and exposure, makes us feel that we know successful people like they are friends, and that they see us. Social media is not real, and the people we see on it are not our friends. This actually reminds me of the woman on the plane who screamed ' That MF is not real! ' Remember her crash out the next time you see a person social posting their perfection. But scrolling with the intention to conduct research can help you learn, copy, admire, then repackage what you've learned to align with your own brand. Study competitive products, watch how your perceived competitor creates content, read their posts, add them to a social media monitoring platform and run analytics. Study, study, and study more. Become a student of your jealousy. Identifying insights instead of flaws is empowering—not spiritually depleting and extractive. Copy what you are jealous of and apply your own creativity to it. Replacing your competitiveness with curiosity will be a mental and career game changer. Of course, you could put blinders on and never consume anyone else's success content to keep your sanity. But if you are in business and are an entrepreneur like me, you'll need to use all your social media tools for business outreach and to broadcast what problems you're solving for others. 3. Express gratitude Speaking your gratitude out loud instantly changes your energy. Have you noticed that when you doomscroll you forget where you are and your surroundings go dark? I combat this when I do my morning runs. The first 10 minutes I express thanks for my health, my children, whatever is left over in my bank account, my current clients, current contracts—no matter how small, the sun, moon, air, trees, and light. I also use a mantra. One of my mantras is I will bring health and wealth to Birk Creative this quarter. Gratitude and mantras pull me from barbed wire thoughts and back to the present moment, which is always the best place to be. Force yourself to speak positivity into existence. What also works for me is to put away my screens, take a deep breath, relax my shoulders, roll my neck, and stretch. This helps me to remember I am a human and connected to the earth. 4. Beat the algorithm Nope. There's no way to beat the algorithm, but you can try to trick it. Force yourself to not look at, linger on, or tap at content that triggers your envy. Find and like content that is the opposite of what you typically consume. Click 'like' on things that bring you joy, a smile, or a laugh. Just make sure something about it brings you to a place of learning that lines up with your vision of success. Focus on your body's response to this feeling. Does your body relax or tense up? Do you keep scrolling or do you hang on and rewatch? Rewatching content to understand it is better for this exercise than empty scrolling to the next post. There's no way to stop unwanted content on social media channels from showing up, but you can program new content. Delete an app and don't visit it for a few days, maybe a week, and then reinstall it. Visit the profile of a person you are jealous of—make a screen shot and repost something of theirs you like or recreate it to add your own spin. Experiment with this strategy every day for at least a week. As another idea, look for business inspiration quotes and like them or repost them. Prompt an LLM to give you five quotes on positivity, then plug them into Canva to make your own positivity quotes. Write an essay based on the quotes; relate it to your experience and share it. What's your favorite color? Prompt and create a beautiful image online that includes your favorite color and use that image to accompany the post. Here's a prompt: A [fill in your color] flower floats above the ocean, under a [fill in your favorite color] sky with white fluffy clouds [water color painting style]. Use this image to accompany your essay; post it to your favorite social media channel. Stumbling across someone else's path of success can distract you with jealousy. Instead, try to find just one thing to authentically celebrate about the person or product you are jealous of. You know the saying: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Make a habit of finding something nice to say to combat your envy. 5. Create or refine your own brand If there was ever a time to get to know AI it would be right now. Even if you are tired of hearing about professional branding, creating your own is the one thing that will keep you from looking outward and being jealous and force you to look within and reinvent yourself. A professional and personal brand also helps to keep focused on creating your own platform for business growth and personal development. For those with a reservoir of content, go back to your saved articles, essays, YouTube videos, and social media posts, and repurpose them all using an AI tool like Whisper, Opus if it's video, or Perplexity. Copy the words or YouTube link, paste it in the AI tool, and prompt it to create fresh buckets of bite-sized content that you can share. Or feed it to the AI and ask it to analyze your content and write your new professional brand statement. (To accompany this article, I created a playlist on YouTube called Songs to Help You Not Be Jealous.) Use these tools to help you hone in on what you are good at by reviewing your content or by helping you write new content. Be honest, talk about your interests and your skills with these AI tools; use them to help you create a fresh personal brand even if you've never had one. The exercise here is to get you to navel gaze a little bit and focus on your own ideas in order to avoid becoming lost in greener pastures. Transform your thoughts The bottom line is there's no real way to avoid business envy and jealousy. Unless you are the rare person able to feel altruistic joy for someone else's success, it's unrealistic to not wish that what somebody has could be yours. But each time you see something that you're jealous of or envious of, transform your thoughts and actions, learn from them, express gratitude, and create away. Eventually, if you stay consistent with learning, your professional jealousy will turn into greater self-awareness, which most often leads to your vision of success.
