Friday
The Great Wall is not the Same
Chinese hikers make their way up a section of the Great Wall that is
decaying and overgrown with vegetation located near Xiang Shui Hu
village, located 80 km (50 miles) northwest of Beijing, on September 30,
2012. Voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007, the
6,400 km (4,000 miles) wall draws millions of tourists every year,
mostly to restored sections near the capital, Beijing. But away from the
tourist trail, some parts of the wall are being allowed to crumble
away.
7 secret's of Warren's Buffet for living a happy and simple life
Are you sold on the fake notion that owning possessions is the
touchstone of your self-worth? Have you felt jealous and self-pity when a
neighbor bought a new Mercedes or a new Yacht that you always wanted to
possess? We all have.
If your paycheck is not keeping up the pace with your cravings for the
new iphone, why not learn the secrets of simplicity from the richest man
on the earth who still lives without a cell phone? Before you sink your
money for the latest gadget what if you were to know that the Oracle of
Omaha still has no desk computer in his modest office?
In this world full of the rich and famous, Warren Buffett remains the
greatest investor ever born not due to his acumen for the wise
investments that he has made during his life but more for exemplifying
the greatness with simplicity. He’s full of wit and happiness and this
is at the core of everything that he does. 07 Secret's after the break...
Secret # 1 : Happiness comes from within.
In my adult business life I have never had to make a choice of trading
between professional and personal. I tap-dance to work, and when I get
there it’s tremendous fun.- Warren Buffett
This is the man who truly does what he loves. The battle between
Productivity and anti-productivity blogs stems from their convoluted
chains of frequently twisted rational to substantiate their claim that
productivity is a force of an external demand – from an employer or a
competitor. In reality, productivity comes from within. It comes from
doing what we love and loving what we do. When we start trading time
between our professional and personal life, we wage war in our own mind
to justify our passion in terms of a personal benefit. In my business I
have felt more stress and angst when I haven’t given all of my talent,
hard work and passion to help others on a given day. The myth of working
hard to make more money to buy more things throws us in the vicious
circle of hallucination. Our happiness always remains imprisoned when we
do work that we abhor yet justify doing it to pay bills for those
things that we don’t need. I used to work even after buying my first
hotel for many years to justify the fake notion that I needed additional
income to pay bills. What I needed was to change my lifestyle to free
myself from this never-ending rut chase.
Secret # 2 Find happiness in simple pleasures.
I have simple pleasures. I play bridge online for 12 hours a week. Bill
and I play, he’s “chalengr” and I’m “tbone”. – Warren Buffett
If the man richer than God can find happiness in the simple pleasure of
playing bridge online with another billionaire, I have to learn to be
happy with the simple pleasures of playing cards with friends or playing
with my children or taking a walk in the wilderness. All of these
simple pleasures do not need extravagant spending. I used to go play
golf with other businessmen when the local chamber of commerce sponsored
an event. I never found happiness in those events as they were centered
on generating more business and exchanging business cards than on truly
enjoying the moment. I was allowing myself to be run ragged by trading
business cards after hours in a vain hope of making more money whereas
that time deserved a dinner with my family.
Secret # 3 Live a simple life.
I just naturally want to do things that make sense. In my personal life
too, I don’t care what other rich people are doing. I don’t want a 405
foot boat just because someone else has a 400 foot boat. – Warren
Buffett
The sad truth is that our ever-sophisticated advertising industry has
conditioned our mind to find happiness from consumption by spending our
hard earned money on the possessions that never bring us lasting
happiness. We spend our life-energy on those possessions that we seldom
use. We worry about making payments for a luxury car that sits in our
garage collecting dust only for the right to brag about it in an
occasional social gathering. Keeping up with the Joneses is the worst
epidemic among those who should never contemplate that notion in the
first place. If a man who can possibly buy a nation with his cash never
espouses the mantra of “more the better”, I need to learn not to spread
my legs beyond the reach of the blanket. We are conditioned to spend
money before we earn it. We are sold on the fake happiness of “Buy now,
pay later dearly” - It’s nothing more than buying possessions that we
cannot afford. I have my share of insanity when it comes to mindless
spending, but lately I try to pay for most of my purchases with cash. It
creates awareness towards the impulse buy when I pay by cash. I have
also started red lining items on the credit card statement that I
consider useless spending. All of these efforts have built my awareness
towards my impulse purchases. I have been using mantra of – “less is
more” to simplify every aspect of my life. It’s a work in progress but
the results are astounding.
Secret # 4 Think Simply.
