Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s investing buddy, in a recent commencement speech, said that “Nothing has served me better in my long life than continuous learning.” (Note: The entire speech is well worth reading)
I’ve known since I was born that my brain didn’t work like other people’s did. My memory is so bad that if you offered me a million dollars to tell you what 7x8 is, unaided, I couldn’t do it. I can’t take a chunk of information, study it for a couple hours, and then recite it. Tried all the memory tricks in the book. Doesn’t work.
The only thing that has worked for me is continuous learning. Every day, I try to learn something new. It’s usually small like a new word or a new bit of history or that hot dogs can actually light on fire if microwaved for too long (don’t ask).
But all those little bits add up ‘til someone with no memory becomes a fountain of useless information (lucky for me, with some useful bits crammed in).
Investing is a lot like continuous learning. Every day, I try to do something to advance my net worth, even by a dime (picked on up on the sidewalk today, people just throwing money around). For the first few years or so, the changes are so small, you won’t notice them. Then all of a sudden, you have money in the bank when that emergency comes up. Or you have enough to get into the more juicy investments. Or you obtain financial freedom.
Continuous learning and continuous investing, nothing will serve you better.