How to Be Positive in Thoughts and Actions

Do you sometimes wonder, how to be positive in your thoughts and actions, especially when you are unhappy and unsatisfied, or when life is difficult and tough? For many, it is difficult to be positive, even when things go well.

Though it's so simple, most people don't know how to be positive. Sometimes, they prefer to stay negative, because it is a more familiar state of mind.

Like every other subject, the know-how of how to be positive can be learned and the skill developed. It has much to do with changing your attitude and your mindset.

If you keep thinking the same thoughts, day and night, they might, sooner or later, manifest in your world, becoming your reality. This means that if you want your life to be as you want it to be, you have to be careful of what you think. You need to start thinking more positively.

Your Mind Creates Your Reality

How to Be Positive

1. Substitute your negative thoughts with positive ones, thoughts about poverty, with thoughts about wealth, weakness with strength, lack of self esteem with self esteem, disharmony with harmony. Whenever you catch yourself thinking negatively, fill your mind with opposite thoughts, of happiness and success.

1. Focus on what you want, not on what you don't want.

1. Focus your mind on the good things you already have in your life. This will cause them to increase in your life.

1. Do not fill your mind with thoughts of lack. Think and believe that you already have abundance, success, love and happiness.

1. Learn to feel, think and even act, as if you are already living the life you want. If you can feel, think and act consistently in this way, you will become happier, and will attract new opportunities into your life.

1. Think about what you want, create a picture of it in your mind, and make it very clear and precise. Hold it there and focus on it in a positive way, until it becomes a reality in your life.

1. Always tell yourself, "I can", "I am able", "I can do it".

1. Often, during the day, repeat positive affirmations about what you want. Do so with faith, feelings, intention and focus.

1. Look for the good in every situation. There is always something good, or at least something useful to learn, even in difficult or unpleasant situations.

1. Follow your positive thoughts with positive actions. It is not enough to think, you also need to act to make things happen.

1. Always focus your mind on the full half of the cup, not on the empty half.

1. Be aware of your company. Choose to be around positive people.

1. Read about other people's success. Read things that inspire you and make you feel good.

1. Focus your mind on how to be positive and you will discover more ways to be so.

As you think, so your life becomes. Changing your attitude and expectations, will sooner or later, change your life accordingly.

It is your mind that creates the kind of life you live. If you think positively, you will transform your life accordingly. Everything starts from within, from the most simple action, to the greatest achievement.

We cannot always control our external circumstances, but we can control our inner world of thoughts, where everything begins. We cannot always control our outer universe, but we can, with some effort, control our inner universe.

If you are unhappy and negative, you can change the way you feel and think.

With a little work and effort, you can change your attitude, expectations, actions and reactions, and this will lead to more motivation, happiness, and improved life conditions.

We get what we expect to get. Therefore, begin right now to expect the very best of everything that this world has to offer, and wish the same for everyone else. There is plenty of everything in the Universe for everyone, and the Universe can create more of the good things for everyone.

Don't think lack, think abundance, for you and for everyone else.

By Remez Sasson

http://www.successconsciousness.com/how-to-be-positive.htm

Zig Ziglar - Attitude Makes All The Difference

Amusing and motivational talk from one of the greatest... Zig Ziglar!

Top 10 Motivational Speakers In The World

I personally love watching these people. It helps keep my mindset positive and fresh!

A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. And there are a lot of good motivational speakers around the world, but there are few that just stand out. Somehow they don’t fit into the good category. They are way above that category, they are at the top. And I really owe a lot to those people, because they are the reason I keep grinding everyday. So who are the best motivational speakers, that have inspired me the most through the years?

Featured image source: Jenny Blake

The Top 10 Motivational Speakers

Eric Thomas 

A high school dropout. A homeless man. And now? Probably the most passionate motivational speaker ever. If we all had as much passion as him we would be on another level. He can motivate you to another level, his speeches are intense. I would suggest to every person that’s alive at this very moment and can still breathe to check out some of his speeches – You won’t be dissapointed!

Thomas does not sugarcoat anything. He is nicknamed the hip hop preacher and he is as blunt as a rapper. Thomas also talks about how it may take years to accomplish your definition of success. But, if you are truly committed to your goals and willing to make the necessary sacrifices you will be successful.

