The 50 Business + Life Lessons 2012 Taught Me(Robin Sharma)

Sunday, December 30, 2012

  1. Hard work is a force multiplier.
  2. Don’t participate in recessions.
  3. Exercising for 20 minutes first thing in the morning is a game-changer.
  4. If you’re not innovating daily, you’re on the path to obsolescence.
  5. If you want an A-Level company, you can’t afford to hire B-Level players.
  6. Procrastination is an escape mechanism for people scared to do their best work.
  7. Give your customers 10X the value they expect and they’ll tell everyone they know about you.
  8. Don’t do it if you’re not having fun.
  9. If you’re not scared a lot you’re not growing very much.
  10. Invest the time to create great social media content and your base will go global + viral.
  11. There’s never been a better time to be a social entrepreneur.
  12. It’s never been easier to be of service to a large amount of people (and few things are as rewarding).
  13. When no one else believes in your vision, you absolutely must stay true to your vision. (Have the guts to stay in the game far longer than makes any sense).
  14. The quickest way to build a superb business is to quickly develop the leadership potential of every teammate.
  15. A job is only a job if you choose to see your work as a job. All work is a noble sport. (The reality is all work is a chance to express your genius–and to inspire the world).
  16. People are craving transparency+authenticity and community. Give it to them.
  17. Creativity comes in seasons. There’s a time to harvest your ideas. And there’s a time to let the field sit fallow. (I’ve been working on integrating this lesson for years).
  18. Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax (When you relax, your brain shifts into alpha state–the time when million-dollar ideas present themselves).
  19. Change is hard at the beginning, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. (And without change, there is no progress).
  20. Someone’s going to win in your space. Why not you?
  21. 10X the size of your dreams because if you don’t, you’ll wish you did.
  22. Pursue excellence versus chasing perfection.
  23. Celebrate small wins and you’ll unleash a huge amount of momentum and positive energy.
  24. Learn for an hour a day, no matter what. That’s not a waste of work time. It’s a brilliant use of your work time because you’re paid to know more than anyone who has ever done your job.
  25. Why go for good at what you do when you can stand for iconic?
  26. Transform your fitness and you’ll transform your business.
  27. Delete victimspeak from your languaging. No more "I can’t" and "It’s not possible" and "It’s so hard." More "I will" and "This is awesome" and "What’s the opportunity here?"
  28. If you inspire one person each day, you’re day hasn’t been a waste. It’s been a blessing.
  29. Living in the past is disrespecting your future.
  30. Build an amazing career but enjoy your lifestyle along the way. What’s the point of becoming a business legend but a failed human being.
  31. Look people in the eyes when you talk to them. Smile at people when you see them. Say "please" to respect them. And "thank you" to appreciate them.
  32. Don’t be on time–Be early.
  33. The person who tries to do everything achieves nothing. Focus. Focus. Focus.
  34. Spend the first 90 minutes of your work day on real work versus fake work. (Another game-changing tactic that served me so very well in 2012).
  35. Spend time in silence each day. You’ll never do Jay-Z level work if you’re overstimulated by technology.
  36. Goal-setting is mission-critical. (Review your Big 5, quarterly goals and daily goals constantly).
  37. Your daily behavior broadcasts your truest beliefs.
  38. To have the results only 5% of businesspeople have, have the guts to do what only 5% of businesspeople are willing to do.
  39. World-class begins when you think you’ve done a great job but know you can do a better job.
  40. Remember that your greatest gift is so much stronger than your deepest fear.
  41. Everyone’s in Human Resources. And we are all paid to develop the talents of the people we work with.
  42. Mediocrity is a mindset. Avoid the mental viruses of negative people.
  43. Be the most honest person you know. It generally takes 30 years to build a fantastic reputation. And 30 seconds to lose it by a single silly move.
  44. Become a lion–not a sheep.
  45. People are always willing to pay for the best.
  46. The more devoted you become to serving others, the more your career begins to build itself.
  47. Problems come to test your commitment to your goals, hopes and dreams.
  48. As you become more successful, get more hungry.
  49. Join Traffic University. Use every possible moment in the car to upgrade your skills, polish your gifts and elevate your mindset.
  50. Use your life to make the world a better place.

Quotes(28-12-2012)

Friday, December 28, 2012

"Go out on a limb - that's where the fruit is"

-- Will Rogers

"All I can say about life is, Oh God, enjoy it!"

-- Bob Newhart

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

-- Maya Angelou

"The longer you wait for the future the shorter it will be."

-- Loesje

"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort."

-- Jesse Owens

"Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. "

-- H. Jackson Brown

"No matter how good an idea sounds, test it first. "

-- Henry Bloch

"Every exit is an entrance somewhere else."

-- Tom Stoppard

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

-- Brian Tracy

"You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

-- Christopher Columbus

"Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men's souls,

and a beautiful image it is."

-- Blaise Pascal

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

-- T.S. Eliot

Quotes(26-12-2012)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation."

-- Charles Kettering

"Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. "

-- Henry Ford

"Don't ever be afraid to admit you were wrong. It's like saying you're wiser today than you were yesterday."

-- Robert Newell

"I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often."

-- Brian Tracy

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Skill to do comes of doing."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth."

-- Benjamin Disraeli

"Comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, then a master. And then it becomes a tamer, and with a hook and whip it

makes puppets of your larger desires."

-- Kahlil Gibran

"It is not the position where you are standing, but which direction you are going."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The wisest mind has something yet to learn."

-- George Santayana

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished."

-- Lao Tzu

"Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of

encouragement and recognition."

-- Cavett Robert

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

-- Mark Twain

Quotes(13-12-12)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

"Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't."

-- Jerry Rice

"Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable do nothing."

-- William Feather

"Leaders are people who can discern the inevitable and act accordingly. When people talk about business acumen, discernment is a big part of it. It's a bit

like gut instinct, but a little more developed."

-- Donald Trump Biography

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

-- Albert Einstein

"It's not just other people we need to forgive. We also need
to forgive ourselves. For all the things we didn't do. All the
things we should have done."

-- Mitch Albom

"Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you
have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to
drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid
of not coming back. Say no when you don't want to do
something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if
everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be
liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than
finding out what you're doing here. Believe in kissing."

-- Eve Ensler

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty,
admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge,
meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life
is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life
is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it."

-- Mother Teresa

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

-- John Wooden

"Dont be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try."

-- Michael Jordan

Quotes(09-12-2012)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

"Events will take their course, it is no good of being angry at them; he is happiest who wisely turns them to the best account."

-- Euripides

"When I thought I couldn't go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck. "

-- Estee Lauder

"All seasons are beautiful for the person who carries happiness within." 

-- Horace Friess

"When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice."

-- William James

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. Alot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do

something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer. "

-- Nolan Bushnell

"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative."

-- H.G. Wells

"Ideas shape the course of history." 

-- John Maynard Keynes

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction."

-- Warren Buffett

"To be prepared is half the victory."

-- Miguel de Cervantes

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

-- Les Brown

"I've felt that dissatisfaction is the basis of progress. When we become satisfied in business, we become obsolete."

-- J. Willard Marriott Sr.

"What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself."

-- Hecato

"Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing."

-- Phil Jackson