Years ago, my wife and I were really into a TV show called The Biggest Loser. If you’ve never heard of it, the general premise was essentially a couple of personal trainers and fitness experts were featured on the show every week helping a group of people struggling with weight loss and body image. Over the course of the season you would see these individuals go through a dramatic multi-month transformation 30 minutes at a time, as they developed better habits and unwound destructive ones. Overall, it was pretty enjoyable to see people improve their lives, many of whom had come from very dark places not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.

But the current market environment, with all its volatility and unexpected moves, reflects riding a bike around Washington. There are times you have to work really hard, and times when you can ease off a bit. There are big uphill and downhill moves, and it’s almost like riding around with your eyes closed in a lot of ways.

“A man’s accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail.”

That’s a quote from John Foster Dulles, and if you don’t know him, you may be familiar with Washington Dulles airport which was named after him. Dulles was the Secretary of State under President Eisenhower in the 1950s.

To be honest, this quote has always bothered me. Why? I am not a detail-oriented person. At. All.

Believe it or not, “work” can actually mean standing still.

In my previous role at a large financial institution, I found that “work” meant “activity”. When someone was working, a lot of times that meant they were taking action…