If you don’t live the days of your life achieving something whether it’s a goal, plans, or dreams, chances are you spend most of your time caught up in a flurry of day-to-day activities
What are some of those things you’ve always wanted to do before you die?
Having a list of all the the goals we want to realize, the dreams we want to fulfill, and the experiences we desire to have, keeps us focused on doing what is important. It reminds us of what is significant to us so we can act on it.
The whole point of creating your list is to maximize every moment of our existence and live our life to the fullest. It’s a reminder of all the things we want to achieve in our time here, so that instead of pandering our time in pointless activities, we are directing it fully toward what matters to us.
1. Expand my thinking beyond what I am conditioned to conceive of
2. Delegate more effectively so that I have more time to work on what matters most
3. Lose weight without orienting my life around it
4. Develop a financial plan to become financially independent at age
5. Change my relationship with food from comfort to sustenance
6. Change my approach from selling to telling and from telling to modeling
7. Learn how to set up a website that showcases myself and my services/company
8. Become masterful with sending and receiving all forms of email
9. Improve the quality of my home life
10. Take much more time for me instead of living too much for others
11. Take charge of my life instead of letting other people run it for me
12. Become unconditionally constructive in everything I say
13. Design a lifestyle that makes me incredibly happy
14. Improve the profitability of my company by at least
15. Expand my network to include the finest professionals in 100 different fields
16. Stop pushing for individual sales and start investing in lifetime buying relationships
17. Goof off and not feel guilty about it
18. Communicate so well that people respond immediately
19. Turn my time into an asset — 1440 ‘assets’ a day
20. Eliminate or reduce adrenaline in my life so I don’t burn myself and others up
21. Redesign my life so that it’s oriented around vacations, not work
22. Increase by ability to process more information without getting overwhelmed
23. Accelerate my personal evolution
24. Feel a lot better about myself and my family
25. Reduce the amount of conflict in my life so that I can relax
26. Increase the amount of money I have in savings
27. Start a new business and avoid the common learning curve
28. Identify the triggers that cause adrenaline, before they get me wired
29. Start reading the books that will help you evolve instead of merely develop
30. Design my path of personal development
31. Reduce what I am tolerating at work
32. Clean out the clutter in my closets, draws and garage
33. Learn how to ask the right questions in any selling situation
34. Create a buying environment instead of a selling environment
35. Learn how to make more money in the New Economy
36. Discover what is causing dissonance in my life
37. Become cyber and Internet literate without having to struggle through the process
38. Come to endorse my worst weakness as my biggest strength
39. Be able to look at any problem and see an opportunity, without wearing rose colored glasses
40. Have more patience, especially when I have none
41. Walk my talk without strutting
42. Become a Toleration-Free Zone
43. Strengthen my Personal Foundation so that the underpinnings of my life are rock solid
44. Add value to my customers and clients, just for the joy of it
45. Identify the unique skills and talents that I know are waiting to be leveraged
46. Eliminate delay, so I don’t miss opportunities
47. Stop procrastinating and be ‘inventory-free’
48. Toss out my to-do list (or to create one)
49. Expand my vocabulary so that I can better express myself in any situation
50. Stop whining and start winning
Personal Goals
51. Find the career that is no longer work
52. Play with my kids everyday instead of when I have time
53. Identify every source of stress in my life and either reduce or eliminate it
54. Put my family first without having to put myself second
55. Learn how to give people what want, without it costing me anything
56. Evolve from win-lose to win-win in my thinking
57. Design values-based goals instead of whim-based goals
58. Stop taking live so darn seriously
59. Give others the experienced of being heard, instead of just being listened to
60. Increase my bandwidth in order to handle more input
61. React less and respond more
62. Clean up my life and start clean
63. Start over
64. Discover my personal values and orient my life around these
65. Identify and eliminate 10 tolerations in the next 10 days
66. Create a perfect life
67. Become self-actualized
68. Write a book without the pain
69. Develop a LifePlan and start living it
70. Make the personal changes I have not been able to make on my own
71. Get focused
72. Blow up the blocks standing in the path to success
73. Start taking the path of least resistance instead of working against life
74. Increase the momentum in life so that I am carried forward instead of pushing myself
