Warren Buffet is a powerful businessman and the greatest investor of all time.
Even though he made a fortune on the stock market, he kept a down-to-earth
personality and keen eyesight about the world. Early in his life, he realized he had to MAKE
MONEY. He worked during teenagehood delivering newspapers. At 13 he made his first income tax Warren Buffet
declaration and at the end of his teenage years, he had accumulated almost ten thousand dollars.
That was just the beginning of a stellar career! And to reach success he knew that before making
any investments in business or in the market he had to INVEST IN HIMSELF.
By far the best investment you can make is in yourself. I mean that, for example, communication
skills. I tell the students that come that they're going to graduate schools and business and they're
learning all these complicated formulas all that if they just learn to communicate
better and both in writing and person they increase their value at least 50%. I mean,
if you can't communicate somebody, he says, you know, it's like winking at a girl the dark,
nothing happens, you know, basically and you have to be able to get, get both your ideas and, and
that's, that's relatively easy. I did it myself with a Dale Carnegie course. Some people wish I'd
take it a shorter course not by talking later on, but it, it's just hugely important and you if you
invest in yourself nobody can take it away from you, I mean you. And the second thing which I'll
get a certain criticism for not living it but, but I do tell the, those students you know that if I
gave you a car and it'll be the only car you're getting the rest of your life, you take care of
it like you can't believe, any scratch you'd fix that moment, you read the owner's manual, you
keep a garage and all these things. And you get exactly one mind and one body in this world and,
and you can't start taking care of it when you're 50. By that time you’re a little rusted out,
if you haven't done anything, so you know, you should really make sure that you just remember
that, you just got one mind and body to get through life with and to do the most with.
Take care of your body! Take care of your mind!
They are your means to achieve everything you want.
Don’t laziness or wrong priorities distract from developing yourself in the best way possible.
Always make time to INVEST IN YOURSELF. Always learn more. That is the way to
avoid the mistakes most people will make in life. Many successful people have already laid out the
way for you. Observe them. See what they did, and use it as a guiding light in your life.
Biggest mistake people do when investing?
Well, they try to, but they, they just don't realize that
all you have to do is just buy across Australia and America and they never
listen to people like me or read the papers or do anything subsequently...
They think, they think that because you can trade you should trade. You buy a farm,
you buy an apartment, house, you can't resell it tomorrow, and you know, the cost of moving around.
Now you get something handed to you, liquidity you know, which is instant in sell and the
cost of doing it are pennies, you know, compared to other kinds of investment activity. So because
they can so easily move around they do move around and moving around is not smarter than investing.
You may be able to reach mild success by trading assets quickly. But GIGANTIC
SUCCESS comes from work for the long term. Don’t just make investments the way people
are doing because they think is the easiest and quickest way possible.
That doesn’t exist! Have the patience to
see things unfold throughout the years. And have a clear vision of what you want.
Some people may want to college, some may not. Whatever you do know your “why.”
If you don’t have a reason for something, don’t do it!
But if you have, go for it!
Is business school worth it?
Warren Buffet
Depends on the person and much more than it depends on the school. I mean, I wouldn't worry,
some people are gonna get a lot out of advanced education and some people are going to get
very little and I don't even think it's important that every person go to college at all. I mean we
have all kinds of jobs at 70 or so thousand a year eighty thousand a year that college training is
is not of use. And and I actually was not keen on going to college myself, yeah, my dad
kind of jollied me into it. He could get me to do anything, bu, and if they'd had an SAT test
those days he would have taken the test for me. But but because I I just I was, I knew I
could have a good time and I liked investing and I didn't really feel like, I could read the books.
So I don't ,you know it's it's a big commitment to take four years and the cost involved, then maybe
the loans involved that. Everything and I think depending on what your interests are in life.
I don't think, I don't think it's for everybody. I think it's for a lot of people
but there ought to be a reason you're going and I didn't really see much reason.
With a reason everything makes sense. And with people around you,
the potential to reach the greatest levels of success and happiness are heightened.
We are the result of the people we spend the most time with.
Warren Buffet
So be around people that support and that want to do something with their lives.
Learn from people around you and from the people you admire to improve yourself even more!
The most important thing
aside from the things I've talked about already is it's really who you associate with. You want
to associate with people that are better than you are. I mean, basically, you'll go in the direction
of the people that you associate with, and, and you want to have the right heroes, you want people
if you want to emulate somebody you better pick very carefully who you want to emulate. And
and when, obviously you can't pick your parents, they're gonna have an enormous influence on you
but you don't get a choice on that. But you get choices as you go down the line, and you,
who you, who you admire who you, who you want to copy,
and the most important for most people in terms of that decision is their spouse.
It's also important in terms of a partner in business, but the partner in life is,
is the most important. You, you want to pick a spouse that's little that's better than you are.
And when the time comes for you to have children and pass on your knowledge, be humble. Teach them
the value of money, the value of achievement. Make sure that they can fend off for themselves.
It is very easy to lose yourself when you have everything handed to you. So, it is
important to teach children to make things for themselves and never take anything for granted.
I quoted, I think - Kay Graham was quoting her father at the time but -
some years back as saying “If you're quite rich
probably the idea of leaving your children enough so they can do anything but not enough
so they can do nothing, is not a bad formula.” I think if you're talking about people that aren't
quite rich, I see you know, I socially I wouldn't have a system that involvedWarren Buffet
inheritance but, but recognizing a situation that exists I think probably in lower levels
that leaving to the children in this society is perfectly okay.
But I believe enough in a meritocracy that I if I were if I were devising the system
with the consumption tax and everything I would probably make inheritance a form of
consumption that would be very heavily taxed. I don't believe that because you happen to be the
,come out of the right womb essentially that you were entitled to live an entirely different life
than somebody who wasn't quite as lucky in terms of womb selection. But in my own case, you know,
I I followed the “enough so they can do anything but, but not enough so they can do nothing.”
Cherish the people around you. Have the mindset and the strength to go after
your goals, but remember to take people along the journey.
It makes the whole difference.
Well, I've said many times that if you get to be 65 or 70
and later and, and the people that you want to have love you actually do love you, you're
a success. I've never seen anybody that reaches that age, I mean I'm not talking about somebody
that's in extreme poverty or pain. I've never seen anybody that if they have a lot of people
that love them that there's other than happy. And I've seen some very very wealthy people that
Warren Buffet
give testimonial dinners and name schools after them and everything but nobody, nobody loves them.
Abundance is not only material but spiritual. Seek
wealth and recognition but remember to have time to love and be loved.
That is the secret to success. That is the secret to happiness.