Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2015; Warren Buffett is described as he was then, including the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings drawing people from every state.
Billionaire Warren Buffett needs no introduction. If anyone knows about success, it’s Buffett, a self-made millionaire whose invaluable advice deserves to be engraved in our minds like commandments on every subject he talks about, whether from an investor’s point of view, as advice for business owners or, of course, on passion and happiness.
We have talked at length about Buffett and published a whole series of his tips in previous articles. This time, the site GOBankingRates has gathered some of the best advice Buffett has given to young people who are graduating. And it is simply excellent.
1. Invest in yourself before anything else
“Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do; invest in anything that improves your own talents.”
This is excellent advice, whether you are studying to improve a skill you already have or to learn a new one, or starting your own business. Constant growth comes from constant learning.
(See: According to Warren Buffett, this is the asset everyone should invest in)
2. Change bad habits as soon as possible
Habits can make you or break you, says Buffett. “I see people with self-destructive patterns of behaviour, and these people really are trapped by those bad habits.”
The trick is to get out of the trap before it closes in on you, which is why he advised the students graduating from the University of Florida to form good habits as early as possible.
“You can get rid of bad habits much more easily at your age than at mine, because most behaviour is habitual,” he told them. “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
Although bad habits may be harder to change the older you get, it isn’t impossible. Bad habits can be changed at any stage of life.
(See: Want to change your bad habits? 6 reasons you might fail)
3. Know your own strengths and weaknesses
It is essential to know your strengths and weaknesses, so you can use that knowledge to make the most of what you do well and avoid risks in your weaker areas.
“You don’t have to be an expert on everything, but knowing where the perimeter of that circle lies, what you know and what you don’t, and staying inside that circle, is what matters most.”
4. Be a good person
“Be a good person,” Buffett once advised an MBA student. “It’s so simple it’s almost too obvious to notice. Look around you and see what kind of people most people like. Isn’t it logical to assume that if you like certain traits in other people, then other people would like you to develop those same traits?”
5. Never risk something you need to get something you don’t need
It isn’t that taking risks is wrong, but only for the right reasons, Buffett explained to the University of Florida class. He added that he has seen many companies and individuals take big risks purely out of greed when they should have stayed put.
“If you risk something that is important to you for something that isn’t important to you, it simply makes no sense,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether your odds of success are 99 to 1 or 1,000 to 1.”
6. Surround yourself with people you admire
Buffett’s success is due in large part to his own set of talents and knowledge. But also to the help of his mentor. Buffett has spoken many times about the importance of mentoring and the role his own mentor, Columbia professor Benjamin Graham, played in his life. But even beyond that, he advised a high school student to spend more time with people who had qualities he aspired to have. “Choose associates whose behaviour is better than yours, and who will pull you in that direction.”
(See: The 5 principles behind Benjamin Graham’s success as an investor)
7. Find work you love
“You should have a job that, if you were rich and didn’t need to work, you would still take,” Buffett said in a commencement speech. “You’ll learn something, you’ll be excited about it, and it will get you out of bed. You can’t miss it.”
Finding work you enjoy is a better bet than doing something because it pays well or looks good on your CV.
8. Your time is a vital resource. Use it well
Bill Gates once wrote that being fiercely protective of his time was an important lesson he had learned from Buffett. “There are only 24 hours in a day.” Buffett has a keen sense of this. He doesn’t let his calendar fill up with pointless meetings. Even if you aren’t a billionaire, you shouldn’t either.
9. Overcome your fears
“Don’t let fear stop you from doing things, especially things you know you need to do to succeed,” Buffett advises. In fact, Buffett was afraid of public speaking and took a course to improve that skill. He is now one of the most sought-after and frequently quoted speakers in the world. Indeed, Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meetings have become a huge event, with people coming from every state to hear Buffett.
If there are things you are afraid to do, or things you know are weak spots, do whatever it takes to improve them and become more comfortable doing them.
10. Never pass up a great opportunity
“The big opportunities in life have to be seized,” he said in a commencement speech in Georgia. “We don’t do a lot of things, but when we get the chance to do something that is right and big, we have to do it. You have to grab the big opportunities when they come, because you’re not going to get 500 big opportunities.”
Further reading
- 8 body language secrets of highly successful people
- The main differences between successful and unsuccessful people
- 16 things that stop you from getting rich
- 8 life lessons from Warren Buffett
Featured image: COD Newsroom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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