Warren Buffet once famously urged a class full of graduate students to read 500 pages a day. He himself claims that 80% of his day consists of reading. The investing guru was caught saying that knowledge is just like compound interest, it grows exponentially the more you add to it.
I’ve read my fair share of self-improvement literature. There are some who hate the idea of reading too much. They call it ‘motivation porn’. Some call it ‘analysis paralysis’. I myself stand on the idea that if you act upon what you’re learning, while constantly updating your knowledge bank through fresh reading, it’s advisable to read a lot. Everyday. As much as you can.
Whatever problem/ challenge you’re facing right now, someone may have already solved it and put his experience in a book. All you have to do is to read.
There are people that have dedicated their whole life learning and teaching, you can get inside their brains and explore their minds through reading.
Having said all of that, I do recognize that some of you are in a time crunch. Then there are people who are tired of searching for answers. If so, don’t worry. This post is for you.
This is Conor Neill. Conor has been teaching Leadership Communications courses at IESE for over 16 years on MBA, Executive MBA and Senior Executive Programs. On June 10, 2013, the TEDx Talks uploaded his speech on YouTube. The video has been by almost 2 million people by now. He starts his video like this:
If you had €1000 and you could invest that money in someone’s future, who would you bet on?
He goes on to illustrate how Warren Buffet would make this decision. Apparently, the billionaire investor will consider 3 criteria. In the rest of the video, Conor goes on to talk about these criteria.
Here’s the talk-
Most Ted speaker would stop there. But, not Conor. He went on that stage not to sell something but to genuinely help people. So, he talks about tools to harness these qualities into your psyche.
The Tools He Talks About
I won’t tell you what the criteria are. I want you to watch the video and find out for yourself. Trust me, it’s worth the 23 minutes it will take you to watch it.
But I’ll talk about the tools he suggests that you use.
First, he talks about writing your thoughts. It’s similar to the morning pages that Julia Cameron suggests in her best selling book ‘The Artists Way’.
He is not the first psychologist whom I have heard being an ardent supportedr of these morning pages. Bill Williams, the famous psychologist turned stock trader is another person who pushes morning pages as a crucial factor for success.
Then Conor talks about, the power of little steps. I wrote intensively about this idea here.
Next conor speaks of Delaying gratification. The best way to do this is not an amazing display of willpower. Rather what you need to do is to remove the object of your desire from your sight. In short-
When you want something done- make it visible. i.e. If you want to run, keep your running shoes near the door.
What you want to avoid- make it invisible/ impossible. i.e. If you want to avoid social media- uninstall apps
This is as far as I will go talking about this talk. Now go watch it for yourself. You can thank me later 😉
RaihanRiad 