Billionaires Live by Ancient Stoic Philosophy億萬富翁的人生之道：古代斯多葛哲學(xué)

薩姆·巴里

Staying humble and knowing that we don’t know everything are big success factors.保持謙虛，知道我們并非無所不知是成功的重要因素。

It all started around 304 BC when Zeno， a wealthy merchant and founder of Stoicism， sailed from the Mediterranean port of Piraeus， known for its notoriously stormy weather. Zeno was shipwrecked and lost everything， but when he finally arrived in Athens， he famously discovered philosophy.

Today the philosophy of Stoicism still lives on and is used by the rich， wealthy and powerful， though having wealth doesn’t mean that we need to drive expensive cars or wear expensive clothes. As investor and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss once put it， Stoic philosophy is “a simple and immensely practical set of rules for better results with less effort.”

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway， Warren Buffett is known for his frugality1. According to CNBC2， he never pays more than $3.17 for breakfast and still lives in the house he bought for $31，500 in 1958 （approximately $260，000 today）.

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad is the eighth-richest person in the world with a personal worth an estimated $58.7 billion， according to Bloomberg. For two decades， Kamprad drove a 1993 Volvo 240 GL. He only gave it up when his daughter persuaded him that driving it was dangerous.

The founder and CEO of Facebook， Mark Zuckerberg， drives a black Acura3 TSX， a car valued around $30，000. He says he prefers the choice because it’s “safe， comfortable and not ostentatious4.”

Why would Buffett， Kamprad and Zuckerberg spend very little money？ Instead of focusing on externals， these billionaires focus on the things that really matter. Let’s dive in to find out what truly matters to these billionaires.

Live below your means.

Lebron James has a net worth of around $440 million dollars but instead of paying for expensive subscriptions， he uses free WIFI and free music streaming services like Pandora. NBA player Trey Burke of the New York Knicks earns a million dollars a year but has allotted himself a $5，000 a month budget to live on.

Like Buffett who has been content in the same house for 60 years， James and Burke have cultivated spending habits below their means so that they can focus on what really matters to them. It just so happens that5 they are wealthy. Having clarity about what they value in the world gives them total freedom from their possessions. If they lost it all they would still have what matters to them most—their happiness.

Many business moguls6 and billionaires strategically use this strategy.

Amazon founder， Jeff Bezos built a culture around frugality and constraint. Why？ “I think frugality drives innovation， just like other constraints do，” he said. “One of the only ways to get out of a tight box7 is to invent your way out.”

Billionaire Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban knows about the power of frugality. “The more you stress over bills， the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. The cheaper you can live， the greater your options.”

Marcus Aurelius famously sold all of his palace furnishings to pay down the debt weighing down him and his people. Remember， the more we want and desire， the less we can focus on what truly matters to us —joy， freedom and living a good life.

Failure is the stepping stone to success.

Billionaires like Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett don’t claim to know everything， which is why they are voracious8 readers and learners. Staying humble and knowing that we don’t know everything are big success factors.

Epictetus （as well as modern college teachers） was annoyed by students who wanted to learn， yet thought they knew everything. You see this with many entrepreneurs today. As Socrates said， “All I know is that I know nothing.”

The billionaire investor George Soros says that “Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition， there is no shame in being wrong， only in failing to correct our mistakes.” And Einstein famously said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Doing the same thing over and over again is easy. It doesn’t take a new thought or any more effort， which is why most people do it.

But you can do more and be better. Learn from your failure.

“If you are defeated once and tell yourself you will overcome， but carry on as before， know in the end you’ll be so ill and weakened that eventually you won’t even notice your mistake and will begin to rationalize9 your behavior.”

Controlling your limited time.

Buffett instinctively knows that “you’ve gotta keep control of your time， and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life. The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” When you say no you’re protecting your time and energy so you can focus on the important things in life.

Seneca says that while we might be good at protecting our physical property， we are far too lax10 about enforcing our mental boundaries. “Property can be regained— there is quite a bit of it out there and some of it still untouched by man. But time？ Time is our most irreplaceable asset， and we cannot buy more of it.”

Today， when people try to steal your time and attention， remind yourself of what Ingvar Kamprad， the founder of IKEA， once observed： “You can do so much in 10 minutes’ time. Ten minutes， once gone， are gone for good. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible to meaningless activity.”

In the end， actively applying these three seemingly simple principles to our lives can transform us to new levels of health， wealth and happiness. The stoics call it Eudaimonia—The Good Life.

這一切始于公元前304年左右，當(dāng)時富有的商人、斯多葛主義的創(chuàng)始人芝諾從地中海港口比雷埃夫斯出航，該港口以暴風(fēng)雨天氣而聞名。芝諾遭遇海難，失去了一切，但當(dāng)他最終抵達(dá)雅典時，悟出了這種人生之道，并因此聞名。

如今，斯多葛哲學(xué)依然盛行并被權(quán)貴奉為圭臬，盡管擁有財富并不意味著我們需要名車代步或華服披身。正如投資者和企業(yè)家蒂姆·費里斯曾經(jīng)所說，斯多葛哲學(xué)是“一套簡單且十分實用的規(guī)則：以較小的努力獲得更好的結(jié)果?！?/p>

