🤸 Warren Buffet mindset, Cody Simpson’s insane comeback, & “using the difficulty”

Hey — it’s Cristina & Jenni.

This week, we’re:

• taking notes from Warren Buffet ✍️

• finding inspiration in the story of a popstar-turned-professional-swimmer 🏊‍♂️

• learning how to “use the difficulty” from Sir Michael Caine 🪑 

Enjoy!

What we’re reflecting on this week

On Wednesday, I was walking through the park, enjoying the beginnings of fall foliage (as one does 🍂).

As I walked, I was listening to a Tim Ferriss podcast and came upon a meaty section of the conversation that stopped me in my tracks.

So, this week’s reflection is a little different - I’d love to share a podcast excerpt in full for you to ponder as you finish out the week.

To prime you for the topic at hand, Tim and his guest, Shane Parrish, are discussing Warren Buffet and the importance of consistently positioning yourself for success.

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(Transcript edited and condensed lightly for readability.)

“Warren Buffet always wins because no matter what the outcome is, he wins. If the stock market goes up, he wins. If the stock market crashes, he wins… he’s put himself in a position where no matter what happens, he can take advantage of circumstances rather than having circumstances take advantage of him…

So in [Buffet’s world] of finance, you can think of low debt, you can think of saving money, you can think of always having dry powder. It doesn’t matter if you have the best idea in the world. If you can’t take advantage of that idea, you might as well not have the idea. You have to be in a position to take advantage of the ideas that you have.

Positioning applies to so many other things that we don’t think about…

Did you work out? Are you healthy? Are you eating well? Are you investing in your relationship with your partner?

What position am I in the moment that I get into a fight or argument or disagreement with my partner or my spouse? If you imagine that there’s a patch of grass between you and them, is that grass dry or is it wet? Have I watered that for months, in which case the spark isn’t going to light it on fire, or is the smallest little spark going to start a forest fire? And the position that we bring into those arguments matters a lot in terms of the quality of the outcomes that we get.

I’ll give you another example… One of my kids came home with an exam, and he got a really terrible mark. He’s a teenager, so he hands it to me and he’s like, “I did the best I could,” walks away. Normally the conversation ends there. And I was like, “Okay. Now is not the moment that we’re going to talk about this because I know we’ve got this teenage attitude thing going on, but we’re going to circle back to this.” And so later that night I was like, “Talk to me about what it means to do the best you can.” What he told me about the best he could was when he sat down to write that test from 10:00 to 11:00, he focused all of his energy and all of his effort on it. He made the best decisions possible from 10:00 to 11:00.

But what he forgot or didn’t really appreciate is: what position was he in at 10:00 a.m. when he sat down to write that test? Did he fight with his brother in the morning? Yep, he did. Did he eat a healthy breakfast? Nope, he didn’t. Did he get a good night’s sleep? Nope. He was up late. Did he study? No, he sort of half-assed it. And so what happened was he was in a bad position at the moment he sat down to write that test. He was ill-prepared to write the test, but yes, he did the best he could in that moment.

And so often we think about life in terms of, ‘How do I do the best I can in this particular moment?’ rather than, ‘How do I put myself in the best position?’”

—

As I listened to this, my mind went from how this could apply in life (hint: so many ways!) to how this could apply to leadership in the workplace…

Did I have “me” time before work? Am I planning my week effectively? Am I consuming content that gets me thinking creatively about how to solve problems? Have I invested enough in relationships, “watering the grass” between my colleagues and me?

As Shane (and Warren) remind us, these micro-moments and consistent habits - both at and outside of work - are where we truly position ourselves to win in the long-term.

This can be quite a personal reflection in some ways, but also one that would be really interesting to talk through with your direct reports in a team setting. Use the following prompt as a thought exercise for yourself and maybe your team, too 🙂

→ Are you positioning yourself for success consistently? What groundwork can you lay down now to help you weather a storm (or take advantage of a beautiful day) along the way?

What we’re learning this week

• 🎙️ Podcast: Rules for Better Thinking, How to Reduce Blind Spots, & More – On top of the great excerpt above, this convo was just a joy to listen to. We’ve heard so many of Shane’s podcast eps (The Knowledge Project), and it was fun to hear him on the interviewee side, where we learned all about his transformation from “straight-D” student to intelligence agent to well-known author and podcaster.

• 📝 Article: How to Make Smart Decisions Without Getting Lucky – Since we’re on the topic of Shane Parrish, why not plug one of his pieces of writing as well? Shane frequently discusses mental models, self-improvement, effective leadership, and - one of our favorites - better decision-making. This is a super practical guide that also links to further reading on the subject.

• 🎙️ Podcast: Cody Simpson’s INSANE Comeback: From Pop Star To Olympic Swimmer – It’s rare to encounter someone who has achieved top-tier success in multiple, completely unrelated domains. It was a treat to listen in as Rich & Cody chatted about Cody’s transition from music to professional swimming.

What we’re enjoying this week

First of all, who doesn’t love Michael Caine? Click on the video below to hear him drop some wisdom in the form of an anecdote from his early acting days.

That’s it for this week — thanks for reading.

See you next Thursday! 🤸‍♀️