Warren Buffet is one of the most inspiring billionaires in business. He built colossal wealth over several long years. Today, he is at the head of the ranking of the richest men in the world, thanks to his company, Berkshire Hathaway, valued at nearly $600 billion.
The secret to Warren Buffett’s success is that he never stops learning new things through his reading and personal reflection. In fact, he spends 80% of his time reading. Having more money or running a large company did not prevent him from respecting this rule of 5 hours of learning per week. For him, having free time is never a default solution, it is rather the result of a different vision of the notion of time. In this article, we present to you the strategies that Warren Buffett has adopted throughout his career to have much more time to devote to his personal development.
Spend your time exclusively on the things that really matter
Warren Buffett does not attend any internal meetings. He simply sends a letter to each of his companies to congratulate them on their success and accomplishments of the current year. He adopts a different posture from traditional CEOs. This is how he creates time to move forward effectively on his projects. As such, he rarely responded to the media and never attended events organized by companies. He has always lived outside New York, in Omaha, Nebraska. Warren Buffett associate Charlie Munger describes: “You look at his schedule and sometimes it says hairdresser. Tuesday is “hairdresser” day. This is what created one of the world’s most successful records in the history of commerce. He has a lot of time to think. »
What is interesting to point out is that Warren Buffett’s decisions are not taken at random. They require continually resisting distractions and immense social pressure. To do this, he follows the following strategy:
- List your 25 main objectives in order of importance
- Circle the first 5 objectives
- Put the 20 remaining objectives on a new list that he will call “to avoid at all costs”. Warren Buffett does not hesitate to point out: “Regardless, these last 20 goals should not get your attention until you have successfully completed your first 5 goals. »
Buffett’s three-step approach will help you get better organized. It is by adopting this strategy that 20% of your priorities will generate 80% of your results.
Live simply
One of Warren Buffett’s most famous quotes is: “I’m not interested in cars and my goal is not to make people envious. Don’t confuse cost of living with standard of living. » It’s very hard to imagine, but, despite the fact that Warren Buffett is one of the richest people in the world, he has always insisted on living below his means in order to prioritize investing. This is a winning strategy, since he will be sure to increase his wealth and never declare bankruptcy. Furthermore, Warren Buffett lives in the same house that he bought in 1958 for the modest sum of $31,500.
Invest your time and money wisely
Warren Buffett makes very few investments per year. He does extensive research before investing a single penny in a company. If he judges, following these analyses, that the actions are worth it, he then invests generously. He also has a preference for companies that are easy to manage, which he considers to be a safe investment.
Warren Buffett revealed his method investment, which is based on the following four criteria:
- “A sustainable economic situation for the company
- Competent and honest management
- Attractive prices
- An industry that you know and whose long-term commercial characteristics you will be able to judge”
This investment lesson also applies to the skills and knowledge that you develop daily. He emphasizes in his biography: “The knowledge you learn and invest in should be cumulative, so that it builds on itself. So instead of learning something that might become obsolete in the very near future, that no one will use in two years, choose areas that will make you smarter in 10 or 20 years. »
You now understand how Warren Buffet, one of the busiest people in the world, organizes himself and still finds time to read. All of the strategies he adopted were not the result of chance. They all revolve around the famous mental model: the 80/20 rule, which is based on the fact that 20% of the efforts result in 80% of the results in many areas. In every aspect of his life (relational, professional, financial, etc.) Warren Buffett ruthlessly prioritizes the things that really matter and automatically eliminates everything else.
