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Warren Buffett Life Lesson: Learning from People Better Than One's Self Instead of Feeling Threatened

I'm afraid that Warren Edward Buffett's lessons are hardly taught in school (read here). Whether it's the use of cost averaging into an index fund (or equity fund) or how to win in stocks, I believe we need more of Buffett's lessons. Now, it's time for a bit more of Buffett's lessons. Just because I can't be Buffett doesn't mean I can't learn from him. Another lesson that I feel I should constantly learn from Buffett is, "Hang out with people better than you."

I once felt threatened when more intelligent people gave me friendly criticism. I felt I was insulted even when the person was trying to help me. How would Buffett respond to that? I should choose my friends carefully. I could remember when I started to make friends with intellectual types. Sure, I didn't enter the dean's list. However, I remembered hanging out with better people than I am helped me improve my bad study habits. I could remember my days in the Associate in Computer Science course and I befriended some of the dean's listers. Later, in my business administration days, it made sense for me to hang out with better people than the unruly crowd. Though, it was funny that these intelligent people I hung out with never thought I nearly didn't graduate fourth-year high school. 

How did hanging out with more intelligent people help? I remembered I almost failed in basic programming. Rather than hang out with that arrogant information technology student--I befriended a highly intelligent guy. The difference was there that I did make it even if I never got accepted into the course I originally intended. Later, my study habits improved when I was hanging out with more intelligent people. Whether it's the summa cum laude or the organization president--I did get better. I tend to have bad social skills. I had a tendency to get distracted. Hanging out with such people started to be part of better growth. I may have never graduated cum laude but I'm glad that I finished on time. 

However, some people choose to feel threatened. That pretty much differentiates the winner mindset from the loser mindset. The winner mindset could care less if somebody is better than him or her. The loser mindset tends to think that he or she has to be better than everyone. The winner mindset respects competition. The loser mindset hates competition. The winner mindset accepts losses. The loser mindset chooses to blame others. The winner mindset accepts healthy competition. The loser mindset seeks to compete with others only for gain. The winner mindset seeks not to impress others. The loser mindset tends to be about impressing others. If you're in the loser mindset then it's more than time to change that mindset to grow. 

I used to say, "I'll never be Buffett! I'll never be John Gokongwei Jr.! I'll never be Bill Gates!" These guys can give me advice on how not to be poor. Sure, I'll never become the Oracle of Cebu City and I don't intend to be. However,  could learn from the Oracle of Omaha to better improve myself. I may feel threatened but there's not a need to be. Instead, learning from the better people can be more rewarding than seeking to eliminate the competition. 

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