Do Less to Get More

Decoding the “less-is-more” puzzle.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett sticks to a few mantras in his life like ants flocking to candy. The 20-Slot Rule is one of them.

Here’s how he explained it in his lectures at business schools:

“I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only 20 slots in it so that you had 20 punches — representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all.

“Under those rules, you’d really think carefully about what you did and you’d be forced to load up on what you’d really thought about. So you’d do so much better.”

To Buffett, it appeared obvious. The less he did, the more he could focus on what was important. This rule, along with others, helped him build a net-worth north of $79 billion.

But it wasn’t obvious to the rest, particularly during the ’70s and ‘80s when conventional wisdom stated that you get more by doing more.

Most of us adhere to conventional wisdom. It’s simple, convenient, comfortable, and comforting. Much of it gets passed down to us from parents, teachers, bosses, and other authority figures in our lives. But it often limits us from…