Warren Buffett, the man commonly referred to as the greatest investor of the 20th century, was standing in front of 165 wide-eyed students from Columbia University.
One of the students raised his hand and asked Buffett for his thoughts on the best way to prepare for an investing career. After thinking for a moment, Buffett pulled out a stack of papers and trade reports he had brought with him and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” [1]
Buffett estimates that 80 percent of his working hours are spent reading or thinking. It’s enough to make you ask, “Am I reading enough books?”
Copied from James Clear’s blog post here, which is an excellent blog I’d highly recommend
It is interesting to think about. Over the last 2 years of my life, I’d probably say about 70% of my time is spent reading as well. Not necessaily books, but often articles, research, or posts on the internet. We are in the age of information, where there is so much out there to learn, you just have to sift through as much of it as you can and then just read, think, and learn. I think the combination of curiosity, abundance of information, and time is why I spend so much of my life these days reading. It seems every book I finish I come to a new realization about the world, or become inspired to try something new. It is fascinating.
The last month in the US has been great – I’ve spent the last month in Colorado with friends and family. Currently I’m in Salt Lake City visiting my brother and his fiance, and this weekend I’m going to Las Vegas to celebrate the Super Bowl with my other brother and friends, before returning to Colorado in early February.
Early February I will go to New Orleans with my brother and friends, then have a week an a half back in Colorado, including an awesome pond hockey tournament up in the mountains, and then I’m off to Central America for 2 months or so. Below are a few of the cool things I’ve discovered online over the last month, which I’d recommend.
Good reads/videos/podcasts from the last month:
- The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle
- Excellent 1 hr podcast with Dan Harris about “how to be 10% happier”.
- Episode 50 with Peter Attia on longevity, health, fasting, and more.
- Our World in Data
- Want to fall asleep faster? Don’t use an iPad before bed
- Reducing Stress: What Scientists Learned From the Children Who Survived a Famine During the Deadliest War in History
- Interesting perspective on income inequality – says the bigger issue is world inequality, not inequality within countries.
“If everyone could work anywhere and freely move, world production would double. Global wealth would double.”
Episode 307 with Bryan Caplan - Improve Creative Skills by Reducing Degrees of Freedom
- The average American pays $280,000 in interest
I also share things I find interesting on my G+ here, as well as on Twitter.
I’ve also finally setup a GoodReads account to keep track of my to-read list, have read list, and currently reading list. You can find those below:
I’m always looking for book recommendations. If you have any you think I’d be interested in currently not on the list, please let me know in the comments below. I’m hoping make a good dent in the To-Read list this year. I plan to implement James Clear’s “Read More” technique, in addition to reading before I go to sleep each night. Looking forward to seeing how it goes.
Patrick
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