You cannot teach the new dogs old tricks

The title of this blog post comes from the greatest entrepreneur of all time. I hope you can agree, it is a phenomenal quote

We have all heard the saying, "You cannot teach an old dog new tricks." And, I happen to think it is one of the more pathetic sayings in all of existence. It is so sad and complacent.

Thanks to the science of neuroplasticity, we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the human brain remains malleable throughout the life span.

For example, what do you know about Jim Arruda Henry? Here is a man who learned to read at the age of 92! (he subsequently went on to also write a book)

Most of us learned to read at an early age, so we may not appreciate just how hard it is. Perhaps a good equivalent is learning a second language. Do you speak two languages?

Now back to the title of this post, it is something Warren Buffett likes to say to his partner, Charlie Munger. Both gentleman are big fans of the concept, "Invert, always invert." Meaning, consider ideas from multiple perspectives.

We all hear people say you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. But what if the opposite were true? What if you cannot teach the new dogs old tricks? There sure seem to be something to it.

Of course, what Warren and Charlie are saying is that somethings can only be learned through time.

Here is an interesting paradox for ya. Have you ever noticed that the younger we are, the less patient we tend to be? Patience is a virtue generally learned through time, meaning, as we get older. So, the less time we have, the more patience we tend to be. Kinda crazy, right?

What about Win-Win? "Reciprocal altruism" as it is often called. Some people call it "enlightened self-interest." At the networking group BNI, they say "Givers Gain." They are all saying roughly the same thing.

However you wish to label it, reciprocal altruism is an advanced concept. And, it is seldom mastered by the new dogs. Indeed, it can be very hard to teach the old dogs old tricks.

Beware the Naked Man

There is an old proverb that says, "Beware the naked man who offers you clothes."

This idea warns us that people cannot give what they do not have.

Clothes are a good metaphor because they are tangible and visible.

Of course, much of what we have to offer is invisible.

This is an idea that came to mind based on my last two blog posts.

It is an idea that is applicable in countless situations.

For example, you cannot teach people to see through the availability heuristic if you, yourself, are incapable of doing so.

In her book, Daring Greatly, author Brené Brown is teaching people to be more courageous. She says parents cannot give their children what they do not have (which can make parenting a pretty scary proposition.)

Similarly, I have a real problem with weight loss gurus who have never lost real weight (and, since relapse is part of recovery, I prefer if they have lost weight more than once.)

Beware the naked man who offers you clothes.

Hiding in Plain Sight

I once heard it said that there are no secrets. They are all simply hidden at the library.

Another way of putting it is the following. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Last week, I talked about the availability heuristic. AH is a mental shortcut and it can be a form of laziness.

If you want to get to the truth, you need to search it out. Do not wait for things like media reports. Or, heaven forbid, commercials!

Here is the thing. If you are willing to put in the work, what you will find is, the answers have been hiding in plain sight (ya just gotta cut through the noise.)

The Availability Heuristic

Time for another nerdy post! But, I promise to tie it in to a contemporary topic.

Lately, I have been thinking about something called "The Availability Heuristic" (AH). AH comes from the work of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. If you do not know the names of these two gentleman, pay extra attention to this post, because it will be important.

For his work, Kahneman ended up receiving the Nobel Prize. Tversky would have been awarded, as well, however, the Nobel Prize is not given posthumously.

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that people use. It effectively says, "If something is important, I will hear about it." Conversely, "If I have not heard about something, it must not be important."

This shortcut can be innocent enough. But, it can also cause a lot of problems. Let me flesh-out this idea, by using Grant Cardone as an example, since he is getting a lot of attention online.

Cardone might not be familiar with the term "availability heuristic." However, AH is central to what he does. It is Grant's stated goal to become known by all seven billion of the earth's inhabitants.

Cardone wants everybody to know his name. Because, as Grant himself says, "Money and power follow attention." And, a big reason money and power follow attention is because of AH.

Let me tell you a secret. And, if you are seasoned entrepreneur, you already know this. Grant Cardone is NOT the world's best sales trainer. Oh sure, he claims to be. But, he ain't.

One thing Cardone IS great at is self-promotion. And, I do respect the fact that Grant is very transparent about what he is doing. He is using AH is amass money and power. Whether or not this is fair-game is for you to decide.

The reason I am making this post is to reveal another secret. A lot of the world's most important work is being done by people you have never heard of. Tversky and Kahneman being two examples.

So, this ends up being something of a paradox. As an entrepreneur, you need to get lots of attention for yourself. Yet, it is probably best to not listen to people who get lots of attention for themselves.

I pay attention to people like Grant Cardone, and Donald Trump, as case studies in self-promotion. Is Donald Trump the world's greatest real estate developer? Of course not. However, amongst the world's real estate developers, he might be the greatest self-promoter.

What I am recommending is the following. You need to learn how to dig. You need to learn how to sift through the BS. Because, there is a lot of BS out there!

It was the French economist, Jean-Bastiste Say, who coined the word "entrepreneur." And, Say said, “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.”

According to Say's definition, I would argue Warren Buffett is the world's greatest entrepreneur. And, as you may know, Buffett attributes most of his success to his ability to think for himself. 

This is important! Do not let the availability heuristic get the best of you. Learn to think for yourself.

Choose Your Hard

Have you ever heard the saying that discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons. I know I have. And, I definitely agree. How about you?

Yesterday I was talking with somebody about dieting. More accurately, we were talking about cheating.

It is fine to splurge on Easter. But, day-to-day, how do we keep from giving in to the sugary temptations (the "hourly temptations" as Francis Galton called them)?

I thought of that old saying, "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." It is a useful reminder. It is a variation of the idea that discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.

The world's leading expert on self-control is probably Walter Mischel. If you have not already, you should definitely read his book titled The Marshmallow Test.

In the book, Mischel talks about two systems for thinking: hot and cool. The cool system supports self-discipline while the hot system is impulsive. Both are hard.

The hard part of the cool system is resisting the Oreo cookies or chocolate eggs. The hard part of the hot system is living with regret.

I am of the mind that living with regret is much harder than temporary self-control. I think regret is toxic and insidious. And, very often, what we regret are our lapses in self-control.

In no way is this stuff just about eating right. This applies to all of life.

Researchers find that most people get to the end of their lives wishing they had really gone for it. Wishing they had not been controlled by their fears and doubts. Meaning, most people end up with a lot of regret.

Here is the beautiful thing, you get to choose your hard. And, I am convinced that discipline is nowhere near are hard as regret.