When I was young, my mom was a big fan of the phrase: Do as I say, not as I do.

I hated it.

It’s a get out of jail free card for when your actions and words are fundamentally at cross-purposes. It’s a lazy way to end any discussion, negating the need for critical assessment of why we do the things we do.

But then again, I’m just as lazy as the next adult and I, too, have used these words when dealing with a rambunctious youth for whom I just didn’t have the time, patience, or mental energy to give a full, unvarnished run-down of why I can break the rules, but you cannot.

All this is to say, it’s not hypocritical to expect somebody else to follow rules you yourself frequently break. There are very good reasons why this might be the case.

Namely, to reach a certain skill-level in a particular activity, or field, you must display a requisite understanding of the rules.

Following the rules can get you quite far in life.

Achieving true mastery of an activity, however, well…that requires the knowledge of when to break the rules.

But you can’t start from this position of rule-breaking when you are still building up your core competency. That’s a recipe for disaster.

And so it is in this third installment of A Billionaire’s Guide to Making Better Decisions, we dive into another of the 5 Cognitive Biases Charlie Munger (famed partner of Warren Buffet) described as plaguing all of our rational decision making skills.

We are at the point in learning this game that we must understand the rules (ie: the 25 cognitive biases), whereupon once we’ve grasped the full extent of their reach, we can then go about freeing ourselves from their restrictive bonds.

If you’re just joining us, I highly recommend you backpedal and start with Part One and Part Two in this series, as we laid a lot of groundwork and I’d hate for you to leave this masterclass more confused than when you entered.

As for the rest of you yahoos…let’s dive into 5 more Cognitive Biases Charlie Munger says is plaguing your decision making.