Warren Buffett's Story Telling On Earn More

 

Found this interesting speech by Warren to a group of entrepreneurs.

Just thought his story telling ties in nicely to what I've wrote last week on the Paradox of Success.

3 Stories; 3 Reflections

 

The other day we were talking about ikigai.

Found this video to be quite interesting to reflect on.

Why we do the things we do. 

What's it all for anyways?

I would like to draw your attention to the 2nd video - the little girl selling pineapple "ice-cream".

It seems from the comments in YouTube, most have missed the "essence" of what's it all about....

If you're an educator, of course you know. But its hard to execute in today's system. That's why the wise religious gurus only use this method for their more equal "inner chamber" students.

As for the rest of their anyone and everyone students, they do what you do today. Its just for KPIs only; since they don't really matter. 

For parents, it can be hard if you have not got to where you are today using the same method as in the 2nd video. 

So like the poverty trap, its back to doing the same thing over and over in the next generation but expecting a different result...

That's also a reason why I suspect so many in our community are either too eager to Indian Chief others what to do; or honestly believing others will help them reach their financial Nirvana without they themselves putting in any effort on their part!? 

And the most ironic of all, most have got it all backwards...

You create wealth through SELLING; not buying.

Duh!

 

  

That's why girls are drawn to men with talent

One Door Closes; One Door Opens (Hentak Kaki)

I'm in the Facebook group for returned overseas Singaporeans, and was pleasantly intrigued when our local actor Michael Chua shared a short film that he acted in during 2012 that's directed by James Khoo.

Not long, around 12 minutes.

For your viewing pleasure this cool lazy Sunday:

Life is not a straight line extrapolation.

Sometimes things will go bump despite the best of our plans and goal settings...

When we look back to yesterday, we often wish we can turn back time and do things differently. I know, wish you had not married him or her... That's about as practical as a one-legged stool.

And as we look ahead in our little fantasies to escape today, we often tell ourselves we will do this and that tomorrow... See? I have a plan! And a goal too! Well, that's still only as practical as a 2 legged stool.

Who we are today are the sum of the decisions and non-decisions we have or have not made yesterday.

Who we will be tomorrow? What do you think?

Still want to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

When one door closes, whether we can find another door that opens... Well, I think you get the idea.

How You Living? Power speech by Dr Rick Rigsby

Sometimes, different world, different culture, we discover values and ideas quite similar to ours...


Mark Twain - I never let my schooling interfere with my education.

I guessed I've led a similar path. 

It never fails to amaze me during my corporate days to find the number of graduates who stopped learning the moment they left school. And they wonder why we never put them on our list of "potentials"...

Same goes for our financial freedom community. Some think just reading 1 to 2 books, attend a few workshops, and they are ready.... If you think like that, just visit STE's blog and look at his private library. And CW mentioned he has almost read all the books on investment in our public libraries.

If you want to bring a knife to a gun fight, nobody stopping you!


Aim low and hit it.

On second thought...

I think I'll stop and let you fill in the blanks yourself.


How you living?

This is especially true for those in their 40s and above.

1/3 to 1/2 our lives are gone now...

Have you run out of excuses yet?

The Buddha And The Beggar

People Are Like Garbage Trucks

A few months back, an elderly tanned big brawny old man (in his late 60s?) with bad knee and a walking stick shouted at me at the top of his lungs... Everyone turned an looked at us.

He is like your neighbourhood "ah long" or contactor with permed hair, wearing thick gold chains around his stumb of a neck, and multiple "Lords of the Rings" gold rings around his leathery fingers...

All I did was to make a "joke" that if he wanted "free" delivery and installation for the home appliance, I just need to change the price tag to a $100 more...

99.99% of the other customers will get the sugar-coated poke that there's no such thing as "free" delivery and installation. Its either included in the price, or its not.

I am glad I had some "cultivation or training". Although I was caught off guard by this sudden outburst, I simply smiled at him.

Seeing I did not "bite", the old man continued his tirade against me and threatening to complain to management.

I continued smiling at him with full eye contact (its an animal and man thing). No malice, no anger, no condescending pity on him.

It was actually a sorrowful sight.

I imagined he could be a gang leader or someone important in his prime in the 1970s or 80s...

But now... Not in the best of health, wearing all that gold to "mask" his current lack of means... If money was not a problem, why get so worked up on a home appliance that only costs $300? 

Since I've been on the receiving end of patronising smiles before, I made sure my smile is the "stand tall I wish you well" variety - not the "I pity you" kind. 

