If we mention a grandpa that investors all over the world idolize, Warren Buffet would definitely be thought of first. The buffet was praised as one of the most successful investors in the world for his value investing. Despite being the world’s top tycoon, Buffet still lives a simple life. Nowadays, Buffet, in his 90, is still an expert investor that the world has its eyes on him. No matter where he moves to invest, the companies he invested in are always successful and he creates the trend that investors worldwide follow. This makes many people question if there are any life lessons and experiences that Buffet wants to pass to investors or younger people to apply to their lives and be successful like Warren Buffet.

1. The most necessary investment is to invest in life

Buffet deems life as the most valuable asset. Thus, you should find out what you love and would like to do the most. Once you got an answer, you then invest in it. This is because investment in life will never disappear. It will forever reside within you and nobody can take it away from you. For example, if you like an investment, you have to know about it in depth. You have to find books to read, attend courses, and consult with specialists. You have to take any chances to learn from experienced people or do anything that will make you a good investor because investment in yourself in the work that you love will make you feel excited every morning you wake up. As for Buffet, he will only do what he is specialized in and put his heart and soul into learning his investment subjects that, so far, he has never been at loss or very little did he lose because he invests in things that he truly knows. This is what Grandpa Buffet wants to pass down to his children.

2. Reading is the stair to success

From the experience of a veteran value investor that can hardly find anyone to match, there is one secret to success that Grandpa Buffet has been doing for a long time. Buffet’s secret is none other than reading. He will read 5 – 6 hours per day or about 80% of his time every day because he believes that reading is the most important and beneficial. It is a key that makes him successful today because books provide readers the easiest way to learn from other’s experiences. It is an affordable way to knowledge. Besides, reading should not just be the scanning of letters, but the analysis and crystallization of texts to see how the knowledge can be applied. He said that people should add reading as part of their habits and place importance on life-long learning. He also compared reading as interests that will gradually increase like the knowledge that one will gain from reading.

3. Communication is crucial

Everybody knows that a value investor like Buffet is a silver tongue that fellow investors have to surrender and trust his every investment. But, who would think that, in the past, Buffet was a child who lacked communication skills to convey his marvelous idea to others? Once he realized his weakness, he made haste to improve and made it his strength. When he was 20 years old, Buffet decided to attend a course with Dale Carnegie, the brilliant persuasive speaker. It was the right decision because that lesson would change his life forever and it has become the most valuable thing in his life. Buffet, thus, stressed that to be successful, you need to have great communication skills to make people understand you or persuade others to believe in what you say. He also said that if you are a seller, try to gradually improve your skill little by little, you can gain up to 50% of the profit. If you can speak well, customers will believe and buy your products. Or if you are a manager of a high position and are able to convey your thoughts to your employees and they understand, your company will grow and survive. Therefore, no matter how great you are, if you lack communication skills, your great mind is deemed useless since others do not know of those ideas. Communication is, thus, a skill that should not be overlooked.

4. Choose people to associate with

Buffet said that if you want to know your future, take a look at 5 people who are close to you and you will find yourself become like them. This is why Buffet chooses who he wants to be close with. The first type of people that you should choose are those who are honest. Even a person is very clever, without honesty, you should not get familiar with them or employ them because honesty is the key to success. The second type of person is a genius. Being close to people who are clever or cleverer than you will guide you to knowledge or lead you to become knowledgeable like them. The third type is the loveable people. To be loved by people is important. Buffet said that there are many tycoons that have enough money to spend their whole lives, but nobody loves them and it is very sad. To be acquainted with loveable people will uplift your life, but you have to be aware if those people enter your life to take advantage of you or not.

5. Take care of physical and mental health from a young age

Buffet assumed that if he were to give you a car for free. That car can be any brand or model that you want. It can be expensive. However, it came under one condition, you would only have that one care in your lifetime. What would you do with that car? Of course, you will take care of that car to your best ability. This is the same as your physical and mental health because you only have one body and a heart to use until your last breath. If you do not start taking care of your body and mind now, when you grow old, you will be physically and mentally rusted like a car that has not cared. So, start looking after your physical and mental health from a young age because you will have to live with them for the rest of your life.

Whether you are an investor or not, try to take lessons from “Warren Buffet” to apply to your life. It might pave the way to success in your life because life is like an investment, if you do not thoroughly study it, there are high chances that you will fail. If you would like to have a try on investment, but you have no experience, you can use the investment service with Siam Commercial Bank AMC that now officially sells mutual funds in Open Architecture through EASY INVEST application. By just opening an account, you can buy more than 1 200 funds from 17 leading asset management companies (AMC) both in Thailand and overseas without having to submit more documents. If you would like to buy a new mutual fund from AMC that you do not have an account with, you can purchase immediately without having to submit more documents or open many accounts. This allows customers to choose to invest in a variety of assets and achieve their investment goals faster and easier.

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Citations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP3rQ54Pjgw

https://thestandard.co/podcast/thesecretsauce51/