Doom to fail if you’re not good at investing

not good at investing

You won’t succeed at what you’re not good at

At Berkshire Hathaway’s 2025 shareholders meeting, Warren Buffett said, “I don’t believe in those books that say you can succeed by putting in 10,000 hours of practice. Even if I spent 10,000 hours tap dancing, you’d all be sick of watching me do it.”

Buffett was likely referring to Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book, Outliers: The Story of Success, which popularized the idea that “mastering a skill or subject requires 10,000 hours of practice.” In Outliers, Gladwell called 10,000 hours a magic number—the amount of practice needed to become an expert in a field—applicable to playing the violin, writing novels, or almost anything else.

However, Gladwell later pointed out in Buffett’s speech at Berkshire Hathaway’s 2025 shareholders meeting that the so-called “10,000-hour rule” has been oversimplified. In 2014, he stated, “Practice is not a sufficient condition for success. Even if I played chess for 100 years, I wouldn’t become a grandmaster. The point is, talent requires a significant time investment to manifest.”

Note: for the book in detail, please see my post of “Outliers – great finding on 10000 hours“

The origins of the book “Outliers”

K. Anders Ericsson is the author of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.

In his 2008 book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell cited a figure from his research report to propose the now widely known “10,000-hour rule,” which is actually a misuse of research findings. The “deliberate practice” he emphasized not only involves the “quantity” of practice but also the “quality” of it.

In an interview with Michael Covel’s book, Trend Following Masters, Anders Erickson stated, “We completely agree with Grawell’s point. But there’s no magic line that means someone will become an expert after completing 10,000 hours of an activity. The key is to spend time trying to improve specific areas of expertise. If you can consistently train for thousands of hours, the evidence suggests you’re very likely to excel. With continued practice, you might even eventually become a world-class expert.”

Finding Your Own Path to Success

At the shareholders’ meeting, Buffett emphasized the importance of identifying your existing skills and passions, and then finding people who can teach you how to improve. Ideally, this means spending time with mentors, but reading the works of experts in your field is equally valuable.

Buffett, speaking of one of his most influential mentors, Graham, said, “If I spend 10 hours reading Graham’s books, I’ll definitely become very smart. Find your own path, and you’ll meet people willing to talk to you as you learn.”

Focus on What Truly Captivates You

Working in a lucrative career or industry that you’re not particularly interested in might be financially wise. However, if you pursue what you’re good at and passionate about, your chances of success are likely greater.

At the shareholders’ meeting, Buffett said, “If my ambition had been to become a ventriloquist or something, I certainly wouldn’t have succeeded. I just spent a lot of time on investing.”

For Buffett, the topic he was interested in happened to be a lucrative career path. But his success in investing was partly due to his teachers and mentors being impressed by his curiosity and happy to work with him.

He said, “Generally speaking, teachers like to have young students who are genuinely interested in the subject, and they will spend extra time guiding you.” Reflecting on his time at Columbia University, Buffett said his professors treated him “like their own sons.” He added, “I was interested in what they were teaching, and they found my interest interesting. So I focused on what truly fascinated me. I didn’t try to be someone else.”

Conventional Perspectives

Career experts generally believe that when making career decisions, your interests and natural skills are more important than your potential starting salary. For example, when choosing a college major, it’s best to choose a field of study that you are truly interested in, rather than just those you think will lead to a high-paying job. This approach can help you succeed academically and may yield good returns in the long run.

Kafui Quark, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Career Development and Experiential Learning at Quinnipiac University, previously told CNBC’s “The Road to Success” column, “Your interests might align with a job that pays well up from the start. For other jobs, you might start with a lower salary, but over time, your salary will steadily increase.”

Thinking quality is more important than practice quantity

Buffett often says that he spends most of his time reading and thinking, not “practicing” in the traditional sense. He values sound judgment, temperament, and decision-making over repetitive effort.

“You don’t have to be smarter than the rest. You have to be more disciplined than the rest.” — Warren Buffett

He thinks success comes from mental models, patience, and rationality, not merely hours logged.

Focus on strengths, not brute effort

Buffett argues that you should play in your “circle of competence.” In other words, know what you understand deeply and stay within that area. Spending 10,000 hours on something you’re not naturally good at may not make you great — it just makes you exhausted.

“The most important investment you can make is in yourself.” — Buffett
But that investment should be in what you’re naturally suited for, not what others tell you to master.

Closing words

This is why I repeatedly encourage investors not to blindly invest in the stock market. They should first have a genuine and profound understanding of themselves, and objectively analyze their own personality—for example, “Investors’ DISC test to assess your traits“, which can help investors understand themselves early on.

Doom to fail if you’re not good at investing, no matter how hard you try, you will not succeed!

not good at investing

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Author: Andy Lin

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