The Inner Game
“Take a simple idea and take it seriously” — Charlie Munger
In the serene moments of life, the reflection on what would be the series of choices we want to make would give us strong foundation in life.
A known quote from Jeff Bezos when he gave a Baccalaureate address to Princeton University’s Class of 2010:
“When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the saying that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices.”
Cleverness is a gift. Kindness is a choice.
The gifts that we receive are blessings and free. They are instilled to us. We do not want to waste these gifts but use this to be proud of it and not waste it.
It is how we use these gifts that would bring value to ourselves and others.
On the hand, what matters are the choices that we made. To be able to not regret on the choices that we made as we focus on our inner selves and being proud of it.
It is what defines us and who we are. The concentration of our inner game is a powerful mental model to have.
Inner Scorecard by Warren Buffet
Warren Buffet is one of the influential and greatest investors of all time. What makes him more interesting is the level of mindset he has: Simplicity.
He still lives in his house he bought in 1958 and does not have any sports car and the clothes he wears are likely not to be expensive.
He is passionate about the magic of compounding and playing the long game. He is who he is. When you have inner scorecard, no once can define success for you but you.
“The big question about how people behave is whether they have got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.”
What makes Warren Buffet more interesting is the ability to say no. He has this mental model where he focus on his own circle of competence: what he knows.
He did not invest in innovative technology companies because he does not understand it. He only invest on what he knows and he is good at.
By looking on the chart, the growth of Berkshire Hathaway is profound compared to S & P 500. Berkshire Hathaway managed by Warren Buffet and his colleagues yielded an average annual return of 20% compared to 10.2% of S&P 500 Index.
The Inner Scorecard: this type of thinking is what makes a person different from the others. The rise of virtual community and the social media applications made the world more engaging resulting to many people tend to compare their lives and value more the opinions of others.
In the long term, the person caring what other people think to is not a healthy factor and would only stress and sadden the person.
Inner Game
Life is a game. The series of choices that we made might give us lessons that we will cherish. If we have mistaken on the choices we made, it would correct us from what went wrong and what must be improved.
It would not regret us but it would focus us more on the inner game. At the end, it would reward us for the better.
“To live successfully in the outer world, it is important to live in the inner world… The friends, associates, opportunities, careers, and life experiences of our outer world are reflection of what is happening within us.” — John Templeton
The question that we have to ask ourselves, are the choices that we would do for ourselves and to others will make us proud and not regret it?
“If you allow the past to consume you, you will never create the future you want and deserve. When in doubt, focus on the future. It is so damn bright.” — @Sahil Bloom
References:
Farnam Street (2016). The Inner Scorecard: How Warren Buffett Mastered Life. https://fs.blog/2016/08/the-inner-scorecard/
Princenton Academics (2010, June 11). Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos delivers graduation speech at Princeton University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBmavNoChZc&t=44s
George. N. (2021, January 9). The Top 10 Warren Buffett Stocks. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-10-warren-buffett-stocks-173407856.html
Ro, S. (2021, March 1). The truth about Warren Buffett’s investment track record. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-truth-about-warren-buffetts-investment-track-record-morning-brief-113829049.html