My favorite quote from ET –  When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.

My favorite ET speech – How Bad Do You Want It?

Les Brown 

Les Brown was born with his twin brother Wesley on February 17, 1945 in a low-income section of Miami, Florida in an abandoned building. He was subsequently given up for adoption and adopted by Mamie Brown, a then 38-year-old single woman who worked as a cafeteria attendant and domestic assistant. He was declared “educably mentally retarded” while in grade school. Despite the obvious self-esteem issues this created, with the encouragement of his mother and assistance by a helpful teacher in high school, he learned how to reach his full potential, a key point in many motivational speeches he gives now.

Brown speeches focus on the importance of having a strong belief in yourself. And he teaches that you need to be bold and have supreme self-confidence. Brown also believes many people that set goals are setting their bar too low. ” Most people fail in life not because they aim to high and miss. But, because they aim to low and hit,” said Brown.  -

Source: Wiki

My favorite quote – Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.

My favorite speech –  It’s Possible

Tony Robbins 

The 6-foot 7-inch tall Tony Robbins has a commanding presence and deep booming voice. And he is very passionate speaker that loves helping people achieve their goals and to get more fulfillment out of their lives.

Many motivational speakers are mainly fluff and not much substance. However, Robbins truly understands the psychology of success. “Long ago, I realized that success leaves clues, and that people who produce outstanding results do specific things to create those results,” said Robbins.

He begins his speeches by starting with basics such as what to you want to accomplish in your life and why do you want to achieve that goal. Then, Robbins goes into more detail about techniques and concepts that can help you accomplish your goals.

My favorite quote – If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

My favorite speech – Tony Robbins’ Ted Talk

Nick Vujicic 

I don’t know if there is a person who wouldn't get inspired while listening to Nick. Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and no legs. Yet, he is a very happy man and he lives life with joy. He is also a funny guy with a good sense of humor. And Vujicic tells jokes in his speeches and pokes fun at himself.

He teaches the importance of determination and never giving up. And quitting is not in his vocabulary. He believes nothing is impossible. And Vujicic stresses the value of not focusing on what you cannot do instead focus in life on what you can control and what you can do.

My favorite quote - The challenges in our lives are there to STRENGTHEN our CONVICTIONS. They are NOT there to run us over.

My favorite speech – No legs, No hands, No worries.

Arnold Schwarzenegger 

Arnold Schwarzenegger envisions the goals that he wants to achieve then he does whatever it takes to achieve that goal. He does not care about critics or naysayers. Schwarzenegger focuses on believing in himself and using his immense work-ethic, strong self-discipline and determination to accomplish his goals.

Schwarzenegger speeches talk about how success can be difficult to obtain. But, you have to be stubborn and willing to conquer any obstacles you may encounter. And it is important to follow your heart to pursue what you want to accomplish in your life. Schwarzenegger talks about how you need to ask yourself who do you want to be?

My favorite quote - Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.

My favorite speech –  6 Rules Of Success

Zig Ziglar 

A talented author and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar has an appeal that transcends barriers of age, culture and occupation. Since 1970, he has traveled over five million miles across the world delivering powerful life improvement messages, cultivating the energy of change.

My favorite quote – What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

My favorite speech – I really hate my job

Dr. Wayne W.Dyer 

Dr. Wayne Dyer has written many books and featured many programs on PBS. Although born into poverty Dr. Dyer overcame this to live his dreams. Some of Dr. Dyer’s motivational speaking programs include The Power of Intention; Change your Thoughts, Change your Life; Your Ultimate Calling and Excuses begone, among others. Dyer proceeded to build on his success with lecture tours, a series of audiotapes, and regular publication of new books. He often recounted anecdotes from his family life, and repeatedly used his own life experience as an example. His self-made man success story was a part of his appeal.

My favorite quote - Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.

My favorite speech – Your reality is created by your thoughts

Jim Rohn 

Jim Rohn has helped many people achieve success, including fellow motivational speaker Anthony Robbins. Rohn is known for his powerful speeches that hit the mind and the soul so you are more than ready to get out there and make your dreams come true.

