I’ve been reading a lot lately. I’m about to finish Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger, and I’ve been reading individual chapters of My Life and Work by Henry Ford, Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross, and the Bible. Last week, I finished reading Twelve Pillars by Jim Rohn.
I’ve noticed a lot of similarities between these books. For example, in Twelve Pillars, Rohn emphasizes the importance of living a life of service to others in order to achieve success. In Predictable Revenue, Ross describes this same concept as the only right mindset to succeed in sales: “Selling isn’t closing, it’s caring about the other person’s needs”.
Needless to say, the Bible mentions serving others as the only way to succeed in life in general, not just in business. Henry Ford also shares that he learned that “business is to serve others” when explaining what he disliked about finance men trying to succeed by refinancing.
All these books have an altruistic perspective of life. Yet, seeking self-preservation could be an alternative way of living, and that’s exactly the case of Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger, who I could categorize as a survivalist. It’s each individual’s responsibility to decide how to live.
Personally, I prefer altruism. Still, in the past couple of years, I’ve learned not to idealize life in any of its contexts—education, relationships, or business—because life isn’t a movie. Even though this new perspective is far from developed, I’m proud of it. I’m actively working on incorporating aspects of self-preservation while still valuing altruism, without forgetting that by definition life is unpredictable and I’ll never be able to create a mathematical formula for living.
As an analogy, I would say I’ve learned not to touch boiling water by touching it—thinking it wouldn’t burn me because I could be quick or smart enough. Yet, I still got burned.
When reading Poor Charlie’s Almanack, I noticed Munger is a survivalist, while I would say people like Ford or Musk are idealists. I believe both of these mindsets can help you succeed, but it’s up to the individual to decide if the pros and cons of each align with them.
For example, Musk bet his entire fortune on trying to make the Falcon 5 land after departure. From Munger’s perspective of the world, Elon’s decision could be categorized as insanity. Yet Musk sees it as a worthwhile endeavor since it could benefit humanity. One values legacy; the other values security.
I believe it’s our responsibility to pick what kind of life we want and be content with that choice, along with its pros and cons.