Have posters with the quotes “Hang in there” and “Be true to yourself” always ticked you off?
What if we told you that we have some real-life quotes and advice from wildly successful people and how they came to achieve their astronomical success and millionaire status?
Welcome to Snapreads! Today, our topic covers 9 super successful people who share tips on the benefits of changing your perspective. Ready to get a head start on life? Let’s get started!
The 5 Second Rule
by Mel Robbins
⏱ 16 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Steve Jobs
The late billionaire owner and founder of the money-making machine and trend-setter that is known as Apple has said a lot of iconic quotes over the years, but one of them that resonates the most is, “Don’t just follow your passion, but something larger than yourself.”
What strikes as odd for this particular advice is that people are always telling you to follow your dreams and passions, but Jobs went up and beyond. He advised that we were placed here to “put a dent in the universe.”
Jobs’ biographer, Walter Isaacson, penned this next quote, which Jobs told him while he was very ill. “Yeah, we’re always talking about following your passion, but we’re all part of the flow of history … you’ve got to put something back into the flow of history that’s going to help your community, help other people … so that 20, 30, 40 years from now … people will say, this person didn’t just have a passion, he cared about making something that other people could benefit from.”
This wisdom especially extends towards those who weren’t exactly born with a true calling and sense of purpose they have always known. Steve Jobs is the perfect example of that. If you had caught a young Jobs, whose true passion wasn’t really technology and personal computers, he’d be studying Shakespeare, dance, and calligraphy. He wanted to change the world and realized that personal computers could do that. Instead of waiting for the world to offer him something, he saw what he could offer the world.
And if that doesn’t change the way you think, then this next nugget of wisdom from Steve Jobs may. He urged, “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.”
Bill Gates
How did Bill Gates rise up to become one of the world’s wealthiest people and run one of the most successful innovative companies in the world? He had a specific mindset that wasn’t afraid of change.
According to him, “People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn’t they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines… There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters.”
Fear holds us back dramatically. To adopt this mindset, we need to change the way we think. Our minds are hard-wired to fight back when we face uncertainty. In fact, some people prefer to deal with a negative outcome than to take a risk over an uncertain result. But you can train yourself to not only face your fears but also thrive in that change.
Warren Buffet
As the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett has bestowed upon the world heaps of wisdom. Buffett’s strategy in doing business and in solving his problems is simple.
Literally. He believes in keeping things simple. If you look at his calendar, you’ll find that it’s quite simplistic. And according to Gates, if you mention a case that has fewer complications, that’s when he’ll choose to invest in it. “He picks the things that he’s got a model of, a model that really is predictive and that’s going to continue to work over a long-term period. And so his ability to boil things down, to just work on the things that really count, to think through the basics—it’s so amazing that he can do that. It’s a special form of genius.”
Lloyd Blankfein
This may be one of the most untraditional, unconventional tips shared by a super successful person.
If you’re not familiar with Lloyd Blankfein, he is an American investment banker and the senior chairman of Goldman Sachs. And he had a net worth of a whopping $1.1 billion.
This is the tip that has guided him up the ranks of banking, and it’s one that will shock you.
“Chill out.”
He shared this quote during a speaker series where he addressed interns from Goldman Sachs. “There’s not a sport—there’s not an activity in life where, if you have a really hard grip, you actually are better. Whether it’s baseball or golf … the looser you are, the further the thing goes, because it’s a lot easier to whip around a string than a stick. If you’re tight, I’m speaking metaphorically, if you’re really tight you’re not necessarily better.”
Arianna Huffington
In line with that Lloyd Blankfein preached, Arianna Huffington believes in something similar—not working yourself to death. In fact, Huffington firmly believes that you should, in her own words, “Sleep your way to the top.”
She means it literally. Eight full hours of sleep every night.
On a LinkedIn post, Huffington shared that she’s often asked if she thinks ambitious young people who are chasing their dreams should burn the candle at both ends.
Her answer: “This couldn’t be less true. And for far too long, we have been operating under a collective delusion that burning out is the necessary price for achieving success.”
This is a tip that a young Arianna would have benefited from. She wishes she could tell her younger self, “Your performance will actually improve if you can commit to not only working hard but also unplugging, recharging, and renewing yourself.”
Richard Branson
This next tip doesn’t actually come from Richard Branson. It’s from his mother, but it’s the tip that pushed him to create his billion-dollar empire. “Never look back in regret—move on to the next thing.”
He revealed that the “amount of time people waste dwelling on failures, rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes” him. He added, “A setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve.”
Eric Schmidt
While this next tip appears in Katie Couric’s book, The Best Advice I Ever Got, it was actually suggested by Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt told Couric, “Find a way to say yes to things. Say yes to invitations to a new country, say yes to meet new friends, say yes to learn something new. Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids.”
Queen Latifa
To change things up a bit, let’s take someone who isn’t a technology or business entrepreneur. How about an iconic, successful actress? One of the most recognizable and acclaimed actresses is Queen Latifah.
Whether you’re a fan or not, her tip will make you want to get out of your chair and pursue your ambitions! She says, “I’ve always approached things with hunger and just enough fear. Plenty of confidence, you know, but just enough fear to work extra hard. Paralyzing fear does nothing, but the kind of fear that makes you nervous enough to really be aware and focused? I like that kind of fear.”
Mark Zuckerberg
When it comes to sharing wisdom about changing the way you think, who better to ask than Facebook Co-founder and business magnate Mark Zuckerberg? He’s one of the few billionaires in the race to become a trillionaire. In fact, it’s estimated that he’ll possess a trillionaire status by 2026 when he turns 51.
Zuckerberg has a policy that changed his life, and this is something he does almost every day. He asks himself, “Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?”
If the answer is an echoing, resounding “no,” then you’ll know that change must take place.
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