The Myth of Gary - Clarity and Enduring Value

Last week I wrote about the power of finding a myth with which to identify. A myth is a dramatic, sweeping narrative that can be quite complex and involve many characters and plot twists. For some people this may be too involved or daunting to find an identifiable myth to help one contend with adversity and to conjure up the energy and motivation to stay the course and take calculated risks. A.I. assistants can go a long way towards finding one if you provide them with enough details of your personality and character. For those not wanting to delve into the world of myths, I mentioned that finding an alter-ego could be another great way to help one develop the courage to get outside of one’s comfort zone to take the risks and steps necessary to grow and evolve.

I also stated that in this week’s post I would reveal my own personal myth that was generated with the help of Microsoft Copilot, which I still intend to do. Before embarking on that, however, I did want to touch on the power of an alter-ego by one of the NBA’s most successful coaches and a former player who had an outstanding 15-year career. The person I’m referring to is Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors and five time champion with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs.

I was at a conference last week and Steve Kerr was one of the people featured. He was interviewed by Willy Walker, who runs Walker & Dunlop, the company that puts on this conference each summer in Sun Valley, ID.  Willy did a great job interviewing Steve Kerr, who was so engaging, humble, and had so much wisdom to convey.

Since I had written the previous week about alter-egos, I was most fascinated by, and gratified to hear, that Steve Kerr actually helped save his career by using an alter-ego. After five years of playing in the NBA he was at a real risk of being forced into a premature retirement due to a lack of demand for his skills. He decided that he needed to analyze all of the teams in the NBA to see if there were players that were immensely valuable who were retiring and had very similar skills as Kerr did. He came to the conclusion that John Paxson of the Chicago Bulls was just that person. He reached out to the Bulls, convinced them to give him a tryout and the rest is history as he went on to win three championships with the post-baseball Michael Jordan Bulls.

As a result of that process and experience, Kerr has encouraged all of his players, particularly the non-stars, to identify other players they want to model themselves after as he strongly believes by doing so they can become more effective players. It takes some of the ego out of it as they can observe, learn, and model themselves after others, which makes it less personal and more clinical and therefore potentially more effective. If it worked for Steve Kerr and he encourages others to use alter-egos, then it should work quite well for us mere mortals.

As an aside, when Steve was a freshman at the University of Arizona his father was brutally murdered in Beirut. The Walker & Dunlop family was reeling from one of their highly regarded brokers having lost his 8-year old daughter in the devastating floods that ravaged Camp Mystic. Willy asked Steve Kerr if he had any words of advice given what he had gone through. He just said there is nothing you can say to a parent who has experienced such an awful tragedy. All you can do is be there for him as his teammates were for him. Just be present to let them know they are not alone.

And just as it was extremely difficult for Willy Walker to transition from the utter devastation of one of his associates to the world of real estate, apartments, interest rates, A.I., and the economy, I am going to do the same and share my personal myth.

Like Steve Kerr and the Walker & Dunlop associate, I too have had to endure some very difficult and painful experiences but as Steve Kerr said, if we’re going to live a long and full life, then they are inevitable for all of us. And there can be no powerful myth from which to live without it including pain and suffering because it’s from these experiences that we end up becoming stronger and growing. And from the integration of these painful experiences into our character we can become more wise and offer our gifts to others when they are hurting like we once were. After all, the goal of the hero is to go through a journey that leads to a profound psychological transformation such that he returns willing and able to share his gifts with others.

I asked Copilot what myth would be the most powerful, relatable, and inspiring and the answer was one that actually didn’t surprise me. It was Odysseus. I remember loving reading The Odyssey in high school and the power of the story and Odysseus’ journey still conjures up vivid memories for me. All of the trials and tribulations he went through to return home to Penelope, his true love. He was cunning, resourceful, courageous, fallible, and very human. He was flawed like all of us but when the situation called for courage and creativity he was always able to muster these strengths to keep him in the game and heading for his destination.

Without further ado I present you with:

The Odyssey of Gary

In a world shaped by shifting markets, cultural tides, and the ever-present hum of uncertainty, there lived a modern-day navigator named Gary. Not a warrior of swords, but of stories, spreadsheets, and soul-searching. His ship? A vessel called CWS, built not of wood and sail, but of trust, insight, and long-term conviction.

