1. Invest in Yourself, Increase Your Value
Buffett believes that the best investment is in oneself. While investing in oneself requires spending some money, money can depreciate, but one's talents cannot be taken away by others and can ultimately bring immeasurable wealth. Throughout a person's life, only a small amount of potential is tapped. For example, my friend Nana, who graduated and started working in a year when the pandemic hit, had a meager salary and was introverted, yet persisted in learning public speaking and planned to do live sales. After failing her first speech competition, she did not give up and practiced for a year. Now she speaks fluently and even does live sales of local specialty products with her mother, greatly enhancing her abilities. Therefore, there is no such thing as a one-time job in life; there is only a self that steadily appreciates. Investing in oneself while young is the most valuable wealth.
2. Invest in Health, There is Only One Body
Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said: "A healthy beggar is happier than a sick king." Buffett emphasizes that health is 1 in life, while wealth, fame, and fortune are all 0. Without health, everything else is meaningless. The pandemic has made people deeply aware of the fragility of life; success means living healthily. The body records the undisciplined behaviors in life; if one does not exercise, becomes addicted to staying up late, etc., problems will arise in the future. A person can only have one body; one should not wait until their fifties or sixties when their health declines to pay attention to it. Maintaining health allows one to go further on the road of life.
3. Invest in Connections, Associate with the Excellent
Buffett states that it is best to be with people who are better than oneself; partnering with excellent people will make oneself unknowingly better. Walking with diligent people will prevent one from being lazy. This is akin to the story of American writer Mark Hansen and speaker Anthony Robbins meeting; Hansen asked why they both taught success but had such a huge income gap. (Xunzi) also mentions, "Flying with phoenixes means being a good bird; walking with tigers and wolves means being a fierce beast." A person's current achievements are not important; what matters is who they will be with in the future.
4. Investment Partners, Achieving Together
Buffett once told his daughter that a partner is an ally on the battlefield of life, not someone who satisfies one's laziness and incompetence. Do not be swayed by low-cost details; the truly scarce resources are a partner's conversation, knowledge, vision, and stable emotions. Choosing a partner is one of the most important choices in life; choosing correctly leads to happiness for a lifetime, while choosing incorrectly can ruin it. Just like Meng Wanzhou's husband, Liu Xiaozhong, who resigned from his thriving career to start his own business to avoid suspicion, and is now doing well in the investment industry. A good partner can achieve and nurture each other.
5. Don’t Follow the Crowd Blindly, Stick to Your Circle of Competence
Buffett also mentioned throughout his career the importance of sticking to one's circle of competence. For things one does not understand, even if they are popular, one should not easily get involved. For example, when discussing AI, he stated that he would not invest and develop everything around AI. If he truly needs to use AI in the business, he would let Berkshire's Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, who is more knowledgeable, make the choice while he himself would not make arbitrary decisions. In an era of strong uncertainty, one must establish a 'warning line' in their mind and should never casually invest money before thoroughly understanding the situation.