For that would have made the situation worse.

The old man lumbered out of the showroom mumbling to himself...

It takes 2 hands to clap.

How to lose weight in 4 easy steps - that's how financial freedom is achieved too!

Watch till the end.

I wanted to say quite a lot.

On 2nd thought, maybe I'll leave it up to the readers to figure it out for themselves.

The director of this short video quite creative!

I'm actually a slim woman inside

I normally don't do this, but I've been known to steal with pride...

When This Man Sees Who Sits Next To Him In The Plane, He’s Disgusted. 2 Hours Later, He Hates Himself For That.

Just thought its a good counterbalance to my previous post.

Life is funny this way.

Sometimes we have to climb the mountain to discover ourselves.

Sometimes we don't.

Only You Can Change Yourself

Thai TV commercials are super fun to watch!

Something for those who are climbing up the mountain. 

There is more to Life than "success" or "financial freedom"

What good is success if there is no one to share your joy?

What's so great about wealth if there no one to share it with?

LEGO letter to parents in the 1970s

Life is about Balance

Thinking about it is not enough

If you have 1 hour to spare, you may want to take a look at this excellent TV interview with Steve Jobs:


Steve Jobs. The Lost Interview

1) Life is a series of chance encounters. 

Where would Steve Jobs be if he had not met Steve Wozniak? 

Can you name a person who made a difference in your life? If it was planned, then you are very Machiavelli... Remember to remind me to keep a distance from you.


2) Opportunity by stumbling along

How did Steve Jobs discover the potential of assembled Apple 1?

There's no Vision, Mission Statement, Goals, Business Plans right?

It was pretty much like: Crash got sound.

When you were travelling overseas, have you ever thought this new product or shop you discovered will do well in Singapore?

It's just a thought, and you soon forget it when you get back. Months later, you discover this same product or shop being introduced in Singapore by another Singaporean!!! What were your thoughts there and then? 

Thinking about it is not enough right? 


3) Business is not rocket science

OK, those of you with vested interests (spent years studying at business schools) may disagree.

If entrepreneurs have to know "business" before they start their enterprises, who will start anything? 

Perhaps its precisely entrepreneurs have no concept of what cannot be done?

You can never have too many theories and parrots telling you how it could not be done without a proper business plan (and these are the same people who worked for others). Wink. 


4)  Marketing/Sales People versus Product People 

You figure this one out yourself. I'm doing navel gazing now. 

And I'm not complaining!


5) Process versus Content

Am I more process or content?

Back to navel gazing. See? I have to struggle with the real me and what I want others to see in me too!


6) Your work is shit!

I think by now you understand why I like to banter with and poke at readers. 

When we grind rocks together, we get beautiful polished stones!

Be aware if all you get are compliments and "I so agree with you" comments, you are either being surrounded by sycophants, or you are one big bully and everyone is terrified to disagree with you! 


7) Many other gems

I've been talking too much already! 

What interesting titbits or learning lessons have your drawn from this interview?

Famous Failures

If you have not failed before, it simply means you have not tried something new.
 

Mom's 1st Birthday

You can turn on the English caption at the bottom right-hand corner if it's not showing automatically.

Watch it in full-screen mode.


It's drizzling outside.

Perhaps that's why I am wiping the raindrops running down my cheeks.

The Wind Rises

I watched Hayao Miyazaki's farewell anime movie "The Wind Rises" yesterday afternoon.

Tuesday is my movie watching day. I've got this Golden Village free membership card that allows me to watch movies on Tuesdays for a very reasonable charge of $6.50 per movie.

This is one of those rare movies that would appeal to both engineering (those who aspire to design and build) and liberal arts "students".

It's an inspiration to those who wish to create and craft something that we can call our own - whether it's a prototype car, a musical play, painting, or flower arrangement.

I was immensely impressed with Hayao Miyazaki's story telling technique. How he skillfully interwoved the major events of the 20th century as metaphors and conveyed his anti-war pacifist stance without being too much in your face.

There is a reason for reminding the audience Japan was once a poor and backward country; and how the resources poured into the technological catch-up with the West could have fed many of the poor and displaced... (Singapore engineers and civil servants after the separation in 1965 may identify with this ethos. There is a higher social mission than worrying about financial freedom or angst about others are earning more than you.) 

