Read. A lot. Go to bed every day, a little smarter than you were when you woke up.
I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you. ~ Charlie Munger
But how you read matters too.
Consider the newspaper, are you truly learning anything new? Do you consider the writer your superior when it comes to knowledge in the subject? Odds are probably not. That means you’re reading for information.
There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s how most people read. But you’re not really learning anything new. It’s not going to give you an edge or make you better at your job.
Learning something insightful is harder, you have to read something clearly above your current level. You need to find writers who are more knowledgeable on a particular subject than yourself. It’s also how you get smarter.
Reading for understanding means narrowing the gap between reader and writer.
Be critical and always thinking. You need to do the mental work required to hold an opinion.
You’re not entitled to take a view, unless and until you can argue better against that view than the smartest guy who holds that opposite view. If you can argue better than the smartest person who holds the opposite view, that is when you are entitled to hold a certain view. ~ Charlie Munger
Think. Especially for yourself.
“No,” says Warren. “We don’t read other people’s opinions. We want to get the “facts, and then think.” And when it gets to the thinking part, for Buffett “and Munger, there’s no one better to think with than their partners. “Charlie “can’t encounter a problem without thinking of an answer,” posits Warren. “He “has the best thirty-second mind I’ve ever seen. I’ll call him up, and within “thirty seconds, he’ll grasp it. He just sees things immediately.
Find time to read. Invest in yourself.
Charlie, as a very young lawyer, was probably getting $20 an hour. He thought to himself, ‘Who’s my most valuable client?’ And he decided it was himself. So he decided to sell himself an hour each day. He did it early in the morning, working on these construction projects and real estate deals. Everybody should do this, be the client, and then work for other people, too, and sell yourself an hour a day. ~ The Snowball (book)
Learn to express it.
We read a lot. I don’t know anyone who’s wise who doesn’t read a lot. But that’s not enough: You have to have a temperament to grab ideas and do sensible things. Most people don’t grab the right ideas or don’t know what to do with them. ~ Charlie Munger
Surround yourself with people who are not afraid to challenge your ideas.