← Your daily dose of motivation
144 quotes, page 1 of 5Mindset, money and thinking differently
Habits, judgement, selling honestly and seeing what others miss. About effort, never a promise of easy money.
We say who really said each one, and where the credit is uncertain we tell you. Every card is ours to share.
“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
Jim Rohn
Evening courses, library books, free lessons online: the cheapest investment there is, and the one that keeps paying.
“Profits are better than wages. Wages make you a living; profits can make you a fortune.”
Jim Rohn
Plenty of firms that now advertise jobs started as one person with a van and a plan.
“Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”
Warren Buffett, as widely quoted
In a small business, cash in the bank is what pays the wages on Friday. Guard it.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
Warren Buffett, letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (2008)
For employers: the cheapest hire is rarely the best value. For candidates: show the value, not only the rate.
“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
Warren Buffett
Training an apprentice this year is next decade's skilled team.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
Warren Buffett
One honest advert, one fair payslip, one kept promise at a time.
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”
Warren Buffett, letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (1986)
When everyone stops hiring, the brave firm picks up the best people.
“Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.”
Warren Buffett
Learn the job before you change it, and the business before you start one.
“Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.”
Often attributed to Warren Buffett. Shared everywhere as his; we could not find where he said it.
A little put aside from every payslip is what makes a career change possible later.
“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.”
Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (1758)
For a small firm, the subscriptions nobody uses are the leak. Check them every quarter.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
Often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. It is not in his writings; it was credited to him in the 20th century.
The licence, the ticket, the qualification: knowledge is the one investment nobody can take back.
“Think different.”
Apple's advertising slogan (1997)
The candidate whose CV looks different from the other hundred gets read first.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Apple's "Think Different" advert (1997). Written for the advert by the agency TBWA\Chiat\Day.
Every big employer was once one person with an idea most people laughed at.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Albert Einstein, interview in The Saturday Evening Post (1929)
Knowledge tells you how the job is done now. Imagination tells you how it could be done better.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
Often attributed to Albert Einstein. No source in his writings has been found.
Think past the obvious next job. Where could this skill take you in five years?
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
Often attributed to Henry Ford. There is no evidence he said it; it appears in print only from the 2000s.
Customers tell you their problem. Your job is to find the better answer.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Henry Ford, My Life and Work (1922)
A business that closed, a job that ended: both teach what to do differently next time.
“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.”
Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement address (2005)
Choose the career you want, not the one everyone expected of you.
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Y Combinator Startup School (2011)
Staying in a job you have outgrown is a risk too. It just feels safer.
“Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.”
Guy Kawasaki
Everyone has a business idea on a night shift. The ones who build them start on their day off.
“Done is better than perfect.”
A Facebook office poster, quoted by Sheryl Sandberg in Lean In (2013)
Launch the website, send the CV, open the shop. Improve it once it is out there.
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room.”
Attributed to Jeff Bezos. Widely credited to him; we could not find the original.
For employers, that is the reviews from your own staff. For workers, it is the reference.
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
Elon Musk, CBS 60 Minutes interview (2014)
Long odds on the job you really want? Apply anyway. Someone has to get it.
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.”
Tony Hsieh, as widely quoted
Firms that build something people value find the money follows. So do the best staff.
“Opportunities don't happen. You create them.”
Chris Grosser
Ring the depot, email the manager, walk into the site office. Opportunities like being asked for.
“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
Attributed to John D. Rockefeller. Credited to him widely; no letter or speech of his has been found with it.
A good job can be the thing that stops you applying for the great one.
“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”
Peter Drucker, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1985)
New rules, new technology, new habits: every change is somebody's new business.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.”
Wayne Gretzky, the ice hockey player (1983)
The application you do not send has no chance at all.
“Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”
George Addair
The first sales call, the first business card, the first day self-employed. Fear first, then the reward.
“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”
Wayne Dyer
Notice what is going right: the skills you have, the people who help. It changes how you walk into the room.
Other sections
- Work and keeping going (189)
- Starting a business (152)
- For leaders (41)
- Working with people (22)
- Mindset and habits (144)
- True stories of people who started small