Seeing my most serious blindspots

Randomly, today, I was reading about Warren Buffet, his investment strategy - called value investing - and my roommate passed me his biography.

And I saw two of my most serious blindspots, today.

Buffet is a much more conservative investor/risk-taker than I am used to being in my life. He prefers the simple, he likes to know his limitations, and he looks for enduring value (which is the essence of value investing).

Two quotations in Andrew Kilpatrick's book about Buffet, Of Permanent Value, sums up the lessons I learned today:

"Summing of Ben Graham's teachings (Ben Graham is the business professor whose teachings are the basis for Warren Buffet's investment philosophy): 'When proper temperament joins with proper intellectual framework, then you get rational behavior.' (Forbes, October 19, 1993).

And, "It's just not necessary to do extraordinary things to produce extraordinary results."

Warren's wisdom in investing and life helped highlight my two strongest weaknesses or blindspots, I think.

The first, and the one that's gotten me into trouble so often, is that while I have plenty of intelligence, I have a temperament from hell. I am passionate, but far too passionate. I am easily upset. Far too easily. I have discovered how to have more genuine control over that tendency by letting it loose enough that the temptation soon gives way to a more authentic self-discipline. It's been a good strategy, often. But as I see it, I understand why I shoot myself in the foot with this one far too often. Often when I want to be working, I cannot concentrate because I am overwhelmed with some strong feeling. I am learning more honest self-control as I see the mistake and internalize the lesson. But it has caused me a lot of problems, in the meantime.

The second and more important blindspot, I think, is that I prefer the complex to the simple far too often. It leaves me blind to the simple answers and the simple habits and truthes that show a clearer way if I will only pay attention. When I want an answer I go complex, even when, often I should look for something simpler. Buffet is an example of someone who knows how to navigate the complex world of investment with an appreciation for the simpler truthes in life. Instead of just choosing the simpler, more straightforward option, I prefer the complex, even when it gets me in trouble.

Both of these are examples of strengths that have metastasized because I have overdone them. Passion is great, but an even-keel is often what I need. And intelligence is useful, but complexity can often become overwrought. Often what I am missing is a simple appreciation for the more moderate and simpler habits and truths that make for a happier and more productive life.

Warren Buffet is brilliant, by the way, if you have not studied his strategies. If I was going to be an investor, this is who I would study. Not a bad idea, given that he is the richest investor in the world. But more importantly, because he's such a decent guy.

And, today, he helped me see important blindspots I've been missing in my quest for a life of freedom with responsibility.

Love,
Ben