Life Is What You Make It

Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment

By: Peter Buffett

Narrated by: Peter Buffett

From composer, musician, and philanthropist Peter Buffett comes a warm, wise, and inspirational book that asks which you will choose: the path of least resistance or the path of potentially greatest satisfaction?

You may think that with a last name like his, Buffett has enjoyed a life of endless privilege. But the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that the only real inheritance handed down from his parents was a philosophy: Forge your own path in life. It is a creed that has allowed him to follow his own passions, establish his own identity, and reap his own successes.

In Life Is What You Make It, Buffett expounds on the strong set of values given to him by his trusting and broadminded mother, his industrious and talented father, and the many life teachers he has met along the way.

Today's society, Buffett posits, has begun to replace a work ethic, relishing what you do, with a wealth ethic, honoring the payoff instead of the process. We confuse privilege with material accumulation, character with external validation. Yet, by focusing more on substance and less on reward, we can open doors of opportunity and strive toward a greater sense of fulfillment. In clear and concise terms, Buffett reveals a great truth: Life is random, neither fair nor unfair.

From there, it becomes easy to recognize the equal dignity and value of every human life. Our circumstances may vary, but our essences do not. We see that our journey in life rarely follows a straight line but is often met with false starts, crises, and blunders. How we push through and persevere in these challenging moments is where we begin to create the life of our dreams - from discovering our vocations to living out our bliss to giving back to others.

Personal and revealing, instructive and intuitive, Life Is What You Make It is about transcending your circumstances, taking up the reins of your destiny, and living your life to the fullest.

©2010 Peter Buffett (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"Peter Buffett has given us a wise and inspiring book that should be required reading for every young person seeking to find his or her place in the world, and for every family hoping to give its daughters and sons the best possible start in life." (Bill Clinton)

"Knowing and admiring Peter as we do, Life Is What You Make It captures his spirit, passion, and values beautifully. As parents, it's the kind of dialogue about our life's purpose and opportunity we're having with our children. We will have everyone in our family read and discuss Life Is What You Make It." (Bill and Melinda Gates)

lacked depth for the average person

I enjoyed listening to this book. I believe the author was honest and sincere. I think the best part of the book was listening to his outlook on life. The Buffett family has such a great outlook. I only ranked the book a 3 because it wasn't very applicable to my life. My outlook on life was already that you can choose which direction to go in life, so this book didn't offer any advice that I really wanted to act on.

A Must Read

Whether you’re confused or have figured things out, young or old, successful or not, happy and content or not, starting out or retiring, whoever you may be, this is a must read. It is life-changing, thought provoking, and heartwarming.

Excellent treatise on life and choices

The author gives a fantastic perspective on privilege, choices, and happiness. There are a lot of great wisdom and stories that are relatable to anyone's life.

Contains insights but lack actionable steps

This book has great stories of Peter Buffett and provided some of his valuable life insights. I wish the book is more versatile in the stories; I noticed that I yearn for more as the stories seem to repeat itself half way through the book.

Morals are everything

This book is one of the best I had heard! It's all about self respect and doing what you like to do, it actually inspire me to change my life!

Read this book

if you consider handing a significant amount money to your kids. Money at a young age can destroy ambition and potential talent. Give this book to your kids if they already have the money. Make them live their own life and earn their own living. This way they will be proud of themselves and enjoy the extra money in a reasonable way.

Very Slow ,

I like that it had a Great Title
I didn’t like that the journey of this man , just dropped. It had no, excitement!

I did finish this book , I’m thinking maybe a older person would like. Just was not my interest. 😃

Buena reflexión

Es una buena reflexión de las bases para una vida significativa, desde un punto de vista individual que se convierte colectivo.

Amazing

I really enjoyed this book and identified myself on Buffets words and ideas. You will hopefully find in this book a light to understand your own real vocations in life and make decisions. Thank you!

A reminder to commit

I enjoyed the author’s shared learnings as well as his musical melodies throughout. It was interesting to hear about how well his parents did to instill self-drive, values and selflessness in their children.