My favorite quote –  If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

My favorite speech – Use Your Own Mind

Your turn now..

Which motivational speakers would you add to the list?  Please share your thoughts in the comments below and I will update the article according to the comments.

P.S. I would add Brian Tracy and Bob Proctor.

Sources:

http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-best-motivational-speakers-12095778.html

http://makingmotivation.com/find-motivation-with-the-30-best-motivational-speakers

http://youtube.com

http://motivationgrid.com/top-motivational-speakers/

Seven Secrets of Self-Made Multimillionaires

First, understand that you no longer want to be just a millionaire. You want to become a multimillionaire.

While you may think a million dollars will give you financial security, it will not. Given the volatility in economies, governments and financial markets around the world, it's no longer safe to assume a million dollars will provide you and your family with true security. In fact, a Fidelity Investments' study of millionaires last year found that 42 percent of them don't feel wealthy and they would need $7.5 million of investable assets to start feeling rich.

This isn't a how-to on the accumulation of wealth from a lifetime of saving and pinching pennies. This is about generating multimillion-dollar wealth and enjoying it during the creation process. To get started, consider these seven secrets of multimillionaires.

No. 1: Decide to Be a Multimillionaire -- You first have to decide you want to be a self-made millionaire. I went from nothing—no money, just ideas and a lot of hard work—to create a net worth that probably cannot be destroyed in my lifetime. The first step was making a decision and setting a target. Every day for years, I wrote down this statement: "I am worth over $100,000,000!"

No. 2: Get Rid of Poverty Thinking -- There's no shortage of money on planet Earth, only a shortage of people who think correctly about it. To become a millionaire from scratch, you must end the poverty thinking. I know because I had to. I was raised by a single mother who did everything possible to put three boys through school and make ends meets. Many of the lessons she taught me encouraged a sense of scarcity and fear: "Eat all your food; there are people starving," "Don't waste anything," "Money doesn't grow on trees." Real wealth and abundance aren't created from such thinking. 

No. 3: Treat it Like a Duty -- Self-made multimillionaires are motivated not just by money, but by a need for the marketplace to validate their contributions. While I have always wanted wealth, I was driven more by my need to contribute consistent with my potential. Multimillionaires don't lower their targets when things get tough. Rather, they raise expectations for themselves because they see the difference they can make with their families, company, community and charities. 

No. 4: Surround Yourself with Multimillionaires -- I have been studying wealthy people since I was 10 years old. I read their stories and see what they went through. These are my mentors and teachers who inspire me. You can't learn how to make money from someone who doesn't have much. Who says, "Money won't make you happy"? People without money. Who says, "All rich people are greedy"? People who aren't rich. Wealthy people don't talk like that. You need to know what people are doing to create wealth and follow their example: What do they read? How do they invest? What drives them? How do they stay motivated and excited? 

No. 5: Work Like a Millionaire -- Rich people treat time differently. They buy it, while poor people sell it. The wealthy know time is more valuable than money itself, so they hire people for things they're not good at or aren't a productive use of their time, such as household chores. But don't kid yourself that those who hit it big don't work hard. Financially successful people are consumed by their hunt for success and work to the point that they feel they are winning and not just working. 

No. 6: Shift Focus from Spending to Investing -- The rich don't spend money; they invest. They know the U.S. tax laws favor investing over spending. You buy a house and can't write it off. The rich, in contrast, buy an apartment building that produces cash flow, appreciates and offers write-offs year after year. You buy cars for comfort and style. The rich buy cars for their company that are deductible because they are used to produce revenue.

No. 7: Create Multiple Flows of Income -- The really rich never depend on one flow of income but instead create a number of revenue streams. My first business had been generating a seven-figure income for years when I started investing cash in multifamily real estate. Once my real estate and my consulting business were churning, I went into a third business developing software to help retailers improve the customer experience.

Lastly, you may be surprised to learn that wealthy people wish you were wealthy, too. It's a mystery to them why others don't get rich. They know they aren't special and that wealth is available to anyone who wants to focus and persist. Rich people want others to be rich for two reasons: first, so you can buy their products and services, and second, because they want to hang out with other rich people. Get rich -- it's American.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222718

Train Yourself to Be More Positive in 5 Steps

I am constantly striving to see the positive in every aspect of my life. But it’s not always easy.

