What is a Good Life? #165
Money Is Never Just Money with Bogumil Baranowski
Hello and welcome to What is a Good Life? A project exploring the big questions around how we live, who we are and what actually matters.
This week, I’m reflecting on my conversation with Bogumil Baranowski, investment advisor, author, host of Talking Billions podcast, and a profound thinker on the intersection of wealth and human experience. We go deeper on why money is one of the most emotionally charged forces and why being truly present might be the most undervalued skill of our time.
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Take care, Mark
1. My Weekly Reflection
Bogumil was getting his wisdom teeth removed. He had never gone under before or had any surgery, so this was a whole new experience. And the dentist knew exactly what he was going through.
The dental office was busy and overbooked and the dentist sat down with him and said, “I’m going to be here with you for the whole thing. I’m here.”
This really stayed with Bogumil.
“They gave me a bill, I paid. But that sentence, that hand holding moment, it’s not captured anywhere, but that was the biggest value he provided to me.”
………………..
A girl, around six years old, is standing at the top of the escalator and is beginning to cry. Her father, just a few metres away, is drifting away.
He has some bags and a buggy with a baby in his hands. He briefly motions to walk back up the escalator and then realises that may not be the best idea.
He tries to assure his daughter to step on as she pleads for his hand.
A stranger, patiently waiting for this to unfold, looks to the father, almost asking for permission, then offers the girl his hand.
She gladly accepts. There is something so satisfying about how easily she takes his hand.
The momentarily dramatic scene is reduced to nothing remarkable.
………………..
It’s around the time of COVID and Bogumil is busy. He’s very active on the investment side.
But he tries to reserve as much time as possible to take calls from clients.
“And they appreciated that. They told me they just wanted to hear my voice. And I have those moments that are stuck in my head. Another human just needed me to be present.”
………………..
I have just wrapped up an investor meeting and presentation in Arizona and I am about to order a taxi.
An elderly man in the meeting, a sizeable investor in the company I work for, has offered me a ride to the airport. It is ninety minutes away. I talk to him almost every day and I would like some peace.
The company doesn’t have daily news and yet he will call me regardless looking for updates.
I suggest it is too far, he insists.
We walk across the parking lot on this bright sunny day, I peel my tie and jacket off after a long day of meetings. We get into a convertible sports car and off we set.
At one point my wife is mentioned, which then leads to him asking where we met, which leads to a sabbatical in India, which leads to a whole other conversation.
I tell it to him straight with some of the headlines of my struggles, going to India and seeing a therapist.
Within fifteen minutes of setting off he is sharing his own life story. The loves and the loss of it. The regrets. The pain of it.
There is a moment of silence in the conversation. I look around at the mountains. The clear blue sky. I notice my hair ruffling in the wind.
I almost laugh at the setting, the fancy sports car, the suits, the depth of the conversation. That I never realised he was lonely.
After a day of meetings, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to him for the experience of feeling this alive in a conversation.
“I realise that money is a very intimate topic and it’s almost just a gateway. An excuse to have a much bigger conversation.” - Bogumil Baranowski
2. This Week’s Questions
How would you describe your relationship with both giving and receiving?
Is there a repeating conversation in your life that is masking the conversation that really wants to happen?
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Thanks for reading What is a Good Life?
3. Weekly Clip From The Podcast
4. Full Episode - Money Is Never Just Money with Bogumil Baranowski - What is a Good Life? #165
Listen to or watch the full conversation with Bogumil Baranowski below.
About Me
I am a writer, facilitator, and podcast host, based in Berlin, via Dublin, Ireland. I started this project in 2021, for which I’ve now interviewed over 300 people. I’m not looking to prescribe universal answers, more that the guests’ lines of inquiry, musings, experiences, and curiosities spark your own inquiry into what the question means to you. I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience and more meaningful conversations.