This post is going to be a little different compared to my normal posts.
I recently finished reading Oprah Winfrey’s book ‘What I Know For Sure’.
In the book, she shares some excellent life lessons.
It’s awesome, and I thought I would share a few life lessons I’ve learnt over the years.
- Focus on building your net worth rather than trying to look rich. Constantly upgrading your car and phone etc is a loser’s game. Get your finances right then you can look at buying toys.
- Never stop building your skill set. In a few years there will be another young hot shot who will try take your lunch. You’ve got an experience head start on them, so keep it.
- Add value for people and expect nothing in return. If they return the favour, it’s a bonus. I’ve had favours I’ve done for people 10 years ago come back around in spades when they later became successful.
- Outlearning your competition is a must in business. You can be broke, dumb, crippled and useless – but there is no excuse for not putting in the hours to learn. People have written books containing everything you’ll ever need to know about a topic. Steal the books if you have to.
- The day you stop trying to take shortcuts is the day you’ll start making real progress. A great book on this is, ‘The Obstacle is the way’.
- Embrace the fact that you’ll have to get good at sales. Just because you’re an introvert etc, doesn’t mean you can’t sell. You’ll just sell differently, adapt it to suit you. I’m sure there are some scenarios where you might be able to outsource it, but selling at it’s core is persuasion and communication skills. You struggle generally if you can’t get that right anyway.
- You will achieve anything if you persist long enough. In most cases, people aren’t prepared to invest 5-10 years into achieving something. Be committed for the long haul, and assume there’s no other option.
- Your reputation in life is everything. People will talk behind your back about you so make sure you give them a reason to say good things. Assume you’re on Big Brother and there’s always a camera watching your every move.
- Running a business is an absolute privilege. There are people on the other side of the world who would kill to have 1/20th of the opportunity you have in a Western country. Think about that next time you’re crying about losing a customer.
- You’ll never get what you don’t ask for. For that meeting, for that sale, for that date. If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no. Even if it feels awkward, just ask and see what happens.
- Don’t wait to be ‘successful’ to be happy. Look for ways to enjoy the journey right now, why deprive yourself of happiness for some arbitrary point that could be 5, 10 or 20 years away.
Feel free to share any below that you’ve found to be true.
Have a top weekend,
Ray
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