Warren Buffett’s Best Investment Ever Will Show You the Path to Success

I won’t tell you anything new by telling you that Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors of all time. Probably the most impressive thing about Warren Buffett is his longevity in such a competitive environment as financial investment.

Yet Warren Buffett has been incredibly successful for over 50 years.

If you look at the rankings of the richest men on the planet since the early 2000s, you will always find Warren Buffett in a good position in the top 10.

This is amazing when you think that Warren Buffett’s wealth is only due to his investment flair. Warren Buffett has not created any revolutionary products. He “simply” invested in very successful companies, and that enabled him to make Berkshire Hathaway a huge success.

When Warren Buffett talks, everyone listens attentively

All of Warren Buffett’s speeches are therefore eagerly awaited. Everybody is looking for Warren Buffett’s investment advice. The annual conference he holds for his investors is a great mass that everyone follows with passion year after year.

Warren Buffett is a well of investment knowledge, and it makes sense that everyone wants to be inspired by him. Many people dream of asking him the following question:

What is the best investment of your career?

Warren Buffett has been asked this question hundreds of times before, and he has answered it many times. The answer of Warren Buffett to this question will amaze you, just as it amazed me.

Currently, Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio is made up of successful companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Kraft Heinz, Visa, Mastercard, Amazon, Costco, …

For those who like details, here are the companies in which Berkshire Hathaway currently has a stake of over $1 billion:

So you might think that Warren Buffett might say that Apple is his best investment. If it’s not Apple, it might well be Coca-Cola. Well no!

None of the companies that Warren Buffett invested in is, in his opinion, the best investment he ever made.

Warren Buffett’s best investment ever is going to leave you speechless

Warren Buffett considers that the best investment he ever made was in himself. Warren Buffett says that until the age of 20, he was panicked about public speaking:

“Just the thought of speaking in public made me physically ill. I would literally throw up.”

When you see Warren Buffett so comfortable today when speaking in public, you find it hard to believe that he had this phobic fear when he was 20 years old. And yet he did.

Warren Buffett goes on to explain that his fear of public speaking was a real handicap. It led him to choose courses at university where he wouldn’t have to speak in front of the rest of the students. He also organized his life so that he would never have to speak in public.

Then one day Warren Buffett saw a poster at Columbia Business School, where he was studying, for a Dale Carnegie course that was supposed to teach university students how to speak in public.

Knowing that his fear would prevent him from seizing many opportunities in his future, Warren Buffett decided to take the plunge. He signed up for the Dale Carnegie course and gave a check for payment.

However, he was never able to attend the class and had the check canceled. Warren Buffett was so terrified to face his fear that he decided to give up again.

After graduation, Warren Buffett returned to his hometown of Omaha. He quickly got a job as a salesman of securities. Unfortunately, Warren Buffett realized that the problem he had refused to face many times in the past was still there.

Warren Buffett knew that he had to force himself to face his real fear if he wanted to take his life to the next level:

“I knew that I had to be able to speak in front of people. So again, I saw the ad in the paper and went down to sign up; but this time, I handed the instructor $100 in cash. I knew if I gave him the cash I’d show up.”

Warren Buffett overcomes his fear of public speaking with a $100 course

To force himself to take action, Warren Buffett decided to pay the $100 in cash this time. There was no way for him to back down and give up.

Warren Buffett goes on to explain how this Dale Carnegie course went:

“There were about 30 other people in the class and we all had trouble saying our own names. We met once a week for a dozen or so weeks. They would give us different types of speeches to practice and taught us psychological tricks to overcome our fears.”

While he was initially terrified to face his fear of public speaking, Warren Buffett felt increasingly comfortable. He noticed that everyone else in the class felt the same way he did.

By feeling that everyone was in the same boat, Warren Buffett became more confident.

Once the course was over, Warren Buffett felt ready to put it to real use. To do this, Warren Buffett went to the University of Omaha where he announced that he wanted to start teaching. The former student, who was afraid to speak in public, was determined to face his fear.

Warren Buffett knew that if he didn’t directly apply what he had learned in Dale Carnegie’s class, he would fall back into his fear of public speaking. Today, Warren Buffett admits that this course of only $100 is the best investment he ever made in his life.

Thus, Warren Buffett’s best investment was to invest in improving himself. Warren Buffett is so proud to have completed this course that in his office, it is the only diploma that is on display for all to see:

“I don’t have my diploma from the University of Nebraska hanging on my office wall, and I don’t have my diploma from Columbia up there either — but I do have my Dale Carnegie graduation certificate proudly displayed.”

Warren Buffett explains to anyone who will listen that this course of only $100 was the starting point for everything he was able to accomplish afterward.

Being able to share his ideas in public to convince others to follow his ideas was essential for his future career. By overcoming his fear, and having the will to better himself, Warren Buffett was then able to start building the empire you all know today.

Final Thoughts

At your level, Warren Buffett’s story should help you realize that you will always be your best investment.

You must always seek to improve yourself. This is the only way to achieve lasting success in life. Investing in yourself means reading books, but also never hesitating to pay for courses if they can add value to your future.

I still too often see people who hesitate to pay a few hundred dollars for courses that can change their lives. Don’t make that mistake. Also, remember that you must apply what you have learned immediately after taking a course. This is the only way to get the most out of it.

It’s up to you to invest in yourself without hesitation from now on.