- Five to Thrive
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- #071 – Milos
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What a privilege it is to have spent an incredible week here in Milos.
It boasts such a pure authenticity seeing as it appears to have not yet been saturated by the mass commercialisation prevalent on some of the other Greek islands.
Everything still feels extremely local here.
Safe to say that it has far exceeded my expectations.
Onto this week’s piece 👇
Postcard from Fyropotamos Beach.
Kleftiko Beach. Only accessible by boat.
Sarakiniko Beach. Fossiliferous, pumice volcanic tuffs which have formed over many years due to eolian erosion. Crazy.
The Catacombs of Milos. There are over 300 catacombs on the island which housed Christians between the 1st and 6th Century AD.
The famous fishing village of Klima. Over 50 years ago, before the town had access to electricity, the local fishermen found it extremely difficult to differentiate between each of their houses when they came home fatigued at night after many hours at sea. So, they agreed to paint each of their boat shed doors in different colours to rectify this persisting dilemma. Very cool.
Introducing the Tacanuyaso MS. At 197ft, this superyacht is by far the biggest and most sensational vessel that I have ever seen in the flesh. 38 crew members work day and night to operate and maintain this bad boy. Currently owned by a Saudi Arabian multi-millionaire. Wild.
Asymmetric Information & Asymmetric Action
The other night when I was walking leisurely back from the beach via the port here in Adamas, it was impossible not to notice the behemoth that was the Tacanuyaso MS.
I mean, just look at the thing.
As I got closer and closer to the vessel, it only became more immense with each step that I took. More of the intricate details became increasingly visible to the naked eye, allowing each one to be fully appreciated under the hazy pink sunset.
The ship had just arrived in Milos that afternoon which meant that the time for the owner and his 3 guests to disembark for a lovely dinner at a taverna on the water’s edge was soon approaching.
This meant that I had the unbelievable privilege of watching a crew of 38 people move in perfect unison to prepare the vessel for the occasion.
Every crew member knew exactly what to do, where to do it, and how to do it. There were no questions asked or things to be confirmed. This was game time.
They were an impressive outfit to say the least and their attention to detail was beyond commendable. I mean, they even cleaned the underside of the railing used to step off the ship for crying out loud.
As passers-by stop for a moment in admiration, take a photo, and carry on with their evening, I continue occupying my front-row seat and wait for the enigmatic owner to reveal himself.
After an hour spent watching the crew carry on with their duties, a man standing at the foot of the off-ramp at the base of the boat speaks briefly into the walkie-talkie device.
After a subsequent period of exactly 5 seconds elapses, all crew members cease their activity and the owner – a relatively short, grey-haired Saudi Arabian man – emerges from the boat’s upper deck and makes his way down to the jetty with his three guests following closely behind.
He politely acknowledges each crew member he passes and proceeds to walk off the vessel with the apparent nonchalance of a year 10 student stepping off a school bus on Friday afternoon.
Not a care in the world.
***
When I looked around the port and compared the Tacanuyaso MS to all of the boats in the vicinity, the sizeable difference in wealth was not only glaringly obvious but it was visibly measurable.
It made me ponder two precise questions that I haven’t been able to get out of my head since:
What is it that that guy knows that everyone else doesn’t?
What is it that that guy does/did/is doing that everyone else isn’t?
The simple answer is asymmetric information.
Knowing something that other people don’t and then, importantly, acting on that knowledge.
What does it take to arrive at that point of mastery in a given field to attain such a level of wealth and financial success?
How much luck is involved?
Is it fate?
Are there some people who are never destined to soar to those levels of financial heights?
Ok. Let’s assume that it IS possible for anyone to achieve that level of success.
What does it look like?
No, what does it really look like?
What’s the industry?
What’s the business model?
Who do you need to know?
How important is timing?
What are the skills that you need to have in your arsenal?
What do you need to study?
Do you need to study anything?
How long does it take?
I ask these questions rhetorically without seeking definitive answers (since obviously each entrepreneur’s path to success is inherently different) but I believe that they remain valid questions.
Because when you see a 197-ft yacht parked next to a 10-year old dingy in the port of a lazy Greek island, some of the cogs in your mind start to turn and you really wonder what’s going on in this game called life.
What is it that some people know that everyone else doesn’t?
What is it that allows them to not only act on that information but to do so successfully?
I would really love to know.
I’ll let you know when I’ve (hopefully) figured it out.
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