Since Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team in 2000, the team’s winning percentage has gone from 40% to 69% and in 2011 the Mavericks won their first ever NBA championship.

Cuban also has a winning record in business. Born into a working class family, Mark became a billionaire by starting and selling tech companies such as MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com.

Keep reading for ten winning lessons from Cuban’s $2.3 billion success.

#1 Get Paid to Learn

Cuban paid his way through school any way he could. He worked as a disco instructor, party promoter, and even started a chain letter that earned about $1,100.

After graduating from business school, he didn’t stop learning:

If your career or business isn’t yet what you want it to be, adopt Cuban’s attitude and think of it as an opportunity to continue your education. One day you’ll be able to use what you learn to accomplish your ultimate goals.

#2 Visualize Your Success

In 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas and got a job as a bartender. What he really wanted to do was run his own business and retire by the age of 30. He told himself that he would do it “every day.”

After getting fired from his jobs as a salesperson at Your Business Software, Cuban decided the time was right to pursue his dream. He started his own software selling company, MicroSolutions, which he sold in 1990 for $6 million.

At the age of 32, Cuban was a millionaire who could afford to live in the big houses that he used to drive by as a down-on-his-luck bartender. More importantly, he was living the life of his dreams.

#3 Effort is the Only Requirement

Three years after starting MicroSolutions, business was good. Cuban was set to earn $60,000 that year and he was only 27 years old.

Even though he felt successful, Cuban saw major room for improvement. The PC industry was in a slump and local area networks had yet to take off like MicroSolutions had hoped. Cuban’s solution was to “recommit to getting up early, staying up late and consuming everything [he] possibly could to get an edge.”

The behavior of your industry, your clients, and your competitors is mostly outside of your hands. It’s pointless to become frustrated with things that you can’t control. Instead, focus on maximizing your effort.

#4 Sell High

In 1995, a few years after selling MicroSolutions, Cuban decided to help Chris Jaeb and Todd Wagner launch AudioNet, an Internet radio company that would soon be rebranded to Broadcast.com. Cuban became a billionaire overnight when they sold the company to Yahoo! in 1999 for $5.9 billion in stock.

With all the buzz building around Internet companies, it was the perfect time to sell. Just a year later, the dot-com bubble would burst and the perceived value of Broadcast.com would plummet.

Make sure you sell your company at the right time. Wait until the market is high for your industry in order to get the most money for your hard work.

#5 Diversify

After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban was left holding a huge chunk of Yahoo! stock. That stock that was not immune to the dot-com bubble either: it went from being traded at $118.75 a share in January 2000 to a measly $4.05 a share by September 2011.

Luckily for Cuban, he had already taken steps to diversify. Cuban explained to Fast Company Magazine:

The only way that Cuban was able to hold onto his fortune was by making sure all of his eggs weren’t in the same basket. After becoming a billionaire, Cuban immediately began spreading his wealth around in different industries: becoming the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HD cable network HDNet.

#6 Don’t Focus on Exit Strategy

Cuban has built his fortune by building successful companies and then selling them when the time is right. Even so, he insists that he’s always looking for a “cash-in-pocket strategy, not an exit strategy.” When Business Insider asked Cuban about how entrepreneurs should think about their exit strategies, he said:

The best exit strategy is to build a company with long-term, intrinsic value.

#7 Be a Loudmouth

I’ve written about the value of keeping your mouth shut and letting your actions speak for themselves. But Mark Cuban proves there are exceptions to this rule.

Cuban sometimes speaks first and thinks later – and the result is that he’s put his foot in his mouth more times than he can count. But while Cuban’s big mouth often gets him in hot water with the media, it also ensures that he gets “push back”:  a constant stream of reactions from the outside world. For Mark, the tradeoff is worth it.

If you’re natural tendency is to be a loudmouth, then you can benefit from embracing it. Just be ready to apologize.

#8 Get Free Press

Cuban has appeared as himself in TV shows like Entourage, The Colbert Report, and The Simpsons. He’s also had recurring roles on reality shows like Shark Tank and Dancing with the Stars.

Collectively, Cuban has reached tens of millions of Americans through these programs. That means greater awareness of Cuban and his personal brand – which ultimately can be leveraged to help Cuban’s business ventures.

#9 Know Your Business Better than Anyone

Cuban spends so much time researching his industries that he told TechCrunch, “I need a break because I spend so much time reading. If there’s something I get into, I won’t stop. I read a lot of industry trade publications for cable now.”

Cuban believes that, when it comes to creating a successful company, knowledge is power. His advice is simple, yet ambitious: “Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world.”

#10 Do Something Different

As an angel investor, Cuban is always looking for companies that demonstrate a clear sense of market differentiation. In fact, he immediately dismisses any companies that aren’t carving out their own niche: “Wherever I see people doing something the way it’s always been done, the way it’s ‘supposed’ to be done, following the same old trends, well, that’s just a big red flag to me to go look somewhere else.”

If you want to repeat something that’s already been done, then you open a franchise. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur like Mark Cuban, you’ll have to do something different.

Are you completely successful?

By the time you get to the bottom of this page, you may be.

Success is all about having the right mindset. That’s why I’ve compiled 50 of the most powerful perspectives on success from some of history’s most successful people. Their definitions, quotations, formulas, misconceptions, and principles paint a clear picture of the mindset of a success.

Top 10 Definitions of Success

#1 Winston Churchill:

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”

#2 Deepak Chopra:

“Success in life could be defined as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals.”

#3 Jim Rohn:

“Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

#4 Anita Roddick:

“I want to define success by redefining it. For me it isn’t that solely mythical definition – glamour, allure, power of wealth, and the privilege from care. Any definition of success should be personal because it’s so transitory. It’s about shaping my own destiny.”

#5 Richard Branson:

“It is the satisfaction of doing it for yourself and motivating others to work with you in bringing it about. It is about the fun, innovation, creativity with the rewards being far greater than purely financial.”

#6 Orison Swett Marden:

“When a man feels throbbing within him the power to do what he undertakes as well as it can possibly be done, this is happiness, this is success.”

#7 Zig Ziglar:

“Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.”

#8 George Sheehan:

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.”

#9 Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Success:  To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded!”

#10 Wilfred Peterson:

“Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve.”

Top 10 Quotes on Success

#1 Thomas Edison:

“Success is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

#2 Dorothea Brande:

“Act as though it is impossible to fail.”

#3 Woody Allen:

“Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.”

#4 Mark Victor Hansen:

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

#5 Yoda:

“Do or do not. There is no try.”

#6 Taryn Rose:

“Fear regret more than failure.”

#7 Edward Simmons:

“The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing a thing exactly right.”

#8 Abraham Lincoln:

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.”

#9 George Bernard Shaw:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

#10 Anonymous:

“God gave us two ends: one to sit on and one to think with. Success depends on which one you use. Heads you win; tails, you lose.”

Top 10 Formulas for Success

#1 Albert Einstein:

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.”

#2 Thomas J. Watson:

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.”

#3 Stanley Tang:

“Success comes down to hard work plus passion, over time.”

#4 Swami Vivekananda:

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life: think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”

#5 Mark Twain:

“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”

#6 Napoleon Hill

“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”

#7 James Allen:

“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”

#8 Unknown:

“Success = an optimist in thought + a pessimist in action.”

#9 Anonymous:

“An Unfailing Success Plan: At each day’s end write down the six most important things to do tomorrow; number them in order of importance, and then do them.”

#10 Arnold H. Glasgow:

“Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.”

Top 10 Misconceptions about Success

#1 Success is Complicated

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Steve Jobs

You can make success as complicated as you want, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As Jobs says, making success simple isn’t necessarily easy, but it is very powerful.

Take Google for example: their home page is one of the simplest on the web and that simplicity has allowed it to become the most popular site in the world.

#2 Success is a Destination

It’s tempting to think about success as some far-off point where you’ve accomplished everything we’ve ever wanted: “I’ll be successful when I have my dream job, make a million dollars a year, and spend all my time traveling the world with my soul mate.”

This type of thinking is flawed because the accomplishment of worthy goals only leads to the possibility of accomplishing more worthy goals. A successful person doesn’t stop once they achieve something; they’re inspired to achieve something even greater. Success is an ongoing path. As Ben Sweetland said, “Success is a journey, not a destination.”

#3 Success is the Key to Happiness

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.”

Herman Cain

If you’re unhappy, don’t blame it on a lack of success. Happiness is all about perspective. If you’ve got a cheerful outlook, it doesn’t matter if you’re a success or failure.

#4 Failure is an Indicator that You Won’t Succeed

“The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is that you’ll fail ten times for every success.”

Adam Horwitz

Everybody fails. In fact, successful people fail more than failures because they take bigger chances. If you want proof, then check out the four biggest mistakes from the world’s four biggest entrepreneurs.

Failures are necessary on the path of success. Just learn from them and move on.

