SBF: A Lesson About Boundaries

There’s an important lesson in SBF’s story. And that lesson has to do with boundaries.

The world we live in puts up fewer and fewer boundaries for us. There are fewer external boundaries than at any previous time in history. We can have any kind of sex life, for instance, and nobody cares. We can wear whatever we want or cover ourselves with piercings and tattoos according to our individual judgment. We can go on social media and gush out emotions. There are no externally imposed dietary boundaries. And so on and on.

The only boundaries we have are self-imposed. Nobody is coming to tell us to stop wasting time, money, energy, breath, etc. It’s up to us to build boundaries and defend them. Those few who get it and boundary up severely will be OK. The rest will be screwed.

Sam Bankman-Fried made an outrageous amount of money in a very short time and with minimal effort. He could have had a really nice life. But instead he lost everything and is going to jail. And the only reason is that he knew nothing about boundaries. He hemorrhaged money so fast it was impossible to cover the losses. Nobody ever told him about self-discipline, self-control, self-imposed routines and limits. Reading about his absolutely insane spending, I felt like surrounding myself with sofa cushions on all sides. The torrential gushing of this individual is uncomfortable to hear about, let alone imagine.

Different people will construct their boundaries out of different materials. The important thing is to do it. Find a structure to keep yourself in check and avoid becoming a human geyser like the poor, confused SBF.