Daily Mail
07-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Trump ally proposes shocking Elon Musk-backed move to keep Congress accountable for inflation
One Republican senator is proposing a move that may cost himself and his colleagues their jobs if enacted. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) is proposing a constitutional amendment that would expel all members of Congress whenever inflation is over 3 percent. 'I'm drafting a constitutional amendment To oust every member of Congress Whenever inflation exceeds 3% It's better to disqualify politicians Than for an entire nation to suffer under the yoke of inflation Please let me know what you think And share if you like the idea,' Lee posted on X Wednesday evening. Lee's proposal gained praise from billionaire Elon Musk, who, borrowing a line from the Star Wars Mandalorians, reposted Lee's idea for the amendment with a comment of 'This is the way.' Lee's idea is one that has previously been articulated by another billionaire - Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffet. In a decades old video clip, shared by Lee, Buffet says 'I can end the deficit in five minutes. Just pass a law that says that any time there's a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection.' Lee is one of several Senate Republicans who doesn't support President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' of a spending package which is currently headed to the U.S. Senate after being passed by the House of Representatives back in May. Lee and Musk also joined forces earlier in the week to describe the bill as 'debt slavery' in a back and forth exchange on X. Well said, @elonmusk — Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 4, 2025 The U.S. inflation rate is currently 2.31 percent, but was at the 3 percent mark in January when Trump took office. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is another member of Trump's own party who opposes the substantial additions to the deficit included in the current Republican spending package. New additions to the the national debt are a non-starter for Paul, who has noted that he does want to see the 2017 tax cuts made permanent. Paul has also described the current $5 trillion in new debt as 'Biden spending levels.' 'This will be the largest increase in the debt ceiling ever in our history. We've never raised the debt ceiling without meeting the target. You can say it doesn't directly add to the debt but if you reach the ceiling you'll meet that. We won't discuss it for a year or two. I think it is a terrible idea to do this' Paul told Fox News. Appearing On CBS' Face the Nation last weekend, Paul told host Margaret Brennan that the math in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' 'doesn't really add up.' 'Well, the math doesn't really add up. One of the things this big and beautiful bill is, is it's a vehicle for increasing spending for the military and for the border. It's about $320 billion in new spending,' Paul said. In a nod to Musk and his budget slashing efforts across federal agencies, Paul compared the spending package with the funds anticipated to be saved by spending cuts pushed for by the Depart of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 'That's more than all the DOGE cuts that we found so far. So, the increase in spending put into this bill exceeds the DOGE cuts. When you look just at the border wall, they have $46.5 billion for the border wall,' Paul said on Face the Nation.
