Is there a clear path to achieve a more engaging and consequential life which fosters creativity and innovation? To answer this perplexing question, we have turned to William Green’s Ted Talk discussing valuable lessons he’s learned from the best investors -- lessons that can help us not only to become richer, but to think better and build lives that are abundant in the ways that matter most. The video is based on his latest book- “Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life”- with a focus “ to share "ideas worth cloning,” according to Green. To understand Mr. Green’s insights on a meaningful life, please view his recently published book, the Ted Talk discussion or my summarized transcript below.
How the Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life | William Green | TEDxBerkshires
(excepted and annotated from this October 27,2021 video)
Overview
I wanted to understand what insights, character traits and habits enabled them to win and could I become more like the greatest investors. In the process, I was taught not only to invest better but to think better and possibly even to live better.
Simplicity
They taught me that it's all about simplicity subtraction and not being a fool. It's a huge advantage to have a few simple robust deeply held beliefs a simple set of guiding principles. Why? Because we live in an extremely confusing world and these simple principles can help guide us through the fog so we don't get too confused.
I began to realize that the ability to keep things simple is actually a superpower it's one of the secrets of success both in investing and life then I started to get excited because I realized everywhere I looked I found more examples of simplicity going back thousands of years. For example, I remember studying the old testament and learning that it contains 613 commandments and I thought who can remember so many rules let alone obey them all. That's when I realized why we needed a top 10 list- the 10 commandments. But if you actually try to list the ten commandments how many of them would you get right. But I remembered that there was a great sage 2000 years ago – Hillel- who taught the most simple and timeless thing. Hillel was asked to teach the entire old testament in the time that he was standing on one leg and he replied “do not do to your neighbor what is hateful to you” and all the rest is commentary. The old testament actually sums this idea up in just three Hebrew words which translates as “and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” - simple right. Over the years I saw that many of the greatest investors have this ability to simplify the game of investing but what I also discovered is that they lead surprisingly simple lives.
Art of Subtraction
The greatest investors have this obsession with reducing mental clutter so that they can focus on what's most important to them and what they're best at and one way that you could describe this is actually the art of subtraction. This idea of the art of subtraction has had a profound impact on my own life. Like all of us, I'm constantly bombarded by emails and phone calls and twitter notifications and zoom meetings and all these other guilt-inducing reminders that I should constantly be doing more. Whenever I'm feeling scattered or stressed or overwhelmed I remind myself I don't need to do more. I actually need
to do less. I try to unclog my schedule. I think about the few simple priorities
that really will make a difference in my life: writing, reading meditation spending time with my family exercise that's it pretty much everything else is peripheral. I’m always thinking and asking how can I reduce complexity and how can I simplify my life what can I subtract .
Reducing standard stupidities and idiotic behavior
There's one other very simple idea that's changed the way I think and live and it comes from Charlie Munger who has been Warren Buffett's partner for over 40 years. He told me that he spent an inordinate amount of time focusing on actually reducing what he calls standard stupidities and idiotic behavior.
It's very difficult to be smart but it's actually surprisingly easy to be non-idiotic and it gives you a tremendous advantage. If you work systematically and consistently then you can reduce your own stupidity over the course of your lifetime. Munger tends to collect many examples of disasters and then asks himself what idiotic actions caused this terrible outcome. Once you actually focus on systematically reducing standard stupidities in this way it's an incredibly helpful way of just keeping yourself out of trouble but it turns out that this is a wonderful strategy not only for investing but actually in life.
According to Munger, if you want to have a happy life then you should start by looking at all of the idiotic behavior that is likely to guarantee that you'll have a miserable life. If you want to have a terrible life be unreliable, harbor grudges harbor resentment seek revenge and then he said also indulge in envy which he describes as the dumbest of the seven deadly sins because it's not even, fun. I started to realize that actually this is an incredibly helpful strategy. Nothing is more important than simply avoiding catastrophe because if you want to succeed both in markets and in life the first rule is that you have to survive you have to stay in the game.
Importance of personal relationships
But after interviewing all of these super rich investors. the truth is that I gradually realized well the money is not that important after all these are people who've hit the jackpot financially. What really matters most in terms of their day-to-day happiness is the most obvious thing of all. It's the quality of their relationships… and who you spend your time with is probably the single most important thing in life and I have to tell you there's something wonderfully reassuring about this for me.
What I realized is I don't need to fantasize about becoming fantastically rich and I don't need to dream that the money is somehow going to make me happy. I have to focus on building joyful relationships with my family and friends by trying to spend more time with them and trying despite all of my flaws to become more loving and kinder. I’m pretty convinced that's the greatest investment of all.
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