#5 Success Comes at the Expense of Others

Some people think that the only way you can move up in business is by stepping on people to get there.

The truth is actually the opposite: a business is successful because it provides value for people. As I’ve written about before, the more you give, the more you get.

#6 Moderate Success is Easier to Get than “Only in Your Wildest Dreams” Success

“Ninety-nine percent of people believe they can’t do great things, so they aim for mediocrity.”

Tim Ferriss

Many of us are taught from an early age to have practical goals. We shouldn’t try to be a rock star, supermodel, or astronaut because the chances of success are so slim.

But it’s time to challenge those self-imposed restraints. As Ben Nemtin, from “The Buried Life”, pointed out: “The level of competition is highest for realistic goals because most people don’t set high enough goals for themselves.”

Don’t be afraid to go for your wildest dream. It may take more effort, but you’ll also be more energized.

#7 You Need to Wait Until the Time is Right

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.”

Samuel Johnson

There’s no such thing as the “perfect time” to act. There will always be a problem. But successful people don’t let that deter them.

#8 Success has to be Traditional

“The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you’re playing by somebody else’s rules, while quietly playing by your own.”

Michael Konda

Don’t get caught up with how other people define success. Traditional success includes a six-figure income, a happy family, and a house with a white picket fence. But your success doesn’t have to include any of these things.

#9 Success is Easy

“Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.”

David Bly

When people become very successful very quickly it almost looks like it just fell into their lap. But it only looks easy to us because we can’t see the whole picture. Success is earned. As the old saying goes, “The only place you’ll find success before work is in the dictionary.”

#10 Success = Money

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business.”

Henry Ford

This is a tired point, but it’s true: money is not that important. Personally, I would rather make a modest living doing something that matters than get rich trading stocks on Wall Street.

Steve Jobs was one of the richest people in the world, but he once said “being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

Top 10 Principles of Success

#1 Success Starts Within

Success comes from the way you act. The way you act comes from the way you think and feel. Therefore, to become more successful, you must first change something within yourself.

#2 Success is a Habit

“Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.”

Aristotle

The little things that you do every day build on top of one another. Make a little progress towards your goals every day.

#3 Success is Only Obtainable in the Now

“The present moment is the only moment available to us and it is the door to all moments.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

We can’t experience the past or the future. So the only time a person is truly able to experience success is when they’re appreciating success in the present moment. Take time to enjoy the success of the present or you’ll never know the true meaning of the word.

There’s another reason why the present is so important, as Mahatma Gandhi points out: “The future depends on what we do in the present.”

#4 Success is in Motion

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”

Steve Jobs

Have a sip of success and it’s easy to get intoxicated. When you get so pleased with your success that all you want to do is reflect on it fondly, you’re guaranteeing that your success will be short-lived.

The only way to have permanent success is to always be moving forward. This anonymous quotation says it better than I can: “A successful man continues to look for work after he has found a job.”

#5 Success Requires Faith

“Leap and the net will appear.”

Zen saying

Pursuing success is challenging and risky, but your chances increase greatly when you simply believe you will succeed.

#6 Success Means Helping Others

“It’s not that successful people are givers; it is that givers are successful people.”

Patti Thor

While it’s enjoyable to help yourself, there’s nothing more satisfying than helping others. Any true definition of success involves giving back as much as you get.

#7 Success is a Choice

Your life is in your hands. So if you don’t like your situation, change it.

Each of us has the resources and the opportunity to create a better life. But we each must make the decision to do this. As an old Swedish proverb says, “God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the nest.”

#8 Perseverance is Required

Colonel Harlan Sanders made 1008 sales call before a restaurant agreed to buy his recipe for fried chicken. If Sanders hadn’t persisted through over 1000 rejections, then KFC (a restaurant franchise with that earns about a half-billion dollars in revenue per year) wouldn’t exist.

Success is a long-term game. Be ready for the long haul.

#9 Visualization is Key

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up some place else.”

Yogi Berra

When teaching my class to shoot basketball, our gym teacher told us to imagine the basketball going through the hoop. Surprisingly, the trick worked: visualizing a successful shot actually helped us achieve it.

It’s not magic. Visualization makes our goals more real and reminds us of the beauty of our dreams.

#10 Success Starts Today

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

No matter what your situation is, you can become a successful person today. You may not be able to reap the rewards yet, but you can start planting the seeds.

The record industry is known for chewing musicians up and spitting them out.

Apparently Jay-Z didn’t get the memo.

In the last 20 years, Jay-Z (a.k.a. Shawn Carter) has amassed a personal worth of $450 million while turning the music business on its head. Sure, he’s had hit records and sold out shows – but the real wealth comes from his businesses (Rocawear and Roc-A-Fella Records).

Keep reading to find out how Jay-Z became not just one of the greatest rappers of all time, but one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 21^st century.

#1 Hustle

“Without the work, the magic won’t come.”

Jay-Z, from Decoded

Jay-Z was born Shawn Corey Carter in 1969. He grew up in Marcy, a housing project in Brooklyn, New York City. In 1982, Jay-Z’s father left and his mother had to support her family alone. It was by following her example that Jay-Z got his unrelenting work ethic – his hustle.

“Look what I embody: the soul of a hustler.”

Jay-Z, from ‘What More Can I Say?’

There wasn’t a lot of opportunity for ambitious Marcy kids like Shawn. Given the choice between applying for a job at McDonald’s or becoming a drug dealer, he chose the latter. In Brooklyn, that was the definition of a hustler: somebody who hit the streets to sell drugs.

But Jay-Z fit another definition of the word hustler: an energetic go-getter. Even as he continued to work as a dealer, Jay-Z never lifted his eyes from the goal of becoming a great rapper. He and his friend Jaz would lock themselves in a room for hours on end, just working on their technique. It’s that type of hustle that allowed Jay-Z to develop into one of the greatest rappers of all time.

“I’m far from being god, but I work god damn hard.”

Jay-Z, from ‘Breathe Easy’

Now Jay-Z runs legitimate businesses instead of selling illegal drugs, but he’s still got the energy of hustler. More than anything else, that has been the engine behind his success.

#2 Don’t Wait Until You Have Everything You Need

“It just got to a point where it was, like, ‘Make this decision, because this is something you really love and you love to do. It’s time to really focus on and then get serious about it, give it your all.’ And once I did that, it was no looking back from there.”

Jay-Z, Interview with Forbes

Jay-Z didn’t have a drum kit or Pro Tools growing up, but that didn’t stop him from making beats to rap over (he used his fist and a kitchen table).

Likewise, when Jay-Z first started Rock-A-Fella records the company office didn’t have desks, computers, or air-conditioning, but the company still put out hit records and turned a profit.

If you want something badly enough, you can make it happen. Don’t let imperfect circumstances prevent you from executing your goals.

#3 People Help People who Help Themselves

Young Jay-Z’s pounding on the kitchen table annoyed his siblings, but his mom saw something else: a budding passion in her son. She bought her son a boom box for his birthday so that he could continue to grow as a rapper.

If Jay-Z hadn’t shown his drive to improve as a rapper, then his mother never would have splurged on a boom box. Since he did, he received a powerful new gift on his artistic journey.

When people see that you are pursuing a goal, they’ll want to help. But don’t expect any gifts from others until you’re doing everything you can to help yourself.

#4 Carry a Notebook with You

As a budding teenager rapper, Jay-Z always had a pencil and paper on him. He remembers, “If I was crossing a street with my friends and a rhyme came to me, I’d break out my binder, spread it on a mailbox or lamppost and write the rhyme before I crossed the street.”

Whether you’re a writer or an entrepreneur, you never know when inspiration will strike. Make sure you have a way to write it down or record it so you won’t forget.

#5 Don’t Run Your Mouth

Jay-Z was still struggling to break through into the music business when his collaborator, Jaz, got a big record deal from EMI. Jaz was going to London to record and he wanted Jay-Z to come along.

When Jay-Z told his crew about it, their response was less than enthusiastic. They felt like they were being deserted and told him that rappers were just being used by the music industry.

Of course, Jay-Z ignored their negativity, but he also learned a valuable lesson: sometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut about your aspirations. From then on, Jay-Z says he knew he wanted to get a record deal of his own, but that he “didn’t go around talking about it to even [his] closest friends.”

It’s tempting to share your dreams and goals with people, but be careful not to talk too much. Sometimes even your closest friends and family members won’t be able to see your vision and their response will be discouraging. Actions speak louder than words.

#6 Skills are Transferrable

Jay-Z never went to business school. But that hasn’t stopped him founding $100 million companies and serving as a co-brand director for Budweiser Select.

While others were out getting their MBA, Jay-Z was learning real-life business skills on the streets. He learned sales, management, and promotion on the streets, so it’s no surprise that he slipped comfortably into the many roles of an entrepreneur.

We all have a breadth of experience to draw from. Always keep a look out for how your skills in one field can be used in another.

