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Can't find the original quote from Warren Buffett, but got this article online. Hope it helps:
Life Is What You Make It – An interview with Peter Buffett
What if when you were a young adult you received an inheritance of $90,000? What would you do? Would you put the money aside in a savings account for when you’re older? Would you settle down? Or would you take a huge risk and use that money to follow your dreams and passion?
Peter Buffett was given such an opportunity and chose to take the riskiest path.
Peter is the youngest son of Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world and one of the biggest philanthropists in history. A few years ago Warren made a pledge to donate close to $40 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization that focuses on improving health and education around the world.
Growing up with such successful parents, you would think that the Buffett children turned into those typical heiresses you’ve seen in the media. However, Warren was not just a successful businessman but also a successful father. The Buffett family didn’t live in a sprawling mansion or drive around in Lamborghinis. They were simple (yet extraordinary at the same time). Warren and his wife Susan decided that they would help their kids get a start in life but they wouldn’t give them too much assistance and privilege that they would become lazy.
Peter is the youngest of Warren and Susan’s three children. He saw his two older siblings go through their inheritance rather quickly and he learned from that. He didn’t want to repeat the same mistake but he also didn’t want to just settle down and follow the safe path in life that would guarantee financial security. He had a passion for music and was compelled to pursue it. So at age nineteen he left Stanford University and moved to San Francisco to attempt to begin a career in music.
With his $90,000 inheritance, Peter spent it wisely buying the necessary equipment for his music and then living frugally.
He struggled for a few years working different low-paying jobs and paying his dues in the music industry. Then in 1981 he got his big break. One of Peter’s neighbors just happened to ask him what he did. Peter told him that he was a struggling musician. The man told Peter about a friend of his who was in need of musicians all the time. The neighbor referred Peter to this person, who just happened to be working for a little startup cable network called MTV. Peter began creating audio for MTV’s logos. This opened new doors for Peter as he started working for advertising agencies in San Francisco creating jingles.
Then Peter moved towards film. He composed a score for Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves. The score was part of the “Fire Dance” scene. Peter’s opportunities continued and he continued to seize them by composing a score for an eight part miniseries on CBS produced by Mr. Costner called 500 Nations and then contributing to a score for the film The Scarlet Letter. He continued with composing music for television and won two Emmys for An American Portrait and Ojibwe.
Peter had all these successes but he didn’t stop there. He released 15 records through the years and currently owns two independent record labels called BisonHead and BeSide Records. He also produced a theatrical concert called “Spirit – The Seventh Fire.”
Like his father and mother, Peter has the desire to give back to those less fortunate. He has collaborated with the musical artist Akon to bring awareness to the over 12 million people in the world who are trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation. Akon and Peter created songs to inspire others to help stop human trafficking and created a site where people could learn more and contribute to the cause. The site is called; IsThereSomethingICanDo.com. Peter also runs a foundation called the NoVo Foundation that fosters projects that empower women and girls around the world.
Peter had a great start in life thanks to his parents. They encouraged him to be his own person and blaze his own trails. So instead of following his father’s successful footsteps, Peter decided to go down the path that had no footsteps. It was a huge risk but that’s where his passion was pushing him to go and he couldn’t ignore it.
Peter succeeded and he also failed. And he learned along the way. Now he is sharing those lessons with others.
Peter has written a book called; Life Is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment. The book asks the question of whether you’d choose the easiest path in life or the path with potentially greater satisfaction.
The book is published by Random House and is to be released on April 27, 2010. You can order it from Random House, Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble,or IndieBound.
I was given the amazing opportunity to ask Peter a few questions about success, creativity, and life:
- When you left college to pursue music, did you have a backup plan if you ran out of your savings and your career hadn’t taken off yet? Clearly you didn’t want to ask your father for a handout.
Not only did I not want to ask him, I knew that I wouldn’t get it! So I had to make it work. Honestly… I didn’t really have a backup plan. Although now that I’m thinking about it, I guess going back to school was my backup plan. I was very lucky that my parents were willing and able to pay for my schooling. In general, I’ve always tried to take a leap of faith knowing that if I didn’t make it, my fallback was okay, too. So in this case, school was the fallback.
- Do you think money brings happiness?
No! That is definitely a misconception. It’s important in that it puts food on the table and a roof over your head… things like that, for sure. But happiness can only come from inside of you. It may sound corny, but it’s true. I think most people are trying to make a lot of money to prove their worth.. or so they can buy things that prove their worth. This is a completely false way to get the happiness one is looking for.
