Inner Vs Outer Scorecard

“The big question about how people behave is whether they’ve got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.”
— Warren Buffett

The inner scorecard refers to living through values that are important to you. The outer scorecard refers to what could be measured by those around you. Ultimately, if you can find peace and comfort with your inner scorecard, you’re going to live a happy life. Reputation is important, but while we want to be admired by our peers, we should never have to compromise our own standards. But people often subscribe to the outer scorecard.

Some people get into a position where they think all the time what the world is going to think of this or that, instead of what they themselves are going to think about it

Here’s an interesting question: Would you rather be the world’s greatest friend, but have everyone think you’re the world’s worst friend? Or would you rather be the world’s worst friend but have everyone think you’re the world’s greatest friend?

What Buffett and a lot of other people who have been successful in life — true success, not money — have in common is that they’re able to remember what we all set out to do: live a fulfilling life! Not get rich. Not get famous. Not even get the admiration, necessarily. But to live a satisfying existence and help others around them do the same.

It’s not that getting rich or famous or admired can’t be deeply satisfying. It can be! I’m positive Buffett deeply enjoys his wealth and status. He’s got more “admiration tokens” than almost anyone in the world.

But all of that can be ruined very, very easily along the way by making too many compromises, by living according to an external scorecard rather than an internal one. How many stories have you heard of famous and/or wealthy folks becoming entrapped in constant lawsuits, bickering, loneliness, and pure unhappiness? A countless number, right?

So, did fame or wealth actually work in giving a satisfying and fulfilling life? No!

We can’t just earn praise, we must be praiseworthy. We can’t just be loved, we must be loveable. It makes all the difference in the world. Our dissatisfaction with ourselves will always trump the satisfaction we feel with false rewards. We must, as Charlie Munger puts it, earn and deserve the success we desire.

There’s a simple word for this: Authenticity. We seek it, and we’re only happy when we feel we’ve achieved it. It can’t be faked. And the way to get there is to remember the Inner Scorecard and start grading yourself accordingly.