If you love what you do as much to tap dance to work every morning – you can eat junk, don’t bother going to gym – still, you will live healthy at 90.
For six (short) hours, Warren. age 88 and Charlie, age 95, imparted their life long wisdom to an audience of forty thousand, jammed pack in an arena, at the recent Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder meeting. Warren and Charlie addressed a wide variety of questions asked by an even wider spectrum of audience. Ranging from a 9-year-old girl to a journalist from a top media company in the country. Throughout those six hours the duo’s physical stamina, alacrity, and articulation were impeccable.
For days after the meeting, I kept wondering what get these guys going? What’s the secret behind them being so healthy and so energetic at this age? It is well known that they do live a simple life despite being billionaires, but it is also well known that Warren’s daily diet consists of a three dollar seventeen cents (or less) breakfast from McDonald’s and the rest of the day is all burger and fries, and on top of that he chugs half a dozen or more cokes in a day. Neither of them is known as a workout buff; all in sharp contrast to what all the health and lifestyle pundits say. And despite that this pair of octogenarian and nonagenarian is in nearly perfect health and runs a half a trillion-dollar conglomerate, making day to day decisions on $200B investments on their own without any analyst staff, and manages eighty CEOs who operate a wide variety of businesses for them.
After a few days of mulling over this question, it struck to me that Warren has given a plausible answer in his annual letter to shareholders many years ago, “Charlie and I tap dance to work every morning.” Beyond doubt, they love what they do, and it is evident that’s the source of their happiness. And their happiness is the reason for their success, not the other way around.
When I look around, most of the people, who typically spend most of their day at work or thinking about work, I haven’t seen anyone tap dancing to it. On the contrary to work being a source of happiness, it’s the source of stress for many. Solution? Pile on more of diet, sleep, exercise and stress management regiments and pursuit of other things in search of happiness in remaining of the day or whatever is left. Result? More things chasing whatever fewer hours left in a day. Not to say added guilt and stress that keeps creeping up with the feeling of not able to keep up. I am sure these are all good things to do – diet, exercise, sleep, and others – but is it solving the problem or just deferring it, possibly making it worse?
So I guess it’s the time to ask the question, what do you love to do and what will make you tap dance to work where you spend most of your time, every day? The for-sure answer is not easy at all but worth thinking, seeking, and trying.
Sanjay Patel
PS: Best things in life are free. Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting video archive since 1998 archive is recently published on CNBC; Warren’s annual letter to shareholders since 1977 is available on Berkshire Hathaway’s website – a priceless source of knowledge, wisdom, and learning.
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