75. Find a better way to motivate myself
76. Stop watching Jay Leno and get to bed earlier
77. Throw out my television set
78. Move to the country because I want to
79. Make a significant personal decision
80. Create a business plan without taking 3 months to do so
81. Get in the habit of flossing daily
82. Get the support I need to visit the dentist
83. Get the nudge I need to hire a house cleaner so I don’t have to do it
84. Improve my attitude so I’m always positive, naturally
85. Take more chances
86. Change my relationship with risk
87. Develop a reserve of time during my day
88. Get out of a rut.
89. Do a personal makeover
90. Improve what I see in the mirror
91. Keep me on track around using Nautilus 3 times per week
92. Better identify the people who are really good for me, and who are not
93. Extend my boundaries without setting up walls
94. Strengthen my character so I am really proud of who I am
95. Become more sensitive with people who need that from me
96. Stop micromanaging people
97. Bring in 5 new clients a month
98. Make a million dollars next year
99. Become a saver and therefore start saving because I enjoy it
100. Reduce my credit card debt much faster than I am currently
Future Goals
101. Get control over my spending
102. Build a “team” with my area managers
103. Spend more time in the garden
104. Spend more time at the beach
105. Spend more time
106. Learn how to practice Extreme Self Care
107. Increase my havingness level to that I can maintain my success
108. Simplify everything
109. Get back to exercising: 40 sit-ups and 20 push-ups per day
110. Be able to meet men and women and not get anxious about it
111. Book at least 5 selling appointments in the next 10 days
112. Help me identify my unique selling proposition and my label
113. Close ten new clients in next 90 days
114. Start an email-based weekly newsletter to expand my network
115. Easily ask for what I want
116. Become a very direct and confident communicator
117. Tell the truth instead of what people want to hear.
118. Increase my awareness
119. Slow down to enjoy the weather and take in the wonder of everyday life
120. Spend less time in the future and more time enjoying the present
121. Design my winning formula
122. Reduce business expenses by $20,000
123. Increase business by 20% without spending more on advertising
124. Identify three specific goals that light me up for next year
125. Get clear on my values and align my goals with them
126. Create an inspiring project where I will touch at least 100 people per month
127. Launch a national organisation
128. Become a better team leader so employees love their jobs
129. Create a sales program for a new niche
130. Let go of the people in my life who drain my energy
131. Create a personal health plan that includes exercise
132. Take more days off
133. Plan three wonderful vacations for next year
134. Set clear boundaries and train those around me to treat me with respect
135. Begin a financial independence plan
136. Save $100,000 next year
137. Take a day every week to renew and rejuvenate
138. Develop a national reputation for what I do well
139. Brainstorm and prioritize the best ideas to use in my business
140. Work 25% less hours without making less
141. Become a person who smiles almost all of the time
142. Write to someone with whom I have unfinished business
143. Apologize to someone to whom it is very difficult
144. Ask my partner to give three hours of his time per week, to release me to do something I really enjoy
145. Discover what makes me tick
Goals in Life
146. Bring balance to work, home, community and personal time over a three months
147. Start running each morning
148. Decrease body fat percentage by 10% within six months
149. Upgrade all computer programs within three months
150. Stop smoking completely within three months
151. Stop over-promising and making commitments
152. Complete a tough project on time
153. Pay off car loan one year early
154. Buy a new car within 6 months
155. Buy a house within one year
156. Quit my job to work from home within two years
157. Become a telecommuter
158. Go half-time at work
159. Redecorate house in 6 months
160. Negotiate a 10% raise next evaluation
161. Learn five skills to better communicate with my children
162. Learn five skills to better communicate with my spouse
163. Establish one delicious habit and do it every day
164. Rebuild my life after a loss
165. Bring romance back into my marriage within 90 days
166. Discover my life purpose and begin setting goals to live it within 90 days
167. Become more efficient without becoming a machine
168. Return to school to pursue a graduate
169. Get married within five years
170. Expand business to sell products over the Internet
171. Take a trip to Europe
172. Go on a safari
173. Own a boat
174. Stop fibbing and lying completely within three months
175. Build meditation and yoga into daily
176. Achieve assigned sales numbers one week prior to end of month to avoid rushing for sales the last week
177. Spend 10% less money monthly
178. Identify 101 things I love to do and do one each day
179. Decrease time spent paying bills
