The Art of the Good Life

There’s nothing more idiotic than slogging away at a job that earns you lots of money but brings you no joy—especially if you’re investing that money in items rather than experiences.

good life is a stable state or condition. Wrong. The good life is only achieved through constant readjustment. Then why are we so reluctant to correct and revise? Because we interpret every little piece of repair work as a flaw in the plan. Obviously, we say to ourselves, our plan isn’t working out. We’re embarrassed. We feel like failures. The truth is that plans almost never work out down to the last detail, and if one does occasionally come off without a hitch, it’s purely accidental.

It’s not what you add that enriches your life—it’s what you omit.

Our brains cope automatically with all three layers of time—past, present and future. The issue is which one we concentrate on. My suggestion is not to avoid making long-term plans, but once they’re in place to focus wholly on the now. Make the most of your present experiences instead of worrying about future memories. Savor the sunset instead of photographing it. A life of wondrous yet forgotten moments is still a wondrous life, so stop thinking of experiences as deposits for your memory bank. One day you’ll be on your deathbed, and your account will be permanently closed.

Dwight Eisenhower said, “Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.

A single outstanding skill trumps a thousand mediocre ones. Every hour invested into your circle of competence is worth a thousand spent elsewhere.

Live in such a way that you can still look at yourself in the mirror.

As long as I keep the downside at bay, the upside will take care of itself.

Charlie Munger has observed, “If you won’t attack a problem while it’s solvable and wait until it’s unfixable, you can argue that you’re so damn foolish that you deserve the problem.

We overestimate the impact of purchases on our wellbeing and underestimate the impact of experiences

In sum? We overestimate the impact of purchases on our wellbeing and underestimate the impact of experiences. The thought of your house—even if you’re currently standing in it—vanishes into the cacophony of your other daily thoughts. With experiences this isn’t the case. But what if you’ve already bought your Louboutins? Then at least make sure you’re consciously enjoying them. Ideally you want to be brushing and polishing them each morning and dreaming of nothing but bright red shoe soles each night.

Because problems aren't like great Bordeaux wines—they don’t improve with age.

Accepting reality is easy when you like what you see, but you’ve got to accept it even when you don’t—especially when you don’t.

A capacity for correction is the foundation of any functional democracy. It’s not about electing the right man or the right woman (i.e., the “right set-up”); it’s about replacing the wrong man or the wrong woman without bloodshed.

The most common misunderstanding I encounter is that the good life is a stable state or condition. Wrong. The good life is only achieved through constant readjustment.

Absenz ist viel schwieriger zu erkennen als Präsenz. Anders ausgedrückt: Was da ist, hat mehr Gewicht als das, was nicht da ist.

It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.

The world is much bigger, richer and more diverse than we imagine, so try to take as many samples as you can while you’re still young. Your first years of adulthood aren’t about earning money or building a career. They’re about getting acquainted with the universe of possibility. Be extremely receptive. Taste whatever fate dishes up. Read widely, because novels and short stories are excellent simulations of life. Only as you age should you adapt your modus operandi and become highly selective. By then you’ll know what you like and what you don’t.