Performing for others

Today, I attended an online meeting to bid farewell to a departing colleague. As senior team members, it seemed it was expected of us to publicly commend him. While everyone participated, it appeared more a matter of formality than genuine sentiment. I contemplated joining in but chose not to, having already expressed my good wishes privately via email.

This experience reminded me of the phase that became the title of this post from the article ‘Quiet Compounding’ from Collab Fund, which aligns with my personal philosophy on finance, investment, and life in general.

Every few years you hear a story of a country bumpkin with no education and a low-wage job who managed to save and compound tens of millions of dollars. The story is always the same: They just quietly saved and invested for decades. They never bragged, never flaunted, never compared themselves to others or worried that they trailed their benchmark last quarter.

They just quiety compoudned.

Their entire financial universe was contained to the walls of their home, which allowed them to play their own game and be guided by nothing other than their own goals. That was their superpower. It was actually their only financial skill, but it’s the most powerful one of all.

…..

Money is similar. People become so nervous about what other people think of their lifestyle and investing decisions that they end up doing two things: Performing for others, and copying a strategy that might work for someone else but isn’t right for you.

I try to keep in mind that there are two ways to use money. One is as a tool to live a better life. The other is as a yardstick of success to measure yourself against other people. The first is quiet and personal, the second is loud and performative. It’s so obvious which leads to a happier life.

This gels with what Warren Buffett frequently relates and documented in the excellent Buffett biography by Alice Schroeder’s The Snowball:

Would you rather be the world’s greatest lover, but have everyone think you’re the world’s worst lover? Or would you rather be the world’s worst lover but have everyone think you’re the world’s greatest lover?