Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2017. The description of an 87-year-old billionaire with a fortune of more than 70 billion reflects Buffett’s age and net worth in 2017.
Warren Buffett uses a strategy to prioritise his time and achieve his goals. Known as Buffett’s 5/25 strategy, it works remarkably well if you’re willing to apply it to the letter.
Almost every time we talk about Warren Buffett, an 87-year-old billionaire with a fortune of more than 70 billion, we look at him as an investor. But it never hurts to remember that Buffett is a good investor because he’s a good businessman. And he’s a good businessman because he applies a certain philosophy of life to everything he does.
He certainly has some habits that are curious, to say the least, and that we can learn from. He is, without any doubt, a role model we can learn from in practically any area. In case you hadn’t noticed, I admire the man.
You won’t achieve anything if you don’t know how to prioritise your time.
That’s where it starts. We can call it focus. And focusing on something while avoiding distractions is something practically every successful businessperson we’ve analysed so far agrees on.
Focusing on something seems relatively easy, but the truth is that the level of focus Warren Buffett reaches is probably anything but natural. Most of us fall into choice paralysis when just a handful of opportunities come our way.
Fortunately for us, Buffett has the answer. It’s something we’ve talked about before, but this time it’s Mike Flint whose story is told in an article in Inc: his experience with Warren Buffett and how he used the billionaire’s strategy.
See also: Experts reveal their tricks for being more productive
Warren Buffett’s strategy for meeting his goals and prioritising his time
Whether it’s short-term goals or big life choices, this is the advice Flint says he got from Buffett:
- Step 1: Write down your 25 top career goals on a sheet of paper.
- Step 2: Pick the five best options, the ones you consider most important.
- Step 3: Stick with the five you’ve chosen and don’t think about the other 20 again until you’ve achieved those five.
It sounds simple. But when Flint was applying Buffett’s strategy, he agreed to concentrate on the five main goals he’d set himself, and since the remaining 20 were still important to him, he said he’d keep working on them on and off whenever he had time.
That seems to make sense, and it could be considered a sensible choice. But what was Warren Buffett’s answer?
No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything that didn’t make your list of five priority goals automatically became your list of things to avoid at all costs. No matter what. Pay no attention to those other 20 things until you’ve achieved the first five on your priority list.
But why should we cut “good options” out of our lives just because we have other priorities?
Here’s Buffett
Anything on the second list is just a distraction in your daily life that will stop you concentrating on reaching your main goals. It’s like packing a suitcase for a weekend on a sunny island and putting a coat, boots and gloves in it. Going to the sunny island prepared for anything might seem like a good idea, but you’re carrying unnecessary luggage that weighs you down.
Every behaviour and choice we make has a cost. And constantly having to decide between working on your first list and your second list can end up wearing down your willpower and motivation.
(See: What you need to know to boost your willpower and decision-making)
The 20 goals on your second list may matter to you, but they’re also the worst thing you can have when it comes to completing your most important goals.
The question boils down to this:
“Would you rather have 25 half-finished goals and projects, or five finished projects to show off?” That’s all there is to it.
Featured image: Wo st 01 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
