High Agency as a Life Skill
George Mack is one of my favorite guests on the ‘Modern Wisdom’ podcast and he recently created a webpage called “High Agency in 30 Minutes,” which he dubbed, “an idea so simple yet effective it may change how you view reality.”
I think this will resonate with the FI Community and I wanted to link it up here as I think it’s an incredible read (caution: It will take over 20 minutes to read).
I asked NotebookLM to summarize this incredibly long page and here’s my edited version of the summary:
The concept of high agency is described as something you "know it when you see it". It's the quality in a person you'd call when facing a seemingly impossible problem, like being stuck in a 3rd world jail. High agency people are those who are happening to life, actively shaping the future rather than viewing it statically. It is understood as a combination of three skills: Clear thinking, bias to action, and disagreeability While low agency is the default for most people, the good news is that you have agency over your agency and can move up the spectrum. People with high agency often independently adopt similar mindsets, such as believing there's no unsolvable problem unless it defies the laws of physics, there are no adults to be put on pedestals, and there's only now. Low agency can manifest as specific traps, including being vague, overcomplicating simple things (the midwit trap), being attached to past assumptions, rumination, and overwhelm. Escape routes involve defining problems clearly, simplifying actions, questioning assumptions, prioritizing immediate action, and identifying the smallest first step. The aim is to become a problem-solving machine by escaping these traps and actively turning values into reality through specific actions.
Buffett Stepping Down as CEO of Berkshire
Warren Buffett recently announced that he’ll step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025.
The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ is a business hero of so many of us, and I wanted to include some of my favorite Buffett quotes here in the newsletter:
- “Every decade or so, dark clouds will fill the economic skies, and they will briefly rain gold. When downpours of that sort occur, it’s imperative that we rush outdoors carrying washtubs, not teaspoons.”
- “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.”
- “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever."
- “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."
- “Our aversion to leverage has dampened our returns over the years. But Charlie [Munger] and I sleep well. Both of us believe it is insane to risk what you have and need in order to obtain what you don’t need."
- “The best protection against inflation is still your own personal earnings power. The best investment by far is anything that develops yourself.”
- “We buy publicly-traded stocks through which we passively own pieces of businesses…Our goal…is to make meaningful investments in businesses with both long-lasting favorable economic characteristics and trustworthy managers. Please note particularly that we own publicly-traded stocks based on our expectations about their long-term business performance, not because we view them as vehicles for adroit purchases and sales. That point is crucial: Charlie and I are not stock-pickers; we are business-pickers.”
- “Do not save what is left after spending; instead spend what is left after saving.”
Mr. Buffett also put out a list of 27 books he recommends on business and life and this Inc article lists them all.