Buffett's Two Lists (2024)

Buffett's Two Lists (4)

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Buffett's Two Lists (5)

Buffett's Two Lists (6)

Overview

"The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything." – Warren Buffett.

Like Charles Munger, Warren Buffett advocates for and uses the Latticework of Mental Models approach that drives ModelThinkers. Buffett’s Two Lists model speaks to his ability to ruthlessly prioritise and say 'no' to tempting, even important tasks that take away from his main focus.

Buffett’s Two Listsis a productivity, prioritisation and focusing approach where you write down your top 25 goals; circle your 5 highest priorities; then focus on those 5 while ‘avoiding at all costs’ doing anything on the remaining 20.

BACKSTORY: BUFFETT'S PILOT.

This model comes from a post by Scott Dinsmore who described a conversation between a Buffett and his pilot. According to Scott, when ‘Steve’, Buffett’s pilot sought Buffett’s advice, Buffett asked Steve to list the top 25 things he wanted to do in the next few years or even his lifetime. Once done, Buffetttt told Steve to circle his absolute top 5 priorities.

Steve assumed that he would focus on the top 5 but that he’d still find a way to work on some of the remaining 20, even in small ways.

RUTHLESS PRIORITISATION.

Buffett reportedly replied by saying: “No. You’ve got it wrong Steve. Everything you didn’t circle just became your ‘avoid at all cost list’. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.

IN YOUR LATTICEWORK.

Buffett’s Two Lists is a prioritisation model, so has some connections to other prioritisation models including the Pareto Principle and Impact vs Effort Matrix.

You can combine it with the Circle of Competence to focuson and improving your strengths, indeed that combination is something that is a favourite of both Buffett and Charles Munger.

If you're finding it too hard to implement, you might also try and combinethis model with Parkinson's Law to Timebox or implement Forced Functions on your list before rotating them — though I suspect Buffett wouldn't recommend that.

Share this model with your network to be smarter, faster, together!

Actionable Takeaways

  • Make a list of your top 25 priorities.

You might apply this to a specific project or timeframe, or consider your broader life goals.

  • Circle your highest 5 priorities.

These are the things that must be accomplished and drive you.

  • Focus on your top 5 and avoid the other 20 at all costs.

This isn’t just about what you do, it’s about how you say no to those tempting secondary priorities to achieve real focus.

  • When you achieve 1 of your top 5, add a new goal from the 20.

This list is a work in progress, something on the ‘avoid at all cost’ list might become a priority as you achieve your top 5.

Limitations

While this dedicated focus is potentially powerful, by avoiding the 20 lesser priorities you might miss opportunities to find links or move them forward in the process of working on your ‘big 5’. It might also be too inflexible, and not allow for updating priorities or taking advantage of opportunities that might open up making your ‘20 list’ more possible or desirable.

In Practice

Buffett.

In some ways, this seems to link with the way Buffett and Munger apply the circle of competence. They seem to practice ruthless prioritisation. That said, it’s hard to track down specific examples of this model as it would involve what Buffett has not done.

Build your latticework

This model will help you to:

Buffettt’s two list model is a simple mental model that can be life changing if applied to life goals.

Use the following examples of connected and complementary models to weave Buffett’s two list model into your broader latticework of mental models. Alternatively, discover your own connections by exploring the category list above.

Connected models:

  • The pareto principle: in identifying highest value options, or your ‘top 5’.
  • Eisenhower matrix: in identifying high priority and high importance.
  • Kano or RICE score: in applying prioritisation to product development.

Complementary models:

  • Kanban: tracking priorities in a more dynamic, iterative approach.
  • Golden circle and Ikigai: in establishing purpose.

Origins & Resources

As noted in the overview, this model comes from Scott Dinsmore’s post here. I’m aware that it’s essentially a third-hand story - from the pilot to Scott, to us. But it’s grown in popularity and Buffett hasn’t corrected it. Either way, it’s a useful model for prioritisation so worth the inclusion.

Buffett's Two Lists (13) My Notes

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FAQs

What is the Buffett 25 5 rule? ›

The rule is simple: identify the 25 most important things on your to-do list, prioritize them, and then focus on the top five items while ignoring the rest.

