How to Build Your Personal Operating System with Anthony Emtman Founder and CEO at Ikigai Asset Management
The Most Important Thing
Mental models and principles are popular on social media but often fail to move beyond fortune cookie wisdom into sustainable execution. In that way, intelligence is directionless, but wisdom is guidance. Building an operating system for your life is about
1) knowing what you're working toward and
2) engineering daily systems and rituals to make progress through time, regardless of a particular week's or month's outcome.
About Anthony Emtman
Anthony Emtman is CEO of Ikigai, an investment and technology firm focused on Bitcoin and crypto-assets. As an entrepreneur, he's built businesses in FinTech, blockchain, real estate, transportation, and video intelligence spaces. Anthony was also an active duty Captain in the U.S. Air Force for 10 years, serving as a Contracting Officer and as a Software Engineer.
About Ikigai Asset Management
The world doesn't need another hedge fund. The world needs this technology. We're building Ikigai because the most significant investment opportunity of a generation is also one of the most potentially positive catalysts to human prosperity since antibiotics were invented in 1928.
Half of the global population lives under an authoritarian regime and can’t trust their government to manage a sound economy and stable currency. A non-sovereign, hard-capped supply, global, immutable, decentralized, digital store of value is a vote for freedom. It’s a way out of that regime. It’s a path to prosperity for the Billions that aren’t blessed with the $, €, ¥, £, …
For some, it’s a literal vote for freedom. For others, it’s an insurance policy against the devaluing of their fiat currency. For everyone, Bitcoin and crypto is a step toward a more meritocratic world. It's a key piece in the Trust Revolution. In the spirit of Ikigai, that sounds a lot like something the world needs. FinTech and Crypto broadly present a transformational opportunity to leverage technology to empower humanity — not the other way around ( our mission statement at Ikigai … i.e., not addictive, toxic, and identity-stealing). It could be almost like antibiotics for economic health and liberty. The potential for positive societal change is unrivaled.
In the spirit of Ikigai, that sounds a lot like something the world needs.
Episode Overview:
In this episode, Anthony and I sat down to discuss various frameworks for building an operating system for your life. We discuss the importance of finding a North Star, knowing yourself and your Love Languages, determining your Ikigai, and building focus in life. We also speak about Anthony’s role at Ikigai Fund and the emergence of Bitcoin as the foundation of the Trust Revolution.
My Favorite Quotes:
“You’re about to join the United States Military and you want to start a business that mines magic internet money that people use to buy drugs online?!”
“True leadership is service leadership.”
“My Ikigai is to lead a global impactful organization rooted in technology and finance that has the specific mission of empowering and lifting up humanity.”
“On social media, there’s a lot of fortune cookie wisdom. Intelligence or knowledge that is stated but directionless. There’s not a bunch of examples as to how to apply this to your life.”
“Intelligence is directionless, but wisdom is guidance.”
“An operating system is coordinating increasing and increasing stacks of complex systems – and that is how I think about building my life.”
“If you are real deliberate about what you do with your time every day and you pay attention to it.”
“The truth of something tends to lie in the feel of it, not the think of it.”
“Distributed ledger technology (DLT) allows someone to write their own personal Bill of Rights in a way.”
“If money were out of the picture, what would you spend your time doing? What’d you do in your free time? Who do you spend most of your time with? Where do you find your thoughts naturally drifting towards? When you had sleepless nights, what were you thinking about?”
“Always ask yourself – is this going to matter in 30 minutes, in an hour from now, in a week from now, in a year from now, or in ten years from now – I’d say that 80% of the things you do fall away early in that timeline.”
“I keep an Asana that I call In Pursuit of Better that helps me identify the attributes that I want to strengthen.”
“Intelligence doesn’t come with direction because you have to go through the pain which is like guidance that helps you to build Wisdom”
“Pain is the hammer of the gods to break the dead resistance in a mortal’s heart.”
“The realization came from the relationships starting to fall apart.”
“The world is bigger than red v. blue. In the military, you’re taught to defend rights and positions. The commander-of-chief is a position regardless of who’s in it. We defend that position and not necessarily the person in that position.”
“Do you want a safe space, or do you want a solution?”
“Reality is kind of cruel and it doesn’t really care about your dreams.”
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth reviewing.”
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 – Growing up on a family farm
5:00 – Anthony’s time in the Air Force
10:00 – Finding your North Star
15:00 – The foundation of your personal operating system
23:00 – Defining Your Love Languages and Ikigai
28:00 – Bitcoin and Anthony’s service via Ikigai
35:00 – Auditing how you spend your day
39:00 – Will power
47:00 – The importance of empathy
53:00 – US Politics: The world is bigger than Red vs. Blue
1:00:00 –Grinding vs. Dreaming
1:05:00 – Intrapersonal and Interpersonal skills
Episode Links:
Anthony’s Info
Ikigai Info
Other Resources & References
Full “Jack of All Trades” Quote
It’s Not An Addiction – Look Up! With Nir Eyal
Stephen Covey: Seek First to Understand
Marc’s Info:
Marc Weinstein, host of the Look Up! Podcast is a public speaker for corporations, universities, and conferences. Click here to view past talks and to book Marc
