Charlie Munger: A Legacy of Laughter and Learning

Every once and a while someone famous passes away and I say to myself,

“Man, we lost a legend.”

Leaving us this week at the ripe old age of 99, Charlie Munger is that legend.

And not because I am some day trader who followed the lead of Berkshire Hathaway for my own investments.

It’s because Charlie was absolutely hilarious and ruthless with his commentary and advice, and I could not get enough of it!

In a way, my respect for Charlie grew upon his death. Simply for the age in which he kicked it.

99! 

For as long as I can remember, that is exact age I want to make it to myself.

I am not sure why, but it just seemed like a great and fulfilling age to get to. I mean, let’s just ask Charlie what he…

Oh. Yeah. He’s dead.

Shoot. Okay maybe on the next guy.

Before you read further, do yourself a favor and watch this 6 minute video of Charlie making hilarious comments during investor meetings and interviews.

Whether you get all of his references in that video or not, what you see is a man who had principles, a sense of humor, and very little filter in between.

Charlie Munger man.

Hiding behind those goofy Mr Magoo style, overly thick glasses, hid a funny and very smart dude.

Charlie’s day job was being the right hand man to Warren Buffet. 

You probably know who Warren Buffet is. That guy who was once the richest man in the world, and is arguably one of the best investors of all time.

I mean, they call him the Oracle of Omaha for a reason.

So, Charlie was at his side all along. Often acting as the check for when Buffet wanted to try something foolish. 

In honor of the legend that was Charlie Munger, this week’s newsletter will dig into 3 of his lessons that have positively affected me:

• Invert, always invert

• Become a learning machine

• Keep it simple

Let’s get to it…

When Charlie Munger was young, he was a military meteorologist during World War II. He was tasked with giving weather updates to pilots. 

The job required he asses weather patterns and give pilots advice on where to safely fly. Seems simple enough.

But instead of focusing on what would keep them safe, he focused on what would straight up kill them!

He used his time to focus solely on trying to predict the most severe weather patterns of snow, or ice, or fog. 

Never worrying about wind and rain that planes and highly trained military pilots can easily navigate. 

His approach to invert the objective gave him a completely different viewpoint. And in turn, focus for his efforts. 

He took this approach so seriously he once said,  “All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.” 

Smart.

This approach is helpful because many hard problems can be solved by simply working backwards. 

I use this everyday.

When I set a new goal or embark on a new challenge, I start with the end in mind.

Try this for your next goal. With 2024 just around the corner, what better time?

Ask yourself these questions:

• What is the specific outcome I want to achieve?

  • Clarity on the final goal is essential for effective planning and decision-making.

• What potential obstacles might I encounter, and how can I mitigate them? 

  • Anticipating and planning for challenges ensures resilience and adaptability in your strategy.

• What actions can I take immediately to move towards this goal? 

  • Identifying immediate steps translates your plan into tangible actions, fostering momentum and progress from the outset.

If you are in sales like me, this is basic funnel theory. 

Start with a signed account, and then work back through all the steps to get there and you end up with prospecting. The beginning of the sales cycle. 

You can apply this to any goal.

Take a close look at the goal, and then start working backwards step by step. Each one you get to is a new micro-goal that you will need to achieve first. 

Try this for some of your news years resolutions and I promise you will hit more of them in 2024.

This one makes sense, eh?

I mean, you are reading this newsletter because you have a thirst for knowledge. 

Heck, I am writing it for the exact same reason. 

Munger told a group of college students, “We all start out stupid and we all have hard time staying sensible and so you have to keep working at it.”

Stupid eh? I mean, he is not wrong. As children, we know nothing. It is through learning that our intelligence starts to form.

So what can you start doing today to embody this wisdom?

• Set learning goals for yourself

  • Establish SMART goals for learning. For example, reading a certain number of books monthly or mastering a new skill every quarter.

• Diversify Knowledge Sources

  • Engaging with a wide array of materials and disciplines enriches your understanding and fosters creative thinking.

• Active Learning Practices

  • Techniques like summarizing, teaching, or applying knowledge enhance retention through activity based reinforcement.

• Continuous Skill Development

  • Regularly acquiring new and relevant skills keeps your knowledge base updated and adaptable to changes in your field or interests.

I am currently learning Spanish and use my Babbel app every day for 15 minutes. This is a simple goal that in 12 months, or less, will make me conversational in Spanish.

Something that I need to help me achieve a greater goal of moving to Barcelona.

Not only is it helping me to achieve that goal, it is making my brain stronger and the daily habit is building my discipline. 

Once asked, “What is the secret to a long and happy life?” Munger replied with this…

“The secret is easy, because it is so simple.”

What was he getting at? 

He advised to keep your life simple by not complicating things.

Not letting emotion get the better of you.

Not to overthink small decisions. 

He went on to say, 

“If you do this then…

You don’t have a lot of envy.

You don’t have a lot of resentment.

You don’t overspend your income.

You stay cheerful in spite of your troubles.

You deal with reliable people.

And you do what you are supposed to do.

And all these simple rules work so well to make your life better. And they’re so trite.”

He is right you know. You cannot be cheerful when you feel resentment and envy and broke!

Okay, easier said than done. I know.

So here is what you can do to start living a simple life…

• Prioritize Goals: Identify and focus on a few key objectives that are most important to you. This provides a clear direction and helps avoid spreading yourself too thin.

• Simplify Decision-Making: Make decisions based on a few important criteria. This reduces overthinking and speeds up the decision process.

• Learn to Say No: Begin to selectively decline tasks or commitments that do not align with your priorities. This frees up time and energy for what truly matters.

• Focus on Clarity in Communication: Practice being more concise and direct in your interactions. This leads to more effective and efficient communication.

And to add to this, most of our life is made up of small inconsequential decisions. Do not dwell on them too much. 

Steve Jobs famously wore the same outfit so that he could save time and brain space by not having to chose a new one each day. 

Myself, well I am just way to expressive for a black turtle neck and jeans. 

You should see some of the sox I wear to work!

Keep it Simple is a great mantra that can help us in our everyday lives. 

It leads to:

• Less Stress

• Enhanced Focus and Productivity

• Better Time Management

• Stronger Relationships

I think we all want that!

• Check out Munger’s book, Poor Charlie’s Almanac (Link)

• Coursera.org is a great website with loads of free learning modules. Many from top universities like Harvard and Stanford (Link)

• John Doerr’s Ted Talk on setting OKRs for success and achieving your goals (Link)

• Subscribe to this newsletter if it was forwarded to you. And say thank you to your friend for me. (Link)

• Schedule a 30 minute Learning Chat with me. Just to see what ideas we can bounce off each other. (Link)

• Follow my content on Twitter/X - LinkedIn