Being the Best at What You Love to Do

“Once you have found out what you love to do, there is only one goal.
How can you be the best in the world at it.
It doesn’t matter if you are a filing clerk, an athlete, an accountant or a bartender.
All that matters is that you do whatever you can to be the best.”

~ Mark Cuban,
Businessman, Investor,
Owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures

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Like a Chapter in Your Life’s Book

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.
We can help write that story by setting goals.”

~ Melody Beattie,
Author

The Keys to The Doorway of Personal Excellence

“The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential …
these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”

~ Confucius,
Teacher, Editor, Politician & Philosopher

Fear Aware

“Being aware of your fear is smart.
Overcoming it is the mark of a successful person.”

~ Seth Godin ,
Author, Entrepreneur, Marketer, and Public Speaker

To Build It to Sell It

“3 Tips to Build Your Company to Be Sold
1. Build a company/product that solves a real problem.
2. Figure out growth strategy
3. Be lean.“

~ Chinedu Echeruo,
Founder & CEO of Gigameet,
Founder of Hopstop & Tripology,
Investment Bank Analyst & Hedge Fund Analyst

Viral-ness? No, Evergreen? Yes

“I wouldn’t recommend viral-ness:
invest in evergreen content
that people can still look at in 5 years.”

~ Michelle Phan,
Co-Founder of Ipsy, Make-Up Demonstrator-Entrepreneur,
YouTube Video Blogger, Author, Lancôme Video Make-up Artist (2010)
& L’Oreal Cosmetic Line ’em by Michelle Phan’ (2013)

Know, Love & Believe It

“If you want to be successful,
it’s just this simple:
Know what you are doing.
Love what you are doing,
and believe in what you are doing.”

~ William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers ,
Cowboy, Vaudeville Performer, Humorist, Newspaper Columnist,
Social Commentator, Stage Actor & Motion Picture Actor

Lofty Goals

“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.”

~ Bo Jackson,
Baseball and Football Player (1983-1994)
Co-Owner & CEO of Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex,
Co-Owner of The Burr Ridge Bank and Trust;
Heisman Trophy (1985)

100% In

“I learned to put 100 percent into what you’re doing.
I learned about setting goals for yourself,
knowing where you want to be and
taking small steps toward those goals.
I learned about adversity and how to get past it.”

~ Kristi Yamaguchi
a.k.a Kristine Tsuya Yamaguchi,
Ladies’ Singles U.S. Olympic Champion (1992), World Champion (1991 & 1992),
U.S. Champion (1992), World Junior Pairs Skating Champion (1988),
National Pairs Skating Champion (1989 & 1990),
& U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Inductee (2005),
Founder – Always Dream Foundation,
Designer – Tsu.ya Activewear, Author,
Asian Excellence Awards (2008), Sonja Henie Award (2008),
Thurman Munson Award, Women’s Sports Foundation Flo Hyman Award,
& Great Sports Legends Award

You Are. You Have. You Can.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

~ Arthur Ashe,
Tennis Player, Grand Slam winner(3x)
Wimbledon Singles, US Open & Australian Open winner

Acumen’s Discernment

“Leaders are people who can discern the inevitable and act accordingly.
When people talk about business acumen, discernment is a big part of it.
It’s a bit like gut instinct, but a little more developed.”

~ Donald John Trump,
Businessman, Politician, Television Personality, Author,
Chairman & President of The Trump Organization,
Founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts

Turning the Invisible

“Setting goals is the first step
in turning the invisible into the visible.”

~ Anthony Robbins
a.k.a Anthony J. Mahavorick,
Life Coach, Speaker, Actor, Philanthropist & Author

Challenging Ourselves

“With each new painting, I challenge myself
to do something — anything — that I’ve never done before.
This game keeps me from falling into habitual ruts
and places me on the edge of what is known.
Inevitably, this keeps my painting process very interesting!“

~ Flora Bowley,
Painter. Teacher & Author

Have Business-Fun!

“Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable
when you’re trying to do more than just make money.”

~ Tony Hsieh,
Internet Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist,
Co-Founder of Venture Frogs & Author

No Slouching, Please!

“Never slouch as doing so compresses the lungs, overcrowds other vital organs,
rounds the back, and throws you off balance.”