What are the two rules of Warren Buffett? ›

Warren Buffett once said, “The first rule of an investment is don't lose [money]. And the second rule of an investment is don't forget the first rule. And that's all the rules there are.”

What is the 70 30 rule Warren Buffett? ›

What Is a 70/30 Portfolio? A 70/30 portfolio is an investment portfolio where 70% of investment capital is allocated to stocks and 30% to fixed-income securities, primarily bonds.

What are Warren Buffett's 5 rules? ›

A: Five rules drawn from Warren Buffett's wisdom for potentially building wealth include investing for the long term, staying informed, maintaining a competitive advantage, focusing on quality, and managing risk.

What is the Warren Buffett way formula? ›

Buffett uses the average rate of return on equity and average retention ratio (1 - average payout ratio) to calculate the sustainable growth rate [ ROE * ( 1 - payout ratio)]. The sustainable growth rate is used to calculate the book value per share in year 10 [BVPS ((1 + sustainable growth rate )^10)].

How many hours a day does Warren Buffett read? ›

Indeed, the Oracle of Omaha has said that he spends “five or six hours a day” reading books and newspapers. And while it may be difficult to set aside nearly a full work day's worth of hours to read, it recently got a little bit easier to consume information like Warren Buffett.

What did Warren Buffett tell his wife to invest in? ›

Buffett said he revises his will every three years, and he still advises his wife to allocate 10% of her inheritance to short-term government bonds and 90% to a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.

Why Warren Buffett never split? ›

Warren Buffet has stated that he would never split the class-A shares of Berkshire Hathaway, even though they trade at almost $530,000 per share. His reasoning is that he wants to only attract long-term, high-quality buy-and-hold investors (like himself) and to discourage scalpers and day traders.

What is the Buffett rule bill? ›

The Buffett Rule is the basic principle that no household making over $1 million annually should pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families pay. Warren Buffett has famously stated that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, but as this report documents this situation is not uncommon.

How rich was Warren Buffett at 30? ›

His early life set the foundation for his future achievements. By age 21, Buffett's net worth was nearly $20,000, and by 26, it had grown to $140,000. By age 30, his net worth had grown to $1 million, a significant sum compared to the average family income in the U.S. at that time, which was around $5,600 per year​​.

What is the rule of 69 in investing? ›

The Rule of 69 is a simple calculation to estimate the time needed for an investment to double if you know the interest rate and if the interest is compounded. For example, if a real estate investor earns twenty percent on an investment, they divide 69 by the 20 percent return and add 0.35 to the result.

What is Warren Buffett's golden rule? ›

Among his various tips and tricks, lies Buffett's golden rule. And it's pretty straight forward: “Never lose money”.

What is Buffett's first rule of investing? ›

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett famously said: “The first rule of an investment is don't lose money. And the second rule is don't forget the first rule.” Being honest, I've never quite got it. Anybody who buys individual stocks surely has to accept they'll lose money at some point.

What is Warren Buffett's weakness? ›

His biggest weakness is the disadvantages of his strength. He is pretty strict and he doesn't really listen. His opinion are often right, but some don't end up right. When he goes down a track that doesn't make sense, he does not pay attention to anything, which is a weakness for a big business leader like him.

What is the Buffett's two list rule? ›

Buffett's Two Lists is a productivity, prioritisation and focusing approach where you write down your top 25 goals; circle your 5 highest priorities; then focus on those 5 while 'avoiding at all costs' doing anything on the remaining 20.

What is the 5 25 rule for productivity? ›

The Origin of the 5/25 Rule

This productivity strategy is said to have originated from advice Buffett gave to his pilot, Mike Flint. The essence of the rule is not just about focusing on the top 5 goals but also about actively avoiding the remaining 20 goals until the priority ones are achieved.

What is the 25-5 rule in eq? ›

First, Buffett told Flint to make a list of his top 25 career goals. Then, Buffett said to circle the top five goals. But here comes the interesting part. The idea is, to remain focused on accomplishing goals 1 through 5, you have to stay completely away from working on goals 6 through 25.

What is the 5 25 rule for life? ›

The 5/25 rule is a tool that you can use to prioritize your goals so that you can realistically focus your efforts and succeed. The rule says to narrow down a list of your top 25 goals to 5 that truly speaks to you. Keep a list of the other 20 goals as reminders that these goals are distractions from your true goal.

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