Of all billionaires and successful business people, Warren Buffet remains my favorite. Not only is he witty and sharp-minded but, Buffet is also very insightful. He reads a lot and above all that, he knows how to enjoy life from his famous junk-food diet to the old house he still lives in today.

Check out the video below! Here are some of my favorite lessons that I’ve learned from Warren Buffett:

1. It`s all about how you present it

Many believe Buffett is one of the greatest thought leaders in the past 100 years and he’s also known for being a great public speaker. But things weren’t always this way. For more than twenty years, Buffett couldn`t even say his name in public. In college, he selected the courses where he didn`t have to stand up in front of the class and even the mere idea of giving a presentation made him throw up. But he finally found his courage and took a public speaking course, then a teaching job to hone those skills and build mastery.

In his interviews,  Buffet attributes most of his business success to his presentation skills. He believes that regardless of what you do, you must build good communication skills or people won`t follow you.

He values the public speaking course he took at the Carnegie Institute so much that he hangs that certificate on his office wall instead of his Diplomas from both Colombia and the University of Nebraska. He also believes he wouldn`t have persuaded the love of his life to marry him if it wasn`t for that course on public speaking.

“In graduate school, you learn all this complicated stuff, but what’s really essential is being able to get others to follow your ideas.” – Warren Buffett

2. Follow the right people

If you want a shortcut to learning or becoming anything then what you should do is surround yourself with what Buffett calls “High-grade people,” or those who are better than you are. Before you know it, you will soak up their good skills and end up behaving similarly to them, which is good if you`ve picked the right people to follow.

One of Buffett`s smart shortcuts is to pay for tutoring. Yes, self-tutoring is cheap. In fact, it was common among Greek debaters to spend years studying rhetoric in solitary before returning to Athens. But this doesn`t normally work with all people. You may waste a year figuring out something an expert would`ve taught you in a month or even a week. Besides, paying a tutor will force you to commit, attend all lessons and do your homework which is exactly what you need to learn a skill.

According to Buffett, he spent years trying to learn public speaking and failed. It`s only when he paid for the entire course in advance he was able to commit and learn what he believes to be the most valuable skill a businessman can have.

3. Stick to your circle of competence

Buffett admits he`s only great at evaluating businesses. Not even all of them, only the ones he can comprehend. Early on, he noticed that along with his emotional stability, he had a unique way of evaluating investment opportunities so he honed that skill, became a master at it and made a fortune. And he urges you to do the same. Instead of trying to be good at all things, try to be great at one thing and give it all you`ve got. It`s better to be known for one thing than nothing.

4. Change the way you see setbacks

You will make mistakes, probably lots of them, as long as you choose to swing for the fences. Buffett believes you can do well if you program your mind to see opportunities in every setback. When he was rejected by Harvard, it was a huge disappointment for him and his father who thought a great deal of his son.

Buffett was devastated but the young man pulled himself together and began to investigate other schools until he discovered that Benjamin Graham, whom he was really fond of, was teaching at Colombia. So he applied there, got accepted and met with Graham who became a major influence in his life and taught him everything he knew about investing.

“I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubtet it for a minute.” – Warren Buffett

5. Treat your body like the only car you could have

If someone offered you the most expensive car in the world with a single condition that you never get another one, how will you treat this car? I guess you`ll treat it like one of your kids, if not better. With this analogy in mind, Buffett urges you to treat your body and mind the same way you treat your one, and only car. If you don’t take care of your mind and body now, by the time you are forty or fifty you’ll be like a car that can’t go anywhere.

What is your favorite thing you have learned from Warren Buffett? Please leave your comments below!