180. Increase personal time by four hours a week within one month
Examples of Goals
181. Enroll in a cooking class
182. Take scuba lessons and go on a Caribbean dive
183. Discard unnecessary household and personal items within three months
184. Discard items cluttering office and desk within one month
185. Establish three things I am passionate about as priorities in my life within six months
186. Drop three clothing sizes within six months
187. Fit into those 32-inch Levis within six months
188. Go on a guilt-free shopping spree
189. Pay back money owed to friends within 6 months
190. Stop complaining within 14 days
191. Shift/release a sabotaging belief within 60 days
192. Reconcile credit report within 6 months
193. Establish and enforce boundaries within a relationship
194. Reduce number of credit cards to three in 18 months
195. Move into a larger apartment within nine months
196. Visit grandparents out-of-state within the year
197. Design a class or TeleClass and market it within six months
198. Allow one day out of each month to do something I really want to do
199. Organize my pension, will, life insurance and mortgage papers within 60 days
200. Meet with a Financial Advisor twice a year to keep finances updated to set goals on a weekly basis
201. Genuinely thank people who help me, daily
202. Reestablish a lost relationship
203. Call up one member of my family per week, just to say
204. Pay off mortgage within five years
205. Be prepared for a holiday season (eg, Christmas) at least one month before the holiday begins
206. Train a pet to consistently perform a desired action on command
207. Reorient personal and professional life completely around values (not wants and needs) within three years
208. Join Toastmasters and complete first ten speeches within six months
209. Develop two new profit centers in my business within one month
210. Trash 100 megabytes of stuff I don’t need on my computer
211. Clean out/purge all home and work files this month
212. Get my hair cut and styled the way I really want it and the way that is most attractive for me
213. Say “no” 5 times this week
214. Keep the gas tank in my vehicle at least half full at all times
215. Join and participate in those networking groups that will assist in business and personal life
216. Disentangle from those organizations that do not add value to business or personal life within one month
217. Learn how to use a computer
218. Develop a sense of style
219. Take a world tour
220. Improve my reputation among my colleagues
221. Attract the mate of my dreams
222. Become Ms Right instead of searching for Mr Right
223. Turn my ideas into revenue streams
224. Clean up where I get my energy from
225. Reduce the friction in my life by finding the right oil
226. Develop a reserve of opportunities so I don’t have to look for them
227. Build a personal support network of people with similar interests
228. Learn how to attract business instead of constantly marketing for it
229. Design a personal development plan for my children
230. Deepen my relationships with my friends
231. Delight my customers, not just please them
232. Become a more respectful person of other peoples’ ways
233. Keep my word
234. Be accountable for results
235. Enjoy responsibility instead of trying to avoid it
Bucket List
236. Clarify my professional commitments
237. Become an adult in every sense of the word
238. Learn how to say no without turning people off
239. Make it clear to people what I require of them
240. Reorganize my office and work environment
241. Automate and delegate almost every aspect of my personal tasks and chores
242. Get more done, but slow the pace of how I’m working
243. Increase my self-esteem
244. Balance my personal, family and business lives
245. Better integrate what I already have
246. Reduce the roles I am for others
247. Become a lot more creative in what I do
248. Prioritize my time so that I don’t feel rushed and exhausted
249. Trust my inklings more
250. Turn my intuition into my primary decision-making system
251. Develop a marketing strategy for my business
252. Build my personal brand
253. Free myself from my beliefs
254. Come to accept that which I resist
255. Become a better writer
256. Speak in a lazer-like fashion
257. Become an effective public speaker
258. Find my voice and speak confidently
259. Distinguish truth from b.s. in every situation, instantly
260. Become a proactive person who never waits
261. Develop grace
262. Improve the relationship I have with my husband
263. Improve the relationship I have with my spouse
264. Improve the relationship I have with my wife
265. Improve the relationship I have with my children
266. Improve the relationship I have with my son
267. Improve the relationship I have with my daughter
268. Improve the relationship I have with my father
269. Improve the relationship I have with my mother
270. Improve the relationship I have with my siblings
Bucket List Ideas
271. Improve the relationship I have with my in-laws
272. Improve the relationship I have with my neighbours
273. Improve the relationship I have with my boss
274. Set Foot on North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, Antarctica and Africa)
275. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
276. Personally Know Someone Famous
277. Dance with Miss America
278. Swim with a Dolphin
279. Learn a Foreign Language and Actually Use It
280. Have my Portrait Painted
281. Watch a Space Shuttle Launch
282. Be an Extra in a Film
283. Skydive
284. Scuba Dive
285. Ride a Train
286. Be a Member of a Studio Audience
287. Send a Message in a Bottle and get a Response
288. Go to Space
289. Plant a Tree and Watch it Grow
290. Learn to Ballroom Dance -Properly
291. Sit on a Jury
292. Write an Autobiography
293. Be Someone’s Mentor
294. Shower in a Waterfall
295. Learn to Legitimately Play a Song on any Musical Instrument
296. Teach someone illiterate to read
297. Spend the night in a haunted place
298. See a Lunar Eclipse
299. Spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square
300. Drive Across America Coast-to-Coast
301. Go Snow Skiing
302. Crash an extravagant wedding
303. Write my will
304. Sleep under the stars
305. Go white-water rafting
306. Own my own house
307. Grow a garden and eat the produce
308. Have six-pack abs
309. Go Deep Sea Fishing
310. Spend time at a concentration camp
311. Create a Family Tree
312. Spoil my grandchildren
313. Catch a foul ball or home-run at a MLB game
314. Hit a hole-in-one
315. Run a marathon
316. Swim with sharks
317. Experience weightlessness – no gravity
318. Go to a sumo wrestling match
319. See a tornado touch ground
320. Go to an active volcano
321. Go to a nudist colony
322. Travel on a safari
323. Ride a bull
324. Run with the bulls in Pamplona
325. Attend a Jewish wedding
326. Go to a Pow-Wow
327. Ride a cable car in San Francisco
328. Watch the Yankees-Red Sox in Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium
329. Try to make a guard laugh at Buckingham Palace
330. Walk a length of the Great Wall of China
331. Go to a drive-in movie theater
332. See Mt. Rushmore
333. Drive an 18-wheeler
334. Eat a meal from a world-class chef
335. Crash a Hollywood Studio
336. Meet someone famous randomly
337. Spend a day in a spa
338. Walk the red carpet at a huge event
339. Stay at a 5-star hotel
340. See Stonehenge
341. Stand next to a pyramid
342. Ride a Gondola in Venice
343. Take a yoga class
344. Take a photography class
345. Shake hands with a President
346. Learn how to sail
347. See the Northern Lights
348. Kiss on top the Eiffel Tower
349. Learn to Juggle
350. Get a tattoo
351. Crowd Surf at a rock concert
352. Bungy Jump
353. Save someone’s life
354. Get a book published
355. Get a standing ovation
356. Kill a wild game animal
357. Make a clay pot
358. Relax in Tahiti for at least two weeks
359. Live abroad
360. Eat frog legs and gumbo and shrimp in the Deep South
361. Snowboard
362. Be on a game show
363. Go treasure hunting
364. Be involved in a heist
365. Own a pet monkey
366. Land a flip on a wakeboard
367. Surf the waves in Hawaii
368. Enter a professional Ping-Pong tournament
369. Give my daughter away at her wedding to a man who deserves her
370. Watch the sunset on a beach on my honeymoon
371. Coach my son’s little league baseball team
372. Run my own successful business
373. Watch OU-Texas at the Red River Rivalry
374. Walk across hot coals
375. Go to all 50 U.S. States
376. Be on a Reality TV show.
377. Be completely out of debt.
378. Go on a cruise.
379. Drive through a Redwood Tree.
380. Ride the Skycoaster at the Royal Gorge
381. Go to the Summer Olympic Games
382. Have acupuncture
383. Visit the Hoover Dam
384. Climb Chichen Itza
385. Stand beside the Christ the Redeemer statue
386. Walk around the Colosseum in Rome
387. Visit Machu Picchu
388. Explore Petra
389. Take a picture in front of the Taj Mahal
390. Adopt a child
391. Travel to the center of all religion, Jerusalem
392. Ride a Segway
393. Attend a World Cup Match
394. Go Ice Fishing
395. Take the Polar Plunge in a cold weather country
396. Give a commencement speech
397. Sleep on a Trampoline
398. Swim in every ocean
399. Fly an airplane
400. Go to a NASCAR race
401. Have a street named after me
402. Tour the White House
403. Set a World Record
404. Get something patented
405. Catch a trout while fly fishing
406. Eat at a Brazilian Steakhouse in Brazil
407. Visit an orphanage in a foreign country
408. Ride a Double Decker Bus in London
409. Set atop the London Eye
410. Get my Ph.D
411. Complete the Hawaii IRONMAN Challenge
412. Draw a charge from Nick Collison in a pickup basketball game
413. Give a speech to over 10,000 people
414. Attend the Iditarod
415. Baptize somebody somewhere cool
416. Be an Olympian
417. Be in a community theater
418. Be in the $40,000 plus speaking club
419. Be interviewed on national morning show
420. Be invited onto a professional court/field
421. Be invited to the white house
422. Be the world champion of public speaking
423. Build a tree house
424. Buy someone a house
425. Camp in a national park
426. Carry the Olympic torch
427. Climb a lighthouse
428. Complete a 40 day fast
429. Crank my neck upward at the Sistine Chapel
430. Create a board game
431. Dance with an African Tribe
432. Dig a well for community
