Keep Good People Around You

"We want people where ... every aspect about their personality makes you want to be around them. ... Trust first, ability second." – Charlie Munger

Pay people through time, wisdom, money, etc. This shows a respect level for that person’s experience, time, and being. Everyone has something to say, but only listen to the ones who have something worth to say. I’ve came into contact with so many people who has inspired me to become more successful. The key to meeting and listening to them was paying them through my respect of who they are and the amount of wisdom they possess.

Stand in the Gap. This is something you hear in a lot of Southern Baptist Churches. However, it applies in everyday life. Help those who may or may not have helped you in the past. Everybody has fallen in life. On the other hand, there is a thin line between helping and needing to be help; recognize the difference.

"Develop into a lifelong self-learner through voracious reading; cultivate curiosity and strive to become a little wiser every day.” – Charlie Munger

Mr. Munger got it right in this regards because there is so much one can learn about other people and cultures. As we learn more about the life that surrounds us, we learn how to achieve in it. Taking this suggestion a step further, applying what someone learns has an even greater impact on one’s success and ability to help others.

“Like Warren, I had a considerable passion to get rich, not because I wanted Ferraris – I wanted the independence. I desperately wanted it.” – Charlie Munger

Becoming more independent shows the world that you are serious about doing your part to help move it forward. The old adage, ‘if you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem’ is true. People who get the job done are not only optimists, but they realize the issues at hand and make necessary steps to overcome those obstacles.

Ronnie O. Rice, Ph.D.