Anything You Want

Don't be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.

Never forget why you’re really doing what you’re doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn’t that enough?

In the end, it's about what you want to be, not what you want to have.

If you think your life's purpose needs to hit you like a lightning bolt, you'll overlook the little day-to-day things that fascinate you.

Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you're being the real you and when you're trying to impress an invisible jury.

When you sign up to run a marathon, you don’t want a taxi to take you to the finish line.

Trust, but verify. Remember it when delegating. You have to do both.

Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what’s not working.

No business plan survives first contact with customers.

any business that’s in business to sell you a cure is motivated not to focus on prevention

Make sure you know what makes you happy, and don’t forget it.

When you make a business, you get to make a little universe where you control all the laws. This is your utopia.

Most people don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own. They spend decades in pursuit of something that someone convinced them they should want, without realizing that it won’t make them happy. Don’t

In the end, it’s about what you want to be, not what you want to have.

Don’t be on your deathbed someday, having squandered your one chance at life, full of regret because you pursued little distractions instead of big dreams.

a big difference between being self-employed and being a business owner. Being self-employed feels like freedom until you realize that if you take time off, your business crumbles. To be a true business owner, make it so that you could leave for a year, and when you came back, your business would be doing better than when you left.

Necessity is a great teacher.

Starting small puts 100 percent of your energy into actually solving real problems for real people.

Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision—even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone—according to what’s best for your customers. If you’re ever unsure what to prioritize, just ask your customers the open-ended question, “How can I best help you now?” Then focus on satisfying those requests.

I spent only $500 to start CD Baby. The first month, I earned back $300. But the second month I made $700, and it’s been profitable every month since.

Four years before I started CD Baby, as I was recording my first album, I needed to borrow $20,000 to buy studio equipment. My dad said, “Instead of my lending you money, start a corporation. Then the family business can buy shares in your corporation.

I had to make myself unnecessary to the running of my company.

If you’re ever unsure what to prioritize, just ask your customers the open-ended question, “How can I best help you now?” Then focus on satisfying those requests.

Never forget that you can make your role anything you want it to be. Anything you hate to do, someone else loves. So find that person and let her do it.

When you make a company, you make a utopia. It’s where you design your perfect world. Never

any business that’s in business to sell you a cure is motivated not to focus on prevention.)

Even if what you’re doing is slowing the growth of your business—if it makes you happy, that’s OK.

Most people don't know why they're doing what they're doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own.

Never forget that absolutely everything you do is for your customers. Make every decision—even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone—according to what's best for your customers.

If you set up your business like you don’t need the money, people are happier to pay you. When someone’s doing something for the money, people can sense it, like they sense a desperate lover. It’s a turnoff. When someone’s doing something for love, being generous instead of stingy, trusting instead of fearful, it triggers this law: We want to give to those who give.