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"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." - Unofficial CIA Motto
I sat mouth agape, listening like a 10-year-old, at the feet of a man and woman who danced in the shadows for decades. They were friends who had come to Contrarian Uncon, no pictures, no names, yet willing to share. They are now in the light, but only after mastering the dark arts. There's a mystery wrapped around those who ply secrets for a living. I wanted to unravel all of them. So here's a story about learning at the heels of those whose decisions can often mean life or death.
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🔊 Here's the audio version of this week's newsletter!
Former CIA Officers Blew My Mind.mp3
Today in < 10 minutes → We’re Going to Dive into:
- The 10 Lessons Learned From My CIA Friends
- Contrarian Rant → Why Even Talk About 3 letter Agencies
- Our Collective Goal -> Freedom
Disclaimer: Knowing these two individuals they would blush from head to toe reading this piece. They are quiet, unassuming, quick to let anyone but themselves take the spotlight, and even quicker to point out the "real" heroes in their profession.
That's perhaps a trait of the best of the shadow dancers. There is a wall at the CIA filled with 137 stars of officers who lost their lives in the service of their country. No names, no placards, no difference from one star to another. Thus any discrepancies, any errors, any embarrassments or embellishments in this piece are mine and mine entirely.
Lessons Learned from My Friends In the CIA
We are fascinated as a society with those who do the deeds we have neither the courage nor fortitude to do ourselves. As I sat preparing to listen to my friends Brook and J, I researched the motto's and the unofficial creeds, of the infamous 3 letter agency that has graced so many Hollywood films.
I stumbled across a series of challenge coins from the agency emblazoned with these quotes:
“We accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where others cannot go.”
“Nowhere to Hide”
“We Shall Reap What Ye Have Sown”
They gave me chills. A little insider story, challenge coins have had a special place in the military since WWI, whether it be in special forces, or in the agencies... they are shown as a mark of a group within a group, a mission, a gift.
When you lay a challenge coin on the bar, it’s like a knock on the door of a members-only establishment. I've seen it done to my husband only on one occasion...
The story goes that during World War I, a wealthy lieutenant ordered bronze medallions for his squadron. One pilot wore his in a pouch around his neck and was wearing it when shot down behind enemy lines. Although he escaped, he had no ID except for his squadron coin. The coin saved his life. After, the squadron decided that each member should have their coin on them at all times. To ensure that this rule was followed, they invented a drinking game: a challenger would ask to see the medallion of another squadron member. If that member couldn’t produce a coin, they were on the hook for a drink for the challenger. If they produced their medallion, the challenger had to buy them a drink. The practice continues to this day.
The lessons I'm about to share are snippets, small borrowed ideas from those to who we owe debts for things done, that we'll never hear about.
Here’s what I learned that everyone should know:
#1 The More You Know of Another the More They'll Like You
Dale Carnegie said, "Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours." When I first met J I was amazed by many things but one item was fascinating, he did his homework on me. He wove a tapestry of breadcrumbs I gobbled up like a starving bird.
- mentioned my favorite book Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged with a small passing reference
- highlighted my time in Mexico in tandem with his plant down south
- questioned me on my time as a journalist dropping nuggets about his time in the service
I watched a bit from above on the conversation amazed to see something unfurl; a three-letter agency officer in action. After all, when you meet me I cannot help but pepper people with questions as a former journalist, and it turns out as a former sneaky sneaky you cannot help but persuade. Within the span of our 60-minute meeting I'd agreed to 1) seriously consider investing in his company 2) have dinner with him and his wife that week with my husband and then 3) invite him to our conference.
The power of understanding another cannot be underestimated. We went from strangers to instant friends. The question for you is, can any human really resist that alluring temptation of a human who truly knows them and, finds them worth knowing more about?
#2 Never Lie
J was undercover for much of his career. Which fascinated me, how could you keep up with all the half-truths, with all the lies. He chuckled as I asked that and said, "I never really lied. I just didn't speak when I couldn't, and let others fill in the rest."
I thought about it for a minute. How do you often know if someone is lying? They give you too much detail, they overshare, they just can't let it sit.
My father always said, "Just tell the truth. It's easier to remember. You just don't have to tell all of it."
#3 Control the Frame, Always
They were speeding down a middle eastern highway, men from two worlds only brought together by war. They'd picked up an asset as they always did but today that asset looked sick to his stomach, almost nauseous with fear? They continued their debrief as the man seemed to grow increasingly slick with sweat. There was no doubt the conversation they were having was not for the faint of heart, one man was risking it all.
"Are you ok xx?" J finally asked when all the information had been shared.
The man tore his eyes away from the road for just a moment and said, "Yes... I'm just really uncomfortable driving on the wrong side of the road." J's eyes widened as did the drivers. They had no idea they were barreling down highways at record speeds into largely oncoming traffic.
"Ahem," J said. "Yes, we are just about done with that aren't we?" He motioned to the driver, who nodded.
He who controls the frame can control just about any decision.
#4 Speak Less
“I always regretted saying too much, I rarely regretted saying too little," Brook told the crowd tucking an errant blonde hair behind her ear. That statement seemed odd to me given how brilliant she was.
Then she said, "Allow mystery to make you look smarter than you seem. The chatty ones often lose."
#5 Presence Isn't Just for Yogi's
“White zone is dangerous, stay in yellow."
The white zone = you walking w/ a podcast on, not paying attention, being on autopilot.