433. Eat at Michelin award-winning restaurant
434. Eat chocolate in Switzerland
435. Encircle a giant sequoia at Yosemite National Park
436. Finish a corn maze
437. Fly a kite with my girls on the beach
438. Fly in a private jet
439. Get gas at the world’s largest truck stop
440. Give a $10,000 gift to charity
441. Give a $25,000 gift
442. Give a $50,000 gift
443. Give away a car
444. Go indoor skydiving
445. Go on a 30 Day leadership adventure
446. Go whale watching
447. Go Zorbing
448. Golf at Pebble Beach
449. Graduate with a master’s degree
450. Have a book published
451. Have a conversation in 2 second languages
452. Hear Niagara Falls
453. Help build an orphanage
454. Hike in the Grand Canyon
455. Hike part of the Appalachians
456. Host a Christmas party for people with nowhere to go
457. Host a collection (10 piece min)
458. Host a foreign exchange student
459. Host a leadership training in Antarctica
460. Invent a well-known game
461. Kiss the Blarney Stone
462. Live in NYC for 6 months
463. Make a scrapbook with each child
464. Marvel at Aurora Borealis
465. Meet the POTUS
Bucket List Ideas
466. Mush a dog sled
467. Own a house outright
468. Own a cool antique
469. Own a pinball machine
470. Own a signed copy of “Giving Tree”
471. Parasail
472. Participate in a reenactment
473. Plant a master’s commission or ministry school
474. Play bocce ball
475. Be on a Radio Show
476. Crash a Party
477. Push a stone at Stonehenge
478. Quote scripture at Christ the Redeemer
479. Raise $1 million in 1 fundraiser
480. Raise my arms on the top 5 coasters in the world
481. Read 52 books in 1 year
482. Read the Bible in 7 different translations
483. Read the complete works of C.S. Lewis
484. Read the top 100 books of all time
485. Read the works of John Maxwell
486. Receive an honorary degree
487. Ride a camel in its natural environment
488. Ride a roller coaster at Cedarpoint
489. Ride an ostrich
490. Ride in a gondola
491. Ride in a helicopter
492. Run a 1/2 marathon
493. RV across part of America
494. Say something profound which becomes a famous quote
495. See a bear catch a salmon
496. See Adele in concert
497. See blinded eyes open
498. See Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone
499. See the Acropolis in Greece
500. Shake hands with a matador
501. Camp at the Grand Canyon
Did you add any of these items to your list? Start creating yours now. Write it down, mix it up, make it personal and stay motivated. Download more of the bucket list below:
We would also like to here about your Bucket list ideas. Tell us in the comments about your top 10 Bucket List ideas.
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When all of this Corona Virus troubles has settled down and the world is returning back to normal. There will be new opportunities for fast moving and entrepreneurial folks. The Warren Buffett way may provide you with the right answers.
If you are interested in opening a business then, you should probably be be modelling the success of those who have achieved success in their businesses. As we all know, starting up any kind of business can be very difficult, especially if you don’t have enough knowledge in handling and even operating a business.
Asking help from professional and successful business owners or just modelling other successful entrepreneurs can be a great help. Warren Buffet is arguably one of the most successful investors ever. If you are going to model anyone it should be the Warren Buffett way.
Below are 83 reasons to love Warren Buffet, which I found from www.Fool.com
There are many reasons why we should love Warren Buffett. Warren Buffet is one of the most ideal person that businessmen look up to. Not everyone knows how much he has done in helping people improve their business.
1. Intricate, occasionally contradictory complexity hides beneath the “Aw, shucks” folksy charm. As a Forbes writer once put it, “Buffett is not a simple person, but he has simple tastes.”
2. Many people talk about avoiding the madding crowd, but Buffett actually does it by living 1,250 miles away from Wall Street.
3. He has a fortress-like internal scorecard on all things investing, yet a vulnerable, endearing external scorecard on many aspects of his personal life. See his penchant for seeking mother figures.
4. His perspective: “In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.”
5. He is that guy in school who tells you he may have failed the test — only to bust the top of the curve.
6. His time frame for the long run consistently exceeds his life span.
7. He says it better: “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
8. He’s human. He fears nuclear war and his own mortality. He’s frequently more adept at business relationships than personal ones. He can hold a grudge. His hero is his daddy.
9. Classic line: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”
10. Once branded a stingy miser (rightly or wrongly), Buffett has evolved (assuming it wasn’t his intention from the start) into one of the most effective philanthropists I know. After growing his potential givings at a 20% compounded rate per year, he set a plan to give most of it away.
