Buffett's 5/25 Rule

CORE DEFINITION

The rule attributed to Warren Buffett asks you to write down twenty-five goals, circle the five most important, and then treat the remaining twenty as an avoid-at-all-costs list rather than a secondary priority. The core proposition is that the near-important goals are the most dangerous, because they consume the same scarce attention and willpower as the essential ones without producing a breakthrough. The key qualification is that the avoidance is relative rather than permanent: the twenty become eligible once the five are achieved, so the list is a sequencing device rather than a verdict.