Tap dancing to work

Source: apm.activecommunities.com

Tap dancing to work. What a beautiful notion, ain’t it? The closest I have come to tap dancing at work would be stamping my foot out of frustration.

I am sure there are a lot of folks who adore their profession. Here I want to talk about one such person who is renowned across the world and is familiar to many of us. If not, then I am sure you will get a glimpse after reading this.

For starters, he recently celebrated his ninetieth birthday, very old. He started working at the age of 11 and has often said he has a passion for capital allocation or in other words finding good businesses and investing in them and always makes it to the top 10 richest in the world. Many of you guessed it right- the legendary Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Let me tell you why I felt Mr Buffet is a curious case. Apart from all his ultra superintelligence, the kind of money he makes, etc which no doubt are quite enviable, I got amused by his lifestyle. How he stays so active and helms a company like Berkshire Hathaway at an age, which many of us can only dream. The Japanese population are known to live the longest with an average lifespan of 84 years and account this primarily to a healthy diet. Going by that conception, Mr Buffet also should be following an extremely healthy diet full of vegetables, protein and bare minimum carbs. That’s what is suggested by fitness enthusiasts 80% food and 20% exercise. Well, Buffet’s diet is nothing like that. He drinks 5 cans of coke per day (60% of his body is Coke), prefers junk food for 3 meals, always munches on candies and uses an extremely large amount of salt. If this is the case, this person would have died of complications from diabetes, hypertension, congenital kidney or liver diseases a long time ago.

What is he doing differently from the rest of us by defying the logic of health enthusiasts???

I can think of only one thing. From the small amount of reading I did, it could be because he loves what he is doing and keeps things simple. He has a passion for investing and he doesn’t just invest in whatever comes his way. He invests in businesses he understands and is quite famous for keeping the tech companies at bay for a long time since he doesn't understand them. Well, even for a person of his stature, it is OK to say "I don’t understand things". He lives in the same house for the past 60+ years in Nebraska, not California or Texas or any other city where wealthiest are concentrated. He has pledged 99% of his wealth for philanthropy. He leads a simple life.

He doesn't have a computer in his office. He uses a computer to play Bridge with world champions and for browsing. Then what the hell he does in his office?? He reads his ass-off (forgive me, but this is exactly how Warren says it) and reads anything and everything. And mind you, he has the memory of an elephant and I was amazed by the way he recalls various dates. You have no idea how it hurts when I cannot recall the years I passed 10th and 12th without taking a minute to do the math.

I wonder what keeps him going at this age, forget about being successful. I will consider it an achievement if I live till 90. Is it his ability to avoid things unknown or his ability to keep things simple or his dearth for knowledge?

A person who has so much at stake can make choices, keep things simple and lead a happy life. Can we also do that and give all the fitness enthusiasts a run for their money? Leaving you with that thought...

PS: The title of this blog is inspired by the book on the legend himself. If you happen to read the book (I haven’t) or feel like doing more research about him, please do that. If you find more interesting things, please share it with me. Happy weekend.