The Quest for Meaning!
Wisdom Letter #3
#1
Warren Buffet, the “Oracle of Omaha”, one of the richest people in the world, a master investor, the most quoted thinker of our times, is also one of the most simple human beings alive.
His quotes have become thumb rules that people live their lives by. But often a lot of nuances are missed in those thumb rules and the people who quote him the most are also the ones who miss the essence of what he actually means to say.
Warren Buffet is more a brand than a person to most of us today.
The HBO documentary on his life “Becoming Warren Buffet” captures his uncomplicated nature beautifully. Its a good opportunity to meet the man behind the brand. Its a great weekend watch.
The movie is available on Hotstar, watch it here (1 hour 30 mins)
#2
Do you meditate?
There’s a whole meditation movement going on in the world right now. You can look at it as a fad that may wane off in a couple of years. Or you can look at it as an opportunity to build a skill that will help you improve your life massively.
I do believe meditation will become in the next 10 years what exercise is today, a basic necessity we can no longer ignore.
Mindfulness meditation promises very basic things that go a long way. You even don’t have to shut your eyes and try very hard to meditate, there are simpler methods you can follow.
This podcast with Dan and Bianca Harris is a good primer on the topic.
No they don’t meditate on the air, but they do a good job of explaining what it is and what it is not, and how can it help us.
And I love the banter between the couple. Its very cute.
Take a listen here (1 hour 2 minutes)
#3
When Morgan Housel of Collab Fund speaks, the world listens.
Okay, it may only be the finance world for now, but soon, it will be the whole world.
He has written tons of blog posts about human behavior, investing, geo-political and historical patterns. All packed with brilliant and original insights, but perhaps his most valuable piece of writing is this letter to his new born daughter — Financial Advice For My New Daughter
This short article should be bookmarked or printed and pinned at a place from where it can be easily and frequently accessed.
This is the most meaningful advice you will ever receive, and not just about money but about life in general.
My favorite quote from the piece —
The highest dividend money pays is providing the ability to control your time. Being able to do what you want, when you want, where you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, provides a lasting level of happiness greater than any amount of fancy stuff can ever offer.
Read the whole thing here (5 mins)
#4
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who survived the holocaust.
He was transported to one of the worst Nazi concentration camps-the Auschwitz death camp and lived to tell the tale.
Being a student of psychology gave him a unique perspective on the challenges and survival tactics of the camp inmates.
He has chronicled his experiences and insights in the book “Man’s search for meaning”
Its a gut wrenching account of the horrors of the holocaust.
But its also a telling lesson on what gives meaning to our lives and what really matters to us.
How do you live another day when you have lost everything that you had. When your family, friends, all the people you ever knew in your life have been killed. When fame, money, all your possessions, even the clothes on your body are taken away. When you’re sick and tired and tortured persistently.
When everything is taken from a man, when he is naked, both physically and spiritually, how does he find the will to breathe, to eat, to live?
The book gives you a kick in the butt and makes you review your own choices with a fresh perspective. Its a life altering book for many.
Couple of my favorite quotes from the book-
Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power as Alfred Adler thought, but a quest for meaning
Forces beyond your control can take everything you posses except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you
Find the book here (161 pages)
Start by watching this Youtube summary of the 3 big ideas from the book.
#5
As we sign off for the week, here’s a quote worth pondering.
We choose outcomes as goals and treat processes as chores.
A better approach is to set processes as goals and treat outcomes as byproducts —@CrazyPolymath on Twitter
Going after a single goal with all your might can be exhausting and can leave you empty once the goal is achieved. A better approach is to build systems that churn out successful outcomes almost out of habit. Focus on the process, the results will take care of themselves.
Think about this idea as you approach your goals this week. See if you can build healthy processes that help you achieve successful outcomes repeatedly.
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Ciao
Aditi & Ayush
In case you missed last week’s wisdom letter, check it out here, its called “Starting up and Slowing Down”
And if you’re wondering why we are doing this project, what is the point of it? checkout the intro post, it might make some sense!