Richer | Wiser | Happier – II

This week I completed William Green’s book. I discussed few of my learnings from the book last week here. Let’s deep dive into more into what the great investors had to share with us.

The common trait among them is that they all are voracious readers. As Buffet said in one of his speeches to be a good investor, you need to read 500 pages a day and these investors have been seriously doing that over the decades. Moreover they play it as a game, not as a burden to make end meets. They have the thrill to win and that’s what keeps them moving forward.

Secondly, we need to avoid stupidity. There are common sets of reasons for which companies fail if we can learn them vicariously, then it’s a gold mine for us. To identify the mistakes or the weakness, we need to think inversely. Muger has the quickest brain for identifying weaknesses in any business. Munger thinks inversely. If he wants to be happy, he will think how can he be sad and get all the reasons and thereafter ensure that he avoids all those paths. Ultimately, he is happy. It is easier said than done. As human brain has the tendency to look forward, not backward. We often read only the success stories and not the failure stories.

Lastly, creating a balance is of utmost importance. You really need to be choosy about what you want and what you don’t want. It will help you build tremendous focus. Without focus, it is difficult to achieve anything worthwhile in life.