For liberal arts students, can you feel the "creative destruction" impulse depicted in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923? It's very comforting to build-on and borrow-with-pride the styles of our idols and mentors. But in our hearts of hearts, we know that to have our own "voice" or "mark", we need to break from our pasts and reach deep inside. And that's frightening! What if there's nothing inside? Tell me about it! I've been prone to self-doubt too...


If your dream is to design and build the "perfect" plane, would you act on your dream never mind the product of your dream can be used as a weapon of destruction?

For investors who shy away from "sin" stocks like casinos or tobacco & liquour stocks, that's too easy. Look again at the counters you owned. There is always some tradeoffs and exploitations somewhere. Something to think about next time you sit on your high horse...


I went out of the cinema a bit red-eyed. 

It's a warm feeling that somewhere out there, another kindred spirit has similar thoughts and ideas, and would understand. 

A friend like wind

If I have one wish

Man in Pink Tutu

Got this from my friend's Facebook.

This guy travelled the country in a pink tutu just to make his wife laugh during chemo... 

Girls, guys like him are keepers.


Let's do our bit to share more uplifting stories of joy, happiness, and love. 

And drink Chicken Soup!

We see what we want to see - Retiree flipping burgers at 77?

Remember this picture test below? 

If you have not done this test before, do you see a young woman or old day?

Who can see both?

Add caption

My blogger friend CW posted this article on the 77 year old retiree flipping burgers in his blog yesterday.

If you have the patience and curiosity (you're the kind of fundamental investor who drills down into the details and not just simply react to headline news), I would encourage you to watch the video and read the rather lengthy article at it's original source here:

At 77 He Prepares Burgers Earning In A Week His Former Hourly Wage

Once you have done so, what's your first takeaway?

Don't read further until you have done so. Don't let my opinions affect you.

Now let's compare notes and shoot the breeze together!

Like in the picture above, we see what we want to see. There's no wrong or right!







My own take

1.  What a handsome man! 

I wish I can look like him when I am 77! I'm sure ladies in their late 40s and early 50s would want to go out with him. Remember, in the video, Tom says he has a "social life". 


2.  I hope I can be as healthy as Tom when I'm his age! 

Look at the way he walks and carries himself. Can stand 8 hours all day in his 2 part-time jobs.


3.  Notice how we react on reading he has 2 part-time jobs? 

If I worked 40 hours a week, what the difference with working the same 40 hours in 5 different part-time jobs versus one full-time job? Benefits. OK, you win. There's more. Pity points?


4.  Contrary to what most of us do, Tom took the path less trodden. 

“I knew that anyone who got into that plant never got out,” he said. “You just got stuck because of the steady pay.”


5.  Tom chose family over career.

"When Cooper relocated from New Jersey to California, Palome didn’t want to uproot his family. So in 1980, when he was 44, he started a consulting company, with Cooper as his main client." 


6.  Some readers reading the headlines may start to proselytize on the importance of savings... Tom not a saver?  

"Though he saved for his kids’ college and helped his elderly parents, retirement wasn’t on his radar."

Maybe Tom took care of others first?


7.  Attitude matters.

Instead of complaining on the cards we are dealt, we play the hand the best we can?

Tom lost his wife early. Raised his children himself. During lean years in his consulting business, Tom took a 2nd job running a restaurant where he learnt new skills. Investment got cut by half? Move on.

Tom's optimistic and realistic outlook on life started way before his retirement.


8.  Want to is different from has to.

"Palome, who said his jobs keep him active and learning new things, could survive without working. He receives $1,200 from Social Security and a $600 a month pension from his last corporate job. Still, his $1,400 in monthly wages allows him to bolster his savings and provides for some extras. He goes to the theater, pays for plane tickets to visit his children and grandsons and takes occasional vacations."




Earn more or save more?

You decide after reading this article. I have my bias; and you yours. I don't evangelize you; you don't proselytize me.

What was this article all about? You can't rely on the US social security to take care of you? Despite working hard, saving, and paying off your mortgage?

We living longer than planned to blame? (Kidding! But in a way right no? Mother nature never meant for us to live this long. That's a post for next time)



Beware of others taking advantage of our emotions.

If I am a financial adviser, I can turn this article into a fear emotional sell. See? That's what happens if you don't save... Once the hook has sunk in, a wholelife "savings" policy would be sold.

If I see the prey saves but is worried on the low yields today, I would turn this article into a greed emotional sell. Stressing how in the long term, equities grow 8% a year... A tugging of the line, an investment-linked policy would be sold.

人到老年的領悟