GM: You want to be your own boss, but you don’t have the right mindset. These letters will gently caress your brain until you’re ready to conquer the freelance world.
Today I’ll be serving
- ????: 1 Nugget
- ????: 1 Food for Thought
???? Nugget
Between an agemate who’s made a million shillings and Warren Buffet, who would you take financial advice from?
If you picked Warren Buffet, kindly look up, shake your head sideways, feel your senses coming back to life.
Can you learn from a man a billion steps ahead of you? Yes!
Will his advice be practical? Not really!
Take, for instance, his Rule No. 1 (Never Loose Money), which even has a pretentious backup Rule No. 2 (Never Forget Rule No. 1).
What do you mean “never lose money”?
Did Warren become a billionaire by never losing money for the 9 decades he’s been around?
Is there anyone in recorded history who was 100% sure of every investment they made, 100% of the time?
If I’m not mistaken, before Berkshire Hathaway became a financial institution, it was a textile company quickly drowning in losses. Warren had invested almost every penny he had, and his value was quickly dwindling.
If he had followed his advice, he wouldn’t have risked investing in the business, and today no one would have heard of him.
But maybe I’m digging deep into the trenches to vindicate him. How about we pick stuff that’s more recent?
When was 2008, like 15 years ago? The financial crisis whipped off $23 billion from Warren’s balance. So much for a financial genius at the pinnacle of success.
I don’t mind taking advice from overly successful people I admire. But I also don’t deem their advice factually important. I think their success is a sum of countless factors, and there aren’t a bunch of secret tips they have that are a blood stamp to their success.
Imagine a centenarian telling you that the secret to living long is eating healthy and exercising daily.
What if you choke on lettuce while on a date or get run over by a bus while jogging on a pristine Monday morning?
What’s my point?
Very few people will ever come close to achieving a thousandth of what Warren has been able to achieve financially.
But for the agemate who made a million shillings, their success is far more easily replicable. At my current level, I’d rather invest in learning from them.
If you’re planning to learn anything, especially a skill that’s supposed to make you money, you have a better chance of succeeding in your quest if you can find someone who is a few steps ahead of you to give you the right momentum.
Invest less time and resources chasing the ultra-successful. Rather seek guidance from those who are a notch higher than you.
The chase will be more practical; you’ll have more wins than losses, and obviously, you’ll be more inspired to keep pushing toward your ultimate financial goal.
???? Food for Thought
- A 500+ million-view writer addresses people who think entrepreneurship is overrated.
That’s all for today.