#7 Know How to Handle Rejection

Jay-Z was turned down by every label in the industry. So did he give up on his dream of becoming a professional rapper? No. He he started his own record label.

Jay-Z was offered a weak endorsement deal from Iceberg Apparel, even though Jay’s shout-outs for the clothing company were boosting their sales through the roof. So did he accept their offer? No. He started a competing clothing line and sold it ten years later for $200 million.

Jay-Z has an amazing knack for bouncing back from rejection. We would all benefit from adopting this mindset.

#8 Make a Plan

When Jay-Z, Damon Dash, and Kareem Burke founded Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994, they drew up a business plan. Jay recalls, “We made short and long-term projections, we kept it realistic, but the key thing is that we wrote it down, which is as important as visualization in realizing success.”

Sometimes we think we know how it’s all going to play out in our head, but there’s something powerful and clarifying about actually writing things out.

If you haven’t already put together a short business plan, do it today. You don’t have to follow it exactly (in fact, you probably shouldn’t) but having made a plan and wrote it down is invaluable.

#9 Don’t Take Your Eyes off the Prize

“You can want success all you want, but to get it, you can’t falter. You can’t slip. You can’t sleep. One eye open, for real, and forever.”

Jay-Z, Decoded

It’s a common story in the entertainment industry: an up-and-coming artist gets a little taste of success and then everything comes crashing down when they get caught up in the lifestyle (i.e. parties, drugs, and alcohol).

The same thing happens to entrepreneurs. Letting a little bit of success coax you into laziness or over-indulgence is an easy way to run your fledgling business into the ground.

Jay-Z’s music and business career took off at simultaneously but he managed to keep a level head. Even when he was selling drugs, he wasn’t using them. Even though he rapped about champagne and margaritas, he was only a light drinker. Jay prefers to be sober so that he can, “stay focused on making money.”

It’s this ability to resist temptation that has allowed Jay-Z to turn his initial success into a business empire that will likely be around long after he’s gone.

#10 Dream Enormous

“I’d rather die enormous than live dormant.”

Jay-Z, from “Can I live”

As a poor kid growing up in a housing project, nobody ever told Jay-Z he could one day be worth $450 million or that he would pack Madison Square Garden.

But he did have a sixth-grade teacher named Miss Lowden who “must have seen something” in young Shawn Carter. That little show of support gave Jay-Z the confidence to imagine a life beyond the projects.

Accomplishing enormous goals starts with the ability to imagine them and the willingness to pursue them.

Jay-Z’s Five Biggest Accomplishments

(1)    14-time Grammy Winner (1999-2012)

(2)    Became President and CEO of Def Jam Records (2004)

(3)    Jay-Z sold his portion of Rocawear for $204 million (2007)

(4)    Most Number One Albums for a Solo Artist on the Billboard 200 (11)

(5)    Two Albums ranked in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time

#11 Art and Business Can (and Should) Co-Exist

The other part of “commercialization” is the idea that artists should only be thinking about their art, not about the business side of what we do… [but] when I committed to a career in rap, I wasn’t taking a vow of poverty. I saw it as another hustle, one that happened to coincide with my natural talents and the culture I loved. I was an eager hustler and a reluctant artist. But the irony of it is that to make the hustle work, really work, over the long term, you have to be a true artist, too.”

Jay-Z, from Decoded

There’s a good reason people think of art and business as mortal enemies. When money starts to influence creative decisions, the art suffers.

But Jay-Z’s proven that art and business can actually benefit one another when combined carefully.

#12 Demand Respect

“Either love me or leave me alone.”

Jay-Z, from ‘Public Service Announcement’

In 1999, Jay-Z won his first Grammy award: Best Rap Album for “Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life.”

But he was nowhere to be found at the ceremony that night. Jay-Z had boycotted the Grammys because he “didn’t think they gave the rightful respect to hip-hop.” So even though attending the event would have been good for Jay’s career, he passed it by.

“He who does not feel me is not real to me.”

Jay-Z, from ‘H to the Izzo’

It wasn’t the first time Jay-Z made such a stand.

Since his first album, Jay-Z had been mentioning Cristal (a luxury brand of champagne). But when Frederic Rouzaud, the managing director of the company, disrespected the “bling lifestyle” in The Economist, Jay-Z drew a line in the sand: “That was it for me. I released a statement saying that I would never drink Cristal or promote it in any way or serve it at my clubs ever again.”

Jay-Z clearly has zero tolerance for disrespect – and as a result he’s very rarely disrespected.

#13 Accept Help from Mentors

Entrepreneurs and artists tend to be strong-minded individuals. Jay-Z is both, but that hasn’t stopped him from seeking the guidance of a host of mentors through the years.

A good mentor has already been in your position. That means they can see what steps you need to take and what mistakes you must avoid – all while still giving you room to breathe and grow on your own. If you don’t yet have a mentor on your entrepreneurial journey, get one.

Without the role models below, Jay-Z couldn’t have become the entrepreneur, rapper, and championship-caliber performer that he is today.

Some of Jay-Z’s Mentors:

Russell Simmons – Co-Founder of Def Jam Records

“He’d discovered a way to work in the legit world but to live the dream of the hustler: independence, wealth, and success outside of the mainstream’s rule.”

The Notorious B.I.G. – Rapper

“I loved that he described what a lot of hustlers were going through in the streets – dissed and feared by teachers and parents and neighbors and cops, broke, working a corner to try to get some bread for basic s*** – as more than some glamorous alternative to having a real job.”

Michael Jordan – Six-time NBA Champion

“The thing that distinguished Jordan wasn’t just his talent, but his discipline, his laser-like commitment to excellence. That’s something I always respect, especially in people who have great natural talents already.”

[Excerpts from Decoded]

#14 Ignore Trends

In 2009, the hot trend in hip-hop was auto-tune. T-Pain was scoring hit after hit with perfectly-pitched, synthetic vocals (see Flo Rida’s “Low”).

But Jay-Z didn’t jump on the bandwagon. In fact, his big single that year was called “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune).” The song was everything auto-tune wasn’t: dissonant, noisy, and off-pitch.

Watch the video here.

“D.O.A.” won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. But more importantly, it made a statement and allowed Jay-Z to stay true to himself. As he wrote in Decoded, “You can’t fake whatever the current trend is if it’s not you, because it might work for a second, but it’s a house of sand.”

Following the latest fad isn’t a good strategy for long-term success. You can make a more powerful statement by marching to the beat of your own drum, even if that means standing apart from the crowd.

#15 Start a Blog

In April 2011, Jay-Z dove into a new industry: blogging.

His site, Life + Times features articles on whatever’s on Jay’s mind: music, sports, technology, and fashion. It’s worth checking out just for its sleek, tile-based design.

Why would a rap mogul worth $450 million start a blog?

Jay realized that blogging was more than just another way to speak his mind. Publishing content online allows him to expand his influence and grow a loyal audience – which will ultimately be good for his bottom line.

Note: If you’re a regular Income Diary reader, you probably already have a website. If not, then here’s a guide on how to get started.

#16 Entrepreneurship Empowers You to Change the World

Jay-Z’s success has allowed him to help the world in ways that would never have been possible if he hadn’t become an entrepreneur.

Along with P Diddy, Jay-Z donated one million dollars to aid the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. After meeting with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2006, Jay-Z pledged to help promote awareness of the global water shortage on his upcoming world tour.

In 2008, US presidential candidate Barack Obama asked Jay-Z to help support his campaign. Jay put on a series of concerts to get out the vote. Just like that, Jay-Z had helped elect the first black president in United States history.

If Jay-Z had stayed selling drugs, he would have kept making good money (though he likely would have been caught before long). But he never would have been able to make the positive impact on the world that he has an artist and entrepreneur.

#17 Have an “Empire State of Mind”

“I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.”

Jay-Z, from ‘Diamonds for Sierra Leone’

The reason Jay-Z is so much wealthier than other entertainers is because he’s more than just an entertainer: he’s an empire. He has owned night clubs, record labels, clothing lines, restaurants, and he’s currently part-owner of the New Jersey Nets.

More than that, Jay-Z learned quickly what other entrepreneurs are just now learning: that business is more personal than ever. He has said, “My brands are an extension of me. They’re close to me. It’s not like running GM, where there’s no emotional attachment.”

Jay-Z is his business, he’s selling his lifestyle – and we’re buying.

Now that I am, it’s hard for me to ever imagine going back to a normal job.

There are a lot of reasons why I love being an entrepreneur and I’ve listed my top 30 below.

If you’re thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, I hope reading this inspires you to take the plunge. If you’re already an entrepreneur, I hope it reminds you that you have a lot to be thankful for.

#1 You Can Work in Your Pajamas

When you really want to be comfortable, even business casual isn’t casual enough. Online entrepreneurs get to work while wearing sandals, sweatpants, and even their pajamas.

#2 It’s Low-Risk

“If you start with nothing and end with nothing, then nothing was lost.”