“I want to be able to explain my mistakes. This means I do only the things I completely understand.” – Warren Buffett
There lies one of the greatest secrets of simplicity. Warren Buffett
invests only in the businesses that he understands. If you ever read
research reports from an accomplished Wall Street guru, you’ll find a
plethora of details that make you dizzy. The success of Warren Buffett
as the greatest investor ever lies in his ability to think simply.
I used to invest in the stock market in the mid 90’s when everyone
wanted to make over night millions in an exuberant market. I used to
read “Investor’s Business Daily” only to look at the movers and shakers.
These were the stocks that made a significant upward move a day before.
A few days before Christmas, I made $52,000 in one stock in a matter of
a few days. I knew nothing about the company. I created a new reality
for my thoughts that I had figured out how the Wall Street works. I was
on my way to the riches. I applied the same thought model on the next
several stocks. Needless to say, I lost all that I made and much more. I
was lacking in a basic human quality that Warren Buffett has mastered
well – common sense. It says a great deal about the character of a man
who invested a measly amount in Microsoft despite the fact that Bill
Gates is one of his closest friends. I learned a valuable lesson of life
from this experience – “Not losing hard earned money is far more
important than making more money”.
If I apply this rule in my life, I can develop clarity and sanity in my
thoughts. Clarity is the mother of simplicity. Life is not a roulette;
life is about simple yet profound choices.
Secret # 5 Invest Simply.
The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund. – Warren Buffett
It is astounding to know that the greatest investor in the world is not
bragging about intricate financial maneuvering to impress the rest of
the world with his financial genius. Instead, Warren Buffett shows us
the most simplistic approach to our financial freedom – “Flow with the
market rather than pretending to be smarter than God.”
In this world full of so-called financial experts, Warren stands tall by
showing us the simplest way to the riches. The stock market has moved
upward for the last hundred years despite numerous setbacks. He is using
a long historical view to back his argument rather than making a futile
effort to predict how we can make a quick fortune. After losing most of
my capital in the late 90’s, I have precisely followed the simple
advice of investing in the no-load index funds. I’m happier than ever
and while my assets have not skyrocketed, they haven’t dwindled either.
Secret # 6 Have a mentor in life.
I was lucky to have the right heroes. Tell me who your heroes are and
I’ll tell you how you’ll turn out to be. The qualities of the one you
admire are the traits that you, with a little practice, can make your
own, and that, if practiced, will become habit-forming. – Warren Buffett
We are worshipers of celebrity demi-gods. All of us have this acute
desire to look and live like these celebrities. However, are they truly
the ones with character and moral compass to lead us? Having a mentor is
as important as having a purpose in our life but having a wrong mentor
is as devastating as having a wrong purpose in our life. The mentor has
to be someone whom we can trust and have an unwavering faith in his/her
guidance. The mentor has to be the one who has made outstanding strides
in advancing the greater and guiding purpose of happiness in his/her own
life. You’ll find that person in your inner circle if you think hard
enough. Write down why you admire them. Try to emulate their traits and
as Warren has shown by his exemplary life, with a little practice, you
can form a habit to clone the life that you admire the most.
Secret # 7 Making money isn’t the backbone of our guiding purpose; making money is the by-product of our guiding purpose.
If you’re doing something you love, you’re more likely to put your all
into it, and that generally equates to making money. – Warren Buffett
How do you rationalize the richest man on the earth still living in a
small 3-bedroom house that he purchased fifty years ago? Warren Buffett
never travels in a private jet despite the fact that he owns the largest
private jet company. His character and way of life speak volume about
his greatness. This is the man who spent his personal time investigating
a $4 line item on his tax return to hunt down the specifics of it while
giving away billions of dollars to Bill Gates foundation. It is rare to
find the richest man on the earth living without luxuries that we want
to possess even by mortgaging our future. He has demonstrated that while
valuing the worth of money is vital for our ingenuity and success,
money shall never become the object and end all of our motivation.
I’m an avid admirer of simplicity, but I’m an even bigger fan of the man
who has mastered the greatness by living and breathing simplicity amid
an ocean of wealth. Do you agree?
10 Commandments for good wives
1. Be careful when your husband is angry. At this point, do not be no fun, no grumpy - smiled and said softly.
2. Do not make your husband wait for food. Hunger - the father of anger.
3. Do not wake him when he sleeps.
4. Be careful with his money. Do not hide from him his financial affairs.
5. Keep it secret. If he brags, and keep it a secret.
6. I do not approve of his enemies and not hate his friends.
7. I do not mind him and do not claim that your advice is better than him.
8. Do not expect the impossible.
9. If you will be attentive to his request, he will be your slave.
10. Do not say anything that would hurt him. If you're going to treat him like a king, he will treat you like a queen.
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