Warren Buffett was mad at his pilot.

Furious!

His pilot didn’t understand why.

It wasn’t because he was bad at his job… he was GREAT at his job.

It wasn’t because he was a bad guy, either… Buffett thought he was a GREAT guy.

It wasn’t because he was paying him too much.

Truth be told, he probably wasn’t paying him enough.

Buffett was mad because… he was still his pilot.

"The fact that you’re still working for me tells me I’m not doing my job,” said Buffett. “You should be out, going after more of your goals and dreams."

The pilot protested. He HAD been working on his dreams. He told Buffett about all of the projects he’d been working on.

Buffett wasn’t impressed. He saw why the pilot wasn’t moving forward.

He told the pilot to write down his top 25 goals.

“Good,” he said. “Now circle your top 5.”

The pilot did so.

“Good,” he said. “Now forget about everything else and work on these.”

That’s how the Oracle of Omaha’s “5/25 rule” was born.

Below, James reveals why this rule is so important in his own life…

And how you can incorporate it into yours.

Read on.

The Warren Buffett 5/25 Rule

James Altucher

The Warren Buffett 5/25 rule has been very important to me.

Buffet perhaps had many interests in his long life. But investing is the one thing he mastered above all else.

In the 5/25 rule, he discusses his technique to master something when confronted with many passions.

1. The 5/25 rule, part 1

List the 25 things you are most passionate about.

2. The 5/25 rule, part II

Split them into two lists. The top 5 items and then the next 20. Note, you are still insanely passionate about the next 20. They are just numbers 6-25 on your list.

3. The KEY to the 5/25 rule

NEVER LOOK OR THINK ABOUT THE BOTTOM 20 AGAIN

4. Extension of this:

When you are in a period of really trying to master something, perhaps this is the 1/10 rule or 2/10 rule.

5. My 25.

I'm not going to include things like health or family because no matter what, those always have to be important in life. These are more subjects or skills that I would like to get better at:

1) writing

2) investing

3) chess

4) entrepreneurship

5) teaching

6) playing the piano

7) poker

8) shooting pool

9) ping pong

10) making a TV show

11) writing a novel

12) standup comedy

13) starting a hedge fund

14) learning a new language

15) Go

16) Backgammon

17) Math / Physics

18) getting my old computer programming skills back, particularly in regards programming with crypto or AI

19) flying a plane

20) learning a martial art

21) memory techniques

22) acting

23) singing

24) breakdancing (hey, I loved doing it as a 10 year old. Why not continue learning it?)

25) parkour (why not?)

6. But if I take the top 5

Writing, investing, chess, entrepreneurship, teaching, then according to the Warren Buffett rule these are the ONLY things I should focus on.

7. And I need to ignore the bottom 20.

When I was a kid, I took piano lessons. I have piano. I could take lessons again. But it's not in my top 5. Nor is poker, even though I occasionally play at a casino. But I won't study it. Nor is standup comedy, which I did every day for seven years and now NEVER do.

8. The results, part one:

Writing: Last year I wrote two books. I'm also creating a course on how to write and publish your first book.

Chess: I've been studying 4-5 hours a day, I just won the Georgia Senior Championship (after a 25 year break in playing in tournaments), and I'm writing a book about how to improve as an adult over 50.

9. The results, part two:

Investing: This is the way I make a living.

Teaching: I love to teach the above whenever I can. And I love studying the meta-art of learning and success. This is what my recent book, "Skip the Line" is about.

Entrepreneurship: This helps with my investing. I love to help beginning entrepreneurs as well as start my own companies (I am involved in two startups now, including Notepd, the "social network of ideas".

10. Note, they are all one thing:

I combine my top five:

- I write about investing

- I use entrepreneurship skills, and investing skills, to make each better

- I am writing about my chess journey

- Learning chess is also learning about learning

- I am passionate about teaching writing or business.

11. Plus, Minus, Equal + the 5/25 rule

In fact, in the "plus, minus, equals" rule shared with me by MMA champion Frank Shamrock, I often seek out "plusses" - people I can learn from , "minuses" - people I can teach, and "equals" - people I can compare notes with. Minuses are an important part of teaching and learning at the same time.

12. Regrets, I have some

I do wish I were better at the piano. Or I had time to study poker. Or continue to do standup comedy. I spent so much time on these things and I miss them. But I DO NOT want to distract from my top five. It is precisely this rule that helps me avoid distractions that I am passionate about so I could do my best to MASTER the top five.

13. Does it work?

You tell me. Write your top 25. Do the 5/25 split. And try it for a while and please tell me what happens. I want to eventually do a book on 5/25 stories I hear.