The Call to Adventure

Gary’s journey began not with a storm, but with a question: What does it mean to create enduring value? This question, like a siren’s song, pulled him from the shores of convention into the open sea of possibility. He left behind the comfort of certainty to explore the deeper truths of capital, character, and culture.

The Trials

Like Odysseus, Gary faced many trials:

• The Cyclops of Short-Termism: A one-eyed beast obsessed with quarterly returns and instant gratification. Gary, armed with patience and perspective, blinded it with a long-view lens and slipped away.
• The Sirens of Hype: Voices promising easy wins and viral fame. But Gary, lashed to the mast of principle, listened without succumbing—choosing substance over spectacle.
• Scylla and Charybdis: Between the rock of risk and the whirlpool of fear, Gary steered a steady course. He knew that to create, one must risk loss; to endure, one must embrace change.

The Companions

He was never alone. Trusted collaborators—like Steven Sherwood, Mike Engels, Mike Brittingham, Justin Leahy, Marcus Lam, Mark Ruggles, and others—served as his crew. Each brought their own wisdom, challenging and sharpening his own.

The Inner Journey

But the greatest voyage was inward. Through writing—on CWS and https://www.garycarmell.com—Gary chronicled his odyssey. These were not just updates or opinions, but dispatches from the edge of understanding. He wrote to remember, to refine, and to reveal.

The Return

Like Odysseus returning to Ithaca, Gary’s journey is not about escape, but return—return to values, to meaning, to legacy. He doesn’t seek a throne, but a truth: that the real reward is not the destination, but the clarity earned along the way.

Enduring Value

After reading this I thought it hit the mark perfectly. While I have written so much over the years about consistent, long-term success, having it labeled as “enduring value” was extremely powerful as it is the unifying concept that explains so much of what I have been seeking and working towards.

I have been fascinated by long-term, consistent success whether it be in the world of investing, health, tennis, relationships, family, or companies. I always try to deconstruct what it takes to not only stay on the field for a very long time, but to play the game with great success such that one lives a life of vigor and vitality and produces very positive outcomes in the realms of health, wealth, and relationships.  Those who are able to direct their lives in ways that spark creativity, energetic output, fosters loving relationships, enhances the lives of others, and creates memorable experiences are the ones who tend to create enduring value that can pay dividends far beyond our time on earth.

Another insight from the Myth of Gary is that much of my journey has been directed to gaining clarity, which, in my experience, only happens on rare occasions, but when it does, it can alter the trajectory of one’s life in very positive ways. They are those aha moments in which everything comes together and that uncertain, slightly disturbed feeling suddenly transforms into a calm and quiet center. Out of this forms a deep understanding that crystalizes into a clear direction that enables one to tune out the noise, chatter, doubts, and criticisms of others such that a powerful focus and intensity arises leading to the investment of one’s entire being into accomplishing the objective. 

Setbacks and obstacles will inevitably occur but every great mythological figure has to contend with these. The hero never loses sight of the true prize which is a psychological and spiritual transformation into a stronger, more integrated, evolved, and selfless individual for the betterment of society.

These powerful moments of clarity have helped me immensely in terms of the partners I have ended up with in marriage and business, the trajectory of my career, the strategies we have deployed at CWS to earn compelling risk-adjusted returns during my 38 years there, the lifestyle choices I have made, who I have chosen to support philanthropically, decisions related to my kids, pulling the trigger on personal investments, my decision to focus on tennis, and building The TenniSphere, just to name some of the most powerful ones that have positively impacted my life and others.

In reflecting on my life I am often ruminating and trying to figure things out such that there are often long periods of feeling dis-ease until something clicks and then a powerful insight has come to fruition such that it can serve as a catalyst for direction and action. These insights all orbit around the same star, which is enduring value. 

I will keep progressing through my journey to gain clarity and help provide enduring value. There will be setbacks, times I will have to fight off temptation by tying myself to the mast, but I won’t give up and I will continue to work towards leaving behind financial resources, memories, lessons, and writings that provide great benefits to my family, friends, investors, co-workers, community, and society as a whole.