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It's spring, time for senior proms, senior ditch day, job fairs and one of life's big events — graduation. At this moment graduates may be taking finals, shopping for the perfect prom outfit, nervously awaiting college acceptances or rejections, or madly sending out resumes. They probably don’t have much time to read magazines or seek out the great minds of the world for career counseling.
So parents, friends or loved ones may want to clip and save these ideas from some of the happiest and most successful people in the world. Wrap the column up in a nice little box with a bow. Oh, and you might want to slip a watch, a ring or a little cash in with it, just to catch the grad's attention.
Let's start with Warren Buffett, the world's most successful investor and the second richest man in the United States, who once offered these words to a group of graduates:
"I believe in going to work for businesses you admire and people you admire. Anytime you’re around somebody that you’re getting something out of and you feel good about the organization, you just have to get a good result," Buffett says. "I advise you never to do anything because you think it’s miserable now but it’s going to be great 10 years from now, or because you think 'I’ve got X dollars now, but I’ll have 10X.' If you’re not enjoying it today, you’re probably not going to enjoy it 10 years from now."
Pop singer Billy Joel agrees with Buffett. "Know what you love and do what you love. If you don’t do what you love, you’re just wasting your time."
Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., says he wanted to be wealthy because he wanted a large family. With eight children, he got his wish. Though Munger realizes that wealth isn’t everything, it did give him freedom of choice. Munger was first a lawyer, then a businessman, but he followed a simple principle in building wealth.
"Underspend your income, year after year," says Munger. "It really works."
By saving and investing what’s left over, Munger says, money compounds at a surprisingly fast rate. Buffett adds that "the best time to save is when you’re young. You'll never have a better time than before you have a family. I was lucky. I didn’t have to send myself to college, so I could save all the money I made as a teen."
Daytime talk queen Oprah Winfrey often gives the familiar advice that if you do what you love, the money will follow.
"I would do what I’m doing even if I weren’t getting paid. And I was doing this when I was getting paid much, much less," recalls Winfrey. "At my first job in broadcasting, my salary was $100 a week. But I was just as excited about making that amount of money and doing what I love to do as I am now."
Winfrey says she overcame a difficult childhood not only by developing her spiritual life, but also by taking responsibility for her own future.
"Don't complain about what you don’t have," encourages Winfrey. "Use what you've got. To do less than your best is a sin. Every single one of us has the power for greatness, because greatness is determined by service — to yourself and to others."
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. and the wealthiest person in America, worked very hard from age 19 until the present to build his company. But he says there's more to success than hard work.
"Maintaining focus is a key to success. You should understand your circle of competence, the thing that you’re good at, and spend your time and energy there," says Gates.
Jack Welch, the dynamic chairman of General Electric Corp., often advises people to be deeply committed to what they do.
"The world of the 1990s and beyond will not belong to 'managers' or those who can make the numbers dance," Welch insists. "The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders — people who not only have enormous amounts of energy, but who can energize those whom they lead."
These words of wisdom from successful people will last a lifetime for the graduate who takes them to heart. And I would like to add a suggestion of my own.
If you have a dream, stick with it. Be persistent. Be optimistic. Don't give up. Ignore or overcome all obstacles, perfect your skills, increase your knowledge and broaden your circle of contacts. Eventually, you will achieve your goal. Think of the difficulty Bill Gates had convincing people to take him seriously as a 19-year-old entrepreneur. Who would have dreamed that a black girl, born to a welfare mother in the South, with a funny name like Oprah would become loved worldwide for her communication skills?
Woody Allen once said that the secret to success is showing up. I would expand on that: The secret to success is to just keep showing up until you are noticed, taken seriously and finally, are appreciated.
Congratulations, all you graduates! Have a wonderful life.
Janet Lowe is author of several investment books, including "Value Investing Made Easy" (McGraw Hill) and "Warren Buffett Speaks" (John Wiley & Sons).
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