Mint
29-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
‘Will you exchange your life with Warren Buffett?' Influencer shares unique perspective
Will you exchange your life with Warren Buffett? The instant reaction could be a resounding yes because Buffett's net worth is nearly $157 billion ( ₹ 13.5 lakh crore) as of May 29, per Forbes. However, an Indian influencer has given a unique perspective. Atal Prabhat Poddar, who often shares life lessons and explains various perspectives of life, posted an Instagram Reel on May 29. It instantly grabbed people's attention. 'Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world. He can talk to anyone in the world. Even Bill Gates is just a phone call away for him,' the influencer says. 'He has properties all over the world. He can choose what sort of lifestyle he wants to adapt to. But, if I ask you to exchange your life with him, you may obviously say no. The reason is his age,' Poddar continues. 'But, if Warren Buffet had an option, he would probably leave all his wealth and choose to be a younger person. You can choose not to be the richest person in the world as you have the biggest wealth: time. More often than not, we miss to appreciate that,' the influencer adds. 'We should start now. Even if you're 50 or 60, it's enough. You can build a business or do whatever you want to do,' he concludes. 'What an amazing perspective,' reacted one Instagram user. 'One of the most valuable lessons you've ever taught,' wrote another. Another wrote, 'Your words are just made my day…' 'You can also become another Warren Buffett or even more than that,' came from another. In January 2023, in a piece called Would You Trade Places with Warren Buffett?, investment banker Owen Stoneking shared a similar perspective. He wrote that most people wouldn't trade youth for money. Life should focus on collecting 'experience points' (XP), not just saving money, he said. He warned against living on autopilot and working too hard. Meaningful experiences, especially in youth or with family, bring true fulfilment. Memories, not just wealth, are life's real treasure, he added. The interest in 'Warren Buffet' was sky-high on Google India: The interest in 'Warren Buffet' was sky-high on Google India Warren Buffett is one of the world's most successful investors and the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. The 94-year-old legend made his fortune by investing in businesses he believed were strong and would grow over time. His investments include Coca-Cola, Apple and American Express. He's known for his simple, long-term approach: buy good companies, hold onto them and let them grow. Buffett avoids risky bets and doesn't follow trends. He trusts research and patience. Despite being a billionaire, he lives a modest life and has pledged to give away most of his wealth to charity through the Giving Pledge.
Deccan Herald
20-05-2025
- Business
- Deccan Herald
Ambani couple, Premji among Time's 100 most influential people in philanthropy
The list also includes legendary footballer David Beckham, billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffet, American philanthropist Melinda French Gates and Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Warren Buffett's Bank of America Sale Cause For Concern?
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) has been a long-time holding of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by investing ledged Warren Buffet. However, Buffett has been trimming Berkshire's position in Bank of America and continued to do so during the first quarter of 2025. During the first quarter, Berkshire reduced its Bank of America stake by roughly 48.6 million shares, or roughly 7%, to 631.5 million shares. Berkshire's investment in Bank of America began in 2007 with a common stock investment which was later liquidated at a loss. In 2011, Berkshire made a new preferred stock investment into Bank of America which included warrants to purchase common stock. The warrants were exercised in 2017 resulting in Berkshire purchasing 700 million shares at a price of $7.14 per share. At the time, Bank of America shares were trading at roughly $24 per share. Since then, Bank of America shares have continued to perform well driven solid earnings growth. Overall, the investment has been highly successful for Berkshire. Despite Buffett's recent decision to sell, Bank of America remains one of Berkshire's largest holdings accounting for just over 10% of its public equity portfolio. While it is difficult to know why Buffett decided to reduce his Bank of America position, and he did not comment on the sales during Berkshire's annual meeting, he had reduced his position over the past few quarters and thus the continued reduction does not come as a total surprise. One potential reason why Buffett has reduced his Bank of America position is that it had grown to become too large a percentage of Berkshire's total equity portfolio. By mid 2024, the time that Buffett started reducing the position, Bank of America had grown to become Berkshire's second largest holding at nearly 15% of its portfolio, behind only Apple. Buffett started reducing his Apple position around the same time and held that position steady in the most recent quarter following multiple quarters of reductions. Another potential reason why Buffett may have decided to