作為伯克希爾·哈撒韋公司的首席執(zhí)行官，沃倫·巴菲特以節(jié)儉聞名。據(jù)美國全國廣播公司財經(jīng)頻道報道，他早餐的費用從來沒有超過3.17美元，并且仍然住在他1958年以3.15萬美元購買的房子里（今天大約價值26萬美元）。

據(jù)彭博社報道，宜家創(chuàng)始人英格瓦·坎普拉德是全球第八大富豪，個人身家約為587億美元。20年來，坎普拉德一直駕駛著1993生產(chǎn)的沃爾沃240 GL。直到他的女兒說駕駛它不安全，他才換了一輛新車。

臉書創(chuàng)始人兼首席執(zhí)行官馬克·扎克伯格的汽車是一款價值約3萬美元的黑色謳歌TSX。他說他更喜歡這款，因為它“安全，舒適，低調(diào)”。

為什么巴菲特、坎普拉德和扎克伯格花錢很少？這些億萬富翁不關(guān)注外部因素，而是專注于真正重要的事情。讓我們深入了解對這些億萬富翁而言真正重要的事情是什么。

支出小于收入。

勒布朗·詹姆斯的凈資產(chǎn)約為4.4億美元，但他沒有支付昂貴的訂閱費用，而是使用免費WIFI和Pandora等免費音樂流媒體服務(wù)。紐約尼克斯隊的NBA球員特雷·伯克每年賺100萬美元，但他為自己分配的每月生活預(yù)算為5000美元。

就像巴菲特在同一所房子里住了60年一樣，詹姆斯和伯克已經(jīng)養(yǎng)成了支出低于收入的消費習(xí)慣，這樣就可以專注于真正重要的事情。他們不過是碰巧有錢罷了。清楚地了解自己在世界上的珍視之物，使他們徹底不為財富羈絆。如果失去了所有財富，他們?nèi)匀粨碛袑ψ约憾宰顬橹匾氖虑椤腋！?/p>

許多商業(yè)巨頭和億萬富翁適宜地使用這種策略。

亞馬遜創(chuàng)始人杰夫·貝索斯圍繞節(jié)儉和克制創(chuàng)建了一種文化。為什么？ “我認(rèn)為節(jié)儉推動創(chuàng)新，就像其他克制行為一樣，”他說，“擺脫困境的唯一方法就是找到自己的出路?！?/p>

億萬富翁、鯊魚坦克投資人馬克·庫班了解節(jié)儉的力量?！百~單壓力越大，專注于目標(biāo)就越困難。生活成本越低，選擇就越多?！?/p>

眾所周知，馬可·奧勒留出售了宮殿內(nèi)所有的家具，以償還壓在他和他的子民身上的債務(wù)。謹(jǐn)記：欲望越大、期望越多，就越無法專注于對我們真正重要的事情——快樂、自由和美好生活。

失敗是成功的墊腳石。

像馬克·庫班和沃倫·巴菲特這樣的億萬富翁從不會說自己無所不知，這就是他們?nèi)琊囁瓶实亻喿x和學(xué)習(xí)的原因。保持謙虛，知道我們并非無所不知是成功的重要因素。

愛比克泰德（以及現(xiàn)代大學(xué)教師）對渴望學(xué)習(xí)然而自認(rèn)為無所不知的學(xué)生很是惱火。如今很多企業(yè)家都有這個問題。正如蘇格拉底所說：“我只知道我一無所知?！?/p>

億萬富翁、投資者喬治·索羅斯說：“一旦意識到不能完全理解就是人類的真實狀態(tài)，那么犯錯便不是一件讓人羞恥的事情，不能改正錯誤才令人羞愧。”愛因斯坦有句名言：“精神錯亂的定義是，一遍又一遍地做同一事情而期待不同結(jié)果。”一遍又一遍地做同一事情很容易。它無須新思考或更多努力，這就是大多數(shù)人這樣做的原因。

但你可以做得更多，做得更好，并從失敗中學(xué)習(xí)。

“如果你失敗一次，而后告訴自己會重整旗鼓，但卻繼續(xù)像以前一樣，最終你知道自己會變得越來越糟，甚至無視自己的錯誤，并開始為你的行為找借口。”

掌控有限的時間。

巴菲特天生就知道“你必須掌控自己的時間，如果不去拒絕，你就無法掌控時間。不能讓他人左右你的生活安排。成功人士和真正成功人士之間的區(qū)別在于，真正成功的人幾乎對所有事情都說不?！本芙^（別人）時，你在保護(hù)自己的時間和精力，這樣就可以專注于生命中重要的事情。

塞涅卡說，雖然我們可能善于保護(hù)自己的實物財產(chǎn)，但在樹立精神邊界方面過于疏忽?！柏敭a(chǎn)可以重新獲得——世間有相當(dāng)多的財富，其中一部分仍未被人類觸及。但是時間？時間是最無可替代的資產(chǎn)，我們無法購買更多時間?！?/p>

如今，當(dāng)他人試圖占用你的時間和精力時，用宜家創(chuàng)始人英格瓦·坎普拉德的話提醒自己：“10分鐘可以完成很多工作。10分鐘，一旦消失，就永遠(yuǎn)失去了。將生命以10分鐘為單位進(jìn)行劃分，盡可能少地將時間浪費在無意義的活動上。”

最后，將這3個看似簡單的原則積極地應(yīng)用到生活中，可以使我們達(dá)到健康、財富和幸福新高度。斯多葛學(xué)派稱它為幸福主義——美好人生。