In graduate school you learn all this complicated stuff, but what’s really
You have lived a successful life if, as you grow older, the people who you hope love you actually do.
you should never work for people who make your stomach churn or who keep you up at night. If you are in a situation like that, think about changing it.
Qualities of good character and integrity make an enormous difference in achieving success. I urge students to conduct various forms of Ben’s exercise. Most behavior is habitual.
The triumphs in life are triumphs because you know that not everything is going to be one.
Most people go through life using up a very, very small part of their potential.
If you don’t take care of your mind and body now, by the time you are forty or fifty you’ll be like a car that can’t go anywhere.
Rejection enrages me, but that “I’ll show you!” feeling is an extremely powerful motivator.
The most defeatist thing I hear is “I’m going to give it a couple of years.” You can’t set a clock for yourself. If you do, you are not a writer. You should want it so badly that you don’t have a choice. You have to commit for the long haul. There’s no shame in being a starving artist. Get a day job, but don’t get too good at it. It will take you away from your writing.
When someone rejects your work, register the fact that they don’t like it, but don’t listen to the reason why.
A great idea is worthless; execution is everything.
If your mind starts to wander to past events, the only advice I can give you is don’t go. Just stop it!
Be the first one in and the last one out. If you are there early and stay late, you get a chance to talk to people who would not otherwise take your call.
People want recognition and respect. When I walk into a building, I always make a point of shaking the hands of the security people at the door.
I wanted to do something that had a purpose. I wanted to lead an interesting life. I wanted to learn new things every day. I wanted to travel. But even though I was in touch with what I wanted, I had trouble taking a first step. I felt that any move I made would close off other opportunities, and I became obsessed with the notion of keeping my options open. This turned into a kind of paralysis that took me almost a year to get over.
There was no place I wouldn’t go. I didn’t let risks get in the way and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I know this sounds irrational, but I literally felt as if I had no other options. It wasn’t as if I were dabbling in this. I felt as if I didn’t have a choice. It had to work out. There was no Plan B.
Most people sweat it out for years and encounter some degree of humiliation and failure along the way.
I tell journalism students that there are three main steps to take: First, figure out what gets your adrenaline going. Next, figure out a way to make a career out of your passion. And finally, outwork everyone around you.
But you’re only going to be able to outwork others if you’re genuinely passionate about what you are doing.
It’s important not to be either too encouraged or too discouraged by what’s happening at any particular moment.
I see that all the time: people not having the patience to stay with something that could have been successful.
The average life of an encyclopedia salesman was three days, but I did it for three years! I was able to last so long because I truly believed that everyone needed a set of these books and that I was doing something good for my customers.
I have started so many businesses over the years, from diamonds to solar energy to manufacturing boats and pet supplies. The common thread among them is that they were each exciting to me at the time. The key is to be passionate about what you are doing— and then meticulous about the quality of what you produce. You don’t always know what you want to do in life, but you sure know when something isn’t right. My advice is that once you realize you don’t want to pursue something get out. The sooner you exit a situation that’s not meant to be, the sooner you can move toward your ultimate destiny.
Success unshared is failure. If you’ve “made it” and don’t help others out along the way— if you don’t do something to make the planet a better place— you’re not successful at all; you are a failure. But remember that you can’t help everybody out. You have to focus and contribute in ways that you think are most beneficial.
The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do all the things unsuccessful people don’t want to do.
This phenomenon, unfortunately, is not unique to science. Life is about competition. Certain people intensely dislike others because they’re either successful or do things differently. Politicians get this all the time for picking one party over another. It’s discouraging that people work at this basic level, but that’s part of humanity. You really need to believe in yourself and not let others’ opinions define you.
Success comes from doing something extraordinary with passion and intensity.
The harder I worked, the more successful I became. I was greatly relieved.
Don’t automatically be intimidated by people who have achieved more professional success than you, and don’t let your own insecurity bog you down.
One of them relates to how climbers differentiate between objective and subjective risks. An objective risk is something that can kill you. A subjective risk is something that just frightens you. The two are often extremely different, but, unfortunately, things that frighten you are often not the real dangers, and the real dangers are often things that don’t frighten you. As a result, our instincts don’t always work effectively.
The objective risk was wasting years of my life stuck in something that appeared attractive but that I really didn’t enjoy. A lot of entrepreneurship and innovation seems perilous, but it’s not. And a lot of things that seem safe and comfortable are, in fact, profoundly risky. That’s subjective versus objective risk.
When Disney did his animation in the 1920s, the same techniques were available to everybody else— he just did it in a magical way. Same with Jobs. Other people were producing technologically advanced computer devices when he was, but the way he put his products together had a certain spark. You don’t have to completely reinvent the wheel to be successful— the key is to do whatever you do in an imaginative, original way.
I do believe that one of the most important things you can do for your children is to not overschedule them. Children need time to be bored and daydream; it’s an important part of life. My daydreams motivated me and shaped my future.
The greatest lottery of life is where you’re born.
One day I just decided to be assertive and inject myself into the conversations. I discovered that if I was proactive in participating and shaping the discussion people would talk to me. From that experience I learned that I could influence how people interacted with me.
When you are generous, you will always feel good about yourself. If life ends up being generous in return, as it usually does with giving people, then you will have greater joy.
It’s important to put the idea of dying in your daily life because it helps you to appreciate your existence on this planet.
The excitement was still mostly in the interaction with other people.
I thought being a successful business leader was all about smarts and the ability to have a perfect view of the future. But I came to realize that while you need a decent view of the future what’s most important is being able to inspire your troops to be passionate, to believe what you believe, and to help you march in that direction.
I tell everyone who is charting new territory or pursuing big ideas that the best way to think about getting support is to view it as a search for allies.
Selling is kind of like fishing: To be successful, you have to be persistent and patient. It felt great to do well and being a good salesman is definitely a useful skill, but what I enjoyed most was communicating and interacting with people.
Authority is a short-lived phenomenon. It’s who is in charge now, but that doesn’t mean that they are right.
If I hadn’t allowed myself to venture off the beaten track, I wouldn’t have discovered an enthusiasm for something unexpected.
It’s important to be able to present your ideas well, especially in writing.
My big ideas frequently come at the very last moment, when a deadline is beating me up like crazy. I think we all have some fear of failure in us, and it’s a great motivator.
No matter what business you are in, remain focused on what you like and become very knowledgeable about it. If Ralph Lauren, for example, had been all over the place with his designs, he never would have been able to build what he has. Instead, he focused on something very specific and did it well.
It enabled me to dismantle the wall I had built around myself and connect more with people.
There are times when you know that you need to believe in yourself, be bold, and not go forward with something that doesn’t feel right.