If you’re anything like me, you spend A LOT of time thinking, reflecting, and trying to make sense of everything. Some call it overthinking; I call it wasting time.
This is the problem of deep thinkers: people who are conscientious, thoughtful, and considerate. But you’re not being thoughtful at all.
You’re actually destroying your own life.
You’re always thinking about the future, the past, or things that don’t even matter.
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Stoicism was founded in the 3rd century BC in Athens by Zeno of Citium. Coming from a wealthy merchant family in Citium, now part of Cyprus, Zeno initially pursued the family trade. However, after losing his fortune in a shipwreck near Athens, he turned to philosophy. Zeno’s journey highlights a common path to finding solace and understanding through philosophy.
Stoicism teaches logic and a unique perspective on life. It emphasizes distinguishing between what is within our control and what isn’t. Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher, summed it well:
Over 160 years ago, Charles Darwin published his theory of natural selection. His work process is something we can all learn from in achieving career success.
Think about it. How does a man like Darwin come up with such a theory?
In 1971, Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett invested heavily in a trading stamp company called Blue Chip Stamps.1Source: Yahoo! Finance This is one of Buffett’s and Munger’s early trades, which is documented in some of the best investing books.
At the time, many would have considered putting so much capital into a single business risky. But Munger and Buffett believed that the company’s capital resources were a better trade-off.
Their investments paid off when Blue Chip Stamps became a key part of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. And they used the company’s capital to fund their other investments like See’s Candies, Wesco Financial, The Buffalo Evening News, and Precision Steel.
This experience shaped Munger’s belief that diversification isn’t always necessary. As he famously said: