Warren Buffett's rules for investing inspire REAL wellness rules for thriving and thriving

Warren Buffett's rules for investing inspire REAL wellness rules for thriving and thriving

Introduction: Financial and Personal Investments

Warren Buffett and I have something in common. We are both unofficially, comfortably and more or less affectionately known asThe biggest,he as the world's largest stock investor, me as the world's largest REAL wellness authority. (So ​​far, I'm the only person writing about REAL wellness, which puts me at the top of this impressive category.)

Warren is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway - he has $85 billion in his bank accounts; I haven't founded anything, my bank accounts are more modest than Mr. Buffett's, but shockingly, Mr. Buffett's views on investing are consistent with those on welfare.

I will explain how my views on health issues reflect Warren's beliefs about investing in stocks. Well, if not quite a mirror image, then you certainly have a vague resemblance if you look hard enough for such a confluence.

I believe the best way to thrive and thrive, and to do so with minimal reliance on doctors, medications and medical treatments, is to understand and stick to a TRUE wellness lifestyle. The REAL in REAL Wellness is an acronym and stands for the dimensions of reason, exuberance, sportiness and freedom. A set of lifestyle principles in each of these four dimensions complement Warren Buffett's investment rules.

Rules for two types of investments

I got this orientation largely through my personal acquaintance with . discoveredThe biggestAuthority over the Sage of Omaha, namely Robert P. Miles. Bob is the author of the best-selling books about Mr. Buffett, includingWarren Buffett's CEO: Secrets of Berkshire Hathaway's Managersand101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

My impressions of the connection between Mr. Buffett's rules and my ideas about REAL wellness were also somewhat supplemented by two short investment articles. One was that of Stephanie LoiaconoRules by which Warren Buffett lives(Investopedia, June 24, 2019), the other Seth SpearsWarren Buffett's ten rules for success(Spears Marketing, January 23, 2012).

There are many investing rules that can be attributed to Mr. Buffett, many of which he actually expressed. Let's look at these real rules that best reflect and align with REAL wellness principles. I'll come up with ten Buffett rules and then comment on each one.

Rule #1: Never lose money.

In the case of REAL wellness, you do everything you can to never lose your health. This rule cannot be left to chance. There's not much you can do about many of the key factors that influence your well-being (e.g. biology, culture and environment), but adopting a positive lifestyle to improve health is in your hands.

Rule #2: Never forget rule #1.

Ditto REAL wellness.

Rule #3: If business is good, the stock will eventually follow.

If your culture and environment are supportive (i.e., friends and family model healthy attitudes and behaviors), you are likely to follow suit. Choose friends wisely and, if necessary, distance yourself from silly, self-evident, or behaviorally problematic relatives.

Rule #4: The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.

To thrive and thrive, focus on emotional and psychological attitudes and beliefs that promote calmness, adaptability, and abundant exuberance.

Rule #5: The stock market will fluctuate - focus on investment goals and remain steadfast during market turbulence.

Life is shaped by chance events; Control what you can with wise personal decisions, knowing that setbacks affect even the most conscious and thoughtful among us.

Rule #6. Reinvest your profits.

This rule implies that you take care to protect your wealth, that is, avoid risking capital needed for the common needs of a good life. From a wellness perspective, the lesson is not to compromise foundational resources (e.g., physical mobility) with thrill-seeking for momentary satisfactions.

Of course, this is difficult to impossible for the very young and most teenagers, but for sedentary adults it is doable and wise. Especially as you get older, beware of excesses that are immediately attractive (e.g., wild parties, drugs, excessive alcohol, and associations with shady or deplorable characters).

Rule #7. Be willing to be different.

Don’t hoard your insights and ideas in follow-up questions. Exercise your right to discuss all important, serious and material matters. Do this with openness, skill, and consideration for diverse audiences. Identify the nature and soundness of your unpopular opinions and then be different at strategic times or just have fun with your friends, especially on matters related to politics, sex and religion.

Rule #8. Be decisive. As Mr. Buffett puts it: Never suck your thumb.

Of course, this means supporting yourself after making decisions and avoiding excessive or limitless rumination to the point of paralysis. Such sulking leads to disorienting stress, loss of opportunities, and/or the appearance of fear and weakness. Even if decisions turn out to be dubious or worse, your wrong decisions deserve (self-)respect if you acted on the best information available. Learn from good and different experiences and move forward, wiser and steadfast, determined and fearless.

Rule #9: Be persistent. Cultivate persistence and resourcefulness.

If it were easy to think critically, overcome dogma, resist flamflam artists, scammers and superstitions, live exuberantly with a lot of joy and meaning, eat well (healthily) most of the time, look good and be fit and pretty much live the life you value, who wouldn't? Not many. Living well in a way that optimizes well-being and allows for thriving and thriving requires applying Mr. Buffett's 9th Rule of Persistence in Investing to your way of life. That means you have to be decisive – do what you must to cultivate tenacity while guiding yourself with ingenuity, both mentally and physically.

Rule #10. Know what success really means.

How will you understand whether you are sick or healthy, happy or sad, successful or failed, fit or unfit, alive or almost dead, if you don't know exactly what it means to be on the brighter side of these and other dichotomies? Develop a curious nature about the meaning of excellent health beyond mediocre norms. Look for insights into what's possible in terms of your athletic abilities given your age, current functional status, resources, and general situation - and then see how you can overcome getting by, in a state or low normality like most others you observe. Discover the nature of exceptional features and the multitude of possibilities to evolve towards high-capacity living.

Summary

Mr. Buffett fully understands that even with the overwhelming amount of wealth in his personal reports, the quality of his existence is not measured that way. Instead, its success rests on decades of providing resources that alleviate global problems, alleviate misery and create opportunities for many. Ultimately, it is the way he uses his skills and the unique role he plays in life that reflects his invaluable personality, the most valued element of value and merit.

If you want to draw attention to your ideas, find someone to link to. This way you will appear more sensible than you really are. I don't want to brag, but I don't think I could have adopted a better model for REAL wellness rules than Warren Buffett.

I hope he doesn't mind.

(Addendum – answer from Robert P. Miles):

I have often thought that Don Ardell and Warren Buffett were brothers from different mothers. While you and Warren don't share a diet (he drinks six cherry colas a day, doesn't like vegetables, exercise or water - he prefers See's Chocolates and Dairy Queen sundaes - 300 to 600 calories), you both still have a lot of things in common.

Both of you are octogenarians, have younger wives, are politically like-minded, frugal, agnostic, lateral thinkers, voracious readers, excellent communicators and seem to squeeze every drop out of life or, as your idol Ingersoll advised, to suck the orange of life dry.

Finally, I suspect that when the end finally comes and a parade of celebrants parades past your respective caskets, you both might prefer that no one claims that Warren was the richest or Don the strongest, but that Warren and Don were among the oldest.