Read the only investing book that Warren Buffett recommends:
11. Perhaps as importantly, he put ego aside and outsourced his charitable decision-making to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Circle of competence at its finest.
12. “I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years.” Contrast that with computer algorithm-based trading, day trading, and some of the moves you’ve made in your own account.
13. Buffett’s smarter than you and I, but he’s kind enough to let us feel otherwise.
14. David Sokol was once an heir apparent and arguably Buffett’s most trusted operations guy. But when Sokolgate emerged, Buffett stayed true to his word: “We can afford to lose money — even a lot of money. But we can’t afford to lose reputation — even a shred of reputation.”
15. “Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.” He said it early, and we are reminded of it often.
16. In a glimpse of the nuance that some commentators call hypocrisy, Buffett uses derivatives himself. But he does so in a way that doesn’t threaten the entire financial system and explains exactly why in his annual shareholder letters.
17. He doomed himself from ever holding public office: “A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.”
18. I like juxtaposing these two quotes: 1) “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.” 2) “Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.”
19. “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”
20. He has the ability to resist the allure of the quick fix or quick buck when longer-term dynamics are at play.
21. Not sure if this quote came before or after the Internet: “Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.”
22. For those hoping to become famous and respected, he’s a testament that the challenges and doubts keep coming regardless of the length of the track record. He has publicly prevailed so far.
23. An investing truism: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
24. The business side of that investing truism: “Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it’s not going to get the business.”
25. He uses colorful language and analogies when drab jargon could do the trick.
26. Boring example: moat vs. competitive advantage.
27. Not-so-boring example: sex.
28. “Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.”
29. Classic line: “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
30. He backs up his saying, “Our favorite holding period is forever,” by keeping past-their-prime subsidiaries that others would “spin off to unlock value.”
31. His Robin (Charlie Munger) can kick your Batman’s butt.
32. He makes loophole-free handshake deals.
33. “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”
34. Quote No. 1 on keeping it simple, stupid: “The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.”
35. Quote No. 2 on keeping it simple, stupid: “There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”
36. The Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) annual meeting is an unrivaled spectacle in investing, truly living up to its billing as the Woodstock for Capitalists.
37. One of the most concise summations of why America is great: “There are 339 million people out there that are trying to improve their lot in life. And we’ve got a system that allows them to do it.”
38. Trash-bin-diving caution No. 1: “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
39. Trash-bin-diving caution No. 2: “Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.”
40. He’s an eternal optimist in a sound-bite culture that often rewards pessimists
41. His shareholder letters reveal an artisan-like craftsmanship only seen when the proprietor cares deeply about his creation.
42. The contrarian credo: “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
43. He recognizes that genius fails: “When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.”
44. Like so many great thinkers, Buffett is able to ignore noise and whittle a decision down to its core variables. After he explains those variables, the decision sounds elementary.
45. Why banking can be dangerous: “When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.”
46. He allows me to see the name Buffett without thinking of Jimmy.
47. Buffett maintains a high thought-to-speech ratio.
48. Buffett’s librarian fantasy: “If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.”
49. He converts a deadly sin into a virtue: “You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.”
50. Averaging 20% returns for almost half a century results in beating the S&P 500 78-to-1!
51. Even though he has fewer and fewer meaningful investing options because of the size of Berkshire Hathaway, he continues to wow us.
52. On a chili-dog-and-onion-ring-flavored note, Berkshire Hathaway owns Dairy Queen, my favorite fast-food chain.
53. Many of Buffett’s managers were wildly successful entrepreneurs before selling out to Berkshire. Convincing successful, headstrong, boss-less superstars to subjugate themselves, and keeping those people motivated and happy, is quite a feat.
54. On a related note, Buffett doesn’t micromanage — good thing, with an empire this large.
55. He gets doubted again and again and again and proves the doubters wrong most of the time. Yet you never hear him say, “I told you so.”
56. Well, maybe sometimes he gloats. Harvard Business School rejected him, which led him to study under his mentors Benjamin Graham and David Dodd at Columbia. His “How do you like me now?” statement: “Harvard did me a big favor by turning me down. But I haven’t made any contributions to them in thanks for that.”
57. He has become America’s de facto investing teacher. And he has done so willingly.
58. Perhaps my favorite Buffett line: “We like things that you don’t have to carry out to three decimal places. If you have to carry them out to three decimal places, they’re not good ideas.”
59. Not that he can’t be ruthless, but Buffett tends to look for win-win situations where possible. Contrast that with the Wall Street art of “ripping the face off” of clients.
60. He’s often described as a “learning machine,” extending his natural abilities and allowing him to make behemoth investing decisions over the span of just hours.
