Adopting The Successful Mindset of Warren Buffett

If you have studied how to become successful, surely you have heard about picking an admired leader and emulating their habits and approaches. There is no doubt that developing a successful mindset will properly position you to build your own winning solution and style; one person whose long term success is worth copying is Warren Buffett, the 89-year-old multi-billion dollar investor, philanthropist, and chairman/CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (the company so successful that just ONE share traded at $339,590 on December 31, 2019!). Clearly, this is the type of growth mindset you can use, so let’s examine the successful brain of Warren Buffett.

6 Simple Yet Successful Habits of Warren Buffett

Surprisingly, according to Warren Buffet, success is simpler than you might imagine. Buffett swears by using the simplest approaches possible when striving for success, claiming that success is neither complex nor difficult to achieve once you get on the right track. The best part of Buffett’s six simple and successful habits is that not only are they easy to learn and adopt, but they are useful for everything important in your life, such as relationships and managing finances.

So without further delay, let’s pick Buffett’s brain and start building your growth mindset!

1. Dump Bad Habits and Behaviors

As Buffett proclaims, “The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken,” however any habit, no matter how strong and old, can be broken with the right attitude. Furthermore, he claims that, at age 89, habits are harder to break than at age 29 (or 39, 49, 59…you get the idea), so saying it’s too hard to do won’t fly with Warren. It’s really all about self-improvement which begins by identifying behaviors and patterns that are self-destructive, replacing them with constructive habits that build positive attitudes and perspectives towards life and your career.

Also, keep in mind that it’s only bad habits and behaviors you want to dump; it is equally valuable to recognize which habits you have developed (or are in the process of developing) that contribute to your successful mindset. The fact is that whatever you regularly practice becomes stronger and more prominent, which makes performing positive and constructive habits the only way to go.

2. More Is Not Better; Enough Is Best

Buffett has observed more spectacular fails through greed than any other reason. Risk assessment is an important skill to develop and it starts with remaining unemotional when considering business or investment opportunities. Buffett has seen too many businesses and individuals unnecessarily lose what they already have in a useless effort to try to get something else or more. The trick is to realize that not all opportunities are right for you at any given time even if it is right for someone else; you need to factor in concerns such as time involvement, potential pitfalls, and your own experience and knowledge.

Too many people lured by glittering promises forget that what they already have is perfect. Chasing after dreams when your desires are already met is an all too common nightmare fueled by unreasonable greed. More is not always better; often, enough is ideal.

3. Develop Integrity in Yourself and Seek It in Others

There are some people who believe that getting away with unethical or dishonest practices is a good or smart thing. Buffett says it is neither; those lacking integrity are also missing the drive to succeed and carry others forward to success. They also perceive success as involving a lot of hard and boring work, believing there is a thrill in taking advantage of others. The problem with this kind of thinking is that such an individual begins believing that everyone thinks and acts like them; that is, without ethics or morals, a person not to be trusted. Seriously, what kind of world is that to live and work in?

Much better is to surround yourself with people of integrity; these are the ones you want to be influencing and motivating you to be your best, where you end up contributing more and feeling great about your accomplishments and those of your colleagues. You want integrity to be the cornerstone of your business and your life, so start by only working with those you respect and admire.

4. Do What Excites You

Confucius said, “He who enjoys his work has a vacation every day.” This should be considered the foundation of any career you pursue. We all know someone (too often ourselves!) who hates going to work but never stops to consider why someone should place themselves in a situation where the bulk of their waking hours are spent doing something they don’t enjoy.

Compare that to the person who wakes up and can hardly wait to get going on their day. Such an individual is inspired and motivated but, more importantly, they also create a positive energy so people want to be around them. Typically, their positive attitude is contagious, making work an enjoyable event for everyone. 

5. Use Your Strengths

No one is great at everything they do, but everyone has a strength, an area where they excel. And what you do best is what you should be doing most. Buffett loves to quote Tom Watson Sr., the man who started IBM and said, “I’m no genius. But I’m smart in spots, and I stay around those spots.” Likewise, when building your team, find what people do best and place them in spots where they can do it. Such people thrive in their work and spread that energy to those around them.

Imagine having an organization where every player is an expert at what they do. Talk about the right growth mindset; such a group will prove their potential remains unlimited and your business will benefit from that. Most important is you have created a work environment of which people actually want to be part!

6. Hang with People Better Than You

In addition to seeking out the talents of others, look for people you find better than you in other ways as well. Outstanding behavior tends to rub off on those around it, so by associating with people who exhibit excellent traits you admire, the chances of acquiring that behavior increases proportionately to the time you spend with those models of better living.

This extends beyond the people with whom you work: strive to find customers, suppliers, and related enterprises who also value individuals who work to achieve top results in both their work and their relationships. You are sure to learn and nurture excellent traits of your own which others will wish to emulate.

The Final Word from Warren Buffett

The great news is anyone can employ Warren Buffet’s six successful habits to create a growth mindset. It doesn’t take a genius, merely someone able to follow simple directions. As to whether work should be hard, consider the following as his crowning formula for success without wearing yourself out: “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.”

Are you ready to succeed today? It’s as easy as adopting the success mindset of Warren Buffet (not a bad person to emulate) as your own!