What you need is not a lot of action, but a lot of patience

What you need is not a lot of action, but a lot of patience. You must stick to your principles, and when the opportunity comes, you must seize it with force. There are many situations that are much worse than being swamped in cash and doing nothing. I remember the time when I lacked cash—I certainly don’t want to go back to that. —Charlie Munger

Money is something with extremely powerful reproductive power

This is the stone that can turn all your lumps of lead into lumps of gold… Remember, money is something with extremely powerful reproductive power. Money gives birth to money, and those children give birth to even more grandchildren. —Benjamin Franklin

Cultivating Curiosity and the Habit of Continuous Learning

If you want to become smart, the question you must constantly ask is “Why, why, why.” Cultivate yourself into a lifelong learner through extensive reading; foster curiosity, and strive to become a little bit smarter every day.

Humility: Acknowledging your ignorance is the beginning of wisdom

  1. Operate only within your clearly defined circle of competence
  2. Identify and verify negative evidence
  3. Resist the desire for false precision and erroneous certainty

Patience: Restraining humanity’s innate preference for action

  1. “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world” (Einstein); don’t interrupt it unless necessary.
  2. Avoid unnecessary transaction taxes and friction costs; never act just for the sake of action.
  3. Stay clear-headed when luck comes.
  4. Enjoy the results, and also enjoy the process, because you are living in the process.

The key to success lies in character and learning ability

“Why are some people smarter than others? This has partly to do with innate character. Some people’s character is not suitable for investing. They are always restless, or always worried. But if you have a good character—and here, primarily meaning you are very patient and can proactively act when you know you should—then you can gradually understand this game through practice and learning.

Clearly, the wider the sources from which you draw lessons, rather than just from your own bad experiences, the better you will become. I haven’t found anyone who can do this quickly. As an investor, Warren Buffett is much better than when I first met him, and I am the same. If we stagnate at a certain stage, satisfied with the knowledge we already possess, our performance will be much worse than it is now.

So the trick is continuous learning, and I don’t believe that those who don’t enjoy the learning process can keep learning.”