My dog is currently suffering from a disease from which she will never recover. My mind is still trying to adjust to my relatively new schedule of running Positively Present full time. My wallet is thinning out as I march forward on my entrepreneurial ventures. And, as I get older, I find myself moving in different directions from some of the people I've spent a great deal of time with.

My life—and all of our lives—is filled with challenges that make it very difficult to be positive sometimes.

However, I know that choosing to be positive has helped me the most in terms of becoming the person I want to be. Even when things are difficult, I know that being positive—and striving to make the best of whatever situation I’m in—really does make even the most challenging situations easier to bear.

More often than not, I find myself veering toward a positive attitude. (It’s something I never would have done years ago!) I firmly believe that this is because I've trained myself to be positive.

It doesn't always come naturally for me—sometimes it’s a lot of work—but I've taken five steps that make it so much easier for me to see the good in life.

Step One: Believe a Positive Attitude is a Choice

This step was hard to take at first. I thought that people were either positive or negative (and I was in the latter category). I used to blame my negativity on all kinds of outside forces—fate, experiences, parents, relationships—but never really stopped to think that I could choose to be positive.

Teaching myself that positivity is a choice has been one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself.

Now when I find myself in a bad situation, I know that it’s up to me to find the good, to be positive regardless of what’s happening around me. I no longer point fingers and place blame. I realize that everything happens how it happens, and it’s up to me to choose how I want to feel about it. I am in control of my attitude, and no one can take that away from me.

Step Two: Rid Your Life of Negativity

If you want to live a positive, joyful life, you cannot be surrounded by negative people who don’t encourage your happiness.

As a negative person, I attracted negative people. When I decided to make the change to live a more positive life, I had to rid my life of the most negative influences in it. No one is perfect—and perfection isn't the goal when it comes to positivity—but there were people in my life who were consistently negative, who constantly brought me down, and I had to stop spending so much time with them.

This, as you can imagine, wasn't easy. It can hurt to distance yourself from people—even when you know they aren't good for you or your current lifestyle.

In addition to removing negative influences from my, I also had to get rid of some of my own negative behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse. I had to take a step back and examine which behaviors were good for me and which were not.

I learned to focus on the positive things I was doing—such as working on my blog and cultivating new, positive relationships—and let go of the negative ones. This process was not easy and, to be honest, is still ongoing, but I know this: It’s hard to live a positive life when negative people and behaviors continually pull you down.

Step Three: Look For the Positive in Life

In every person, in every situation, there is something good. Most of the time it’s not obvious. We have to look. And sometimes we have to look hard.

The old me was content to sit back and just glance around. If I saw negative, I went with that feeling. I didn't want to look harder or think too much about the good. I found it much, much easier to sit back and just accept what I saw (which was usually the bad).

Now, when I’m faced with a difficult or challenging situation, I think to myself, “What is good about this?” No matter how terrible the situation might seem, I always can find something good if I take the time to think about it.

Everything—good and bad—is a learning experience so, at the very least, you can learn from bad experiences. However, there’s usually even more to it than that. If you really take the time to look, you will usually find something good, something genuinely positive, about every person or situation.

Step Four: Reinforce Positivity in Yourself

Once I started thinking more positively, I realized I had to reinforce these thoughts and behaviors in myself so they would stick. As with any sort of training, the more you practice, the better you get—and, yes, you can practice being positive.

The best and easiest way to do this is to be positive when it comes to who you are. Tell yourself you’re awesome. Tell yourself you look good. Tell yourself you did a great job at work or raising your kids or whatever it is you do.

Be honest with yourself, but do your best to look for the good. And, whatever you do, don’t focus on the negative. It’s okay to not like everything about yourself, but don’t focus on what you don’t like. We all have positive attributes, and it’s up to you to remind yourself of them every day.