Michael Dunlop

Two decades ago, if you wanted to sell a product, you needed a store. If you wanted to offer a service, then you needed office space. If you wanted a platform to promote yourself with, you would have to pay for advertising space.

Starting a business was expensive and therefore risky.

But the Internet has changed things. Instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars a year for real estate, you can pay less than $100 a year for a domain name and hosting. Instead of paying thousands more on marketing, you can start a social media platform for free.

All of this doesn’t guarantee you’ll succeed, but it does mean that you can’t lose much by trying.

#3 Your Work is Your Own

When you work for someone else, all of your efforts go to helping a business that doesn’t belong to you.

As an entrepreneur, your effort goes to increasing the value of something (a business) that you own outright.

Getting a monthly paycheck is great, but it’s a short-term fix compared to developing an asset that can bring you wealth for years and years to come.

#4 There’s Never a Dull Moment

Companies like to hire people to fill one role. As an employee, you’re generally expected to do one thing and do it very well. This may be efficient, but it’s also boring.

Entrepreneurs just starting out don’t have this problem. Instead of filling one role, they must fill all of the roles for their company. In one day, you’ll work as a designer, writer, coder, salesperson, and maybe even janitor (somebody has to clean up).

Playing so many parts is daunting, but it keeps things interesting.

#5 You Learn Something New Every Day

Here’s another benefit to having the varied duties of an entrepreneur: there’s always more to learn.

Even if one day you were able to learn everything involved in making money online, you would wake up the next day and have more to learn. As an online entrepreneur, the better you’re able to keep up with up-to-date technologies, techniques, and trends, the easier it will be for you to be successful.

Personally, I love the sense of progress I get when I learn a valuable new concept or skill. I also like that I’m always challenging my mind and keeping it sharp.

#6 You Can Find Your True Calling

Most people know what they want to do for the rest of their lives by the time they’re five years old. By the time they’re 25 years old, they usually aren’t so sure.

If you’re looking for some clarity on the subject, then you may want to become an entrepreneur. Since it’s such a diverse and self-guided career path, entrepreneurship is a good way to find your true calling.

#7 You Can Beat the Rush

Driving to work with everybody else during rush hour is a waste of time, gasoline, and your patience.

As an online entrepreneur, your morning commute can be the walk from bedroom to your office. If you choose not to work from home, you can still avoid the rush by going to work an hour earlier or later.

#8 More Home Cooking

Employees don’t do a lot of cooking during their lunch break. It’s more practical to go out to lunch at a restaurant or bring a sack lunch.

But as an entrepreneur, you can spend more days working from home and therefore more lunches in your own kitchen. There’s nothing like home cooking: it’s often healthier, less expensive, and more satisfying.

#9 More Sunshine

I live in Fort Collins, Colorado and this last week has seen some unseasonably warm weather. Unfortunately, when I’m stuck inside working during a beautiful day, I tend to be distracted.

So I took mornings off last week to hike, bike, and play basketball. After getting a couple of hours of Vitamin D, I was ready to buckle down for work.

If I had a regular 9-to-5 job, that wouldn’t be possible. I would probably be stuck looking out the window all day.

#10 It Helps Build Your Network

The difference between achieving your wildest dreams and being left in the dust can be as simple as knowing the right person.

Some occupations are better at building your network than others. But you probably won’t make a ton of connections while working in the same office every day year after year.

Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are always meeting new people. They have to reach out to potential clients, customers, and partners if they want to keep their business moving forward. All of that turnover helps entrepreneurs to have some of the biggest (and most lucrative) networks around.

#11 The Internet is Still Growing

As of December 2011, only 32.7% of the world’s population had Internet access.

In the next decade, that number will climb steadily as more and more people gain access. Meanwhile, those two billion of us who already connect to the Internet will likely be doing it more often, from more devices, for longer periods of time.

In other words, the Internet is a healthily growing industry. If you start an online business today, it will enjoy the benefits of that growth.

#12 We’re in a Time of Economic Transition

The last two decades have seen the sharp rise of digital technology and globalized trade. This has shaken up the world economy and left many industries depleted.

It has also created brand new business opportunities for entrepreneurs to capitalize on.

While bigger, older companies struggle to adapt to these changes, a startup can be built from the ground-up to solve today’s problems. A great example of this is Green-back Laptops, which turns a profit in a brand-new industry (recycling computers).

#13 It’s an Employer’s Market

Unemployment rates around the world are high. That’s bad news for employees, who are dealing with more competition and lower wages.

But it’s good news for entrepreneurs, who can benefit from hiring an eager, available workforce to help grow their businesses.

#14 You Can Create Jobs

If your business becomes successful, you’ll want to hire a few employees. The larger your business becomes, the more people you’ll need to hire.

Google was started by only two people but it now employs over 30,000. What would those 30,000 people be doing if it weren’t for Google? Maybe they’d working for another search engine, but they might also be out of work.

#15 It Makes Your Internet Habit Productive

If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you spend a fair amount of time online.

When you’re an online entrepreneur, browsing the Internet becomes part of your job: you benefit from reading relevant articles, networking with people in your industry, and sharing parts of your story on Facebook or Twitter.

If you’re going to be spending your time online anyway, you might as well be doing something productive.

#16 You Can Do What You Love

This may be the single best reason to be an entrepreneur.

Instead of fitting into a box designated by an employer, entrepreneurs can effectively create their own dream-job.

#17 You Can Earn Passive Income

Passive income is money that you earn on a regular basis without having to put in much effort to maintain it. One example of passive income would be the monthly rent check a landlord receives.

Just about everyone loves the idea of passive income because it means that you can make money while you sleep – and use the daylight to do whatever you like.

Because a good website can earn money without much maintenance, online entrepreneurs have the fast track to earning passive income. Some of the ways to do it are by hosting advertisements on your sites, selling products, and developing membership programs.

#18 You Don’t Have a Boss

A great boss is a leader, mentor, and a friend.

A bad boss is hell on earth.

If you don’t want having to risk getting a bad boss then you may like becoming an entrepreneur. You’ll still have responsibilities to other people, but you won’t have to be anyone’s personal underling five days a week.

#19 You Can’t Get Fired

One of the worst things about being an employee is that you never know when you could get the axe. Companies are always looking for ways to cut costs and annual salaries are one of their biggest expenses. Any day, you could go to work with a career and come home unemployed.

As an entrepreneur, you can lose clients, visitors, or followers, but you can never lose your job. Your future is in your hands.

#20 You Don’t Have to Quit Your Day Job

Making money online doesn’t usually happen right away. It takes time to develop a website, product, or following. Even the world’s most successful online entrepreneurs (think Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page) didn’t earn money from their websites for years.

But even though becoming an online entrepreneur is a big time commitment, the time can be spread out over as many days as you like. So, you don’t need to quit your day job. You can keep earning a full-time income and build an online business with your free time.

#21 You Can Quit Your Day Job

At some point, your online business may become so profitable that your 9-to-5 job becomes obsolete. That’s when you put in your two weeks’ notice and become a full-time entrepreneur.

Other than winning the lottery, entrepreneurship may be the best way to never need a “real job” again.

#22 It Teaches You Self-Discipline

Entrepreneurs have to hold themselves accountable. If they don’t, nobody else will.

This is a challenge, but it’s also a great opportunity to flex your willpower. Being your own boss means that you get to practice motivating yourself every day to get things done.

Self-discipline is a rewarding habit. Practicing it daily makes you feel more satisfied and confident in yourself. Of course it’s also the best thing you can do for the success of your business.

#23 You Can Travel the World

When your office is online, you can work from virtually anywhere. As long as you’ve got a power outlet and a connection to the Internet, you’re set.

Some entrepreneurs (like Cody McKibben) take advantage of this and travel the globe year-round. These entrepreneurs are known as ‘digital nomads’. Others just use their location-independence to take the occasional long vacation.

There’s a big, beautiful world out there. Starting an online business gives you a better chance to experience it.

#24 You Can Listen to Your Body Clock

We all have a unique body clock that plays a role in our mood and energy throughout the day.

For me, every night at midnight a switch flicks on in my brain and I become extremely focused, creative, and productive. That time of night is usually when I do my best work.

If I had a typical 9-to-5 job, this productive window would go to waste. One of the big benefits of being an online entrepreneur is that you can listen to your body and work during the times of day when you feel most energized.

#25 You Can Work Four Hours a Week

In “The 4-Hour Workweek”, Timothy Ferriss discusses how to use things like outsourcing, drop-shipping, and Google Adsense to automate your business and work only four hours a week.

This is one of the great entrepreneurial dreams: build a business to the point that it runs without you.

Of course, you can’t start brand-new business, work on it for a few hours per week, and expect to be able to live off of the income. The road to the four-hour workweek is often paved with 50 and 60 hour weeks.

#26 It Encourages Efficiency

Another way to work fewer hours per week is to work more efficiently. The sooner you get today’s project done, the sooner you’ll be able to relax.

