Flashback to Warren Buffet – and his great advice

If you have seen me travel, you have seen me with a pile of magazines, going through them methodically, tearing out articles that seem relevant and of interest. Sometimes I read them immediately, sometimes I “save them for later when I have time.”

I brought such a pile of magazine tear-sheets with me to Tinos to read during my two weeks of R&R. And in the middle of them, somehow, I found very old notes (like from 11/14/2002 old!) about a speech I heard Warren Buffet give at the McDonough School of Business. I am not sure how these notes go into this pile, and I am not sure how they survived the last 16 years (!!) but they are timeless and still so very relevant today.

Buffet’s advice:

• Do work you love and are passionate about.
• Always follow the front-page test: if you don’t want your words or actions on the front page of the Washington Post, don’t say or do the thing.
• Think about who your heroes are.
• Don’t marry for money, especially if you’re already rich!
• Don’t save sex for old age. (Yes, he did say that!)
• Your life’s success is measured by who loves and respects you.
• There is no such thing as “business ethics.” There’s just ethics.
• Don’t pay attention to the economy. Focus on what is knowable and what is important.
• Don’t be envious, it only makes you feel bad.
• Run your business like it’s your only asset and you can’t sell it for 100 years.
• Don’t be bought.
• What you are later in life is determined today. Have good mind and body habits.
• There are a lot of things you can’t control – but you can control the type of person you are.