Step Five: Share Positivity with Others

Not only do you need to be positive with yourself for this training to really take effect, but you need to be positive with others. You have to share your wealth of positivity with the world.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~Winston Churchill

The best way I've found to do this is quite simple and basic: Be nice to other people, no matter what. Tell someone s/he looks nice today. Tell someone s/he did a great job on that presentation.

Tell your parents or children (or both!) how much you love them and how great they are. When someone is feeling down, do what you can to cheer him or her up. Send flowers. Write notes. Don’t gossip. Be kind to all living things.

All of these things sound basic enough, but for someone like me, they didn't come easily.

I never wanted to see the good in myself and, therefore, didn't want to see it in others either. I used to be critical and condescending. Now I strive to be encouraging and supportive.

I try not only to treat others as I would like to be treated, but I also try to consider how they would like to be treated. People appreciate positivity, and the more you share it with others, the more you are practicing it your own life.

When you start feeling like the idea of being a positive person is daunting, remind yourself that all it takes is one small step in the right direction to move yourself toward a more positive attitude.

Believe in yourself and remember the most important lesson of all: A positive outlook is a choice that you can always make.

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/train-yourself-to-be-more-positive-in-5-steps/

17 Ways To Motivate Yourself To Do Great Things

Sometimes, no matter how experienced we are or how much we have accomplished, we all can use a little help to keep going, a bit of motivation if you will.

In the face of the inevitable obstacles we are going to encounter, here are ideas that have worked for me, my friends who run both entrepreneurial and micro businesses, and others I talked to.

At the end of this post, I am going to ask you to tell me what motivational techniques have worked for you–just click the “comment button; if I get enough good ideas I will do a subsequent blog crediting you, of course–but first the list.

Some of these will resonate with you.

1. Necessity.  A lot of my friends are incredibly literal. When asked what keeps them going, they point to the mortgage that has to be paid or an elderly parent’s medical bills they are responsible for.  Says one, “John Wayne got it right. ‘A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.’  And that applies to women, too.” (I have to admit I could relate to this response.  At one point, three of my kids were attending private colleges simultaneously. During that period, I took to saying “I can’t afford either writer’s block or sloth.”)

2. Quotes. Inspirational quotes were cited by many, but how they used them were as unique as they are.  Some literally had a wall or white board filled with quotes they had discovered through the years, while others took to putting a particular favorite (such as “just keep swimming,” from the kids’ movieFinding Nemo, taped to their monitor or they used a favorite quote as a screensaver. For a great list of quotes, see my Forbes colleague Kevin Kruse’s recommendations.

3. Employees are relying on you.  This is related to the necessity argument. An extremely high number of entrepreneurs I talked to mentioned all the people who could be potentially out of work, if the entrepreneur did less than their absolute best and their company suffered. Feeling responsible for their employees’ economic future kept them going.

4. Personal pride.  It was hard to get people to admit to this one until they had a second (or third) glass of wine.  But although they rarely talk about it publically, many entrepreneurs are extremely proud of what they had accomplished and take (usually quiet) satisfaction in keep the enterprise going no matter what problems arise.

5.  A mission to change the world. Not everyone was evocative as Steve Jobs (who used to tell Apple employees ”we are going to make insanely great products”) but a significant number of the entrepreneurs and business people I talked to truly believe their offerings will make the world a better place.  It is the deeply help belief in that mission that keeps them going.

6. Support groups. This provides benefits in one of two ways (and it was possible for one group to supply both.) Either the entrepreneur met periodically with other entrepreneurs who could offer words of encouragment and advice when they were stuck, or even if they didn’t ask for advice, simply being associated with other successful people made the entrepreneur work harder. He didn’t want to fall behind his peers.

7.  They have a chip on their shoulder.  More people than I would have thought say they keep going no matter what to prove to all the people “who told me I would never be successful, that they were wrong.” Intriguingly, that chip didn’t go away once they were successful.

8. Consider the alternative.  This one, too, took two forms.  To keep themselves going, some entrepreneurs either thought back to the days before they started their companies and recalled how unhappy they were working for someone else. Or they pictured what it would be like to once again have a boss.  Either image, they said, was enough to keep them plugging away.

