“Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway 1989 Letter to Shareholders
I came up with a term to describe something I value.
If tardigradity is the probability a thing keeps going, it has to come from somewhere. Biologists have the receipts. Tardigrades, sharks, horseshoe crabs, nautiluses, sponges and ostracods survived all five mass extinctions.
The traits they share. Each one is a test you can run on a habit, system, business or life.
1. Low cost of running. Needs less food, less attention, less willpower, less of everything.
- Habit: takes little time, setup or equipment.
- System: runs on little energy.
- Business: low burn. Profitable at small scale.
- Life: low baseline expenses.
2. Multiple inputs work. Eats whatever’s around. A single input can vanish and the thing still eats.
- Habit: works anywhere, with anything, in any mood.
- System: fed by multiple sources.
- Business: multiple revenue streams, customer types, channels.
- Life: energy pulled from multiple sources.
3. Works in varied conditions. Wide range of temperatures, moods, seasons.
- Habit: runs when you’re tired, sick, traveling, sad.
- System: holds steady when context changes.
- Business: survives recessions, trend shifts, platform changes.
- Life: functions across moods, seasons, life stages.
4. Small footprint. Needs less. Hides easier. Feeds easier.
- Habit: five minutes. One rep. One glass.
- System: minimal surface area. Few dependencies.
- Business: small team, small product.
- Life: few possessions, few commitments.
5. Protected from volatility. Lives somewhere buffered.
- Habit: first thing in the morning, before the day touches it.
- System: runs in a buffered environment. Off-hours. Separate account.
- Business: niche position, defensible moat.
- Life: quiet routines and spaces that stay yours.
6. Spread across many places. Lives in lots of places.
- Habit: runs across locations and time slots.
- System: distributed across machines, tools, backups.
- Business: every client stays under 10 percent of revenue.
- Life: relationships and purpose spread across bases.
7. Few moving parts. Less to maintain. Less to break.
- Habit: few steps. Holds in one thought.
- System: few components.
- Business: simple model. Few products, few processes.
- Life: fewer decisions per day.
8. Built-in defenses. Exoskeleton, shell, armor.
- Habit: automatic, scheduled, tied to an existing cue.
- System: redundancy, backups, guardrails.
- Business: savings, contracts, moats.
- Life: emergency fund, strong body, deep relationships.
9. Playing long. Patient. Compounds instead of sprints.
- Habit: measured in years.
- System: built to last. Impressive is a side effect.
- Business: sustainable pace.
- Life: patient with outcomes. Decades over quarters.
10. Can pause without dying. Shuts down when conditions get bad. Comes back intact.
- Habit: skipping a day leaves it alive.
- System: can go offline and return.
- Business: can scale down seasonally.
- Life: can rest, sabbatical, reset without losing identity.
11. Multiple paths to continuation. Many small bets instead of one hero.
- Habit: multiple triggers, multiple versions, multiple times of day.
- System: multiple copies, multiple paths to the same outcome.
- Business: many small bets. Succession planning.
- Life: multiple friend groups, meaning sources, ways to earn.
12. Flexible repurposing. Moves into whatever opens up.
- Habit: fits into whatever moment shows up.
- System: reconfigures around new inputs.
- Business: pivots toward shifts instead of fighting them.
- Life: moves toward opportunity.
The test underneath all twelve is one question. What would need to be true for this to stop? The shorter that list, the higher the tardigradity.
🐢
What trait is missing from the thing you want to last?
