Go to bed smarter than when you woke up

I love this simple quote from Charlie Munger: “Go to bed smarter than when you woke up.“

In the case of Munger and his business partner Warren Buffett, the easiest way to do that is to read — a lot. Buffett famously spends 80% of his day reading and thinking. While most of us aren’t in a position to do anything like that, it’s an interesting angle to consider.

Going further, many people to struggle to find any time to read in a given day. One way would be to sell an hour of your time back to yourself. In his biography “The Snowball“, Buffett shares this story:

Charlie, as a very young lawyer, was probably getting $20 an hour. He thought to himself, “Who’s my most valuable client?” And he decided it was himself. So he decided to sell himself an hour each day. He did it early in the morning, working on these construction projects and real estate deals. Everybody should do this, be the client, and then work for other people, too, and sell yourself an hour a day.

Of course, reading isn’t the only way to become smarter. Pay attention to what others are doing. Watch videos on a subject you’re curious about. Try a new recipe and see how it works out. It doesn’t take much, but if you can go to bed a little smarter every night, the long term effects can really add up.