Warren Buffett has spent decades giving advice about investing, but the most valuable lesson he ever received had nothing to do with stock picking. It came from his father, and it's about something much more fundamental: how to live a happy life.

The Inner Versus Outer Scorecard

Speaking to students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln back in 2005, Buffett shared what he considers the most important thing his father taught him. "I got an awful lot of good advice from my dad," he recalled. "He taught me that it's more important in terms of what's in your inner scorecard than your outer scorecard."

The distinction matters. As Buffett explained it, too many people spend their lives worrying about external validation. "Some people get into a position where they think all the time what the world is going to think of this or that, instead of what they themselves are going to think about it," he said.

The inner scorecard represents the values that actually matter to you, the standards you hold yourself to when nobody's watching. The outer scorecard, by contrast, is everything others can measure—your wealth, your titles, your reputation. Buffett's take is straightforward: "If you can find peace and comfort with your inner scorecard, you're going to live a happy life. But people often subscribe to the outer scorecard."

Success That Can't Be Measured In Dollars

This philosophy shows up repeatedly in how Buffett talks about success. He's told audiences over the years that "the amount you are loved is the ultimate measure of success in life." He's also encouraged people to choose work they'd still pursue even if money weren't a consideration.

Coming from one of the world's wealthiest people, the message carries a particular weight. Buffett isn't dismissing wealth—he's just saying it shouldn't be the scoreboard you're watching.

Not Just Talk

The real question with advice like this is whether the person giving it actually lives by it. According to those who know Buffett, he does.

Investor Guy Spier, who paid for a charity lunch with Buffett and later wrote "The Education of a Value Investor," observed the philosophy in action. "One of Buffett's defining characteristics is that he so clearly lives by his own inner scorecard," Spier wrote, according to a 2019 CNBC article. "It isn't just that he does what's right, but that he does what's right for him."

Spier added, "There's nothing fake or forced about him. He sees no reason to compromise his standards or violate his beliefs."

Even Buffett's first wife, Susan, described his relationship with money in similar terms. "It wasn't the money itself … It's all mental with him; the money is his scorecard," she said. For Buffett, investing became a way to test his judgment rather than a path to funding an extravagant lifestyle.

The lesson from Buffett's father turns out to be remarkably simple: figure out what matters to you, live according to those values, and don't let the world's opinion override your own judgment. Easy to say, perhaps harder to do—but according to the Oracle of Omaha, it's the foundation of a happy life.