- What did it feel like when you knew you had made it on your own?
Great! I like to say that “self respect comes from earning your own reward”. The only way we can truly know ourselves and live an honest life is to make our own decisions and take responsibility for them.
- You’re a multi-talented guy, what tips do you have for others to tap into their underutilized and hidden talents?
Get to know what feelings inside connect with “hey.. I like this I want to get better at it/do it more” or “this isn’t really for me… I need to find another path”. Those messages are sometimes hard to hear or they get distorted by what you “think” you need or want. Society gives us thousands of messages every day.. and they aren’t always good ones!
- What advice do you have for those who feel they can’t make a career out of their passions?
Well.. not everyone can, that’s true. I think there are two ways to look at it – you can work to live or live to work. Both are certainly viable. I think if you live to work, it means that you love what you do and have found a way to make your passion your livelihood. If you work to live, that means that you have your “day job” which may not be a perfect fit, but it allows you to pursue a passion in your free time. In that scenario, the best is if you actually love going to work because you know it’s feeding your passion outside of work.
- You and your family have the ability to tackle large philanthropic efforts, but for people with fewer resources, what can they do to help others and make the world a bit better?
There is so much value in time and expertise! Money is good, but time is at least as valuable if not more so. Philanthropy literally means the love of people. So it’s really not about money at all. It’s about wanting to help out so that we all have a brighter future. That can be helping out at a soup kitchen or lending your expertise at painting houses to Habitat for Humanity.
- Your father encouraged you and your siblings to blaze your own trails and pursue your passions; but many parents aren’t like that today. They want their children to get a degree, get a high paying job, settle down and take as little risk as possible. Why do you think that is?
Well, it’s probably a well meaning push towards security. Although sometimes it’s also for the parent’s own ego.. “my kid is at Harvard..” etc.. It’s too bad either way. My thought is that parenting should involve the idea that your child is unique in the world and how do they best grow into that unique place that is theirs alone?
- A lot of people have this negative mentality of “what’s this world coming to?” What and where do you believe this world is coming to?
I believe that all things are cyclical. The world has been around for 4 billion years, it will be here for quite some time. But humanity as it stands today is another story. Certainly America will change over the coming decades or century. The idea that we are – or have to be – “number 1″ or “the best” is already outdated. But it will probably take some sort of seismic shift for people to really get that.. and realize that it’s okay. We’re part of a global community that depends on all of us for survival. While this might come off as negative, I think it’s just the natural order of things. Everything changes… the world will probably look very different in 50 years. It’s not going to come to an end! It will just end as we know it.
- You acknowledge that you’ve let opportunities slip through your hands but you don’t seem to live with huge regrets. How do you recommend others deal with missed opportunities?
Every one of them is a learning opportunity. What were you not prepared for? How did you mess up? How can you do better next time? The key to this is taking responsibility. Finding where you went wrong and learning instead of blaming some outside situation.
- You believe time is more precious than money. How can people who are full of responsibilities like working a 9 to 5 job, raising kids, helping elderly parents, paying a mortgage, etc., find even a little time to go after their passions and dreams?
Absolutely time is more precious than money! It can never be replaced. But this is a very real and difficult question. Honestly, the best response I can think of is the importance of pursuing dreams and passions when you’re young – so you can see what takes hold before other obligations become overwhelming. Of course, for many, parenting itself is (and should be!) a passion. But the old adage that “youth is wasted on the young” I think speaks to the idea that when you’re older and saddled with more responsibilities you remember how your youth was not used as wisely as it could have been…. following your dreams.
- Do you think luck plays a major role in everyone’s success?
Yes. But being prepared for it when it comes is critical!
- Do you have any specific tips for those pursuing goals in the arts such as music, writing, painting, and film?
It can be a difficult road. But that’s where the drive that only passion can give you pays off. I think one important thing to remember is not to think that doing something even slightly related to your goal is “beneath” you. I took plenty of jobs that didn’t pay – or paid poorly. And also did work that was considered “grunt” work in the music biz. But it was all slowly taking me down a path that kept me in music. I was always learning something that would get me a little further.
[ 本帖最后由 funnybird 于 1-2-2011 09:51 编辑 ] |
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楼主: funnybird
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发表于 27-1-2011 01:04:40
