Do you think independently? Book#1

As I finished reading “the intelligent investor” by Benjamin Graham in June 2013, I realized that I had always been a believer in the principles of value investing.

Yet I didn’t know that it was that state of mind that lead to the success of so many tycoons of our generation. This book did not teach me value investing. But it reminded me, that I have had the right state of mind about it, that I should stop listening to the crowd and that I should focus on what I thought was right.

My investing-lessons takeaways? Own businesses, be mindful of value vs price, allow for a margin of safety, stay rational, don’t speculate.

This book triggered my curiosity for more. I picked up a few others since then and decided to create this blog to share thoughts and keep track of my journey.

Along the way I realized that “value investing” has a lot more to teach. I found it a great discipline of fact based learning, independent thinking, rational decision making, self awareness and personal growth.

I wish I had read this book earlier.

My purpose in life is independence, fulfilment and a better understanding of how the world works. Like Charlie Munger, I believe in the discipline of mastering the best that other people have ever figured out. And like Sir Isaac Newton, I believe in our ability to see further than any others before us by acknowledging that we are standing on the shoulders of giants. With this blog I hope to keep track of my learning about investing, business, decision making, entrepreneurship and self development while inspiring others to do the same. For the moment the format of this blog will be one post for each book that has influenced me, but I expect it to evolve over time. This was book #1 of my journey. Join me now. John.