Warren Buffet's One-Sentence Life Lesson for a 14-Year-Old

In the speech of Warren Buffet, one of the richest people in the world, at the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the CEO, it was time for the question and answer session with the participants.

Among the attendees was Justin Fong, 14, from California, who asked Buffet a question that was not related to investments, which surprised him:

"What advice would you give a teenager my age about success?"

Warren Buffett's answer may not be correct for everyone, but it was good enough to guide a teenager. In fact, looking deeper will be particularly beneficial for business and career advancement of people of all ages, no matter what stage of their life.

"Hang out with people who are better than you, and when you choose friends whose behavior is better than yours, you will gradually progress towards becoming better."

Charlie Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffet and vice president of Berkshire Hathaway, added:

"If that will give you temporary popularity among your peers, forget about it."

Well, in what sense did Warren Buffet mean "the better ones"?

Buffet actually teaches a life lesson for all of us: we need to absorb and absorb the qualities and behaviors of successful people who will make us better people, employees, leaders.

"To be an effective leader, boss, or professional worker, there are four traits you need to look at in people who are better than you, so you can "go that way."

1) Hang out with honest people.

Honesty is crucial to success. Warren Buffet says you should never hire someone who is dishonest, no matter how smart they are.

"You have to look for three things in a person: intelligence, energy, and honesty. If the last one is missing, forget the first two."

2) Hang out with people who know when to say "no".

Buffet learned long ago that our most important asset is time, so he has become an expert in setting his own limits. For this, he teaches us a life lesson:

"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that truly successful people say 'no' to almost everything."

Buffet's advice may sound cruel, but we must learn it to focus and make our lives easier.

3) Hang out with people who nurture their minds by reading.

Would you like to increase your knowledge tenfold? Buffet and Munger owe their success to their desire to learn. Instead of coming home, lying on the sofa and watching the entire season of Game of Thrones, buy a book. Buffet spends 80% of his working days reading and thinking. Once, when asked how to be smarter, he grabs a stack of papers and says:

"Read 500 pages of books every day like this. Knowledge is developed this way, like compound interest."

4) Hang out with people who are loved by others.

According to Buffet's biography "The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life," Buffet was asked one day for his biggest success and failure by the students, and Buffet replied:

"When you get to my age, you will measure your success in life by seeing how many people you really love are truly loved by you. I know very rich people ... But the truth is, nobody in the world loves them ... This is the most important test of how you spend your life."

Buffet ends his sentences with a statement about the secret of being loved:

"The only way to be loved is to be lovable. The more love you give, the more you will get."