In their line of work, there is nothing more dangerous than not paying attention. It turns out in life, in doing deals, in investing, in hiring, the same is true.
The devil isn't in the details. The details = devils. The problem is in staying in the yellow zone requires energy, presence is an energy drain. So you train your brain to recall where the focus needs to be and where your autopilot can kick in. How?
#6 It's Not By Knowing What's Off: It's By Knowing What's Normal
Look down your street, do you know the cars that are usually in front of your neighbor's houses? Would you notice a new van? Would it seem off to you if your neighbor's dog who is normally quiet starts to bark or the opposite if one who barks often has long been silent? We spend on average 10 hours a day at home, but do we train ourselves to know what to see?
“Baseline vs deviation - always look for what is normal and only THEN what is different.”
Brook knows all cars that are supposed to be on her street, the patterns of her neighbors picking up and dropping off their kids or trash. Why? Then spotting an abnormality is easy.
In dealmaking, you can’t know a good deal until you know a bad one.
In life, you can't know a bad employee until you have a great one.
Contrast in all things.
#7 Your Brain Can Trick You
"Trust evolution - trust the multi-generational gut that has been built."
As women in particular we've been told, if something looks off in a person don't cross the street because that's prejudice of young men, of any color, in hoodies. Or if you feel weird in a situation don't be rude. What if your brain is doing nothing but tricking your gut.
For Brook when she gets spooked, she leaves. When it feels wrong, they skip the drop. Gut > need.
Too often we know someone is not a fit but we hire or partner with them anyway. We forget that evolution has given us 100 trillion micro bacteria that make up our gut, maybe they know a thing or two?
#8 Home Field Advantage
"Choose the time and place of your engagement."
In sports, we know you have a 52.6% likelihood to win at your home field all else being equal. But do we apply that in life? When I do a deal, I almost always do it on my schedule, in a place I know, where I'll be comfortable, after I've done a workout, and never after eating.
Place is a power play.
#9 Get off the X
She plays a game with her kids. sometimes they jump up and down asking to play, "Get off the X." If your brother or sister is running right at you, what do you do? Get off the x, the kids shout, and run away. In a weird situation, what do you do? Get off the x, they shout.
That means always moving, never expected, and learning to run not freeze.
It turns out we have a 27% likelihood of freezing in any given situation. It is our default mechanism often. You have to train yourself to fight or flight. Have you ever watched Entourage and thought, "Man I wish I could be like Ari with his ridiculous fast-witted responses." Most of us instead say nothing, panic, and then spend the next 24 hours obsessing about what we SHOULD have said. Now apply that to life or death.
#10 Hire Ex-CIA People
If everything in life is looking for echoes, rhymes, reasons, they are the pros at it. Finding humans that can persuade, assess, find problems out of norms, control the frame and never freeze sounds like a bit of superhuman hire to me.
Also - find friends from different walks, you just may learn something.
Contrarian Rant:
Why am I here? Why Even Talk About 3 Letter Agencies?
Tell me what financial freedom means to you…
The idea for me is to be so damn good, so damn diversified, so damn valuable you’re unfireable, you’re uncancellable, you’re untouchable. That’s financial freedom.
Let me tell you a lazy version of financial freedom. It’s what I used to think, "I just want to do what I want, where I want with whom I want."
I’m just gonna get mine. That’s amateur.
Do you know what’s not? I’m going to become so strong of balance sheet that I can protect others, and make an impact on this world. That at the end of my day when I show up at those pearly gates I’m going to be bruised, be battered, wrung dry, and I'll be able to say I used every single ounce of what you gave me. There is not one drop left.
If you think you are free without influencing the world around you my friend you are wrong. Guess what Covid showed us? Man, many of us can make a lot of money during lockdowns. My businesses are all at record highs.
But how fun is it when you can’t travel, can’t see people? In California, they shut off the lights if you had parties. No matter how rich you were you couldn’t have a funeral or go into the hospital? You couldn't keep your business open. So my question to you is:
Were you really free this year?
Maybe you improvised and got in your RV and toured the country with your family. Ok.
- But how many ghost towns did you go through?
- How many national parks doors were shut?
- If we only focus on ourselves we will never be truly free.
SO our goal here:
Strong of mind, body, and balance sheet. Because our people need us and so does this world.
Humanity is an interconnected organism.
It's very hard to remove yourself from the ecosystem.
We in business like to say we are the men and women in the arena.
The real arena is not just your business, it is your community and your country.
It’s time for each of us to step the f*ck up. If you’re reading this, we need you. Answer the call.
Constantly searching for the right question,
Codie
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Disclaimer – This is the “Be an adult” section. Everything mentioned above isn’t advice, just a recount of what I did. That said: This article is presented for informational purposes only. The opinions stated here are not intended to recommend any investment or provide tax advice. Neither are they an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest in any current or future investment vehicle managed or sponsored by Codie Ventures, LLC or its affiliates. All material presented in this newsletter is not to be regarded as investment advice, but for general informational purposes only. Day trading and investing do involve risk, so caution must always be utilized. We cannot guarantee profits or freedom from loss. You assume the entire cost and risk. You are solely responsible for making your own investment decisions. We recommend consulting with a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, and/or financial advisor. If you choose to invest with or without seeking advice from such an advisor or entity, then any consequences resulting from your investments are your sole responsibility. By reading/sharing this newsletter or consuming our content on our other channels, you are indicating your consent and agreement to our disclaimer.
