Quotes To Live By – Life Lessons from Richard Branson

richardbranson(Picture courtesy David Shankbone)

 Personal

“I enjoy every single minute of my life.”

“Right now I’m just delighted to be alive and to have had a nice long bath.”

“I made and learned from lots of mistakes.”

“If you can indulge in your passion, life will be far more interesting than if you’re just working.”

“And obviously, from our own personal point of view, the principal challenge is a personal challenge.”

“But the majority of things that one could get stressed about, they’re not worth getting stressed about.”

“I cannot remember a moment in my life when I have not felt the love of my family. We were a family that would have killed for each other – and we still are.”

Business

“You can’t be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.”

“I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off doing nothing.”

“We, we – as I say, we go in and shake up other industries and I think, you know, we do it differently and I think that industries are not quite the same as a result of Virgin attacking the market.”

“A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”

“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”

“I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.”

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Related Posts:
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~ Leadership – 25 Years From Now
~ Story: Sow Your Seeds Today
~ Quotes To Live By

Inspirational Leaders Need to be Performers

Performer_maistora
(Photo courtesy maistora)

Some interesting quotes from Marshall Goldsmith’s take on this topic ..

Every night, great performers pour their hearts into each production. Some have headaches, some have family problems, but it doesn’t really matter. When it’s show time, they give it all they have. Although it might be the thousandth time an actor has performed the part, it might be the first time the customer sitting in the fourth row has seen the production. To the true performer, every night is opening night.

Like great actors, inspirational leaders sometimes need to be consummate performers. When they need to motivate and inspire people, they do it. It doesn’t matter if they have a headache. They do whatever it takes to help their organization succeed. When they need to be “ON,” like the Broadway stars, it’s show time.

Think about your job. As a professional, is your job consistent with the person that you really want to be? If the answer is “yes,” be like the great actor. Put on a great show. Be the consummate professional. If the answer is “no,” change jobs as soon as you can. Why bother to become a better phony?

Related Posts:
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     ~
Finding Happiness
     ~ Frustrated? Focus on making a constructive
     ~ Best Friend At Work

Links of Interest – 27Oct2010

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5 Lessons MS Software Architect Ray Ozzie | Fast Company

1. Take time to paint a vision of the future
2. Put past successes “in perspective”
3. Recognize what’s inevitable in your industry
4. “Inevitable” is not the same as “imminent”
5. Real transformation has to come from within

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The Eight-Word Mission Statement | Harvard Business Review

Kevin Starr of Mulago Foundation insists that companies he funds can express their mission statement in under eight words. They also must follow this format: “Verb, target, outcome.”

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Why I don’t care about success | Zen Habits

~ Obviously, the first problem with success is how you define success
~ Success isn’t about achieving something in the future, but about doing something right now that you love.

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10 Wonderful Wildlife iPhone Photographs | Mashable

           

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50 ideas to change science forever | New Scientist

~ The internet telescope How the web gets beneath our skin
~
Lifelogging Digital immortality available now
~
…and many more

Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?

BusinessCard 
(Picture courtesy Shoa)

The story of how I was wrong ~ Inspirational presentation about how an MBA student found his true calling in life ~ Link (SlideShare presentation)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

What Entrepreneurship Means ~ Alicia Morga talks about her story about becoming an entrepreneur. Maybe you’ll discover you’re an entrepreneur. Maybe, you’ve been one all along. ~ Link (FastCompany video)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Should You Be An Entrepreneur? ~ A simple test of 20 questions to determine whether you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur ~ Link (HBR Blogs)
Reality Check

Career Design: Why Three Jobs Are Better Than One ~ Three blog posts that addresses the different aspects of making the shift away from a secure job (read all the 3 posts) ~ Link (blog post)
Inspiration | Real Life Story | Reality Check

Building India’s Amazon: Flipkart ~ The story of how the young techies moved from working for tech giants to working for themselves ..successfully ~ Link (interview)
Real Life Story

Khan Academy ~ An inspiring story of an individual pursuing his beliefs & doing a whole lot of good while at it ~ Link (About page)
Inspiration | Real Life Story

Living Self-Employed Online: The Manual They Forgot to Give You ~ Experiences & lessons from someone who has been at it for 18 months ~ Link (LifeHacker blog)
Lessons | Reality Check

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