9. A legacy.  Knowing that their company may be the only real thing they are remembered for, or hoping that their kids will take over the business someday, keeps many entrepreneurs going, when times get tough or they simply get tired.

10. Create Momentum.  This one was cited by just about everyone I talked to.  Goals like: $1 million in sales within the first year can sound awfully daunting from a standing start, i.e. you are beginning with no revenues.  But, if you say, “let’s get $83,333.33 coming in this month; and $83,333 next month,” the numbers don’t seem as big, and you get a chance to celebrate 12 small wins, as well as the one big one, when you hit $1 million in sales.

11. Get a Diagnosis. Here’s how one entrepreneur described this one for me.  “You know when you are physically feeling lousy and know it is more than a cold or the flu, but you don’t know what it is? Simply not knowing is worrisome. Once you get a diagnosis—even if it something bad like pneumonia—you actually feel better because you know what it is and what you are up against  It is the same for me in my business. If I feel bad but I get a friend—or even a shrink—to tell me what is going on, I feel better once I have a name for it.  That, in and of itself, is enough for me to come up with a battleplan to keep going.”

12. Visualization. This one has never worked for me, although several of the people I talked to swear by it. They say focusing on what success will ultimately look like keeps them going.  I worry that having fixed image of success could keep you from pursuing other opportunities that you could encounter on the way, but I am including this one here because it seems to work for so many.

13.   Exercise. Think. Sometimes being tired, depressed and wrung out is “simply” a matter of over-work or being out of shape (or both.)  Taking a break—at regular points–could be enough to keep you going.  And at the very least, if you get into shape you will have more energy—even if your exercise program doesn’t do a darn thing to improve your company’s  performance.

14.  Learn from your mistakes. Having things go wrong—you don’t get the sale; the client hates your solution to their problem—is enough to get anyone demotivated (if that is a word.)  You are going to feel bad. Accept that.  And give yourself a SHORT period to wallow.  Then learn from what went wrong. That way you will be turning the rejection into something you can benefit from going forward. It sounds simplistic and cliched, of course, and it is extremely difficult to do. But it is true.  And more importantly, it does work.

15. Don’t Get In Your Own Way.  There will be enough circumstances beyond your control which could take the wind out of your sails, as my grandmother used to say. Don’t make your life harder than it has to be.  Simplify everything you can. (Leaving yourself 10 minutes less than you need to get to the airport is never a good idea.) Delegate the stuff you are bad at. And become as organized as humanly possible. Stress is the enemy of creativity. And creating more stress than you have to for yourself is simply dumb.

16.  Keep score. This one is for all the hard charging, Type As out there.  If you are keeping a running tally of the jobs completed, clients landed, sales recorded since you first opened your doors, seeing the numbers increase–and wanting them to increase further–can be a great motivating force. Just looking at the scoreboard, and knowing that you need to get the numbers higher, can keep you fired up.

17. Keep telling yourself the best way to predict the future is to create it. And then go create it.

That’s my list. What’s yours?

What is the one thing–or things–that helps keeps your motivated?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/actiontrumpseverything/2014/03/01/17-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-do-great-things/

Billionaire Jack Ma teaches you how to be successful in life and business

Billionaire Jack Ma, the founder and ex-CEO of Alibaba Group, as well as one of the most successful Chinese Internet entrepreneurs, shares his wealth of experiences.

Jack Ma: The mistake I regretted the most

In 2001, I made a mistake. I told 18 of my fellow comrades whom embarked on the entrepreneurship journey with me that the highest positions they could go was a managerial role. To fill all our Vice President and Senior Executive positions, we would have to hire from external parties.

Years later, those I hired were gone, but those whom I doubted their abilities became Vice Presidents or Directors.

I believe in two principles: Your attitude is more important than your capabilities. Similarly, your decision is more important than your capabilities!

Jack Ma: You cannot unify everyone’s thoughts, but you can unify everyone through a common goal.

1. Don’t even trust that you are able to unify what everyone is thinking; it is impossible.
2. 30% of all people will never believe you. Do not allow your colleagues and employees to work for you. Instead, let them work for a common goal.
3. It is a lot easier to unite the company under a common goal rather than uniting the company around a particular person.

