Buffett's 7 secrets for living a happy and simple life

I'm very grateful to have received from my sister Zoonie the following 7 secrets to a happy and simple life.

Since I'm an obsessive intellectual, I couldn't resist the temptation to rationally verify if these secrets were applicable to my own life. Feel free to go through the same exercise, and I guarantee that you will gain clarity regarding your own strategies for achieving happiness!

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

I would say that happiness, for most people, comes from a set of positive conditions in one's life. What those specific conditions are, depends on each person. Some people need to have children to be happy, others don't. Some need to have a creative job, others don't.

So I don't necessarily agree that happiness, as defined by society, comes from within. Peace, however, comes from within. Therefore, peace does NOT depend on external conditions.

Given the fact that most people are not happy at work, it may be better to seek peace within first. In other words, if you currently have a job that is not aligned with your passion or talent, it would be better to accept that job and develop a sense of peace and calm serenity about it.

This puts you in the BEST emotional position for planning and executing a move that will lead you to a better job or perhaps to launching your own company.

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

I don't agree with the premise behind this secret. Some people find happiness in simplicity, others find happiness in complexity.

For example, some people love to watch movies where the romantic story is clever yet simple to understand and there's a nice ending. For example, the movie Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts and Richard Geere.

But in my case, I love movies that offer a bit more "meat" or psychological sophistication such as Lune de fiel (Bitter Moon), starring Peter Coyote and Emmanuel Seigner.

Actually, I love both Pretty Woman and Bitter Moon.

My point is that the advice "Find happiness in simple pleasures" has to be verified personally by each person, according to his/her taste.

One should also distinguish between "pleasure" and "enjoyment." Pleasure is external, like eating food, drinking wine, etc. and has a physiological effect while enjoyment is internal, like intellectual analysis, creative writing, etc.

Buffett probably "enjoys" playing bridge with Bill Gates because the game involves strategy. Technically, he doesn't derive pleasure from it. (Unless they are both drinking alcohol or smoking cigars while playing!).

By the way, Buffett DEFINITELY enjoys his work as a capital allocator, for it involves a great deal of intellectual work. He reads tons of annual reports every year. Thus, his secret #1 could be rephrased as "Professional happiness comes from choosing the kind of work that you ENJOY doing."

This sounds more accurate -- and thus can be of greater practical guidance -- than "Happiness comes from within."

Secret # 3 Live a simple life.

This is good advice. For people over 40!

For crying outloud, if you're under 40, seek novel experiences and experiment a little! I notice that many young people today are paralyzed by fear of some kind.

When I was in my 20s, I did everything! (Except drugs and orgies).

How can you have an exciting life if you only seek the "simple life"?

In Buffett's defense, I should say that he belongs to a previous generation so his taste for simplicity is eminently justifiable.

But there are SO MANY things to do today. I would not advise young people to "live a simple life."

Certainly, one must have simple and clear values, but beyond that, one should be open to new experiences.

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

He is totally correct. One's reasoning behind any decision should be defendable, not because one has to report to anyone, but because being able to defend one's decision or position will force a person to be ruthlessly rational.

Secret # 5 Invest Simply.

The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund. - Warren Buffett

I don't necessarily agree. The best way to create wealth for yourself is to use your imagination and creativity to create new value, and then distribute that value worldwide if possible.

I'm more in agreement with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, who created the Grameen Bank (micro-credit) and who believes that "entrepreneurship" is a fundamental aspect of every human being.

If that is true, then every person should create his/her own product, build a business around it, and invest all his/her available money into that business -- not an index fund since that would mean investing into other people's businesses.

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

Having ONE mentor may have been a good strategy 20 years ago, when the pace of change was relatively slow and technology or new ways of doing business did not develop so rapidly.

Today, one needs a network of advisors, teachers, coaches, trainers and experts. Linkedin, and especially Linkedin SENSE (http://linkedinsense.wordpress.com), is perfect for building one such strategic network.

I do agree with him that one needs to have heroes AND to follow the work of such heroes. My heroes are Hernando de Soto (author of The Mystery of Capital), Edwards Deming, Edward de Bono, Alvin Toffler, Eckhart Tolle and the late Ayn Rand.

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

I totally agree. When you do work that you love, you pour your entire BEING into your every DOING. There is such focus and power and creativity in one's being that when you inject it, with passion, into anything you do, the end result is invariably a masterpiece -- with the added benefit of your psychically growing through the experience into a more self-realized person.