“Everyone is trying to be smart, I’m just trying not to be stupid.” – Charlie Munger, billionaire investor
Here’s a simple, but remarkably powerful success principle:
Don’t lose progress.
A few examples:
A basketball player misses a few days of workouts, so he starts over next week instead of the next day.
A dieter eats one doughnut, then goes on a binge because “I already messed up.”
Or…
A meditator returns home from a trip, and misses the next two weeks of practice because he fell out of routine.
We could list dozens more, but you get the point:
Your ability to not lose progress is just as important as your ability to make progress.
Or, as one of our retreat participants wisely said last week:
Don’t compound one bad decision with more bad decisions.
(shout-out to AG for that one)
After all:
The army that wins the war is not always the army that moves forwards the fastest.
Often, it is the army that simply doesn’t give up any ground.
So the next time you find yourself slipping, pick yourself back up immediately.
The road is long, and mistakes are guaranteed.
Those who succeed are those who don’t slide backwards every time they slip.
– T
P.S. One more from Warren Buffett’s billionaire business partner, Charlie Munger:
“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”
Smart man, that Charlie 🙂