reduce Berkshire's Bank of America stake could be that he believes the moat around the business has weakened. I view this as unlikely given the fact that the company has continued to report solid earnings and the moat has not showed any signs of cracking. Notably, Bank of America continues to maintain its number two position in share of U.S. total deposits and continues to maintain fairly strong net investment income yield spread of roughly 2%. Further evidence of the continued strength of the business and existence of a wide moat can be seen in the fact that Bank of America continues to enjoy very high net profit margins of nearly 27%. Buffett may have also come to the conclusion that Bank of America shares are now less attractive than was previously the case based on valuations. While the stock's current valuation of roughly 1.2x book value and 12x earnings per share are not particularly cheap relative to the stock's historical norms they are not towards the highest levels that the stock has traded at over the past few years. In early 2022, the stock traded as high as 1.6x book value. Bank of America shares currently trade roughly 12x consensus FY 2025 earnings per share estimates and roughly 1.2x book value. The stock also offers a 2.3% dividend yield. Comparably, the S&P 500 currently trades at roughly 22x forward earnings and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Thus, on a relative basis Bank of America is trading at a substantial discount to the broader market. Despite this substantial valuation discount, Bank of America has near-term earnings growth prospects which are inline or better than the broader market. Consensus estimates currently call for Bank of America to grow FY 2025 2027 earnings per share by 13.1%, 15.6%, and 11.2% respectively. In addition to trading at an attractive valuation relative to the broader market, Bank of America also appears to be trading at an attractive valuation relative to peers. Wells Fargo trades at 13.5x consensus FY 2025 earnings per share and at 1.53x book value. J.P. Morgan trades at 14.6x consensus FY 2025 earnings per share and at 2.2x book value. In my view the discount compared to J.P. Morgan is not warranted as consensus estimates call for J.P. Morgan to deliver FY 2025 2027 earnings per share growth of 1%, 5.5%, and 7.8% respectively which is well below Bank of America's expected earnings per share growth rates over this period. Finally, Bank of America's valuation stands out as reasonable relative to historical norms. Over the past 10 years, the stock has traded at a median price to earnings ratio of 12.7x. While the stock's current valuation is roughly inline with this level, the broader market is trading towards the higher end of its historical valuation range. Thus, Bank of America stands out due to the fact that it is not trading at a substantial valuation premium relative to its own historical norms at a time in which the broader market is expensive relative to historical norms. A key potential upside catalyst for Bank of America shares in the near-term is regulatory reform. The Trump Administration has indicated that it intends to relax regulations in hopes to spurring growth. Mega cap banks such as Bank of America have become heavily regulated in recent years which has restricted their ability to grow and limited the amount of capital which can be returned to shareholders. In particular, moves to relax regulatory capital constraints, especially the supplemental leverage ratio, could allow Bank of America to increase the value of its loan book and return additional capital to shareholders via larger dividends and share repurchases. Perhaps the biggest risk to the Bank of America bull case is that the Fed cuts interest rates more aggressively than markets expect and medium-term interest rates fall from current levels. On the Q1 2025 earnings call, Bank of America CFO Alastair Borthwick noted that net interest income would fall by an estimated $2.2 billion over the next twelve months if interest rates decline by 100bps more than the four rate cuts which were priced in previously. While the macroeconomic picture remains highly uncertain, I do not expect a significantly more dovish Fed than markets currently expect. Moreover, the continued high levels of the U.S. budget deficit spending lead me to believe that interest rates are likely to say higher for longer than most market participants expect. Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) has reduced Berkshire's position in Bank of America shares after solid performance of the stock resulted in Bank of America making up nearly 15% of Berkshire's equity portfolio. While it is difficult to know why Buffett has been selling, I do not view his decision to sell as cause for concern as the fundamentals remain strong. Bank of America shares trade at an attractive valuation relative to the broader market and peers. Regulatory reform represents a key near-term catalyst which could lead to multiple expansion for the stock. An aggressive Fed rate cut cycle would represent a potential negative for the stock but this appears unlikely following President Trump's recent pivot on tariffs. For these reasons, I view Bank of America as an attractive investment despite Buffett's decision to reduce exposure to the stock. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
