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.

Should Noynoy Aquino be a Valid Excuse to Reject Econ Cha Cha?

Philippine Star Updated January 25, 2025 This may be a touchy post. Politics is often a source of fights during parties. That's why we're told not to talk about politics during parties. Unfortunately, some people on Facebook are now using the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino Jr. as an excuse not to execute even economic charter change. Never mind that blatant supporter of Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo, Andrew James Masigan, supports economic charter change . The late Charles Edward P. Celdran was also an anti-Duterte critic. As I looked at some okay boomer posts, I'm not surprised at people who still use Noynoy as an excuse to shout with all their might, "No to economic charter change!" Somebody posted on Facebook the following. As always, I won't publicly shame anyone. If possible, I will only refer to them by codenames or use the name Anonymous. I want to remain as professional as possible. This person said that under N...

Honoring the Recently Deceased Jose de Venecia Jr. in a Business/Economics Perspective

That's right. Jose de Venecia recently passed away yesterday. As an advocate for reform, it's sad but true that de Venecia didn't win because he was boring . It was easy to think of him as a boring guy. I remember the time when he was called in ISPUP as Yoda De Venecia (after the Star Wars character). I was just a clueless college student at that time when the ISPUP episode was shown. I was only 13 years old when de Venecia ran for president. It was also that era when Joseph Estrada (who's now 88 years old) ran for president, and it was that time when Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. (who turned 90 last year) became the chief justice. Just recently, I found this eulogy for JDV. I will not post the whole eulogy, but only the one from the one that would "fit better" for a business-economics blog: He helped advance policies that enabled major infrastructure projects through public private partnerships, converted former military bases into thriving economic centers...

Social Media Gossipers' Ad Hominems Against Actor Robin Padilla Regarding His Proposal to Remove 60-40

Make no mistake that I didn't vote for Robin Padilla. I feel like I've had enough of voting for celebrities, athletes, and those who I felt are know-nothings in the legislative. However, Padilla recently had his proposal to remove the 60-40 restrictions regarding foreign direct investments (FDIs) . Former Philippine Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo was even in favor of that amendment. I guess that's why Philippine economist Andrew James Masigan endorsed Robredo. I may have not endorsed Robredo while Masigan remains to be one of my favorite local sources. The news from GMA News Online reveals these plans by Padilla himself: Senator Robin Padilla said he wanted to revise the Constitution to scrap the 60-40 rule on foreign ownership of businesses to accelerate job creation and competition among industries . In a Monday interview, Padilla said the move would attract more foreign investments to support the country’s economic recovery. “Para sa akin mas...

Opening #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Stores Nationwide Increases POGO-Related Risks (NOT FDI)

Alice Guo aka Guo Hua-Ping may be in jail now . However, I believe the saga is far from over . It reminds me that I actually wrote about how several idiots on Facebook go so far as to say, " Alice Guo should be a warning about open FDI! " Some have even gone as far as to say that POGO and Chinese spies should "justify" the Filipino First Policy . However, the harsher reality is that the Filipino First Policy may actually be encouraging dummy investors instead ! As the saga continues, I've decided to write what I might call my harshest entry yet. It's going to be Chinese New Year this year. This might be an entry that may need to be shared before the Lunar New Year! My grievances are still ongoing because some people still demand #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, no matter how destructive it will be . That's why I use Venezuela as an example, especially during Nicolas Maduro's downfall . Back to the topic, I remember writing a joke post where I said, "Wh...

An Interesting Mental Exercise for Chinese as Second Language Class

Back in my day, I remember we kept memorizing what was called bon toi (written as 问题, Wèntí in Mandarin) without understanding them. I hated memorizing those. I guess another reason was to parrot what one can't understand. We had the biak diam too which is Hokkien for oral recitation. Memorizing the question and answer (written as 问题和答案, Wèntí hé dá'àn in Mandarin) would actually not be so tedious if Chinese was taught as a second language. My bizarre idea is to think about having only one bon toi but there are five answers to memorize. Memorizing (and understanding) why some don't want to learn Chinese These five reasons (above) have to be memorized in both Chinese and English. The teacher (老师, Lǎoshī) would say the question, "不学中文的最大借口是什么？" (Bù xué zhōngwén de zuìdà jièkǒu shì shénme?). The question can't be answered until the student actually translated it as, "What are the top excuses not to learn Chinese?" The student will eval...

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