Quote of the Day - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
“Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful than silence.”
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
“I am grateful for all of my problems. After each one was overcome, I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. I grew in all my difficulties.”
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want,and, if they can’t find them, make them.”
“Trials, temptations, disappointments — all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fibre of a character, but strengthen it. Every conquered temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than…it was before.”
Richard Branson’s 21 Survival Strategies
1. Remain focused on fulfilling your business mission. Never allow adversity divert your attention and efforts.
2. Don’t wait till you are big before you begin building your brand. Build a brand from scratch alongside your business.
3. Learn to use your brain power. Critical thinking is the key to creative problem solving in business.
4. Build your own business team. Survival in business requires a synergy of skills.
5. Never take your eyes off the cash flow because it’s the life blood of business.
6. If you are a new startup company, try not to arouse the interest or suspicion of your competition; especially if they are a bigger company. They can crush you while you are still in your startup phase. Lie low while still strengthening your bottom line.
7. Grow internally first. Strengthen your bottom line first before considering external growth.
8. Focus on your business strengths and keep its weaknesses away from the competition or public.
9. Be swift to take advantage of business opportunities. Bigger companies are too cumbersome to move quickly; this can be a competitive advantage for you.
10. Learn to live on the edge.
11. Be creative. Innovate consistently on the little things that the big companies ignore. Little things often make big differences in business.
12. Listen to the customer’s complaint and act fast.
13. Meet regularly with your business team and brainstorm. Intricate business problems are mostly resolved at brainstorming sessions.
14. Run lean; avoid unnecessary expenses.
15. Don’t hesitate to seek external help or advice where need be. Sometimes, it takes an external, emotionally unattached individual to detect your business flaws and render unbiased advice.
16. Follow your instincts and live with the consequences.
17. Avoid litigations. They are expensive and consume loads of time but if you have got a good case and a better chance of winning; then fight it out.
18. Free publicity and word of mouth is probably the best and cheapest form of advertising. Learn to use it to your advantage.
19. Learn to raise capital by any means necessary. That’s your primary job as an entrepreneur. You must continually raise capital from family and friends, banks, suppliers, customers and investors.
20. Seek out strategic alliances; they are essential to growth and provide resistance to bigger competition.
21. And if after all this you eventually fail; don’t take it personal. Don’t be ashamed to start all over again.
“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.”
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
“One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.”