The person who always acts impetuously, illogically, unfairly, and obstinately is most unlikely to succeed in any activity. Assess how rational you are and take action to let your head rule your decisions and their implementation.
How rational are you?
The most important word in Buffett's vocabulary is "why". He always strives to discover the reason "why" things happen, "why" he should do some things, and not others, "why" one approach is better than another. Can you live up to his standards of rationality? Look at the following seven statements. Give yourself a score on a scale of zero to 10. You score zero for "I never think before acting", 5 for "I sometimes think", and 10 for "I always do".
* I think before acting.
* I have a logical justification for my actions and beliefs.
* I do not stop my enquiries until I am as certain as possible that I know the truth.
* I understand my emotions, but never allow them to determine my behaviour.
* I strive to be fair in my dealings with others.
* I change my mind if other people, or new facts, show that I am wrong.
* I set out my arguments clearly and logically, so that others can follow them.
Using a checklist
Write down these seven statements on a card, and refer to them when working on anything to see if you are leaving the road of reason. Ask yourself every evening what you have done to harness the power of reason, and (using Buffett's metaphor) to get maximum output from your motor.
Analysis
* A score between 25 and 45 shows that you are a reasonable person but that some of the time you act unreasonably.
* Follow a rational course of action and improve on that unsatisfactory performance.
* Concentrate on the points of major weakness and find one simple way of correcting each fault.
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