The same isn’t true for most jobs. Generally, you get off at the same time regardless of how efficiently you’ve been working. In fact, an hourly wage can actually encourage you to do things slowly because you know you won’t have to work as hard.

Personally, I prefer how entrepreneurship incentivizes efficiency.

#27 It’s Satisfying

It’s hard to define what gives us that sense of satisfaction, but we know it when we feel it. At the end of the day, we either feel happy, content, and satisfied or… we don’t.

In my experience, entrepreneurs are an exceptionally satisfied bunch. This is true even of those who haven’t yet seen very much success.

There’s something about working for yourself, following your own path, and controlling your own destiny that gives a person that happy, contented feeling at the end of the day.

#28 There’s Unlimited Growth Potential

With a traditional job, you move forward by receiving raises and promotions. These are good ways to get ahead, but they’re all incremental forms of growth. You’re not going to be the secretary one week and the CEO the next.

Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, can experience big breakthroughs and sudden leaps in success. You could make $100 one week and $10,000 the next.

The knowledge that your business could explode overnight is part of what makes being an online entrepreneur so exciting.

#29 You Can Influence the World

As an employee, it’s easy to feel like a cog in a machine. You’re producing results for the company, but you’re not making your individual mark.

Entrepreneurs build businesses that reflect their goals and values. Their businesses entertain, inform, and help people, and in doing that they shape the world.

#30 You Can Leave a Legacy

I don’t know the meaning of life, but I do know that we all want for our life to have mattered.

You don’t have to start a business to do that. Raising a family, becoming a teacher, or simply being a good friend are all fine ways of leaving a legacy.

But if you really want to “put a dent in the universe,” then you may want to become an entrepreneur.

That’s what gave Steve Jobs the platform to change the way we think about technology. It’s also what gave Bill Gates the opportunity to dedicate his life to giving back (through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

Simply put, a business is a powerful thing. When you create one, you create the possibility to provide huge value for people all around the planet. Build your business to last and it will keep making a difference even after you’re gone.

What’s your reason?

Did any of these 30 reasons jump out at you and make you think, “That’s why I decided to become an entrepreneur?”

Or did I neglect to mention your favorite reason?

Either way, illuminate me in the comment section below.

And if you’re not yet an entrepreneur, I’ll give you one more reason become one: you can start right now.

Images Courtesy of

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualpanic/,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justinandelise/,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hlkljgk/,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/superfantastic/,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/schristia/.

There’s nothing wrong with being a little selfish.

When you own your own business, you have complete responsibility for all of its operations. You have to look after their own best interest first and foremost.

But the more generous you are with your time, energy, and expertise the easier it will be to accomplish your personal goals. The more you give, the more you get.

Don’t believe me? Keep reading and I’ll explain.

Helping People is the Key to Success

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

There’s a common misconception that in order to get ahead in business, you have to lie, cheat, steal, and otherwise step on a lot of other people on the way up.

That may be true in the corporate world, but the opposite is true with most businesses. The more people a company helps, the more people will patronize that company and share it with their friends and colleagues.

“The easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want.”

Deepak Chopra

The more value you provide, the more you’re worth. So focus your business effort on helping other people and businesses succeed.

People Tend to Return Favors

There are certain rules that we all follow.

In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini discusses something that he calls the rule of reciprocation. According to Cialdini, “The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us.”

I’m sure you’ve felt that powerful sense of obligation when someone goes out of their way to do something nice for you. You feel instinctively compelled to balance the scale with a return favor of your own.

This feeling of indebtedness goes back to the earliest stages of human society, when people began sharing resources and skills in order to thrive. Today, there’s not a single human society that doesn’t follow the rule of reciprocation (according to the research of sociologist Alvin Gouldner).

How can you apply this in your business? Go above and beyond when working with other companies. Provide a service for free or promote them without asking for anything in return. When the time is right, those businesses will do whatever they can to return the favor.

Giving opens up your Network

Nothing has contributed more to the growth of my personal business than my network. Almost all of our clients have come from personal connections or referrals.

The larger and more powerful your network, the easier it will be for you to achieve success. But how do begin making meaningful connections – especially with people who are higher-up on the food chain than you?

One way is to make an introduction to somebody in the form of a generous gift.

I can tell you a story about this method of networking that illustrates how it can be effective:

A couple of years ago, the website of an influential technology blogger was taken down by a hacker. The top-tier blogger was lamenting his site’s crash on Twitter when he received a message from one of his followers.

The follower was a young programmer and he had decided to look at the website to see how it had been hacked. He presented the blogger with exact instructions for how to prevent another hacker from taking the site down in the future.

That advice was worth thousands of dollars to the blogger, but the programmer didn’t ask for anything in return. Instead, he earned himself a high-profile connection. You can try the same thing to establish valuable new business relationships in your field.

Word Spreads Fast

Doing business is commonplace. It happens every day.

Being given something is a little bit more exceptional. The exchange becomes a story that we’re more likely to share with friends and colleagues.

Just last week, I was given a stick of Bruce Spruce’s “man balm.” A few hours later, I found that I was telling my friend about receiving the lip balm. Without even realizing it, I was doing word of mouth marketing for this company.

A good story is also at the core of journalism. As you read this, thousands of magazine and newspaper writers are frantically searching for a story to meet tomorrow’s deadline.

Every business would like that next article to be written about them. Periodicals have huge readerships, so being featured in one generates new leads and a burst of traffic to your website.

But offering a product or a service for a price isn’t much of a story. Giving away that product or service to a worthy cause, on the other hand, is much more newsworthy. When your business takes part in a charitable deed, you increase your chances of being featured in the press.

So if you’re looking to raise your profile, try giving back to your local community. Not only will word spread about your business, the story will be about making it a positive impact.

Karma

“No man who continues to add something to the material, intellectual and moral well-being of the place in which he lives is left long without proper reward.

Booker T. Washington

Karma is an ancient Indian concept that links a person’s actions to their destiny. In western culture, it’s often understood as “what goes around comes around” or “you reap what you sow.”

Some people seem to think of karma as a spiritual scoreboard that keeps track of our every deed. Everything we do, good or bad, is perfectly accounted for and dealt back to us in time. If this were true, then we could just give, give, give and then sit back and wait for karma to come calling with a heap of great stuff in return.

You may not believe in karma as an all-knowing spiritual force, but you have to recognize that events are not isolated. When something good happens, it tends to cause more good things to happen, which in turn cause even more good things to happen… and on and on and on. Unfortunately, the same is true of negative events.

When you realize that events are interlinked, you begin to realize how important it is to be kind and compassionate in your daily life. If you’re always doing good actions, then your whole life will be surrounded by patterns of positive events. Even though you may not always see the benefit of your good actions, you will have good karma overall.

Giving Makes You Happy

When we’re happy, we’re more productive. As entrepreneurs, we’re the engine of our businesses, so it’s especially important that we stay happy and productive.

One measurement of happiness is the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Natural methods of raising serotonin involve exercising regularly, eating certain foods (e.g. almonds), and performing acts of kindness.

That’s right: making other people happier makes us happier.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

Dalai Lama

Next time you’re feeling down on your business, try giving a little bit of time and energy to do something nice for somebody else.

It Makes the World a Better Place

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Anne Frank

Up to this point, all my reasons have gone back to personal benefit. I’ve tried to explain how acting in the interest of others is really acting in self-interest. In other words, I’ve been appealing to that always-loud voice in our heads that asks, “What’s in it for me?”

But the best reason to be a more giving entrepreneur isn’t selfish at all.

As entrepreneurs, we have a great deal of power. We have the resources of our businesses, our online platform, and we have our personal skillset. Together, that means the capability to bring big ideas together and turn them into realities.

The world needs entrepreneurs – and the more of us who are actively giving our time and expertise, the better place the world will be for everyone.

Your work habits are vital to your success.

But what about your non-work habits? Believe it or not, you can use your free time in a way that will actually help your business succeed.

Check out the five non-work activities below for ways to get work done without actually having to work.

#1 Socialize

If you’re the type to spend Friday night finishing up your latest project instead of going out on the town, then you might want to reconsider – not just for the benefit of your social life, but for the benefit of your business.

The reason is simple: success gets easier as your network gets bigger.

You probably don’t think of hanging out with your friends as a prime networking opportunity, but you never know when a friend of a friend will have just the right skill, connection, or opportunity to help take your business to the next level.

The more friends you make, the better the odds are that one of them will be able to help you out, whether immediately or years down the road. If not, no worries: friends are a nice thing to have in their own right.

Another Reason to Make Friends

Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, being socially savvy has never been more important in online business. Having an active social life will help you keep with the current trends and make sure you don’t get too socially awkward while typing out your tweets.

#2 Buy a Chair

Take notice as you’re reading this. Do you have good posture? Are your elbows bent at 90 degrees as you type? Do you feel comfortable and alert?

If not, it may be time to invest in a high back ergonomic chair.

