Inspired by Warren Buffett

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

When you earn money and save it, you need to choose people or banks you can trust with your money. You need to learn who to trust with your money! This means that you are responsible for choosing your advisors, banks, finance companies, stocks and investments. You cannot delegate that to anyone else.

If you could ask anyone in the world for advice about how to save your money and make it grow for you, who would it be?

There is only one name on our list, Warren Buffett the Billionaire. He is a learning machine, who loves reading.

Let’s look at Buffett’s thinking it is simple and ruled by habits.

Good habits are hard to get, but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to get but hard to live with. Habits are like a rope, we weave a strand each day until it becomes too strong to break. The strength of good habits take us to the top. Bad habits drag us down.

Habit 1 IntegrityBe honest with yourself and others. Ask yourself what is the right thing to do? Judge every intended action by this test; how would you feel if you were caught in the act by a smart, but unfriendly reporter and the story appeared on the front page of your local newspaper?

“Keep your own internal scorecard” - Warren Buffett

Habit 2 IntelligenceRead everything you can with ferocious curiosity. Be a multi-disciplinary learning machine.

”There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates loot on Treasure Island” - Walt Disney

Habit 3 AssiduityIt means sit down and do your homework! Commit yourself to your study with a passion and have lots of fun doing it!

“Read everything you can.” - Warren Buffett

Habit 4 FrugalitySave at least 10% of everything you earn. Don’t borrow money, you’ll end up in debt.

A widow went to the local newspaper to place a death notice. She was told there was a dollar-a-word charge, she requested “Fred Brown died.” She was then informed there was a seven-word minimum.

“Okay” the woman replied, “make it ‘Fred Brown died, golf clubs for sale’.”

Habit 5 AccountingMake sure you understand the language of practical business life.

“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” - Warren Buffett

Habit 6 ReadYou will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.

By reading you will exercise your mind like walking does for your body

Habit 7 GratitudeTeam-work with people you like, trust and admire. Make sure you appreciate everything they do and you’ll break-dance to school every day!

Gratitude is the best attitude.

Habit 8 Standing on the Shoulders of GiantsWhen you stand on a giants shoulders you can see further.

If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” - Isaac Newton

Habit 9 ThinkFor yourself. Don’t just follow the herd! Take care of the down side and the up side will take care of itself.

“A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.” - Warren Buffett

Habit 10 FocusStay on-track, concentrate; put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.

”Then at dinner, Bill Gates Sr. posed the question to the table: What factor did people feel was the most important in getting to where they’d gotten in life? And I said, “focus”.

And Bill said the same thing.” - Warren Buffett

Habit 11 Compound InterestLet the most powerful force in the universe work for you. Understand the difference between 5% and 15%, and the effect of inflation.

“Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.” - Warren Buffett

Habit 12 InversionBegin with the end in mind. The mental habit of thinking backwards works like magic. If you don’t, you’ll never be a really good thinker.

“Be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” - Charlie Munger

Habit 13 IntuitionListen to tiny hunches, feelings, or fleeting thoughts. They are like clouds in the sky but when you write them down in a notebook and act on them. They will become your most powerful habit.

Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.” - Oprah Winfrey

“The Lollapalooza Effect” Really big forces come to bear when you can apply all of the habits simultaneously, they combine on a break point to create “The Lollapalooza Effect” this is something truly outstanding.

I met Warren Buffett at Piccolo Pete’s, one of his favorite restaurants in Omaha. When I approached his table I said to him: “I’m Lucas Remmerswaal from New Zealand. I’ve spent the last nine months creating 6 book for children about your habits.”

Buffett chuckled and said to me, “I hope it’s not my bad habits………”

Good habits once established are just as hard to break as bad habits! Start by reading the

“13 Habits that made me Billions” today and simply remind yourself to read

every day. In just 21 days, reading will become one of your good habits.

- Lucas Remmerswaal

Look out for our next book in the series...

HABITS.COM