Analytical Lens Paper- Writing through the lens of positive psychology

The secrets of happiness learned from an old man in Nebraska.

Among all 50 states in the U.S, Nebraska is not the famousest one. However, an old man named Warren Buffett who lives in Nebraska attracts attention from the world. Warren Buffett is a 91 year old man who was born in Nebraska and spent his whole life there. He is one of the richest men on the planet as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Unlike all other giant companies that have its product, Warren Buffett made all his fortune by investing and putting trust in other companies through the stock market. As a professional investor, the stock market is his Disneyland and he describes himself as the happiest person with the best job in the world. Although he made huge fortunes through his career, money is not the factor that brought him happiness. His gratitude, his career which is also his passion, and his good relationship with others are the keys.

To start with, his career must be the most important contribution to his happiness. Warren Buffett was born right after The Great Depression with a father who works in the stock industry. He encountered stocks and purchased his first stock when he was 9. After he made a few dollars on his first stock, he enjoyed the feeling of sitting there, doing nothing and money makes money for you. After he had a brief touch with the stock market, he read all related books from the library, applied to Columbia business school to study investing. It is not hard to tell his passion and how much he loves investing. After he graduated, he applied to work for his professor for free in a hedge fund and started his own investing career a few years later when he went back to Nebraska. Based on his early life experiences, we know he loved investing before he made any large fortune from it. The reason for him to choose this industry is solely because he enjoyed it and he is passionate about it.I believe that contributes greatly to his happiness as Mayo Health clinic research shows that “Identifying what you enjoy doing is the first step to having well-mental health.” The first suggestion Warren Buffett offered to young college students is “Finding what you love, and building a career upon it.” In my opinion, there is a sharp contrast between career and work. A career is a job you love and you would not feel tired even if you devote yourself and spend all the time on it. It is as enjoyable as a 15 year old boy spending all his casual time on Playstation. However, finding a job simply means finding a place to spend time painfully and get a salary to pay your bills. Warren Buffett chose to build a career instead of finding a job. Despite all his fortune, the process of work and investing are enough for him to demonstrate his personal value and find joy. The money is not the purpose or point, the work itself is. He said he is tap dancing to work, in my eyes, he is tap dancing to his Disneyland.

Despite having a successful career, there were hard times for him in his career, just like hard times for anyone. His secret of staying happy is simple: “do not yield ,do not blame others and do not be emotional.” Back in 2008, when the financial crisis affected the whole market, Warren Buffett’s investments were also deeply affected. It is not possible to escape all hardships, so it is important to learn how to face them. Unlike many CEOs who were overwhelmed in that crisis, Warren Buffett had a better attitude. He enjoys not only the winning parts of his career but also the process of fixing mistakes and learning from mistakes. It is common for people to get depressed and down when difficulties occur, however, these hardships are minor when we look back 5 years later. Warren Buffett chose not to sacrifice his long term level of happiness due to temporal hardships. Facing hardships is normal, the way he handles it is the secret for him to stay happy.

Besides his career, his donation and showing gratitude also increase his level of happiness. After he made a huge fortune through investing, he did not choose to live a luxury life. He maintains his traditional and thrifty lifestyle. He still lives in his house bought in 1956 and drives his old sedan from 10 years ago. It is not hard to see that Warren enjoys the process of making money, but not spending it. Materialism and monetary wealth a did not bring him happiness, thus he decided to donate it. After leaving 5% of his wealth to his children, he decided to donate the rest to the Gates foundation. Unlike some wealthy people who choose to donate their money to their own foundation as a way to escape tax, Warren donated all to Bill Gates which gives the Gates foundation full authority to spend it. Since Bill and Warren hold a strong relationship for more than dozens years, Warren knows he is the best person to manage and utilize these money in the most effective way. Warren Warren truly believes that this money can be better used to help the poorest in the world rather than sitting in his account. As a 91 year old man, there is little place for him to increase his happiness by spending his money besides donating. The UCB Ph.D. researcher Summer Allen also supports this phenomenon that “Expressing gratitude has many benefits for individuals health and increasing happiness.” In Warren’s eyes, money beyond a point is pointless if people do not know how to spend it meaningfully. This money is more needed for disadvantaged kids and females in African compared to himself. Donating them maximum both his and the recipient's happiness level.

Warren and Bill’s relationship is far more than the topic of charity, instead Warren holds a strong relationship with many close friends such as Bill Gates, Charlie Munger and even his close employees. There is one famous quote from him that he defines success as “Do the people you care about love you back.”. Without good relationships and love with close friends and family, life is a disaster no matter how much wealth you have. Harvard also concluded similar results that the 75 years long psychology research determined that a strong and good relationship with close people is the key to happiness. In Warren’s eyes, he is building his career in areas he enjoys and with close people he loves. While many fortune 500 CEOS expect their employees to work as long as possible(Covert), Warren Buffett thinks treating their employees like family is a better way. In Berkshire Hathaway headquarters, there are only 25 staff who work closely with Warren Buffett every day for dozens of years. It is more like family members who choose to spend most of their life together. Besides that, Warren Buffett has been viewed as the best investor by CEOs from all over the world such as Coca-Cola. As major shareholders, Warren simply put trust into them and gave them the highest autonomous power to operate companies. There is a little confrontation between him and different CEOs. Doing business with close friends and making a good outcome together is his method. Based on all these stories and evidence, I would argue that Warren knows the importance of having a good relationship with people, especially the close ones, and he is applying his understanding to daily-life to remain a healthy and positive relationship with others. By doing so, he increases both his and others’ happiness level.

In conclusion, I would recommend learning from Warren Buffett. While most people only think he is good at buying stocks, his lifestyle is more attractive to me. When people all define happiness with complicated scientific vocabulary, Warren Buffett uses his real-life example to answer the question “what is happiness?”. Living a simple life, doing things you like with people you like and not taking life’s simple pleasures for granted.

Work Cited

Allen, Summer. “The Science of Gratitude.” Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley. May 2018. pp. 1-6, 27-40

Covert, Bryce. “The Richest Man in China Is Wrong. 12-Hour Days Are No ‘Blessing.’” The New

York Times. 21 April 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/opinion/jack-ma-996.html

Accessed 31 Jul. 2019.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms.” Mayo Clinic. 27. Sept.2017. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495 Accessed 2.25.2021

Marcel Schwantes. “ Bill Gates Said Warren Buffett Helped Him Define Success in a New Way.” INC. 06 Feb.2020. https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/bill-gates-said-warren-buffett-helped-him-define-success-in-a-new-way-here-it-is-in-a-few-words.html#:~:text=Warren%20Buffett's%20new%20definition%20of,about%20love%20you%20back%3F'&text=Not%20all%20of%20us%20can,in%20an%20economy%20of%20love. Accessed 3.11.2021

Waldinger, Robert. “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness.” TED.

November 2015. https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life

_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness?language=en