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I think he really loves what he does, has been doing it since an early age. He has a brillant mind and wouldn't be happy retired and tending a garden. His children aren't bitter that their inheritance will be minimal.
Warren B. will start radiation in June (I think that's what CNN reported) but it is early stage cancer. The TV doc said that most early stage prostate cancers don't have to be treated at all, and the tumor rarely spreads. But I guess WB wants to make sure and he has the money to get the best of care. I hope he makes out OK with this.
Why do you care? Who is he to you?
FWIW - you are unlikely to hear anything about his treatments or the side effects. Which will almost certainly include bowel and bladder incontinence and impotence. During the radiation therapy - and for who knows how long thereafter? When they shoot a radiation beam at that part of your body 5x week for 6-8 weeks - those things tend to happen (been there - done that - with my late FIL). Robyn
That's the question I posed to my wife when she claimed she loved her job. The same job that stresses her out and causes her a bunch of grief, anger and frustration. I asked her if she loved it so much, would she do it for no pay. You could see that idea working its way through her mind and she finally had to admit no, she wouldn't. She is now a recovering workaholic.
I applaud anyone who really loves what they do. Unfortunately, in my experience, most people who say that are either lying to themsleves or have no idea what they want out of life. Like I said above, if you really love what you do, wouldn't it be better to do it for you on your terms rather than for your boss/company/clients they way they want it done? Even business owners have to follow labor laws, government regulations, and the customer is always right. Even those folks must wish they could do what they love on their terms if they are being honest with themselves.
Warren Buffett has the freedom to do that. Nobody tells Buffet what to do. In fact, people come to him for direction and advice. I'd go to work everyday to if I was him.
Wrong. There are people who tell Warren what to do. They're called shareholders. If Warren were to successfully buy back all his stock and take his company private, THEN nobody can tell him what to do, but not before then.
There's something more to Warren's happiness in life that you're just not seeing. I'm not quite sure if I see it either; maybe I do or maybe I don't, but you definitely don't.
Actually - most shareholders have very little say in management. Buffett controls about 1/3 of the vote - and insiders aligned with him bring him over 50%. This is due in part to the fact that Berkshire has 2 classes of stock - A shares and B shares - and that A shareholders have more voting rights than B shareholders. Robyn
Well - to those that attribute the desire to continue working to being boring and perhaps afraid of the unknown, I say "so be it". If that's the take away I have to live with for continuing to do what I like doing for as long as I can do it then bring it on. The way I see it, at this stage in the game, quitting work and retiring isn't going to suddenly get me on Oprah as the world's most interesting person. On that score, I am simply who I am and I'm afraid it's just going to be that way from here on in. So I think I'll just stick to my gut and take whatever lumps come with it. In short, plenty of time to retire later, it will come when it comes, but I am not ready yet, and that's a fact.
Stated reasons versus real reasons and reasoning from our own experience
Quote:
Originally Posted by javry
Well - to those that attribute the desire to continue working to being boring and perhaps afraid of the unknown, I say "so be it". If that's the take away I have to live with for continuing to do what I like doing for as long as I can do it then bring it on. The way I see it, at this stage in the game, quitting work and retiring isn't going to suddenly get me on Oprah as the world's most interesting person. On that score, I am simply who I am and I'm afraid it's just going to be that way from here on in. So I think I'll just stick to my gut and take whatever lumps come with it. In short, plenty of time to retire later, it will come when it comes, but I am not ready yet, and that's a fact.
That's right. When you know what works for you and why it works for you, you have to just ignore the doubters and the naysayers. People who loathed their jobs seem to reason like this: Since I leathed my job so much I just can't conceive of anyone really loving theirs, therefore those claiming to love their jobs must be using that as an excuse to cover up their "real" reasons for continuing to work such as having no interests in life outside of work or being afraid of change. That is obviously bogus reasoning.
However, what makes this more complicated is that there really are people who are afraid of change, and there also really are those who have no interests outside of work and hang on to their jobs because they have no idea what they would do if they retired.
So how do we tell the ones who actually love their work from the ones who only claim to love their work as a more acceptable excuse for other things? It's easy - we can't. So my solution is to believe people when they give their reasons unless there is some indication not to. If we know someone personally, then we can sometimes judge if their stated motivation is their real motivation. Otherwise, we normally can't.
I think there should be a "Touch Reality Day". On this day, all top corp execs have to ride the fender of a trash truck picking up garbage in the pouring rain, or have oil drip up into their armpits underneath a car during repair, or risk their lives out at sea trying to pull in the catch of the day.
ummmm............lets make a week in length instead of just a day.
My great grand-father worked till he was 101. He was even sent over to Guyana at the request of the state department to teach his craft to the villiagers in that country, at the ripe old age of 91. For some reason, I believed he loved what he did, he certainly didn't get rich off his work. Probably could have, but wasn't gifted with business skills. Well, at least he has a statue planted in his honor. Go Gramps.
What a great post! I think your key words are "his craft", which tells me he was more than just a faceless number in an endless struggle to enhance the bottom line of some corporation
Last edited by xnyer; 05-05-2012 at 07:44 AM..
Reason: spelling error
Ive noticed that the happiest people in life are those that love what they do, and DREAD the day that they have to retire! To me looking forward to retirement is a sad situation. It just means that somebody never found that thing in life that they were passionate about disguised as a "job"!
I hope to work until 85.
No reason why I shouldn't as long as I got my health.
Ive noticed that the happiest people in life are those that love what they do, and DREAD the day that they have to retire! To me looking forward to retirement is a sad situation. It just means that somebody never found that thing in life that they were passionate about disguised as a "job"!
This is really sad.
Not that you enjoy your job, but that that is the ONLY passion you have.
What would happen if you were physically disabled in such a way that you could no longer do your job? You would wither up and die if you had nothing else you enjoyed to fall back on.
The phrase "get a life" comes to mind.
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Stated reasons versus real reasons and reasoning from our own experience
