I read an article a while back about what makes a good life. It says that an important element of a good life is something called “psychological richness.” Here is an excerpt: According to this view, a good life is one that is interesting, varied and surprising—even if some of those surprises aren’t necessarily pleasant ones. In fact, the things that make a life psychologically rich may actually make it less happy in the ordinary sense. After all, to put it bluntly, a happy life can also be boring. Adventures, explorations and crises may be painful, but at least they’re interesting.
Warren Buffett, the famed investor, turned 90 last Sunday. At that age, he still hasn’t retired. He is still the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Not only does he live long, but also he stays sharp mentally. In fact, one thing he did on his 90th birthday is announcing a new deal that Berkshire just made. Bill Gates mentioned that he has the mental sharpness of a 30-year-old.
I’m always interested in learning how to make good decisions. After all, optimizing our lives has a lot to do with the quality of our decisions. The better decisions we make, the more likely we are to reach our full potential. In that regard, I recently read Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. I was interested in the book because I have noticed that many leaders use “thinking in bets” when making decisions. A clear example is Bill Gates. This is what I wrote in A Key Factor to Living Life to the Fullest:
We now live in an uncertain time. Things that seemed certain just a few months ago may seem uncertain now. What seemed like sure bets back then may turn out to be the opposite. So how can we go through this? Well, I believe that the key to survive and even thrive in uncertain times is being adaptable.
We have been in this pandemic for a few months now. Needless to say, this is an unprecedented situation for most – if not all – of us. This is a difficult time, but I believe it’s also a good opportunity to learn a lot. As I’ve written a while back, this is a good time to reinvent ourselves. So here is my question to you: What lessons have you learned from this pandemic? Please share your answer in the comments so that everyone can read it. Thanks!
I recently wrote about how thinking in terms of opportunity cost can help you use your time effectively. Now, I’d like to follow up on that by discussing another concept called sunk cost trap. Along with opportunity cost, this concept can help you make good decisions. Here is a definition of sunk cost trap: Sunk cost trap refers to a tendency for people to irrationally follow through on an activity that is not meeting their expectations. This is because of the time and/or money they have already invested.