Warren Buffet is rightly called the Oracle of Omaha. He has become one of the world’s richest man from investing and owning companies. Not only his holding company Birskhire Hathways created immense value in the world but also Warren has set a legendary example of simple lifestyle, wisdom and philanthropy.
There are lot of things one can learn by observing the life and career of Warren Buffet. Some of the learnings I have derived and embibed in my life by analysing Buffet through books, documenatries, articles, shareholder letters and talking to people who have directtly or indriectly worked under him.
- Do things which compound — Warren Buffet has said again and again that compound interest is the most powerful thing in the world and is one of the key pillars of his astounding success. In a compound interest equation, even small increments add up and value goes exponetially high with time. So it is imperative whatever you are doing to stop and ask, does time increases the value of your work exponentially ?
- Stay for the long term — “Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.” All wise men know this secret, for creating and capturing great value, you need to be in the game for the long run. 90% of people quit before the fruits of their hardwork even start to ripe. Many people in the excitement and optimism of initial start sow the seeds, but never see the saplings sprout out of it. It takes unwavering beleive in one self and an ‘inner score card’ to do the right thing and stick to it.
- Learn from other people’s mistakes — Warren reads 500 pages of books a day. Thats a whole lot of information to absorb, reflect upon and build upon. But what Warren is doing here is learning about other people’s mistakes and just simply avoiding them with his investment strategy. Avoid the pitfalls on your journey and you will end up being successful. As simple as that.
- Be grateful and a nice human being — Warren has pledged to donate his entire wealth of more than 90 billion usd through Bill and Melinda Foundation. Money was never important to him, it was all about playing the game , winning and creating value for other people. And also he comes across as somone warm, approachable and not an arrogant wall street billionaire shark. Within his means, he has always tried to do the right thing whether it is saving a bank from the brink of collapse or by sharing the wealth he has created.
- Live a simple life — Warren Buffet is known to live a super simple life without the erroneous bells and whistles that a typical rich lifestyle comes with. He lives in same 3 bhk house and drives the same old car he used to drive before the time he was rich. Money hasn’t changed his lifestyle. This is a great lesson for everyone to aim to live a simple life and do what you love.
Warren Buffet is a great inpsiration for this generation and coming generations. We should try to learn as much as we can about him so that we can apply some of that in out lives and become better than what we were yesterday.
Ishaan Bhola 