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This time I will make a slightly different video. Because yesterday, my mentor, a mentor I've never met, Warren Buffett, issued his last annual letter. So, he always wrote annual letters from the 1970s until now, and I've read them all. So this is my investment guide for my 11 years in the market, and I keep reading Warren Buffett's annual letter.
There I could learn how he thinks and he announced that it would be his last annual letter this year. And when I read that, I was also sad because there won't be any more next year. Next year, there will be no more writing, as if I were waiting for it. So from here I will recap the seven life lessons I learned from Warren Buffett.
Because I don't see him as just a mentor in the investment world. He is a very great investor, but he is a person whose life, in my opinion, is worthy of being emulated by everyone. He taught values such as kindness, wisdom, and his wisdom is worth emulating. In my opinion, Warren Buffet is one of the greatest role models I follow.
And if you ask me, almost all the knowledge I know, well, almost all the knowledge I know about business, about how to look at financial reports, about how to look at a company, about how to create a company, how to structure a company, it's all from Warren Buffet. This is a life lesson that I got from him.
The first lesson I learned was from the last annual letter. So, he has the last paragraph, you can open it on his website, one of the last paragraphs is this. Don't blame yourself too much for the mistakes you made. This is something I often do when I make a mistake. Because humans are not free from mistakes.
Whether I want to invest or live, I always blame myself too much. Yes, Warren Buffet said, "Don't be too hard on yourself when you make a mistake." Yes, because humans are bound to make mistakes, but how can you learn from those mistakes and learn from them? So, that is an important thing that I took from him.
Everyone makes mistakes. Don't be too hard on yourself, but try to learn from it . Because there are mistakes that can be avoided and there are some that cannot be avoided. Yes, but of course if you have made a mistake, try not to make another mistake again. Because Warren Buffett in his life he made many investment mistakes.
Or the mistake is not investing, that is, missing the train or making an investment mistake and then the value goes down. Lastly craft enhance also he made a mistake and that's why its valuation went down. So it's no problem, right? Even Waren Buffet made mistakes. Even if you watch here, you idolize me as a role model, I make mistakes too.
But how can we get it from there? Maybe I'll connect this a little with Ridalio, pain, pain plus reflection. Reflection equals progress. So when we fall, we make mistakes, we reflect on that, our life will progress. The second lesson I took from him, he is a very humble person, has very, very high humility.
Yes, he said, this really hit me a bit . A person's greatness is not measured by how much money he has. He said, "So it doesn't matter how much money he has. Not how popular he is, not how famous he is, known to everyone. Nor the power he has in government, but he measures it from goodness. How can a human being help other humans.
When I first started my career, I thought a lot, okay, I just want someone who I always measure by his greatness, money, right? What kind of power, what kind of popularity. But Warfet here clearly wrote three things. Not because of greatness, namely money, not because of power, nor because of popularity, but how can this human being be a human being who is useful for other humans.
And in the last paragraph of this last annual letter, his last writing before he stepped down. He said that the cleaner, yes, the cleaning lady at Berser Hateway is the same human being as the chairman of Berser Hateway, namely him. So it doesn't matter whether it's a cleaner or a boss. All of them are the same human being in his eyes.
So the second lesson I learned is to see all humans as the same. Yes, don't measure only by wealth, popularity, or power. But look at the human being and do good for all humans. The third lesson I learned from him is also my life guideline, namely the circle of competence. Sometimes we are only given one talent in this life.
So when you know, okay, where are you good at ? You want to be a great investor. You stick to that circle of competence. You don't suddenly become an investor and then suddenly want to be someone else . You want to be someone who can fund a circus or something. Talent is usually only one, and that skill is respected.
Be the best at it. This is a lesson I wrote down in my book at that time. I once made a promise to myself, I want to be rich. I don't want money to be a problem in my life anymore. And I wrote it in my book . When Warren Buffett and Bill Gates met with Bill Gates' parents. Asked what one word makes you successful?
They both wrote on paper the same word: focus. Well, this is included in the circle of competence. Bill Gates focused on being a person who makes software. Mark Zuckerberg focused on building technology companies, Facebook and Meta. Larry Alison focused on building a company called Oracle. Elon Musk focused on manufacturing.
Whether it's cars, his humanoid robot Optimus, or Space X, it's all manufacturing. So if you want to be world-class in one field, you focus on that. Cristiano Ronaldo focused on football, Messi focused on football, Michael Jordan focused on basketball. Focus on one thing. Don't suddenly become a basketball player and then want to play baseball.
You won't be good at it. Like Stephen Curry, who's good at basketball, but he's also good at golf. But he 'll never be Tiger Woods. If you want to focus on golf, you become Tiger Woods. So number one, you have a lot of businesses in golf. Circle of competence is important, and all the successful people I've seen usually have a circle of competence.
It seems that only through focus can you become world-class in one field. The fourth lesson I learned from him is that we have to be simple people even though we have a lot of money. He is famous for still living in the same house. He bought dozens of them. Years ago. He could have moved to a much more luxurious house.
Just like Charlie Manger, he could have moved to a much more luxurious house. But he said in his last interview that he was 99 years old before he died. Charlie Manger was Buffet's partner. He said that he didn't want a big house. Why? Because when he had a really big house, it was just inviting people there, people he didn't even like, to throw parties with people he didn't like.
