Warren Buffett Once Said That Success at the End of Your Life Comes Down to 1 Word

Don’t wait till the end of your life because it will be too late. The Buffett formula for success starts now.

EXPERT OPINION BY MARCEL SCHWANTES, INC. CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, EXECUTIVE COACH, SPEAKER, AND AUTHOR @MARCELSCHWANTES

Warren Buffett. Illustration: Inc.; Photo: Getty Images

Warren Buffett is seldom wrong, especially regarding investment and innovation. As most of us know, the Oracle of Omaha offers wisdom that goes beyond industries, generations, and cultures.

And that wisdom, even if it seems obvious (ever catch yourself saying, “Wait, I could’ve said that myself!”), is usually right on the mark. Like this piercing bit of truth-telling:

If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don’t care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster.

If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don’t care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster.

That’s what Buffett once shared with a group of students at Georgia Tech when they asked him about his idea of success. He explained that success isn’t just about wealth, power, fame, or collecting lots of expensive toys before you pass away. Instead, he emphasized the importance of meaningful achievements and personal fulfillment.

Buffett’s ultimate measure for success

In the same quote mentioned above, which is included in the Buffett biography The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, Buffett also shared this piece of wisdom with the students (get ready to be amazed):

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Basically, when you get to my age, you’ll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. I know many people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them.  That’s the ultimate test of how you have lived your life. The trouble with love is that you can’t buy it. You can buy sex. You can buy testimonial dinners. But the only way to get love is to be lovable. It’s very irritating if you have a lot of money. You’d like to think you could write a check: I’ll buy a million dollars’ worth of love. But it doesn’t work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.

Basically, when you get to my age, you’ll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you.

I know many people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. 

That’s the ultimate test of how you have lived your life. The trouble with love is that you can’t buy it. You can buy sex. You can buy testimonial dinners. But the only way to get love is to be lovable. It’s very irritating if you have a lot of money. You’d like to think you could write a check: I’ll buy a million dollars’ worth of love. But it doesn’t work that way. The more you give love away, the more you get.

Let me clarify: the key lesson and “the ultimate test” of a meaningful life are not about money but focus on the most powerful emotion humans experience: love. 

That’s what I’m talking about. Thank you, Warren.

Closer to home, you have to ask: How can everyday workers, leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs with big ideas live out this principle of “the more love you give away, the more you get back”? In other words, what steps should you take to become so loved by others that, when you’re ready to retire or step back, they will shower you with praise, awards, admiration, and tell the world, “He loved well”?

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