5 Life Lessons From Warren Buffett

You might be wondering what super-investor Warren Buffett can teach you about life. You might be thinking that he knows a lot about money, but that has little to do with being an expert on life. You might be surprised.

Warren is famous for his simple lifestyle and love of his work.

Let these lessons in life be a guide for contentment in your own life:

1. Focus on what you love. Warren has a nice, but modest home, and drives a $40,000 car. He could own the most expensive home and cars in the world but he doesn't. He drinks Coke, buys what he likes, and enjoys a relatively simple life.

• Enjoy your life and the things you have. Avoid being concerned about what everyone else has or about what you could have. It's more satisfying to own one perfect painting than to own 10 that don't thrill you. Seek out the things you love and avoid wasting your time on the rest.

2. Quality is more important than quantity. You only need to make a few good decisions to be incredibly successful. Warren Buffett has hundreds of billions of dollars to invest for himself and others, yet he frequently only owns 20 or so stocks. Be picky. Be happy with a smaller quantity.

• Warren has a very famous line that basically states, "Your financial wealth would be much greater if you could only make 20 investments in your lifetime. You would make sure they were great if you had only 20 chances."

3. Do what you love. Warren has said that the most important part of success and contentment is doing what you love every day. That's why he's never stopped investing and making money. If you're spending your time doing what you love, you continue doing the same thing regardless of how much money you have.

• You might not enjoy the career you have right now. But are you doing anything to change that? Do you have a plan? Imagine how much more content you would be if you enjoyed going into work each day.

4. Mind your own business. You needn't be concerned with what the competition is doing. Avoid being influenced by everyone else. If you do what everyone else is doing, you'll simply be average. Avoid comparing yourself to everyone else. Follow your own intuition.

• Most of us are overly concerned with others. We're worried about how we compare. We're worried about their opinions of us. They're probably thinking the same things. Get yourself out of that loop and do your own thing.

5. Stick to your talents. Warren is famous for shunning high-tech investments, even when they were practically a sure thing. He has stated that he simply doesn't understand them well enough to invest in them. Stay in your areas of strength. You don't need to do everything. Focus on what you know well.

• We usually enjoy doing the things that showcase our strengths. That's human nature. It also makes life easier. Work on your weaknesses, but leverage your strengths.

You might be thinking, "Yeah, anyone could be content with $50 billion." But that's not true. Studies have shown that happiness and income are only correlated to $75,000. Above that income level, happiness does not increase.

Super wealthy people became wealthy largely because they were content living a particular way. You can be just as content, even if you never amass a mega-fortune. Aim to increase the amount of contentment in your life. It might not be an issue of money, possessions, or the other things that most people think lead to contentment.