Buffett: I am greedy when others are afraid

Source: red and green

Buffett said: "you have to do things when the opportunity comes." At some stages of my life, I have a lot of ideas, and sometimes I run out of inspiration. If I have an idea next week, I will do something, if not, I will not do anything. As long as you don't do a lot of things wrong in your life, as long as you can do a few things right. "

Investment is like spiritual practice, overcoming one's own weakness and believing in one's own reason and strength.

A few years ago, Harper's magazine reported on Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. A loyal believer asked Buffett's first investment principle: "what is the secret of value investment?" Buffett said with a quiet face: "independent thinking and inner peace." "

Think independently? Yes, it is not surprising that such a motto, which embodies the wisdom of the traditional left brain, comes from a Western leader. But what about "inner peace"? This maxim, from Buffett's mouth, combines the characteristics of the right brain and the New Age Movement (New Age), combining oriental wisdom, Taoism, Buddhism and Zen ideas, plus Nebraska's austere local wisdom.

Buffett's saying that "inner peace" is the secret of value investment is quite shocking. Many people will feel that making value investment requires extraordinary talent and judgment, which has nothing to do with Zen's "calm heart". But why did Buffett say such a thing? Please listen to Buffett's Zen investment. The reason is very simple:

1. Rule number one: you already have everything you need.

We already have everything we need. If we look closely at our lives, we will find that we have all the ingredients for cooking the highest meals. We can hold these ingredients in our hands at any time and cook the best dishes we can cook. it doesn't matter how many ingredients we have.

The Zen Chef only looks at what he has and starts with it. Whether it's Buffett, Zen masters, hedge funds or individual retirement accounts, the truth is the same. When you focus on what you already have rather than what you want, the problem can be solved and the investment will be profitable.

two。 The way of Zen comes first: can you make millions?Understanding Zen Tao is a prerequisite

This is Buffett's innate wisdom: "I am just like everyone else." I may be richer than you, but money doesn't make us different. Of course, I can afford the most luxurious handmade suits, but the clothes look cheap on me. I'd rather have a Dairy Queen cheeseburger than a hundred-dollar meal. If there is any difference between you and me, it may be that I get up every morning and have a chance to do what I love to do. "I still" tap dance to work every day. It's a lot of fun.

If a person regards the amount of money he has as a condition for happiness, then money has nothing to do with that person. Zen is all about having a joyful heart of contentment in the present, which is also a prerequisite for Zen investment.

3. A new way of thinking: your mind will create wealth

The Buddha said, "everything is created ideally, and the world is created by our minds." Today, Wall Street's mind is driven by a blind obsession with sudden wealth. This creates a world full of infinite bubbles. Buffett, on the other hand, creates long-term wealth.

One of his admirers said that "one of the keys to Buffett's success" is to get compound interest. You should do it as soon as possible. "even if the rate of return is not very high, you can make a lot of money from compound interest, but you do need to persevere."

4. If a person is rich on the outside, he is not necessarily rich on the inside.

Zen masters such as Daoyuan Zen often tell their disciples that enlightenment is "nothing special" and that there is nothing special about having 100 million. "from the billionaires I know, money only makes them show their nature," Buffett said. If they are assholes when they have no money, they are still assholes after they have a billion dollars. "

5. There is no competition. The winner of the investment is playing solitaire.

Buffett said, "you don't need a high IQ to be a good investor," just have the ability to "not easily follow the crowd." Yes, think independently. The Buddha said more simply: "Don't believe anything, no matter where you read it, no matter who says it, don't believe it, even what I say, unless it conforms to your own reason or common sense." "

Don't believe anyone's words in investment. This sentence is similar to the saying in the Diamond Sutra, "knowing me is like a raft metaphor; the Dharma should be given up, not to mention illegal." even if it is what the Buddha said, the Buddha does not want all the disciples to cling to it. When you cling to a certain principle or method, you take it for granted that there is no change in the outside world, and investing in stocks is even worse. if you think you can "eat it all in one move", it is obviously wrong.

6. There are no external experts to focus on your heart.

Buffett warned: "the future can never be seen clearly." In the stock market, you will pay a high price for an optimistic consensus. "Don't" speculate "stocks, you should buy value, never sell. "I never know what the stock market is going to do in the next six months, or in the next year or two," he said. But I think it's easy to see the long-term trend of the stock market. Fear and greed play an important role in the short term. In the long run, the market is rising step by step.

The stock market or other situations are changing. People are afraid and anxious about the uncertainty about the future, but there is one thing that is certain and controllable, and that is their hearts. When you focus on your heart, your heart is calm and invincible.

7. You are on the never-ending road of self-discovery

Buffett said: "you have to do things when the opportunity comes." At some stages of my life, I have a lot of ideas, and sometimes I run out of inspiration. If I have an idea next week, I will do something, if not, I will not do anything. As long as you don't do a lot of things wrong in your life, as long as you can do a few things right. "

What did you do when you came into the world? Not just to get rich. Do what? The journey of self-discovery will never end.

No matter what form of spiritual practice, or what method of spiritual practice, spiritual practitioners take only one way, and that is the never-ending journey of discovery, when Nietzsche said: even if you take off 70 times seven skins, don't say that this is who you really are. It's not just 70 times seven skins, it's endless.

8. New worldview: to give what you have is to get.

Buffett said: "this is a class war, my class will win the war, but it should not be so." If you belong to the luckiest 1% of human beings, then you should consider the other 99% of people, which is what you should do. "but most people don't think about it.

So it's not surprising that Buffett finally put his words into action: yes, the world's richest man will donate all of his $46 billion fortune. Yes, you can, too: give yourself as a gift to the world, every day. Remember, "you already have all the ingredients to achieve the best life," so the world will change because of you.

9. The mysterious power of your heart

Life and investment are simple for Buffett: "We enjoy the process more than the result." "he danced tap dancing, cooked the delicacies of life, ate cheeseburgers in the ice queen, laughed a lot, drove an old car, and lived in that simple house all the time. What about the computer in his office? It is only used to play bridge with friends all over the world.

He understands that to be a successful investor, one must first understand Zen. He invests in value every minute with "peace of mind", and will do so in the future. He knows that power is inner... There is strength in your heart, too. Believe it.

Edit / Phoebe