So he chose a simple house with a good family. That's enough. Warren Buffett does have a house that's mentioned, where he can vacation, but his primary house, his primary house, is the same house. He's lived there for decades. He said he still eats the same food. McD's was controversial at that time too.
He said he only drinks Coca-Cola, his own son. I even have a book there called Snowball written by Alice Roders. Alice said that even her own son never saw Warren Buffett drink water. He drinks Coca-Cola all the time, even though he holds the same big share in the world. There. So he still eats the same food, drinks the same.
He's not like he's elitist. He just said we eat the same, watch the same NFL. The only difference between you and him is one thing. He likes to travel by private jet. So, Warren Buffet is an honest person, he said that's why what he buys is time. The house is the same, the food is the same, everything is the same except for the travel.
He said he travels a little better than most people in America. So that's what I learned. Have simplicity, have humility, have humility when you have everything. The fifth lesson I learned, and this is also my life guideline, is that the best investment is investing in yourself. Warren Buffet is very famous for these words.
The best investment you can make is in yourself. No one can take that from you. He is always actively investing in himself. So, Warren BFF once bought a class. The class was named after someone named Dale Carnegie. Where he learned how to do public speaking, and it became one of the biggest investments in his life, which he said had the highest rate.
He could be Bring his annual letter to the shareway. He can bring his shareholder meeting. He can meet people with confidence. He can speak at congress because he bought that class. So, Warren Buffett, when he had a little money, he bought books, he loved reading. Every day he reads, he's a never-ending learner.
So his life is one of lifelong learning. Like me, until now, I never stop learning. I see, okay, what's going on in the market, he reads all the annual letters of other people. I see, oh, what's going on in China? Okay. Is there a competitor to BYD? Oh, there's a new company like that, right? I just read this morning it's called Xpank, right?
What do you think the world is developing towards? I read all the news, I devour it all. I subscribe to Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, every morning I read all the top news. I love reading, I always learn, learn, and learn. So the best investment a human being makes is in themselves. And that's what I've been doing since I was 14 years old, I mean...
You see, I even have an apartment unit that's filled with nothing but books. I put all my books there. I have a lot of books. I probably bring a few books with me, and I always read them. Sometimes I even bring books on the plane, I study, I study, and I study. So I keep honing my investment skills.
So I play what are called iterated games where we can learn something over and over again. Because investing is a skill, until I'm 70 or 80, if I'm blessed to live long enough, I can still play the game and keep learning. So never be someone who thinks that knowledge is enough. Seek knowledge everywhere.
I even devour articles in Mandarin. Because I want to know what the world will be like in the future . The sixth lesson I learned from Warren Buffett is to guard your reputation with your life. It takes decades to build a reputation, but 5 minutes to destroy it all. Your reputation can be destroyed in 5 minutes.
He famously said, "You become a company that I invest in, you lose the company's money, I there will be a sense of forgiveness. But if you lose the reputation of the company, I will have no mercy." Yes, this is very famous during the 2008 financial crisis. He said this , in front of everyone, "You can lose my money, but if you ruin my reputation, I will ruin your life." So he is rotten when it comes to reputation.
Yes, this is how important it is for us to have integrity. We have morals as human beings. Because when I look for a partner, I always look for integrity, I look for what their values are and I look for what their reputation is like. Because reputation is compounding. Many people ask, "How come I can have such good investment items?
I can invest in a good private company . Is it because I'm just a nobody, I only have money? No. Many people have money like me. But do many people get opportunities like me? No. Why can I invest? Because my reputation is good. Yes, reputation is everything, and you have to guard it with your life. That's what I learned from Warren Buffett.
The seventh lesson, and the last one I'll share today, is to choose the right people. So choose the right people in your life. I sometimes don't choose people just based on their skills, but I see what this person has value. Is it the same value as me or not? Is this person loyal to me or not? Loyalty for me is everything.
And for him, it's the same . Those who work at BW have worked for decades, but all of them have become very, very prosperous. The people who believed in him, from him, who still make that buffat partnership, are now incredibly rich people. From the cleaning lady, the cleaners, to those who help him invest.
Because if you surround yourself with losers, People who like to stab people in the back, make sure you will become someone who likes to stab people in the back. When you hang out with people who have values of kindness, goodness, humility, yes, you join great people, it will rub off on you too.
I underestimated this a lot when I was young. I thought it was okay as long as I had skills. But I realized that. I realized that in the end, okay, I have to choose the right partner, I have to choose the right employees, it doesn't matter if I have a few employees, it doesn't matter . The important thing is that everything is right .
Have good integrity, have good loyalty, have good work ethics . Good work ethics. And the most important thing is you have to be able to choose people who are better than you. Because that will be the most important decision in your life. Who do you surround yourself with? Yes, if you surround yourself with people who also want to grow, you will become a person who grows.
If you surround yourself with people who don't want to grow, you will become a person who does n't want to grow either. So, those are seven life lessons that I learned from Warren Buffett. And I hope I can pass this on to you. So, you won't just learn about investing. You'll also learn how to organize your life with good values. And believe me, you'll become a better person.
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