Jack Ma: What does a leader have that an employee doesn't?

A leader should never compare his technical skills with his employee’s. Your employee should have superior technical skills than you. If he doesn't, it means you have hired the wrong person.

What, then, makes the leader stands out?

1. A leader should be a visionary and have more foresight than an employee.
2. A leader should have higher grit and tenacity, and be able to endure what the employees can’t.
3. A leader should have higher endurance and ability to accept and embrace failure.

The quality of a good leader therefore is his vision, tenacity, and his capability.

Jack Ma: Don’t be involved in politics

1. One should always understand that money and political power can never go hand in hand. Once you are in politics, don’t ever think about money anymore. Once you are running a business, don’t ever think of being involved in politics.
2. When money meets political power, it is similar to a match meeting an explosive- waiting to go off.

Jack Ma: The 4 main questions the young generation must ponder on

1. What is failure: Giving up is the greatest failure.
2. What is resilience: Once you have been through hardships, grievances and disappointments, only then will you understand what is resilience.
3. What your duties are: To be more diligent, hardworking, and ambitious than others.
4. Only fools use their mouth to speak. A smart man uses his brain, and a wise man uses his heart.

Jack Ma: We are born to live and experience life.

I always tell myself that we are born here not to work, but to enjoy life. We are here to make things better for one another, and not to work. If you are spending your whole life working, you will certainly regret it.

No matter how successful you are in your career, you must always remember that we are here to live. If you keep yourself busy working, you will surely regret it.

Jack Ma on competing and competition

1. Those that compete aggressively with one another are the foolish ones.
2. If you view everyone as your enemies, everyone around you will be your enemies.
3. When you are competing with one another, don’t bring hatred along. Hatred will take you down.
4. Competition is similar to playing a board of chess. If you lose, we can always have another round. Both players should never fight.
5. A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understand this, the sky’s the limit.

Jack Ma: Don’t make complaining and whining a habit

If you complain or whine once in a while, it is not a big deal.

However, if it becomes habitual, it will be similar to drinking: the more you drink, the stronger the thirst. On the path to success, you will notice that the successful ones are not whiners, nor do they complain often.

The world will not remember what you say, but it will certainly not forget what you have done.

Jack Ma’s advice to entrepreneurs

1. The opportunities that everyone cannot see are the real opportunities.
2. Always let your employees come to work with a smile.
3. Customers should be number 1, Employees number 2, and then only your Shareholders come at number 3.
4. Adopt and change before any major trends or changes.
5. Forget the money; Forget about earning money.
6. Rather than having small smart tricks to get by, focus on holding on and persevering.
7. Your attitude determines your altitude.

Jack Ma on entrepreneurship

1. A great opportunity is often hard to be explained clearly; things that can be explained clearly are often not the best opportunities.
2. You should find someone who has complementary skills to start a company with. You shouldn’t necessarily look for someone successful. Find the right people, not the best people.
3. The most unreliable thing in this world is human relationships.
4. “Free” is the most expensive word.
5. Today is cruel, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be beautiful.

Jack Ma: The 4 don’ts of entrepreneurship

1. The scariest things about starting up is the inability to see, to be snobbish, to be unable to understand what is going on, as well as to be unable to keep up with pace.
2. If you do not know where your competitor is, or overconfident and snobbish about your competitor, or are unable to comprehend how your competitor became a real threat, you will surely fall behind him. Don’t be the “they” in this idiom: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
3. Even if your competitor is still small in size or weak, you should take him seriously and treat him as a giant. Likewise, even if your competitor is massive in size, you shouldn’t regard yourself as a weakling.

Jack Ma on starting your own company

What starting your company means: you will lose your stable income, your right to apply for a leave of absence, and your right to get a bonus.

However, it also means your income will no longer be limited, you will use your time more effectively, and you will no longer need to beg for favours from people anymore.

If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then be different from your peers.

Jack Ma on opportunities

If there are over 90% of the crowd saying “Yes” to approving a proposal, I will surely dispose the proposal into the bin. The reason is simple: if there are so many people who thinks that the proposal is good, surely there will be many people who would have been working on it, and the opportunity no longer belongs to us.

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