Charles Munger gave some advice to students to avoid a failed life. I have read this article several times, and what impressed me most was Munger's famous reverse thinking and the farmer's famous saying, "If I knew where I would die, I would never go there." I have actually told others. Once, my schoolmates from my alma mater visited our company, and the organizer asked me to introduce some experiences and give some suggestions. I told my junior at that time that I was so old that I knew what to do and what not to do. I've been there before. At the beginning, my parents, teachers and everyone who cared about me told me to study hard and make progress every day. I also know these reasons, which is really what I should do, but I still don't work hard enough. It is useless to the parties. So my advice to my classmates is simple, don't do what you think you shouldn't do.
Back in Munger, his first advice to Harvard students was not to use chemicals just to change their state or mood. Normal people certainly don't think they should take drugs and drink, so don't touch them. I think this suggestion is the easiest of all Munger's suggestions, but it is always easier said than done for the simple reason. It may be hard for me to meet. Caishenning took drugs because he wanted to concentrate on writing and improve his inspiration, and the result was smeared, which is also a counterexample.
Second piece of advice, don't be jealous. Jealousy should be one of the seven deadly sins of Christianity. In short, Mr Li Xiaolai mentioned jealousy. You can't be nice to others. This other person must be someone around him. I feel that he is not too different from myself. I've never heard that people like me are jealous of Bill Gates and lady Gaga. That's not jealousy, but envy. From an economic point of view, jealousy is not cost-effective. The person you are jealous of must be by your side. You think you are not much worse, but in fact, he must be better than you in some way. You are jealous of him, so most of the time you won't go near him, and you will basically stay away from him. As a result, from the cost point of view, you gave up the opportunity to learn from people who are better than you, and the support, information and resources that should have been easier to obtain. This cost is too high.
The third suggestion, don't be disgusted. Not only don't treat people, but also don't complain. Rational thinking and resentment will not only make you lose your rational judgment, but also give yourself all kinds of excuses for failure and dissatisfaction. What good will it do? As the ancestors said, "When is the time for revenge?" A more effective way is to "do something wrong, but ask for it." Here Munger gives an example for reference. In the process of becoming a great British Prime Minister, disraeli learned not to let revenge become the motive of action, but he also kept some ways to vent his resentment, that is, to write down the names of those enemies and put them in the drawer. Then, he would look through these names from time to time and record how the world knocked down his enemies without his intervention.
The fourth suggestion, don't be willful and do what you are doing devoutly. I can really be regarded as a wayward person. Five years after graduation, I did four jobs and started a business briefly. Fortunately, I have been in this job for more than two years now, and I have no idea of changing jobs. I thought I was doing the right thing. The company environment was bad, I didn't do my business properly, I couldn't give what I wanted, I traveled too much, and my boss was too harsh to learn anything. Then why didn't I leave? I can't stay here any longer. At first, I thought that the road I chose was rational and correct, but now I see that people of my peers who get along well have a kind of persistence and perseverance. Dedication is very important. Devotion is to spare no effort to believe that what you do is meaningful and strive to be perfect. If you feel meaningless, try to find meaning. Weber said that human beings are animals based on their own webs of meaning. As long as you find it, you will find it. Ask yourself, is it perfect? The work is not only finished, but also has a lot of room to polish, which is a good opportunity to learn and improve. Teacher Liu Run said that the training of enterprises should follow the 72 1 rule, in which 7 is to sum up the experience and lessons from work, 2 is to exchange learning with colleagues, and 1 is the formal training organized by the company. When I am not busy, I tend to slack off at work. I don't do things with the mentality of Excellence, and I don't consider the day in my work. It really needs to be strengthened.
The fifth suggestion is to learn from the success or failure of others, whether ancient or modern. This reminds me of the first sentence of teacher Liu Run in each class, the thinking of our predecessors, and our steps. Munger likes reading biographies of famous people. He said that the best way to learn from predecessors' knowledge is to make friends with them, and reading biographies is undoubtedly a very good choice to make friends with them. Here I think of another book, Liu's "Nine Losses and One Win" (it seems to be called this), which is Liu's autobiography and tells how he faced all kinds of failures and finally won. It has been added to the wish list to read. Don't bother about it.
The sixth suggestion is that when you encounter the first, second or third serious failure in the battlefield of life, don't be depressed and never recover. This article easily confuses me. If it wasn't written down, I thought Munger was trying to tell us not to give up. Not being depressed and never giving up are two concepts. Regarding the decision whether to give up, Mr. Xue Zhaofeng said, don't look at the price of silence. The cost of silence is not cost, but depends on marginal cost and marginal income, so it is not forbidden to give up. But depression is absolutely not allowed, and it will never recover. Who can have bad luck, and those who get through it are the real strong ones.
Munger's seventh and final piece of advice goes back to the beginning, that is, "If I knew where I would die, I would never go there." Munger tells us that the problem is reversed by using reverse thinking. If we want to solve x, we must consider how to get non-x ... here Munger gives two interesting examples. First, Darwin particularly emphasized reverse thinking. He always tried to find evidence to deny his existing theory, no matter how much he cherished it, no matter how it came from. Secondly, Einstein said that his successful theory came from "curiosity, concentration, perseverance and introspection". By introspection, he means constantly trying and overthrowing his favorite ideas. This also reminds me of the stories of two great men. When Steve Jobs was in the iPod fire, he thought about what competitors could do to threaten the performance of the iPod. He thought that installing an iPod in his mobile phone could shake the status of the iPod, so the iPhone appeared. When Bezos first started making kindle, it was a period when Amazon's paper and book business brought huge profits to the company. The task he gave to the head of kindle R&D at that time was to kill the paper book business. This is a simple truth, but some people can't think of it, and some people can't.
The above is the wise old man's life advice for future generations. Finally, it ends with Munger's ending: Everyone present here, I wish you to grow up with the goal of avoiding failure every day in your long life.