UCSD students meet with Warren Buffett
Like others in group, Stone was struck that Buffett’s advice did not focus narrowly on business.
“He said, first, to recognize the good qualities you see in other people and adopt them for yourself,” she said. “He’s very bullish on the Chinese economy. But what he emphasized was that doing what you like is the most important thing.” “He told them: ‘If you want to be successful, be the type of person other people want to work with.’ ”
From http://www.inlikeme.com/advice/warren-buffet-offers-advice-students.htmlAt a time when many college graduates face uncertain futures and are struggling to find jobs, Buffett advised students that, "investing in yourself is the best thing you can do -- anything that improves your own talents.” He advised parents that, “investing in your children is, in some ways, investing in yourself." “No matter what happens in the economy, if you have true talent yourself, and you have maximized your talent, you have a terrific asset."
Speaking with students at Rice's Graduate School of Business, he didn't give out stock tips, but offered the following: “unconditional love is more valuable than any amount of wealth.” He urged the students to surround themselves with people who love them, and to give love in return. When asked what he thought about the correlation between wealth and happiness, he explained that “success is getting what you want, and happiness is wanting what you get.”
When speaking at Columbia University, Warren Buffett said: “find what turns you on…. do what you would do if … the money meant nothing to you… You’ll have more fun and be more successful”.
Speaking with Emory University students he offered the following, “I enjoy what I do, I tap dance to work every day. I work with people I love, doing what I love. I spend my time thinking about the future, not the past. The future is exciting. We’re all successful, intelligent, and educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake.”
At Notre Dame, Buffett told students that taking a Dale Carnegie public speaking course was extremely valuable and that the ability to communicate is a very valuable skill that played a critical role in his success.
On a more general note, Buffett counseled an MBA student: "Be a nice person. It's so simple that it's almost too obvious to notice. Look around at the people you like. Isn't it a logical assumption that if you like traits in other people, then other people would like you if you developed those same traits?"
When offering students life and career advice, Buffett has stressed the importance of pursuing work that one is passionate about; being patient; reading, thinking and learning; and working smart to reach one’s potential.
Buffet has encouraged students to use all their horsepower. “How big is your engine, and how efficiently do you put it to work?” Warren Buffett suggests that many people have “400 horsepower engines, but 100 horsepower of output”. According to Buffet, the person who gets full output from a 200-horse-power engine is a lot better off. Those with a modicum of intelligence can be very successful.
The Oracle of Omaha didn't give out stock tips for the 27 students from Rice's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, but offered advice several students found life-changing: He called unconditional love more valuable than any amount of wealth.
“He told us that success is getting what you want, and happiness is wanting what you get,” she said. “He said pretty much just be happy with what you have, and don't let it get to you.”
He also urged the students to surround themselves with people who love them, and to give love in return.
Buffett also doled out some financial wisdom in response to questions.
Goetgeluk asked what Buffett thought of the peak oil theory — that oil production has peaked and will only decline in the future — and what he believed would replace carbon fuel.
Buffett told him that in 20 years, he believes all the cars on the road will be electric. He's already invested in a Chinese company working on the technology to make it happen.
He told students not to see the global economy as an “us against them” struggle: if China does well, or Russia, it won't make America any less prosperous.
“One thing he said was that he really believes the U.S. economy will recover and be strong for decades to come,” Goetgeluk said. “He said America has a great system and it has always worked, and it will keep working in the future.
