Warren Buffett’s Greatest Skill Is Patience

Warren Buffett is one of the most patient men on Planet Earth. He understands timeframes, cycles, and perspective.

Buffett made his first million at age 33 and his first billion at age 60. He’s made his money waiting decades. Both in rising markets and falling markets. Do you remember the Financial Crisis? Buffett made over $10 billion in profit from that moment in time. He invested and loaned money to several banks that were in deep trouble like Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. He was able to do this because of his patience. For years he held onto large sums of cash just waiting for an opportunity. When the moment came, he swung.

To emphasis this skill, here are three things Buffett once said about it:

1. “You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.”

2. “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.”

3. “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”