I’m sure you know who the Oracle of Omaha is. But if you don’t, here he is:
Recognise him? One of the richest men on Earth, and more importantly one who generously shares his wise views on life and finances.
I recently read an article on CNBC that I thought would be useful to share:
QUOTE
In his essay for “Getting There,” Buffett elaborates on a message that he thinks “is very important to get across to younger people”: Take care of your mind and body.
Sounds simple, right?
But Buffett takes it a step further by offering an analogy: “Let’s say that I offer to buy you the car of your dreams. You can pick out any car that you want, and then when you get out of class this afternoon, that car will be waiting for you at home.”
As with most things in life, Buffett says there’s just one catch: It’s the only car you’re ever going to get…in your entire life.
“Now, knowing that, how are you going to treat that car?” he asks.
“You’re probably going to read the owner’s manual four times before you drive it; you’re going to keep it in the garage, protect it at all times, change the oil twice as often as necessary,” says Buffett. “If there’s the least little bit of rust, you’re going to get that fixed immediately so it doesn’t spread — because you know it has to last you as long as you live.”
And then, like a bag of bricks, Buffett hits us with a brilliant realization: The position you’re in with your car is exactly the position you’re in concerning your mind and body.
In other words, the way you treat your car should be no different than the way you treat your body.
“You have only one mind and one body for the rest of your life,” Buffett says. “If you aren’t taking care of them when you’re young, it’s like leaving that car out in hailstorms and letting rust eat away at it. If you don’t take care of your mind and body now, by the time you’re 40 or 50, you’ll be like a car that can’t go anywhere.
END QUOTE
Great food for thought isn’t it? Especially as Ms. K and I are currently out hiking in Nepal (without kids!) to torture rejuvenate our body and soul. Haha.
I find that Buffett’s mental model of thinking long term helps to distill issues or problems to the key considerations. Like his other analogy of having one ticket that is limited to only 20 punches, representing the only investments you can make in your lifetime. Faced with such a scenario, most people will presumably take great effort to avoid risk and invest only in super safe investments.
Maybe only the most stubborn of gamblers will do a 50 Cent and do a “Get Rich or Die Tryin'”. 😀