61. He added to Ben Graham’s teachings with the help of that learning ability and Munger’s counsel.
62. Now is a good time to point out that companies’ annual reports, which are available to all, are the primary fuel in his learning machine. He reads them voraciously to compare and contrast companies and build his business knowledge base. See the next point.
63. When asked what the most important key to his success was, Buffett answered, “focus.” His biographer Alice Schroeder elaborates: He has “focus like you have never seen on anybody else.” For good or ill, Buffett’s entire life has been dedicated to investing. It’s much harder than he lets on.
64. There are plenty of business fish in the sea: “There are all kinds of businesses that I don’t understand, but that doesn’t cause me to stay up at night. It just means I go on to the next one, and that’s what the individual investor should do.”
65. How many people can pull off being a contrarian by buying shares of Coca-Cola?
66. Even in an investing world full of Buffett students and imitators, he manages to surprise.
67. He takes every legal, ethical advantage available in the current system, but he lobbies for a better system. For example, he supports higher taxes for the rich, more severe estate taxes, and a level playing field. As he puts it, “I don’t like anything where the bottom 20% keep getting a poorer and poorer deal.”
68. He is grateful for the advantages he has had in life — like many of us, he won the “ovarian lottery.”
70. Like many geniuses, he is frequently the confounding exception to the rule. For example, Berkshire Hathaway has never paid a dividend and only started share repurchases recently. It also doesn’t split the chairman and CEO roles. And we shareholders thank him for it.
71. Buffett buys what he knows (and frequently loves), but he doesn’t overpay out of affection. He has the discipline to wait decades for the right opportunity.
72. He gives credit to his direct reports.
73. Not only is Buffett a great investor and manager, but he’s one hell of a writer. My jealousy grows.
74. He once picked up a date in a hearse he co-owned.
75. Before making his money work for him, he worked for his money early on with a series of jobs, schemes, and ventures. These included a paper route, selling chewing gum door to door, a pinball business, a sales job at J.C. Penney’s, caddying, marking up refurbished golf balls, and founding a horse-racing tip sheet.
76. He’s a permabull — on women.
77. It’s very possible that the house you live in is worth more than the house Buffett lives in — the house in Omaha he bought in 1958.
78. Over the years, he has relied on a similar set of answers to oft-asked questions. That his philosophy has stayed stable throughout that time is remarkable.
79. His wealth has bought him the ultimate trophy: He does whatever he wants to do just about every single day.
80. He’s the outsized calming influence a lot of us need. From his biography Snowball: “If a tornado were barreling straight toward Kiewit Plaza [where his office is], Buffett would say that things were ‘never better’ before mentioning the twister.”
81. Anyone who can make the hyper-opinionated Charlie Munger regularly utter “I have nothing to add” must be saying something impressive.
82. When his time to step down finally comes, it will take a village (a CEO, a chairman, and multiple portfolio investors) to perform his current responsibilities.
83. That said, he fully expects this list to one day reach well into the triple digits. And I look forward to adding those lines. Happy birthday, Mr. Buffett!
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An emperor in the far east was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing his assistant or his children, he decided something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day and said ” It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you”.The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. “I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!”.
One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story.
She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks.. 4weeks.. 5weeks.. went by. Still, nothing, By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn’t have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn’t say anything to his friends, however, he just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling’s mother told him to bring the empty pot and be honest about what happened, Ling felt sick to his stomach but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful in all sizes and shapes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the others laughed at him, a few felt sorry for him and just said: “Hey nice try”.
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide at the back. ” What a great plant. trees and flowers you have grown,” said the emperor. “Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!” All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front, Ling was terrified. “The emperor knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!”.
When Ling got to the front, the emperor asked his name. “My name is Ling, ” He replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, ” Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?! Then the emperor said, ” One year ago, I gave everyone here a seed, I told you to take the seed, plant it water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling. have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”…
Our Very Special Seed is a story of courage and honesty. Never Stop Being You is a poem of motivation.
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Pencil will become the best pencil it can be.. only if ..
1. It allows itself to be held in someone’s hand, then it will be able to do many great things.
2. It willing to experience a painful sharpening from time to time, then it will become a better pencil.
3. It can manage to correct any mistakes it made.
4. It be able to leave a mark and continue writes on any surface and at any condition
5. And the best part of the pencil is always what’s inside it.
Now replacing the place of the pencil with you would make you the best person you can be..
1. you will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God’s hand. and allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time by going through various problems in life, but you will need it to become a stronger person.