Being an Internet entrepreneur without a good chair is sort of like being a marathon runner without good shoes. It may not seem very important at first, but it will begin to wear on you over time.

You’re probably working from your desk at least five hours a day. If you’re chair isn’t providing ample back and lumbar support during that time, you’re going to be more tired by the end of your work day than you should be.

Plus, a good chair encourages you to have good posture – and when you sit up straight, you’ll feel more alert and focused. Not only will you be getting more work done, you’ll also be doing your body a long-term favor.

Michael’s already recommended a great office chair in his Ultimate Office Shopping Guide. It’s expensive – but not any more expensive than a few visits to the chiropractor’s office.

Standing is the New Sitting

If you don’t want to spend the cash on buying a chair, find a counter and try working while standing up. You’ll eventually get tired of standing, but while you’re at it the increased blood flow will help you to think on your feet, so to speak.

#3 Read

If you’re a book lover, then you know there are few things more enjoyable than getting lost in the pages of a great novel.

But reading can also be a great way to make progress with your business – and I’m not just talking textbooks and business books, likeRich Dad, Poor Dad and The 4-Hour Workweek.

Reading the newspaper will keep you up on what’s current, which will help your business stay relevant. Reading biographies will give you day-by-day insight into the way successful people lived their lives. Reading novels can help spur your imagination.

Of course, reading articles about how to make money online on websites like IncomeDiary, may be your best resource of all.

Becoming Eloquent

Reading isn’t just about learning more about how to succeed. It also increases your skill with language, which will help you to communicate with customers, clients, and potential investors. Start reading daily and you may start talking your way into closing more deals.

#4 Get Somebody Else to Do It

Some entrepreneurs are so set on bootstrapping that they try to do everything themselves.

That’s an admirable goal, but it’s not very efficient. Inevitably, they spend a lot of time learning new skills and making first-time mistakes. As Warren Buffett would say, they’ve left their “circle of competence.”

It’s also a huge time commitment. If you spend all of your time answering emails, redesigning your website, and promoting your business, when will you have time to actually provide value to customers? One person can only do so much.

That’s why professional bloggers hire specialists to redesign their websites, write sales copy, and create their products. That’s also why many employ full-time virtual assistants to take care of administrative work and filter their daily deluge of emails.

In order to grow, your business will eventually have to enlist the help of additional people. The sooner you get started, the more prepared you’ll be manage employees when your business gets so large that they become essential.

Where to Start

Don’t be afraid to invest in your business by getting somebody else to do your work for you. Websites like oDesk and Elance are a good place to start. For smaller projects, you can try Fiverr – where the jobs are so small, they only cost five bucks.

#5 Go for a Run

You already know that running can make you healthier and leaner – but it can also be a great way to get work done without working.

If you’ve hit a mental roadblock, staring at your computer screen probably isn’t the best way to overcome it. Getting outside and going for a short run will help your body get into a rhythm and give you a fresh outlook.

It’s a great way to have an idea breakthrough, like thinking of a solution to a nagging problem or finding the right angle to enter a new market.

Go the Distance

“I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period.”

Will Smith

Running also reinforces a mindset of commitment. With longer distances especially, it’s necessary that you develop the attitude that you won’t give up no matter what.

This will come in handy when you face roadblocks on your entrepreneurial journey. Very simply, a mindset of commitment is something that you’ll need if you ever want to have real success in anything.

Not a Runner?

Don’t worry: any long-distance sport will suffice. One of my favorite quotes about perseverance comes from a cyclist: Lance Armstrong, who beat cancer and then won the Tour de France seven-consecutive times. 

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

Lance Armstrong

Does Not Working Really Work?

Next time you’ve got some free time, remember these activities.

Instead of reaching for the TV remote, read about the life of a person you admire. Instead of staying in, go out and meet some new people.

Of course, having the biggest network or the most comfortable chair doesn’t mean anything unless you’ve also been working to build a great business. So, even though all of these non-work activities can help move your business forward, none of them can replace good, old-fashioned hard work.

Good luck building your business as you work, as you don’t, and any time you find in between. If you can think of a helpful non-work activity that I missed, please share it below.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/sportcommunities/

The New Year is a fresh start.

The person you were last year no longer exists. All that matters is who you are on New Year’s Day and who you become by the end of the year.

January 1^st is a perfect time to make a personal change, but it’s also a perfect time for entrepreneurs to make big changes to their businesses.

The 12 resolutions below are for entrepreneurs hoping to help their business thrive in 2012.

#1 Resolve to Finish Every Project You Start

I’ve written previously about how most entrepreneurs have so many good ideas, that it can be difficult finish one project before starting the next one.

Don’t make that mistake this year. If you decide to develop a business, commit to seeing it through completely.

#2 Resolve to Start Charging Your True Worth

When trying to get your business on its feet, sometimes you have to charge less than your product or service is actually worth. It’s a good way to gain clientele and experience. But it’s not a good way to get rich.

Eventually, you’ve got to start charging clients for the actual value that you’re providing.

If you’ve been working for less than you’re worth, then 2012 is the year to make a change.

#3 Resolve to Keep a Clean Work Space

It’s hard to be productive in an environment that’s cluttered and disorganized.

Look around your work space right now. If it isn’t clean and controlled, then make a commitment now to maintain a focused work space for the next year.

#4 Resolve to Improve Work Systems

When Henry Ford implemented an assembly line in his factories in 1913, he completely revolutionized the automobile industry. By making the production system more efficient, The Ford Motor Company was able to produce more vehicles for less money – and profits went through the roof.

A business is only as efficient as the systems it employs.

Some systems are simple, like the way you organize your inbox. Others are very complex, like your step-by-step approach to completing a project over the course of a month.

We often create systems without much thought and then take them for granted once they’re established. As long as a system works, what’s the point in meddling?

But this is one thing where you really need to put in the extra time and make sure you’re doing things right. Take a step back and look critically at the systems you implement regularly with your business.

Systems are so important because their effect is cumulative. If you improve a system one time, that improvement continues to benefit you every time it’s implemented.

If you haven’t paid much attention to your systems lately, then make a point to focus on them in 2012.

#5 Resolve to Be Authentic

People are spending more time online than ever before. By now, they’re pretty adept at recognizing who’s being genuine and who isn’t.

2012 is a great year to tune out the voice in your head that tells you to pretend to be someone you’re not. Instead, communicate online with your authentic voice. People will take notice and respond.

#6 Resolve to Keep Track of Your Hours

How many hours are you putting into your business a week?

It’s not necessary to have a set schedule or to work eight hours every day. That’s part of the joy of being your own boss. But it is important to be aware of your work hours – and four hour days aren’t going to cut it (at least not at first).

When you begin to keep track of your hours, you start to understand where your time is going and how you could use it more effectively.

If you’re doing freelance work and you’re being paid by the project, this will also help you in pricing your services.

A Time Tracking Tool

There are many applications out there that help you keep track of how you’re spending your time on your computer.

Rescue Time is free software that automatically tracks which programs and websites you’re using throughout the day. Over the course of a few weeks, you begin to get a clear picture of how efficient your computer time is and how it compares to the work habits of others.

At the end of the month, take a look at the data. You may be surprised to realize how much of your time goes to work that doesn’t actually you earn you any income (like answering emails or being active on social media).

#7 Resolve to Redesign Your Website

Even if you’re website is up-to-date now, it won’t be in six months. The Internet keeps changing and the most successful online companies will continue to change with it.

Don’t risk becoming outdated. Make sure you update and improve your website at least once this year.

#8 Resolve to Eat Right and Exercise

Okay, okay – I know these are the two most cliché resolutions in the history of New Year’s. But they’re cliché for a reason.

Eating right and exercising are great resolutions for anyone who operates their own business. It will give you more energy and focus to make the most of your work day.

Of course, it will also make you healthier and it may even help you look better in the bathroom mirror.

#9 Resolve to Spend 20 Minutes Actively Learning Each Day

Solo entrepreneurs must be proficient in many different fields. In any given day, you may work as a designer, marketer, salesperson, and writer.

There’s not always time to master each of these skillsets. When you’re just starting out, sometimes all that matters is that the task is completed. Whether or not it’s completed perfectly is beside the point.

So entrepreneurs tend to become jacks of many trades, masters of none.

The good news is that means there’s a ton of room for improvement. And even if you’re getting by with your current ability-level, honing your skills will make for better and more efficient work.

That’s why it’s such a good idea to spend 20 minutes actively learning every day.

Ways to Learn

Podcasts

This is a great learning solution for the time-crunched entrepreneur. Maybe you’ve got a full-time job, run your business on the side, and you don’t have 20 minutes to spare.

Pop in a pair of headphones and start learning while involved in an activity that doesn’t require your full attention. Suddenly riding the bus, doing the dishes, and exercising are opportunities to become a smarter, better entrepreneur.

