Johnny Carson Had a Problem

Johnny Carson was asked to give a commencement speech at Harvard in 1981, but he didn't know what to talk about.

He couldn't figure out how to give a speech about happiness. So Carson flipped it. Instead, he shared how to guarantee misery.

Here's what he told those Harvard graduates:

1. Ingest chemicals to alter your mood or perception

2. Nurture envy

3. Harbor resentment

Charlie Munger was in the crowd that day. It became his favorite commencement speech ever.

Years later, when Munger was asked to speak at Harvard, he built on Carson's wisdom:

4. Be unreliable

5. Learn only from your own experience

6. Go down and stay down when life knocks you over

7. Keep everything fuzzy (minimize objectivity)

I haven't been asked to give a commencement speech at Harvard ...  but if I were to add to this recipe for misery:

8. Blame others

9. Aim low

Here's why these nine paths lead straight to misery:

Ingesting chemicals — I enjoy a glass of wine, but I won't surrender control over the very tool I need for good decisions: my mind.

Envy — It's hardwired into us, but it focuses our attention on what others have instead of what we can build. Aristotle's antidote: "The way to avoid envy is to plainly deserve the success we get."

Resentment — This is a time machine to a bad mental state. It drains energy and clouds judgment without changing anything.

Being unreliable — If we can't be counted on, we're not filling our weeks with meaningful work. (At Century, we talk about filling our weeks with meaningful work and meaningful relationships. Reliability is foundational to both.)

Learning only from your experience — In a knowledge economy, we must be learning machines. The greats study those who came before them. Kobe studied every movement of Michael Jordan. Munger said it best: "Make friends with the eminent dead."

Going down and staying down — Life will knock us over. That's inevitable. But the infinite game isn't linear. We must embrace what I call invisible progress.

Keeping things fuzzy — Robin Sharma says, "Clarity precedes mastery." That's why we set objective metrics for our leadership teams and KPIs for every role. Fuzzy thinking leads to fuzzy results.

Blaming others — This steals our greatest learning opportunities. You can't improve what you won't take responsibility for.

Aiming low — I've heard hell described as meeting the best version of yourself at the end of your life … and not recognizing that person.

(There's work for all of us to do there.)

In family businesses, we're not just building companies. We're building legacies. We're playing the longest game there is.

May we contribute to our organizations in ways that avoid misery and move us toward the good life.

Onward,

Matt

P.S. Sometimes the best advice comes in reverse. Carson and Munger knew that showing us the path to misery illuminates the way forward.