A Self-Reflection on How to Be More Like Warren Buffett

I sat down to write my post for this week and was having a truly hard time figuring out what to write about. Keeping up our entertaining and actionable mandate is not always easy.

After 3 deleted intros, 2 visits to Facebook and 4 trips to the fridge I was still uninspired, so I said screw it and took Leia for a walk.

As we walked, my mind wandered to my last conversation with my Mom, about the wedding, of course. Then, to my last conversation with Andrew, about things we still need to buy for the house and how we should start saving to re-do the kitchen (music to my ears!). Finally, I thought about what I still had to do that week on my work latest project.

My next thought was about poop. Yup, Leia did her business and I had to do my motherly duties and clean up after the little nugget, as usual. I hate this part but what I hate more are those dog owners who choose not to clean up after their sweet angels.

Walking back to the house, Leia made a new dog friend and I met a new neighbor. This made me realize I should probably wear something other than pajamas on Leia’s walkabouts – I’m probably not making a great impression in my new neighborhood. They probably call me ‘pajama girl’ or something worse!

First impressions are important, and appearances are a big part of that. Noted.

On my way to the gym I was forced to take a detour due to road construction (a common occurrence in Miami) and for some reason, my mind took me through planning out every detail of what my life would be like if I won the lottery.

While I do think down to the last mathematical detail of what I would do with my $328 million, I realized that I don’t actually buy lottery tickets regularly, so it’s an empty thought at best, plus the odds suck. I then proceeded to agree with myself that in the future investing in myself would be a better use of my money.

My strange thoughts continued throughout my workout and my shower; I do a lot of good thinking while getting clean.

While prepping for dinner I also had an internal conversation about my wedding vows – they are coming along quite nicely in case you were wondering.

While I was watching TV I was thinking about how I should really sell my Bitcoin stake. I know what you’re going to say, it’s a sham and there’s really no more money to be made in it. I’m convinced no one really even understands what Crypto Currency is; myself included.

At this point, my Coinbase account is still in the green so I decided to pull out some of my initial investment. As for the other 60%, continuing to play it fast and loose.

I sat out on my patio looked up at the sky and started down a mental rabbit hole thinking about how terrible the latest Southwest Airline tragedy was. I thought about what I would do in that situation and only worked myself up as flying scares me, to begin with.

After a few more airline related hypotheticals, I concluded that I’m grateful to have never been in any situation like that and reminded myself that statistically speaking it is more dangerous to get into a car on I-95.

Then I thought about my next 3 upcoming trips and did some preliminary planning in my head. First is a trip home to St. Thomas in May for wedding planning purposes, with possibly a little debauchery thrown in. Next, a trip to San Francisco in June for my cousins’ wedding, and more potential debauchery. Finally, a trip to Vienna and Italy for a high school friend’s wedding, with definite debauchery included. I’m at the time in my life when EVERYONE is getting married and engaging in debauchery. Life is good!

As I was trying to go to bed that night, you guessed it, I was still thinking. I found myself reflecting on an article I recently read about Warren Buffet, you know him; the guy who drinks a lot of Coca-Cola drives a modest Cadillac and has a crap ton of money.

The article states that Warren Buffett has spent 80% of his career reading and thinking.

There’s a reason that WB is the 3^rd richest man in the world and his daily routine, a large part of which includes reading, self-reflection and taking the time to think, is a big contributor.

Then it hit me. I have unconsciously been engaging in the same practice that has helped make Mr. Buffett so successful and was quite pleased with myself. I suppose all that time I have been taking time to think and reflect is making me a regular Warren Buffett in training!

Reflecting on my day of reflection (say that 4 times fast) gave me exactly what I didn’t even realize I was searching for – a great idea for this weeks’ post. Without even noticing, I spent the entire day taking time to think!

And that ladies and gentlemen is what today’s post is all about!

Let’s Start with a Question About You

Have you ever thought about your thoughts? Weird question but seriously, have you?

In essence, thinking about your thoughts and emotions is the act of self-reflection. It is an important mental exercise that can help you grow by looking inward and analyzing your thoughts and emotions. Creating this mental cycle or ‘capacity’ to learn can be achieved by taking time to think and self-reflect.

While I chose to write about the process of self-reflection, you can see I was, in fact, taking time to think and reflect (replaying conversations, rethinking what I wear, wedding related items, etc.)

Tell Me More About Self-Reflection

At a minimum, reflection is about careful thought. The reflection that is particularly valuable involves analyzing the observations, benefits, risks, multiple interpretations and various perspectives to come to some kind of elevated meaning or conclusion. This meaning becomes learning and hopefully helps prevent you from making future mistakes by altering your mindset and actions.

Most literature and articles out there focus on the business application of self-reflection, and how you can make informed decisions in the workplace. Certainly, it is extremely effective in learning how to make better decisions at work, but this application is not limited to your 9-5. But as you can see from part 1 of this post, taking time to think and self-reflect is limitless in terms of how, when and for what aspects of your life you apply it to.

We here at Prime Your Pump think that self-reflection is applicable to really any aspect of your life, personal or otherwise. Self-reflection can be used to analyze, interpret and make more informed decisions when it comes to interactions with your kids, relationships with your friends and family, career choices and basic decision-making to name a few.

Use It or Lose It

Self-reflection is simple and takes no investment other than time. Taking the time to think is the first step.

Here is a simple list of how you can start self-reflecting:

  Schedule some time to do it and be deliberate about making the time to think. If that means blocking some time in your calendar, then, by all means, calendar in some you time!

  Be sure to self-reflect out of your work environment or even out of your home. Take a bike ride, go for a walk, go to the park, go to a café or have a glass of wine; when you begin to feel stuck, be sure to move locations. (see my examples above)

  Bring a journal or notebook. If you’re like me, when I self-reflect I find it helpful to recount events and jot down thoughts or feelings. Do not limit yourself to just words – pictures, and doodles are also encouraged.

  Use powerful questions to inspire deep thinking. These can be directed at your personal and professional lives, goals, etc. Another way to come at this is to state one of your goals and ask yourself various ways you might be able to achieve it.

If any of you reading this would like to share additional tips on self-reflection, I encourage you to comment and share what you’ve found to be useful. Don’t take the time to think about this… just do it!

Doing Things Right vs. Doing the Right Things

Rather than running around like a maniac, consider thinking about exactly why it is you are doing what you’re doing. You’ve probably heard this saying before but there is a big difference between doing things right (which is good but not always productive) and doing the right things (much better use of your time and effort).

Doing the right things requires self-reflection and a true understanding of purpose. Doing things right is more task orientated while doing the right thing is more strategic in nature. There is a big difference. You need to do both, but doing things right is irrelevant if you are doing the wrong things!

As an example, cooking a good peanut soufflé is fine and dandy but if your significant other has a severe peanut allergy you have a big problem!

Anything Else?

It may feel silly at first to just stop and try to start ‘thinking,’ but keep in mind that self-reflection is not an indulgence. It is a mindful act that when done right can be very effective.

Think of it as an investment in you; it might be the best and cheapest one you make all year! Keep in mind that many world-class CEOs like Warren Buffet and LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner have long stretches of time or even days scheduled just to think and self-reflect.  They also gave me the inspiration for today’s post, for that, I thank them!

Also a quick shout out to myself… my own self-reflection was also clearly a part of the inspiration!

By the way, I only play the lottery now when Powerball is over $3 billion even though the odds are actually worse – may need to take some time to think about that one. Keep priming that pump!

Xoxo Bri

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