Video Tutorials

While audio is a great learning tool, actually seeing something is often the most effective way to understand it. There’s simply no substitute for watching a pro as they complete a task, talking you through every step of the way.

In the last few years, a huge number of quality video tutorials have been posted on YouTube. Simply search for a subject, press play, and start learning.

Video isn’t the best if you’re just looking for a few bits of essential info. You can’t skim a video like a written tutorial. But they’re an ideal method when you need to sit down and learn a process from front to back.

Books

Ink and paper may be old-fashioned, but a big “how-to” book is still one of the best learning resources available.

Even if all of the information within its pages is available online, that’s no replacement for having it right there in your hands. You won’t have to search the web for quality instruction and you can take it with you wherever you go.

A 500-page tome can set be pretty expensive, but the cost is small when you think of it as an investment in your business. Check out your local bookstore or Amazon to find a compendium on whatever subject you want to master.

Refresh, then Rest

If you really want to get the most out of your daily lesson, revisit it for a few minutes right before you go to sleep. If you read an informative article, skim through it again. If you learned a new technique in Photoshop, create something simple with it.

Not only will this reinforce what you learned the first time around, the new knowledge will sit at the fore front of your brain as you prepare for sleep.

Sleep is your brain’s opportunity to organize and store all of the knowledge it gains throughout the day. So you stand a better chance of actually remembering your daily lesson if you revisit it before you call it a day.

If you resolve to devote a little bit of time to learning every day for the next year, you’ll be see a huge improvement in the quality and quantity of your work by the end of the year.

#10 Resolve to Keep Your Resolutions

Every January, people across the world make resolutions to change the way they act.

Every February, many of those resolutions have been broken or forgotten.

It’s only over the course of the whole year that a change can have any real impact. But if you do stick to your resolutions, they will eventually become habits that will improve your life (and business) for years and years to come.

So, the most important resolution you can make is to really stick with whatever changes you decide to make this year.

What’s Your Resolution?

Let us know how you’re going to make 2012 the best year yet.

Warren Buffet isn’t a psychic, but he does have a knack for predicting the future.

His eye for savvy investments has earned him the nickname the “Oracle of Omaha” — along with a net worth of US$50 billion.

Buffett has never been shy about sharing his common-sense business strategies: he’s famous for writing shareholders once a year to explain his thinking. In the process, he’s left the world with a wealth of business knowledge.

Get inside the mind of a legendary investor with the lessons and quotes below.

Lesson #1: Choose a Good Path

Do What You’re Good At

“There’s a whole bunch of things I don’t know a thing about. I just stay away from those.”

We all have our talents. For his part, Buffett realized long ago that he was very good when it came to investment. Ever since then, he’s focused on that, staying within what he calls his “circle of competence.”

You should do the same. Identify your strengths and then stick to them.

Find and Follow Your Passion

“Do what you’re passionate about. If you do this, there will be few people competing or running faster than you.”

When you complete a task that you’re passionate about, you’ve got more energy than when you started.

Buffett doesn’t get tired of his job, because he actually enjoys what he’s doing. He has said, “I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year,” and that at Berkshire-Hathaway they enjoy, “the process far more than the proceeds.”

I know that you’ve heard it before, but there’s really no greater way to ensure the success of your business than by founding it on something that you are truly passionate about.

As Buffett said, “Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.”

Know When to Abandon Ship

“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”

Every business will someday face adversity, just as every boat will eventually spring a leak. You should never let your business drown just because an unexpected problem arises.

But if your business isn’t getting any traction at all, maybe the underlying model is making everything more difficult than it has to be. Instead of expending all of your energy trying to keep a sinking ship afloat, seek out a better model. 

Lesson #2: Keep it Simple

Make things Easy on Yourself

“There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.”

People often make work more challenging than it needs to be. Have you ever spent hours and hours working on a project that you know you could have completed in thirty minutes?

Don’t languish with unproductive habits or inefficient systems. Find ways to work that makes your job easy.

Pick Low-Hanging Fruit

“I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”

If there’s an apple within your grasp, you’re not going to reach for a ladder.

Buffet adopts a similar strategy while investing: he doesn’t make risky investments because he doesn’t have to. Good companies make him money, but great companies make him more of it.

Whether in investments or business, focus your effort on where you get the most bang for your buck. Pass on lofty challenges.

Simpler is Better

“The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.”

The day-traders who buy stock are making their job very difficult. They study pages of market analysis and work 40-hours-a-week just trading.

If you’re good with complicated data, you’ll make some short-term gains that way. But you could also take Buffett’s lead and tune that noise out.

Berkshire-Hathaway makes its stock purchases based on just one thing: the intrinsic value of the company. Buffett buys stock in companies that have good fundamentals and a track record of growth. Pretty straightforward.

People love to come. up with complex formulas, but most success in business is simple, common sense.

Two Simple Rules:

“Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.”

Lesson #3: Character is Good for Business

Don’t Swim Naked

“It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”

Before the global recession of 2008, financial institutions were making risky investments and pretending that they were safe. It worked for a while.

But the thing about the tide is that eventually it goes out. When that happens, the only thing that will matter is the true value of your investments.

Resist the urge to put up a faux-exterior. Conduct your business solid through and through, you’ll have nothing to worry about when the water gets shallow.

Look Out for the Customer

“Decide early in life to make your money by selling things that you really believe are good for the customers.”

Profit is a symptom.

It happens naturally whenever a company provides value to their customers.

The best way to make money is to offer a product or service that’s truly good for the people who use it. One way you’ll know you’re onto something is if you actually want to use it yourself.

Good People do Good Business

“You can’t make a good deal with a bad person.”

When Berkshire-Hathaway acquires a company, Buffett makes the deal in person and seals it with a handshake.

He likes to get to know a company’s management on a personal level because he’s only interested in buying businesses that are managed by good people. For Warren, personal integrity really matters.

He’s realized that being the good guy pays off. Taking shortcuts may pay off in the short term, but they always come back to haunt you eventually.

So act with good character and only associate with businesses that do the same.

Good Business is Contagious

“Hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”

Don’t be intimidated to work with people who are smarter than you. On the contrary, surround yourself with the brightest and most productive people you can find.

Not only will they push your business to new heights, their good habits will spread to you. Few factors have a greater impact on our behavior than the behavior of our peers.

Lesson #4: Think Long-Term

Be Patient

“No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

We live in a world of instant-gratification.

But short-term thinking can only lead to short-term success. If you want the type of consistent growth that creates true wealth, you must recognize that real success takes time. No matter what you do today, you can’t build million dollar business before you go to sleep.

So don’t try to rush something that can’t be rushed. Instead commit yourself completely to the long-haul.

Look Ten Years Out

“Our favorite holding period is forever.”

A stock’s holding period is the time between its purchase and sale.

When Berkshire-Hathaway makes a decision to buy stock in a company, they intend on owning it for the next ten years – and preferably even longer than that.

This long-term perspective gets them thinking about the factors that really matter, like the quality of the company’s business model and management.

Long-term thinking is more than just a good strategy for investors. Life is a long-term game, so start thinking about where you want your business to be in ten years.

Keep Your Reputation

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

A business’s assets will come and go, but a bad reputation is like a stain you can’t wash out.

All it takes to do permanent damage to your reputation is one slip-up. That’s a big problem, because people won’t work with a company that they don’t trust.

So don’t let yourself get sloppy. Cultivate an ethic of quality work.

Leave a Legacy

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time.”

What’s the best part about building a successful business?

It isn’t the money and it isn’t the freedom. It’s the fact that you’ve provided a huge amount of value to a huge amount of people.

Starting a business is like planting a seed. With proper care, it will still be making the world a better place long after you leave.

Buffett’s legacy doesn’t stop with his businesses, either. Like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, he’s pledged to give half of his wealth to philanthropy.

Lesson #5: Develop a Mindset of Wealth

Plan for Success

“I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”

I’ve already written about how being totally confident can help you bend the universe.

Believing that you will succeed is the first step to making it happen.

Tune Out the Noise

“Let blockheads read what blockheads wrote.”

The more successful you become, the more haters you’ll have. You don’t have any control over what other people say, but you can choose to ignore their negativity.

Know when to listen in and when to tune out.

If someone gives you constructive criticism, then you should do everything you can to learn from it. But when criticism is unfounded or fueled by jealousy, listening to it will only be a distraction.

Accept that You’re Not Perfect

“I’ve made lots of mistakes. I’m going to make more. It’s the name of the game. You don’t want to expect perfection in yourself. You want to strive to do your best. It’s too demanding to expect perfection in yourself.”

You’re only human. You’re going to make some big mistakes.

Even an investment genius like Warren Buffett doesn’t win them all. He has accepted that fact and he doesn’t beat himself up when things don’t turn out like he had hoped.

It’s exhausting to expect perfection from yourself. Be satisfied with your best effort.

Be Happy

“I am not inclined to make myself unhappy. I sort of accept things as they come.”