~ Joseph Pilates,
Author & Inventor of Pilates

Friendships of the Genuine Kind

“My advice is to stop trying to “network” in the traditional business sense,
and instead just try to build up the number and depth of your friendships,
where the friendship itself is its own reward.
The more diverse your set of friendships are,
the more likely you’ll derive both personal and business benefits
from your friendship later down the road.
You won’t know exactly what those benefits will be,
but if your friendships are genuine,
those benefits will magically appear 2-3 years later down the road.”

~ Tony Hsieh,
Internet Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, Co-Founder of Venture Frogs & Author

Are We Mentoring?

“I try to mentor as many people as I can.”

~ Betty W. Liu,
News Anchor, Business Journalist, Author,
Dow Jones Newswires Award (1997),
“Top 30 Business Journalists Under 30 List (2000-2002, 3x)
& Central High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame (2011)

Good, Hard, Honest

“Work hard, be honest, and keep good company.”

~ Mr. & Mrs. Gene Bronner,
Farmer & Homemaker

Somebody Who Knows Someone, Who Knows Someone

“I do believe in six degrees of separation.
You can always find somebody who knows someone
who knows someone who knows that person.
That kind of skill is so important in whatever profession you are in —
whether it is journalism or you’re an entrepreneur
or you’re a banker and or you’re a professor. “

~ Betty W. Liu,
News Anchor, Business Journalist, Author,
Dow Jones Newswires Award (1997),
“Top 30 Business Journalists Under 30 List (2000-2002, 3x)
& Central High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame (2011)

Be Bouncy & Bounce Back Well

“People fail all the time.
I can even point to this book project.
The number of book proposals I’ve had out there outweighs
the number of books that I’ve actually written, by ten-fold.
For every success, there are about a dozen failures behind that.
How do you take that then into your everyday life?
What I’ve found is much of it is about attitude.
How do you bounce back?
How you bounce back is more important than the failure itself.

If you have that positive attitude — …, you are a perennial optimist as well —
it can mean such a difference to the path of your career
versus being taken down by it and wallowing in that mistake….”

~ Betty W. Liu,
News Anchor, Business Journalist, Author,
Dow Jones Newswires Award (1997),
“Top 30 Business Journalists Under 30 List (2000-2002, 3x)
& Central High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame (2011)

To Stay on Top of Things

When asked to share her secret to having a long career in a competitive industry:

“There is no secret. Prayer, good old-fashioned hard work, giving the personal touch,
never compromising my integrity, listening to good business advice
and keep a talented group of people on my team to help me stay on top of everything.”

~ Egypt Sherrod,
Multi-media Personality, Author, Real Estate Expert and Philanthropist.

~ Image via NAME HERE

Just as Business Partners

“My husband and I sit down, just as business partners, around our kitchen table
and look at the schedule for the week and figure out
where we need to be and what we need to do,
what each of our commitments are and
what our children’s commitments are”

~ Egypt Sherrod,
Multi-media Personality, Author, Real Estate Expert and Philanthropist.

When YOU Own a Company

“Yes, I own my own company, and I prefer to say ‘mompreneur’.
Being a mommy you have to run your house, you’ve got to run your kids’ lives.
I think the key, and my number one tip, is making sure you have a great support team set up,
and communication within your household is key at all times.
It really comes into play when you have appointments, you know,
when you have to be here, so you have to be sure to communicate.”

~ Egypt Sherrod,
Multi-media Personality, Author, Real Estate Expert and Philanthropist.

It So Delights Them

“Fast growth comes from overwhelming the smallest possible audience
with a product or service that so delights that
they insist that their friends and colleagues use it.
And hyper-growth is a version of the same thing,
except those friends and colleagues quickly become
even bigger fans, and tell even more people.”

“Often, we get sidetracked when we forget about “smallest possible.”
If you make the audience you’re initially serving too big,
you will dilute the very thing you set out to make;
avoid critical mass, and compromising the magic of what you’re building.
You’ll make average stuff for average people instead of something powerful for the few.
By “smallest possible” I don’t mean, “too small.”
I mean the smallest number that, eventually,
leads to the kernel of conversation that enables you to grow.”

~ Seth Godin ,
Author, Entrepreneur, Marketer, and Public Speaker

~ Image via NAME HERE

Time-Binding the To-Do Lists

“Block your calendar to achieve wins.
One of the most common mistakes people make at the office
is not turning to-do lists into time-bound, effective project lists.
I’ve found that people who have mastered this hack
are far more likely to deliver tasks on time.

It’s simple: For each of the big things on your list,
block off the amount of time on your calendar
that you estimate the task might take — and
then add 33% more time just to be sure.”

~ James Reinhart,
Co-founder of thredUp.com