Relationships are difficult and anyone who tells you that they have a perfect relationship is full of it.
That said, what are the most important factors in relationships?
In HBO’s 2017 documentary, “Becoming Warren Buffet,” one of the world’s most successful investors said that the most important decision in your life is who you choose to marry.
There have been two turning points in his life, “One when I came out of the womb and one when I met Susie,” said Buffett of his first wife, who died in 2004. “What happened with me would not have happened without her.”
Melinda Gates, who runs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband agrees, “If you choose to have a partner in life, whoever you choose is probably the most important decision you make.” She adds that it’s “even more important than what career you have, where you go to college, where you go to high school.”
Aside from choosing the right partner, is there anything else we can learn about relationships in general?
Buffett says, “You will move in the direction of the people that you associate with, so it’s important to associate with people that are better than yourself.”
He adds, “Basically, when you get to my age, you’ll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you.
“I know people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don’t care how big your bank account is — your life is a disaster. That’s the ultimate test of how you have lived your life.”