Of all billionaires and successful
business people, Warren Buffet remains my favourite. Not only is he witty and
sharp-minded but, Buffet is also very
insightful. He reads a lot and above all that, he knows how
to enjoy life from his famous junk-food diet to the old house he still lives in
today.
Here are some of my favorite lessons that I’ve learned from Warren
Buffett:
1. It`s all
about how you present it
Many believe Buffett is one of the
greatest thought leaders in the past 100 years and he’s also known for being a
great public speaker. But things weren’t always this way. For more than twenty
years, Buffett couldn`t even say his name in public. In college, he selected
the courses where he didn`t have to stand up in front of the class and even the
mere idea of giving a presentation made him throw up. But he finally found his
courage and took a public speaking course, then a teaching job to hone those
skills and build mastery.
In his interviews, Buffet
attributes most of his business
success to his presentation skills. He believes that
regardless of what you do, you must build good communication skills or people
won`t follow you.
He values the public speaking course he
took at the Carnegie Institute so much that he hangs that certificate on his
office wall instead of his Diplomas from both Colombia and the University of
Nebraska. He also believes he wouldn't have persuaded the love of his life to
marry him if it wasn`t for that course on public speaking.
“In graduate school, you learn all this complicated
stuff, but what’s really essential is being able to get others to follow your
ideas.” – Warren Buffett
2. Follow the
right people
If you want a shortcut to learning or
becoming anything then what you should do is surround yourself with what
Buffett calls “High-grade people,” or those who are better than you are. Before
you know it, you will soak up their good skills and end up behaving similarly
to them, which is good if you`ve picked the right people to follow.
One of Buffett's smart shortcuts is to
pay for tutoring. Yes, self-tutoring is cheap. In fact, it was common among
Greek debaters to spend years studying rhetoric in solitary before returning to
Athens. But this doesn`t normally work with all people. You may waste a year
figuring out something an expert would`ve taught you in a month or even a week.
Besides, paying a tutor will force you to commit, attend all lessons and do your
homework which is exactly what you need to learn a skill.
According to Buffett, he spent years
trying to learn public speaking and failed. It`s only when he paid for the
entire course in advance he was able to commit and learn what he believes to be
the most valuable skill a businessman can have.
3. Stick to your
circle of competence
Buffett admits he`s only great at
evaluating businesses. Not even all of them, only the ones he can comprehend.
Early on, he noticed that along with his emotional stability, he had a unique
way of evaluating investment opportunities so he honed that skill, became a
master at it and made a fortune. And he urges you to do the same. Instead of
trying to be good at all things, try to be great
at one thing and give it all you`ve got. It`s better to
be known for one thing than nothing.
4. Change the
way you see setbacks
You will make mistakes, probably lots
of them, as long as you choose to swing for the fences. Buffett believes you
can do well if you program your mind to see opportunities in every setback.
When he was rejected by Harvard, it was a huge disappointment for him and his
father who thought a great deal of his son.
Buffett was devastated but the young
man pulled himself together and began to investigate other schools until he
discovered that Benjamin Graham, whom he was really fond of, was teaching at
Colombia. So he applied there, got accepted and met with Graham who became a
major influence in his life and taught him everything he knew about investing.
“I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t
think I ever doubtet it for a minute.” – Warren Buffett
5. Treat your
body like the only car you could have
If someone offered you the most
expensive car in the world with a single condition that you never get another
one, how will you treat this car? I guess you`ll treat it like one of your
kids, if not better. With this analogy in mind, Buffett urges you to
treat your body and mind the same way you treat your one, and only car.
If you don’t take care of your mind and body now, by the time you are forty or
fifty you’ll be like a car that can’t go anywhere.
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