“The chains of habit are too light to be felt until their too heavy to be broken”
I saw a hugely interesting video clip of Warren Buffett today. He’s certainly somebody I admire without knowing too much about him, but to see him, hear him, and watch his mannerisms in person, I can really appreciate just how wise he is, and perhaps how wise he has had to be, to be as astute about life as I think he so clearly is.
I’m a BIG fan of anything that improves me as a person, yet I hadn’t really given much thought to how to plan that improvement! As i’ve said before, routine is your friend, and personal development whether it be socially, academically, or whatever, should be just as important when questioning what you want out of life.
The clip was a short one of WB at an MBA talk, and he was speaking of keys to success. Not some 3 point plan to guarentee it; but genuine, experiential observations about the kind of people who achieve their goals. It was clear that he understood not everyones goals are the same, but their motivations are similar. The most enlightening moment I thought was an example he gave of ‘having the opportunity to buy stock in another person; a notional 10% that you would hold for life’. The question was, How would you decide who you would invest in?
Who to invest in?
The premise was that you wouldn’t neccessarily pick the most intelligent, top student, high energy, tenacious individual; although these are obviously beneficial. His belief was that you’d choose the person who extolled the virtues you most admired. The answer here is very useful because it’s adaptable. You’d invest in the person you wanted to be! He then examined the opposite, and posed ‘Who would you Short Sell?’ or rather whose virtues do you least want. I’d say ask yourself that question; list the wanted and unwanted attributes side by side and you’ll see that the results are achievable. You can certainly be all you want to be, as much as you can stop being what you don’t want to be. I’d bet that you can’t find anything in your list that isn’t possible. Here’s mine so far…
Qualities I like in others
Generosity; Honesty; Relaxed & unassumingly confident; Has time for people; Loyalty; Humour; Candor; Wisdom; Intelligence; Elegance…
Qualities I dislike in others
Egotistical; Animosity; Snobbishness; Superiority complex; Autocracy; Irrational Fear; Indecisiveness; Passivity;…
I’d say it’s not nearly complete and I may even change some that are in there now. Regardless, it’s a start. To me Rudyard Kipling probably said it best in his Poem If.
Do you think these are the best qualities to ‘invest’ in? What really turns you away from people? Leave a comment and let me know…
Filed under: Burning Questions, Epiphanies, Life, Philosophy | Tagged: Epiphanies, ev, Expected Value, Goal setting, If, Influence, Investing, Life, Personality, Philosophy, Poetry, Rudyard Kipling, Self Analysis, Success, Tenacity, Virtues, Vision, Warren Buffett, Wisdom