If every one of his businesses went bankrupt tomorrow, Buffett would still be smiling.

His happiness doesn’t come from seeing green arrows next to his investments. It springs from his unflappable optimism and buoyant spirit.

There’s no greater gift you can give yourself than personal happiness. But if you’re not happy now, no amount of money or success is going to change that.

Be thankful for what you have, live with passion and purpose, and accept things as they come. Happiness will follow.

He’s a worldwide celebrity, an ardent humanitarian, and the he once tried to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon.

Branson knows a lot about business (as evidenced $4.2 billion net worth), but he also has a knack for adventure and living life to the fullest. Enjoy the lessons on life and business below.

#1 Your Age Doesn’t Matter

Richard was just 16 years old when he had his first business success, a magazine called Student. By 22, he had founded Virgin Records.

Branson is proof that it’s never too early to start.

But at 61, he’s also proof that being old is just a state of mind: Branson regularly kite surfs and attempts to break world records (e.g. a 2008 attempt to break the world record for sailing across the Atlantic).

#2 Think Laterally

The sky is the limit for your business, but that doesn’t mean that the only direction to grow is up.

Branson’s magazine led him to sell records. His record store led him to start a label, which led him to buy a recording studio and a night club.

By starting ventures in complementary industries, Branson created a network of businesses that reinforce one another. It’s much easier to promote a new musical artist when you own a night club, a magazine, and a record shop.

#3 Work for Free

How does a no-name record label sign its first artist?

Virgin Records did it by offering to let multi-instrumentalism Mike Oldfield use their recording studio for free. The recording sessions led to Tubular Bells (1973), Virgin’s first release and a best-seller.

When you’re trying to get your foot in the door in a new industry, sometimes the quickest way to make money is by doing something for free.

#4 Be Controversial

Branson signed the Sex Pistols to his label after other major labels (EMI and A&M) had dropped them for their penchant for creating controversy and mayhem.

The Sex Pistols lived up to their reputation and broke up not long after signing with Virgin Records. But their acquisition broadened Virgin’s profile and gave them an upper hand in the booming punk rock scene.

It’s natural to steer away from controversy, but if you’re willing to seek it out, you can draw attention to your business while cashing in on opportunities that others were too timid to take.

#5 Diversify

After finding success in the record business, Branson dove into the transportation industry, founding Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984. He’s since expanded his business ventures to include mobile phones, cosmetics, movies, and even his own cola.

Diversifying across industries doesn’t just keep things interesting for Branson, it also provides safety from the unpredictable ups and downs of any given industry.

Branson’s glad he didn’t stick to the just the record business: it has been in steady decline since Napster launched in 1999.

#6 Love Your Business

When Branson sold the Virgin record label to EMI in 1992, for £500 million, he was brought to tears.

A lot of people would probably cry tears of joy if they just made that kind of cash (myself included), but Branson was crying because he was emotionally invested into his record label.

If you don’t want to put your heart and soul into your business, you shouldn’t start it in the first place.

#7 Opportunity is Constant

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

Don’t be discouraged if a business venture doesn’t turn out like you hoped.

Instead, keep an eye out for the next big opportunity.

#8 Be a (Benevolent) Dictator

“I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.”

Nobody can accuse Branson of being cold to his employees (he makes a habit of writing them personal letters), but he also embraces his role as a dictator.

If you want to be a leader in business, you can’t worry about what other people think. Exercise your power and act decisively.

#9 Success in School is Different than Success in Life

Richard Branson is dyslexic and he struggled in school before dropping out at the age of 16.

School is great at testing and rewarding certain skillsets, like the ability to memorize information and follow instructions. But those skills aren’t the only skills necessary for real life success.

#10 Learn by Doing

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”

Branson started a magazine without ever having taken a journalism class and he became one of the world’s most successful businessmen without ever having taken a business class.

Don’t wait until you’re qualified to start doing what you want with your life. Just do it. You’ll make a ton of mistakes, but that’s the fastest way to learn.

#11 Be a Pioneer

In 2004, Branson founded Virgin Galactic – a space tourism company that will soon be taking sub-orbital vacations. So far, over 430 brave people have signed up to become Virgin Galactic astronauts.

The ticket price: $200,000.

Virgin Galactic is a great example of Branson’s willingness to explore new frontiers with his business ventures. Being a pioneer is risky, but it has a distinct advantage: when you pioneer an entirely new industry, beating the competition is a piece of cake.

#12 Look into the Future

Virgin Galactic is one of many instances in which Branson has anticipated an emerging market.

When Branson observed gasoline prices on the rise, he saw an opportunity to enter the fuel industry. The Virgin Green Fund invests worldwide in research and development of renewable fuel.

Given the global scarcity of gasoline, coupled with mounting consumption, it’s a good bet that Branson’s bet on alternative energy will pay off in the long run.

When you see current trends and project them into the future, you give your business a huge advantage for years to come.

#13 Screw Business as Usual

“Never has there been a more exciting time for all of us to explore this next great frontier where the boundaries between work and higher purpose are merging into one, where doing good really is good for business.”

The above is an excerpt from Branson’s brand new book, Screw Business as Usual, about how businesses can succeed by striving to make a positive impact on the planet (and not just make boatloads of money).

Branson argues that companies that treat their employees, their communities, and the environment better tend to have better long-term financial growth and a healthier brand.

When you make a positive impact with your business, you’re not just making the world a better place. You’re also contributing to the long-term success of your company.

#14 Give Back

“If I get frustrated by something, then I like to try to put it right.”

Branson’s businesses may make the world a better place, but that hasn’t stopped him from entering into the realm of non-profit humanitarian efforts.

He’s taken on AIDS (Virgin Healthcare Foundation), nuclear weapons (Global Zero), and even war itself (The Elders).

After a chat with Al Gore over breakfast about climate change, Branson decided that global warming was a legitimate crisis. He subsequently pledged an enormous $3 billion to help solve it.

Obviously, giving back doesn’t help Richard’s bottom line. But my guess is that it brings him satisfaction beyond words.

#15 Enjoy the Simple Things

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

Richard Branson lives a life that’s easy to envy. His wealth allows him to travel the world, meet influential people, and do it all in style.

But while yachts and jewelry are nice, they won’t give you real satisfaction. That’s something that can only grow out of an appreciation for the simple things, like your health, your loved ones, and a nice long bath.

Don’t wait until you’re “successful” to enjoy yourself. Start now and enjoy the way up.

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But there is a shortage of people who believe in their ideas so fully that they put in the necessary work to pull their ideas out of imagination and into reality.

Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.

- Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari

Chances are, your idea is good enough. In the back of your head, you already know that.

But nobody else knows – and the never will unless you build on it.

Watch the Income Diary Video on “Idea Building”

You wouldn’t build a house without a roof and then complain when a rain storm comes in – and you shouldn’t build a half of a business and then complain when it doesn’t earn a ton of money.

Starting several businesses and finishing none of them will get you nowhere in a hurry. So focus your attention on one good idea and see it through to completion.

5 Inspiring Quotes about Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.

- Napoleon Hill

Billion dollar businesses like Apple, Facebook, and Google all began in tiny brain cells. Pretty amazing. Of course, those brain cells all belonged to highly-motivated and hard working people.

We think good ideas to death, when we should be acting them to life.

- Brian G. Jett

Bringing your ideas to life in your imagination may be fun, but bringing them to life in reality is much more satisfying.

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.

- Howard Aiken

Truly world-changing ideas are often met with doubt and apprehension… at first. So if your idea faces criticism early on, take heart: so did the the bicycle, the iPad, and the microwave oven.

Ideas are not yours. They’re in the common consciousness. But how you perceive an idea is yours.

- King Sidharth

Don’t assume just because you had an idea that it’s yours to keep. Somebody else may have the same idea any moment and then beat you to the punch, so it’s better to act on your idea ASAP.

On the other hand, don’t be discouraged if somebody else has already enacted an idea very similar to yours. You can bring your idea to life in a better or maybe just different way. Remember that Facebook was predated by MySpace, SixDegrees, and Friendster.

Don’t be afraid of new ideas. Be afraid of old ideas. They keep you where you are and stop you from growing and moving forward. Concentrate on where you want to go, not on what you fear.

- Anthony Robbins

…And One More

“Ideas are just a multiplier of execution.”

- Derek Sivers, Founder of CDBaby.com

The concept behind the above Derek Sivers quote is simple: no matter how good an idea is, it’s worthless unless it’s well executed. The iPod wasn’t the first portable mp3 player. That honor goes to the Audio Highway Listen Up. But only 25 Listen Up’s were ever made. The iPod, on the other hand, has sold over 300 million units. That’s the power of good execution.

Partially executed entrepreneurial ideas don’t make money, just as houses without roofs don’t provide shelter. So don’t give up on your brilliant idea until you’ve truly given it an opportunity to be successful.

If you truly believe in your idea, start building – one brick at a time — and don’t stop until you’ve completed it.