You Don’t Want to be Warren Buffet

I saw an interview on CNBC yesterday featuring Warren Buffet. It is the first time I see him live even though I have read quite a bit about him. He gave me the impression of being as wise as his words and also a no-BS kind of guy. Just compare him to other financial analysts or talk hosts, it is not hard to see why. His answers cut right to the chase and don’t beat around the bush with jargons that leave people confused.

Known as the “Oracle of Omaha”, Warren is also a noted philanthropist. Nonetheless, there are criticism out there about him being hypocritical in terms of making business decisions in the cost of being philanthropic. They maybe true, and a capitalist he may be. Whether the criticism is true or not, he appears a man who knows his priorities, and at 75-year-old, he has one heck of a clear mind. That’s my humble opinion, and I have respect for him in these regards.

Being one of the richest man on earth, no doubt someone wants to be him. Perhaps you think so yourself. I feel like I want to be him too! However, this leads me to think that when someone says that he wants to be somebody, he doesn’t really want to be that person per se. He means that he wants only a particular aspect of that person’s life. So when someone says that he wants to be Warren Buffet, he probably means that he wants to be rich like Warren Buffet. All the other stuff that comes with his life? Probably not so much, because let’s take the extra step and think…

Do I want to go through some grind your teeth kind of hard work involved in his success?
Can I deal with the many uncomfortable occasions that Warren put himself in but did so knowingly anyways? (I don’t know what the occasion are but I am sure there are plenty.)
Am I ready to make the changes neccessary and keep learning to get to where Warren is today?
Do I even want to make business-critical decisions that affect billions of dollars on daily basis like Warren?
Will I enjoy managing business like Warren?

I will leave it up to you to ponder those questions. We need to see beyond the glamour of a succesful person and see the effort and hard work involved in the success.

The fact is, we can always learn from other successful people, and we should. It is also a wonderful thing to have a role model or idol to imitate and to get motivated about. Those are very positive things. But you don’t just want to be someone else. You want to be the best of yourself, and you should be the best of yourself. Do your best to improve yourself everyday and perhaps you will even surpass your role model or idol, in your own unique kind of ways.

Originally posted 2008-04-07 22:38:50. Republished by Blog Post Promoter