3. You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
4. On every surface you walk through you must leave your mark. No matter what the situations, you must continue to do your duties.
5. The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside.
Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make change.
Parable of the Pencil is a motivating story. One Very Special Seed! is another refreshing story of courage honesty.
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One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?” “It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh yeah,” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.”
“We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.” “Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.” “We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.” “We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.” “We buy our food, but they grow theirs.” “We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are.”
Moral: True wealth can’t be touched by hand or calculated by numbers, it only can be measured by a heart that lived!
A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
SON: “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
DAD: “Yeah sure, what is it?” replied the man.
SON: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”
DAD: “That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.
SON: “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”
DAD: “If you must know, I make $20 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said,
“Daddy, may I please borrow $10?”
The father was furious, “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior.” The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep, son?” He asked. “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $10 you asked for.” The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh, thank you, daddy!” He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. “Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father grumbled. “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.” Share this story with someone you like…. But even better, share $20 worth of time with someone you love. It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family. An unwise investment indeed!
Moral: In our busy lives in this world, we should not neglect our family. Let us spend more quality time with our loved ones especially our family.
What is a Family? is a motivating story of more quality time with family. Another moving story is True Wealth.
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Maggie was a partner in her husband’s business. They both had a different set of duties which kept everything in balance. One day a devastating blow came to her husband’s business, and over a three year period, the business dropped out of sight. Her husband had to totally reinvent himself and was yearning to fulfil a dream with a new vocation. She was happy for him and supported him fully, but still, the money was not coming in.
Maggie began to feel guilty that she wasn’t contributing to any kind of income. It had been a long time since she had worked outside the home and had to work for someone else. Needless to say, she was scared but still had faith that everything would be okay. She began job hunting and found filling out applications somewhat difficult, especially the part asking for job references. Keep in mind that she was self-employed with her husband for almost 20 years. It felt as though that didn’t count for anything as she was never called for an interview.
At the time she was job hunting her mom became more ill than she had been and ended up in the hospital for a week. Once Maggie’s mom returned home she became her mom’s helper one day a week. She did the shopping, changed sheets, vacuumed and did other things that her mother was not able to do anymore. Of course, her mom would pay her for her time and labor but she still felt she needed to find another source of income.
One of the first applications she had filled out finally came through. She passed the interview with flying colors and was told she was “exactly” what they were looking for.
Although it was only part-time it was exactly what she wanted. It was important for her to be home when her daughter arrived home from school. She was told they would be in touch when the schedule was ready. Knowing she had the job made her feel contented and productive again.
Within a few weeks though, she received an e-mail saying that the company had changed the job into a full-time position and she was not qualified. Maggie was devastated. She felt betrayed and felt she had been lied to. That evening she was alone as her husband and daughter had gone out for the night. She welcomed the loneliness and wanted to drown her sorrows in a hot tub of bubbles.
As she knew she would, she began to cry, softly at first just from the sheer pain of being rejected. Three long years of struggle had finally caught up with her. Then she became angry; angry at everything from the circumstances that got her there, to God himself. She cried harder and yelled, “What do you want me to do?” She really felt that God had abandoned her.
When she was able to cry no more, she became exhausted and gave up. It was at that moment that a silent idea came to her to offer other elderly people home care assistance.
Using another talent for computers she printed off some flyers and cards and distributed them to, grocery stores and even placed a small ad in the newspaper. Within a week she had procured two new clients.
Now, even though she’s not a CEO of a major company or a power player she feels happy and productive again. So, had God really abandoned her? Let’s look at nature for the lessons and the answer.
Before a butterfly can emerge out of its chrysalis it has to go through a lot of struggling. Yes, struggling. Each time it lunges out to escape, acids are being removed from its wings. If someone were to come along and break the chrysalis open for it, then the butterfly would die from those acids. In essence, the struggle is necessary for the butterfly to survive. Then in the stillness, when the struggle is over, the butterfly can come out and share its beauty with the world. Indeed, Change is inevitable, Changes for survival.
Moral: We as humans are not any different. There are times that we need to struggle, to rid ourselves of the acids that make up sadness, fear, and anger. It is only at this time when we are exhausted and still that we begin to hear the Universe whisper to us.
Change is Inevitable, Changes for Survival. It is an exhilarating story of courage and perseverance. The Sense of A Goose is another story of support, unity, and compassion.
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Asking help from professional and successful business owners or just modelling other successful entrepreneurs can be a great help. Warren Buffet is arguably one of the most successful investors ever. If you are going to model anyone it should be the Warren Buffett way.
father asked. “Oh yeah,” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.”
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