“Have a core belief, gut-check it every day.

Pursue it with all your might; pursue it for a very long time.

Surround yourself with people you love, and take them on that ride”

In his Stanford interview, this was how Jensen Huang summarized the story of Nvidia.

Although simple at a glance, there are some deep tenets at play here.

Have a core belief. Besides the reference to a lifelong passion, what I find especially powerful here is the idea of less, not more. As clearly as you should define your life’s endeavor, so should you define your financial focus. Spreading your money too thin and you might not see meaningful results, and without meaningful results, you’re more likely to give up.

Gut-check it everyday. More than the concept of checking and adjusting, what speaks to me here is the power of reinforcement. If you are mindful of the progress you are making to your financial goals day-to-day, then you’re simply less likely to make poor decisions that would set you back on your progress.

Pursue it for a very long time. We tend to have a distorted sense of time–a meeting a week ago might seem like a month ago. Sadly, this can also create a negative bias for investments: “Didn’t I put money in this for, like, years? Time to try something else”. It helps to take a step back, really assess your history, before making any dramatic decisions.

Surround yourself with people you love. I do believe that a life lived for others is a life well-lived. To help those you care about flourish is one of life’s greatest joys, and further reinforces the second point above–adding to your personal motivations and boosting your drive toward financial independence.

All in all, I found this interview illuminating. I’m still pretty far from Jensen’s financial sphere, but this makes me feel like I’m on the right track.

If you have thoughts, I’d love to hear it!!