An underrated treasure.
Hey friends,
I have a plain white binder sitting on my shelf, unlabeled.
Inside, there are 23 bright blue sticky notes interspersed throughout the 100+ pages sitting neatly together. The sticky notes are labeled "2000" through "2023."
These are Warren Buffet's annual investor letters from the past twenty-three years.
In this binder, you can trace the thoughts of the legendary businessman through the turbulent periods of the dotcom bubble, the '08 crisis, and the Covid pandemic.
And you can see how he made decisions in the very favorable market environment of the 2010's.
While tailored towards business and economics, these letters also hold insights for decision making, mindset, and a philosophy of life.
There is great value in studying the thoughts of a leader or expert over an extended period of time.
So today, I'm advocating for you to do two things.
Here's the first...
Read the letters of someone you respect.
These may be literal letters, but they don't have to be. For instance...
You may want to read all of Ronald Reagan's or Abe Lincoln's speeches.
Or the personal records of a king in the ancient world.
Or the diary of a grandparent.
Bonus points if the material spans several years or even decades, because you get to trace the evolution of their thoughts and philosophies.
You get to see how they acted in easy times, and how they responded to hard times. How they expressed love, loyalty, determination, and grief.
These are more than just autobiographical pieces, which primarily describe the facts of what happened. I'm talking about the author's own reflections on what happened and what they will do.
The second thing I encourage you to start doing is...
Write your own letters.
Yes, you.
Even if you don't journal regularly, I encourage you to write at least an annual letter. Every New Year's.
Reflect on:
- What you faced
- How you thought about it (worldview, mindset, etc.)
- What you chose to do, and why
- What lessons you learned along the way
You might be thinking, why would anyone care about my life or what I think?
Write for yourself. Or even, write for your children and grandchildren.
Wouldn't it be amazing if your grandchild could one day read about how you found love, turned your life around from an addiction, or learned a bit lesson about financial responsibility?
A few months ago, I started writing monthly and yearly letters for this very purpose. The hope is that one day I can look back on them and remember how far I've come, that my future children can one day learn from them, and possibly that other people can benefit from them along the way too.
If you decide to do any of the above, I'd love to hear about it!
Stay purposeful.
– Nathanael
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