Warren Buffett: 3 Daily Habits That Separate the Doers from The Dreamers

Outside of Warren Buffett‘s mastery of investing, you have to agree that his simple life and business lessons are not only the stuff of legends, they have a profound effect on people.

Some of it is pure common sense.  Like this slice of wisdom from the Oracle of Omaha:

“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”

So, if you keep your failures to a minimum (with the full understanding that you must fail in order to succeed) you can achieve a level of success you’ve never imagined by doing a few things right over and over again.

The next question should naturally be: What are some of those things? Well, we should probably consult Buffett on the matter. We may think that we need to devise grandiose strategies from complex ideas but Buffett himself famously said, “It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.”

Some of life’s greatest successes come from the daily habits we practice with commitment and belief. An obstacle on the way to your success may be focusing too much on the results and not enough on the habits that will get you there.

Here are three that Buffett preaches by. It has worked for him. Will it work for you?

A Buffett put it a few years ago when he spoke with some college students, “You will move in the direction of the people that you associate with. So it’s important to associate with people that are better than yourself.”

As the famous saying goes, we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. And depending on who you associate with at work, that can potentially disrupt your thinking, belief system, and how you make decisions.

Ever sat on a decision too long and did nothing when you should’ve acted on it? Buffett calls that “thumb-sucking.” It’s stalling, procrastinating, and avoiding something that may have been your best bet to begin with to reach your goals. We’re all guilty of it.

As with most important decisions in life, do your research thoroughly, get all the information, and then act swiftly on your decision. 

According to Buffett, one of the keys to your success is to go to bed a little smarter each day. By investing in yourself, especially honing your communication skills, Buffett says you will “become worth 50 percent more than you are now.”