The Buffet name is a game-changer whenever you see it plastered anywhere, almost as sure as the sun rises each morning. Contrary, though, to what many people think, the buffet family is not solely related to the wealth that the patriarch, Mr. Warren Buffet, has accumulated over the years. This is the insight that the son, Peter Buffet, has delved into in this amazing book- revealing the intricacies of tagging along with him the Buffet name all his life and how he realized with time, that despite your background, you will always have to personally chart a course for your life. This is basically, a cumulative life story of the lessons a billionaire’s son learned in his life straight from childhood and how these lessons shaped his entire life.

Many people delve into this book looking for money-making ideas or how to become billionaires in get-rich-quick schemes. To their utter surprise, they realize that the book they are headed into will awaken in them a deeper understanding of what really matters in life and that the journey of a wealthy man is not all about making money but is an all-round journey of life, love and hard work. As you go further and further through the pages, you realize that not only does a billionaire have a similar lifestyle as yours- full of pain, struggle and sacrifice, but also that this billionaire is limited in his capacity as a human with weaknesses, just as you are.

One of the things that stood out for me the most in this book is the fact that Peter opens up his life and that of his family to the world. We realize the kind of parents he has, the siblings he has, the responsibilities he was given and the life that he had to deal with, and still deal with, coming from a billionaire’s family. This exposure is what ‘normalizes’ wealth by building a bridge between life’s different aspects of both the rich and the poor.

Peter, in his book famously says that, unlike what most people think, the greatest gift that he inherited from his father is a philosophy: Forge your path in life. This would come as a surprise to people as they would expect Warren to give his son a portion of his empire, no matter how meager it could have been. Surprisingly, Peter records of only being given only $90k to kickstart his life when he was 19years old. How does a billionaire pass on just a philosophy to his son and an almost insignificant amount of money compared to his vast estate? Well, this book further reveals just how important that decision was to both Warren and Peter Buffet.

Peter, who is now an award-winning musician, composer and philanthropist attributes his meek success to being allowed by his father to forge his path. Also vital to note is that Peter attributes his lifestyle, decision-making criteria and emotional stability to his family. Throughout the book, Peter reveals how much his mother shaped his character, not only through her teaching but involuntarily through how she lived her life. On the other hand, Peter learned the value of hard work, passionate pursuit and proper prioritizing from his father.

This ended up shaping his entire life as revealed throughout the book. Life is what you make it teaches you exactly that- you have control over how your life will turn out to be. The decisions one makes, the values they hold dear to them and how they spend their time are the largest contributors to what an individual makes out of their life. Classical!