Diversify,diversify,diversify

Recently I sat next to a couple at a bar and we struck up a conversation. I noticed his above the knee prosthesis and thought to myself losing his lower leg must have been the result of a wartime injury. He volunteered to say that it was the result of a golf cart injury that happened during a corporate event where he was entertaining clients.

Then in his forties, he and his wife went through some tough times recovering from the life-changing event. They were now retired, sold all their belongings or put them in a storage locker and were touring the country in their SUV visiting their daughter and first grand-child. He had a smile on his face and said had it not been for the injury, he would still be at his IT management job working in an excessively big company.

Henry David Thoreau did make some great discoveries when he spent two years living by Walden Pond. The book he wrote, entitled?Walden, describes the beauty of nature. In that book, Thoreau famously wrote, “Simplify, simplify.”

Things have changed since 1854 when "Walden Pond" was published. The pace of life was slower and a bit more predictable. The industrial revolution began to change all that and, so, here we are, living in the 4th industrial revolution in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times. Simplifying has gotten a lot more complicated. Just ask Millennials.

Thoreau's cabin was 10′ by 15′ with 8′ high ceilings.?

I own a Tuff Shed bigger than that.

Even if you are interested in tiny houses, most of us just have too much stuff to live there, let alone having to have solar powered WiFi 24x7

The experts are saying that The Silicon Valley Bank failure reminds entrepreneurs not to put all their eggs in one basket. The modern mantra should be to diversify, diversify, diversity to hedge risk.

Here are a dozen eggs you should not put in one basket:

1. Your savings, commercial funds, and investment portfolio
2. Your time
3. Your leaderpreneurship skills
4. Your career portfolio
5. Your entrepreneurial activities
6. Your networks
7. Your knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies
8. Your teams
9. Your friends and social support system
10. Your trust in others
11. Your interests
12. Your marketing communication channels

If you want to make life a bit simpler, skip registries and tell friends and family not to bring gifts at your next event.

Egg prices are up?38%, but there’s a reason. According to MarketWatch, a significant reason that eggs are more expensive is due to the avian flu. “The price of eggs has been trending upward since the beginning of 2022, and egg experts said an avian influenza outbreak that has severely limited the supply of eggs was the leading cause of high prices.”.

Eggs are expensive. Don't put them all in one basket, even if the basket is only 150 square feet.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs