The 38 Letters From J.D. Rockefeller to His Son
To all my failures and rejections, you may have thrown me down, but you will never strip me off the passion I have for entrepreneurship. For it is with my loved one that stands by me, I ought to bring about what I truly seek.
I feel that once rich children begin taking advantage of their family success, they will have little opportunity to learn and develop the skills needed for survival. People of poorer backgrounds will actively develop their creativity, abilities, while also cherishing and seizing various opportunities because they urgently need to rescue themselves. I have also observed that the kind of ambition of the rich children have, often lacks the motivation and attributes the poor, hence they resort to praying for their own success.
I believe that there is not one person in the world that does not long for a happy and luxurious life, yet not many people truly understand where it comes from. In my opinion, it does not come from wealthy blood, nor from a luxurious lifestyle, but from a luxurious character – the spirit of self-reliance. Only by looking at noble people who have won the respect of the world and exhibit charisma wherever they go, will we then know the worth of independence.
But you need to strengthen the belief that even though the starting point will affect the outcome, it does not determine it. Factors such as ability, attitude, character, ambition, method, experience, and luck play an extremely important role in life and the business world. Your life has just begun, but a battle of life is in front of you. I can deeply feel that you want to be the winner of this war, but you must know that everyone has the will to pursue victory, and only those who are determined and ready will win.
I do not live by God-given luck, but I do-so by planning luck. When waiting for luck, you must know how to guide luck; to design luck is to design life. (He who marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.)
This business genius who was once just an ordinary farm tool merchant once had an esoteric saying which went: “Luck is the remnant of design.” This phrase does sound quite brainy. Does it mean that luck is the result of planning and strategy? Or does it mean that luck is what remains after planning? My experience tells me that these two meanings exist. In other words, we create our own luck, and no action can eliminate it. Luck is the gospel that is difficult to get rid of in the planning process. McCormick saw the true meaning of luck and opened his door to it. So, I am not surprised that McCormick harvesters’ product can be sold all over the world.
In the eyes of ordinary people, luck is always innate. As long as they find out someone has attained success or have been promoted, they will say casually, with contempt: “This man's luck is so good, it is luck that helped him!” Such a person can never have a peek into the truth that makes one successful: everyone is a designer and architect of his own destiny. I admit, just like a person cannot have no money, a person cannot have no luck. However, if you want to make a difference, you cannot wait for luck to patronize. My credo is: I do not live by God-given luck, but I do-so by planning luck. I believe that a good plan will affect luck, and in any case, it can successfully affect luck. My plan to turn competition into cooperation in the oil industry justified this. Before the plan began, the oil refiners fought for their own interests, which led to a devastating competition between them. This kind of competition is certainly a boon for consumers, but falling oil prices are a disaster for oil refiners. At that time, the vast majority of refiners were a loss, and were successively sliding into bankruptcy. I am well aware that if we were to be profitable again and make money forever, we must tame this industry and have everyone act rationally. I regard it as a responsibility, but it is very difficult to do, it requires a plan – a plan that places all the oil refining businesses under my control.
John, to be a good hunter in a profitable hunting ground, you need to think hard, be careful, be able to see all possible dangers and opportunities in things, as well as study all kinds of strategies that could endanger your dominance like a chess player. I thoroughly researched the situation and evaluated my strength. I decided to use the base camp of Cleveland as my first battlefield to launch a war in order to rule the oil industry. After conquering more than 20 competitors there, I moved quickly to open up a second battlefield until I conquered all of their opponents and established an oil industry and a new order. Just like a commander on the battlefield, you must first know what kind of firearm to choose in order to be the most effective, before choosing your target. in order for me to successfully realize my plan to place the oil industry under my command, a thorough solution is needed. That's money. I needed a lot of money to buy those refineries that overproduce. But the amount of money on my hands was not enough to realize my plan, so I decided to form a joint stock company to attract investors from outside the industry. Soon we registered a standard oil company in Ohio with millions of assets, and the capital expanded significantly within three and a half years but deciding when to do it is a matter of knowledge. Visionary businessmen are always good at finding opportunities in every…
Anything can happen in this world, but nothing can happen without doing anything (reap without sowing). Those who blindly follow the crowd and rules, I view them with disdain. Their brains are entangled with wrong thoughts, as they think that it is worth being complacent just by being able to withdraw themselves. John, for our good luck to continue, we must carefully plan our luck, and planning luck requires a good plan. A good plan must be a good design, and a good design must be able to play a role. You need to know that when designing a good design, you must first consider two basic prerequisites. The first condition is to know your goals, such as what you want to do, or even what kind of person you want to become; the second condition is knowing what resources you have, such as status, money, interpersonal relationships, and even abilities. The order of these two basic prerequisites is interchangeable. You may have an idea and/or a goal before you start looking for goals that can be achieved from these resources, or you can also mix them together to form the third and fourth methods, such as having a certain goal and a certain resource. To achieve your goal, you need to selectively choose and create some resources, and also own some resources and a goal, to which afterwards you can adjust your goals accordingly After adjusting the goal according to the resource or the goal, you have a foundation – you can conceive the design structure, and the rest is up to you to fill…
The greatest reward for our hard work is not what we get, but what we will become. If you view work as a pleasure, life is heaven; if you view work as a duty, life is hell.
There is an allegory that is very meaningful and provided me with a lot of insights. The fable said: In ancient Europe, a man found himself in a wonderful place where he could enjoy everything in his afterlife. As soon as he stepped into the piece of music, someone who looked like a waiter came over and asked him: “Sir, do you have any needs? Here you can have everything you want: delicious food, all possible forms of entertainment and all kinds of pastimes, amongst them are many beautiful young women where you can enjoy as you please.” After listening to the waiter, the man was a little surprised, but very happy, as he happily thought to himself: “this is not my dream in the world!” Throughout the day he had been tasting all of the delicious food while enjoying the taste of beauty. However, one day, he was bored, so he said to the waiter: “I am bored from all of this and I need to do something. Can you find me a job to do?” He did not expect that the answer he received was the waiter shaking his head: “Sorry, my sir, this is the only thing we can't do for you here. There is no work here for you.” The man was very frustrated and waved his hand angrily as he said, “This is really bad! Then I will just stay in hell!" “Where do you think you’re at”, said the waiter gently.
Losing work means losing happiness. It is regrettable that some people only realize this after being unemployed, which is very unfortunate! I am proud to say that I have never tasted unemployment. This is not my luck, because I never treat work as hard labour without fun, instead I found infinite happiness from work. I think that work is a privilege, as it brings more than just sustaining life. Work is the foundation of all businesses, the source of prosperity, and the shaper of genius. Work makes young people work harder and do more than their parents no matter how rich they are. Work is expressed in the humblest forms and lays the foundation for happiness. A job helps to add flavours to life. But people must love work before it can return the biggest favours and achieve the greatest results.
When I first entered the business world, I often heard that a person who wants to climb to the peak needs to make a lot of sacrifices. However, as the years passed, I began to understand that many people who were climbing to the peak were not “paying the price.” They work hard because they really like work. People who climb up in any industry are fully committed to what they are doing and are dedicated. Sincerely love the work you do; you will naturally succeed. Loving work is a belief. With this faith, we can heave the desperate mountain into a rock of hope. A great painter said it well, “Pain will eventually pass, but beauty will last forever.”
No matter how great a person's ambitions are, he must at least begin before he can reach the peak. Once started, it is not difficult to progress. The more difficult or unpleasant the work is, the more urgent it is to accomplish it. The longer he waits, the more difficult and scarier it becomes. This is a bit like shooting a gun. The longer you aim, the lower the chance of you pulling the trigger.
Income is just a by-product of your work. Doing what you should do, accomplishing what you should do well, the ideal salary will come. And more importantly, the highest reward for our hard work is not what we get, but what we will become. Those who are mentally active do not just work hard to earn money; the real reason behind the passion for their work is far more noble– they are engaged in a fascinating career.
Honestly, I am an ambitionist. Since I was a child, I have wanted to be a wealthy man. For me, the Hewitt Tuttle company I worked at is was a good place to exercise my ability and give myself a try in the business. It is a provider of a variety of commodities, owns an iron ore, and operates two technologies which the company heavily relies on to generate profits, namely, railways and telegraphs that revolutionized the American economy. It has brought me into a fun, vast and splendid business world, and taught me to respect numbers and facts. It has also allowed me to see the power of the transportation industry and has cultivated the abilities and qualities that I should have as a businessman. All of these have played a great role in my future business. I can say that without the experience at Hewitt Tuttle, I may have taken many detours in my career. Now, whenever I think of Mr. Hewitt & Tuttle, I cannot help but feel grateful in my heart. That period of time marked the beginning of my career and laid the foundation for my struggles. I am forever grateful for that three and a half years of experience. So, I have never complained about my employer unlike some who might say, “We are nothing but just slaves, we are being suppressed by our employers, but they are standing tall while enjoying themselves in their beautiful villas; their safes are full with gold, and every dollar they have is obtained by exploiting honest workers like us.” I don’t know if these complainers want to…
John, if you view work as a pleasure, life is heaven; if you view work as a duty, life is hell. Reflect on your work…
A wise man said it well, “Education covers many aspects, but it does not teach you anything.” This wise man showed us a truth: if you do not take action, even the world most practical, beautiful, and viable philosophy will not work. I have always believed that an opportunity comes from another opportunity as even the best ideas have flaws. Even if it is a very ordinary plan, if it is actually implemented and developed, it will be much better than a good plan that is abandoned halfway, because the former will be carried out consistently, but the latter has already been given up. So, I said that there is no secret to success. To achieve positive results in life, it is of course good to have extraordinary wisdom and special talents. There is nothing wrong with it. As long as you are willing to take active actions, you will be closer to success. Unfortunately, many people have not remembered this biggest lesson, and as a result they have resulted to mediocrity. If you look at the ordinary people, you will find that they are all living passively, they always say much more than they do, or even do nothing. But almost all of them are good at finding excuses, they will find various excuse to procrastinate until they finally prove that this matter should not be, unable to or it is too late to be done.
Positive action is another positive attribute of mine. I never like to talk in vain. Because I know that there is no result without action, and there is nothing in the world that is obtained just from thinking. As long as people are alive, they must consider taking action.
Many people admit that knowledge without experience is useless, but what is even more frustrating is that even if there is knowledge and wisdom but no action, everything is still empty talk. Action and adequate preparation can actually be seen as two sides of an object. We need to live modestly.…
We cannot fall into the trap of continuous deliberation and planning but we must recognize the reality: no matter how detailed the plan is, we still cannot accurately predict the final outcome. Of course, I do not deny that planning is very important. It is the first step to achieving favourable results, but planning is not, and cannot replace action. Just like playing golf, if you have not completed the first hole, you cannot progress to the second hole. Action solves everything. Without action, nothing will happen. We cannot buy fool proof insurance, but what we can do is make up our minds to fulfil our plan. People who lack action have a bad habit: they like to maintain the status quo and refuse to change. I think this is a bad habit that is deceptive and self-destructive because everything is changing, just as people will live and die, there is nothing constant. But because of one’s inner fear – the fear of the unknown,…
Yes, everyone will be worried and scared when deciding on a huge event and will be faced with a dilemma. But the “action group” will use the determination to ignite the sparks in their soul, come up with various ways to fulfil their wishes, and gain the courage to overcome all kinds of difficulties. Many people who lack action are naive and like to sit and wait for things to happen naturally. They naively think that others will care about their affairs. In actual fact, other than yourself, others will not be very interested in them. People are only interested in their own things. For example, in a business, the higher our profits, the more we must take the initiative to act, because the success or failure has little to do with others; they will not care. At this time, we'd better push it. If we are lazy, retreating, and waiting for others to take the…
The most frustrating thing in life is that there are too many things to do, but there is not enough time. As a result, just by thinking about the plans that are unable to be carried out will only intimidate ourselves, and we end up not accomplishing anything. We must admit that with limited time, no one can complete everything. Smart people know that not all actions will produce good results, and only wise actions can bring meaningful results, so smart people will only learn from the work that has a positive effect in the future, and only concentrate on the work related that gives the greatest results. Hence, smart people always make the most valuable contribution and reap a lot of benefits. To eat an…
Many people make themselves into a passive person. They want to wait until all conditions are perfect, that is, when the time is right, before taking action. Life is an opportunity at any time, but there is almost nothing perfect. Those passive people have a mediocre life, precisely because they must wait for everything to be 100% profitable and perfectly safe before doing something. This is a fool’s approach. We must compromise in life and believe that what is in hand is the…
Those who must wait until everything has been prepared will never leave home. To become the kind of person who “will do it now”, you must stop daydreaming, and to always think of the present and start doing it now. Sentences such as “tomorrow”, “next…
Everyone has a time when they lose confidence and doubts their abilities, especially in adversity. But people who really understand the art of action can overcome it with strong perseverance. They will tell themselves that everyone has failures, and when they fail miserably, they will tell themselves no matter how much preparation they have made and how long they think before they do it, will inevitably make mistakes. However, passive people do not regard failure as an opportunity for learning and growth, as they are always admonishing themselves: perhaps I really can't do it, so that is why I have lost my eagerness to participate in future activities. Many people want their wishes to come true, but I regard it as a lie. It’s a good idea to buy a dozen for a dime. The initial idea is just the beginning of a series of moves, and then comes the second stage of preparation, planning and the third stage of action. There is never a shortage of people with ideas in our world, but there are very few people who know how to successfully implement a good idea, which is more valuable than thinking about a thousand of good ideas at home. The real basis people use to judge your ability is not how much…
Whether it is an automatic spontaneous or a passive person, it is a habit. Habits are like ropes. We spin a rope every day, and finally it is too thick to break. The ropes of habit either lead us to the peak or lead us to the trough, which depends on whether our habits are good or bad. Bad habits can dictate us and determine success or failure. It is easy to develop, but it is difficult to serve. Good habits are difficult to develop, but they are easy to maintain. To have the habit of doing now, the most important thing is to have a proactive spirit, get rid of the habit of being distracted, be determined to be a person of initiatives, be courageous in doing things, don’t wait until everything is ready, there will never be absolute perfection. Cultivating the habit of action does not require special wisdom…
I know that I have encountered a tough enemy to conquer, but he cannot shake my determination to compete, because the 110-mile pipeline is my biggest threat. If I let the crude oil flow there unimpeded, they will also acquire the supply line to New York. Then, Benson will replace me as the new owner of the New York oil refining industry, concurrently I will also lose ownership over the Bradford oil field. This is something I cannot allow.
If anyone can play tricks behind his back without being caught, he will almost certainly gain a competitive advantage. However, evil and unethical behavior is very dangerous, it will make him lose his dignity, and he may even go to jail. Any deceptive and unethical behavior cannot be sustained and cannot be a reliable corporate strategy. This only destroys the present situation, which will make the future increasingly difficult, and even impossible to gain another opportunity. We must pay attention to rules, because rules can create relationships, relationships will bring long-term businesses, good transactions will create more transactions, otherwise, we will end our good luck in advance.
As far as my nature is concerned, I do not meet competition, I destroy competitors. But I do not need a bright victory, I want to win it good, thorough, and decent. Just as Benson was proud and enjoying his success, I launched a series of offensives that made him difficult to parry. I sent someone to place a large amount of orders to the storage tank producers, asking them to ensure production and deliver on time, so that they have no capacity to take care of other customers, including Benson. Without storage tanks, oil producers can only dump the crude oil that they produce into the wilderness. Instead of accepting the oil couldn’t be shipped, Mr. Benson made a loud complaint. At the same time, I drastically reduced the price of pipeline transportation, attracted a large amount of oil refiners who rely on Benson to transport crude oil, and converted them to our customers. Before that, I had already quickly acquired several refineries in New York to prevent them from becoming a customer of Benson’s.
An excellent commander will not attack a bunker that has nothing to do with him but will try his best to destroy the bunker that is strong enough to destroy the city.
The war is inevitable, let it come! In this world, competition will not stop for a moment, and we will have no time to rest. All we can do is bring a steel-like determination to face all kinds of challenges and competitions, and we must be in high spirits and happy, otherwise, it will not produce good results.
Crutches cannot replace strong and powerful feet. We must stand on our own feet and rely on ourselves. If your feet are not strong enough to support you, you should not give up and admit defeat, but should work hard to hone, strengthen and develop your feet and let them exert their power.
Whether it is to win wealth or to win in life, what good people think when facing competition is not what I will lose, but what I should do to be a winner. (We are continually faced by greater opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems)
It is often said that people who take risks often fail. But why doesn’t this apply to idiots? After my fear of failure, I still managed to always get up and decide to borrow money again. In fact, in order to improve I have no other ways to go, but to borrow from the bank. Son, what is presented to us is often a great opportunity to solve tricky problems ingeniously. Borrowing money is not a bad thing, it won’t make you bankrupt, as long as you don’t treat it like a life buoy when you only use it in times of crisis, but instead treat it as a powerful tool, you can use it to create opportunities. Otherwise, you will fall into the quagmire of fear and failure, where fear will restrain you from attaining great achievements, and no success will be achieved in the end.
Among the wealthy people I know or acquainted, there are very few people who rely on accumulating small bits of wealth day by day to eventually become who they are now. More people make money by borrowing money. The reason is not esoteric. Buying and selling a dollar profit each is far less profitable than buying and selling a hundred dollars.
Son, life is a constant mortgage, we mortgage our youth for the future, and mortgage our lives for happiness. Because if you dare not approach the bottom line, you lose. Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to take the risk to attain success?
I regard contracts and contracts as sacred things. I strictly abide by the contracts and never default on debts. I never forget to treat investors, bankers, customers, including competitors with sincerity. When discussing issues with them, I always insist on telling the truth, never making things up or speaking ambiguously, as I firmly believe that lies will always eventually surface.
Son, honesty is a method and a strategy. Because I paid with my own honesty, I have won the trust of bankers and more people, and because of it I survived numerous difficult times, and embarked on an expressway to success. Today, I no longer need to turn to any bank. I am my own bank, but I will always be grateful to the bankers who have helped me so much. Your future may be managing a business. You need to know that the purpose of running a business is to make money. Expanding an enterprise can make money but mortgaging a company is also an important matter with regards to managing and using money. If you only focus on one function and ignore the other, you will face failure; in the worst case, it may cause a financial collapse, and in a better case, you may miss many opportunities.
Managing and using money is different from the determination to make money and it requires different beliefs. To manage and use money, you must be willing to manage the numbers yourself, and not just simply talk about management and strategy. God is shown in the details. If you neglect these details, or detach from the details, and authorize this “miscellaneous task” to others to do, it is equivalent to neglecting at least half of your important business responsibility.
Once avoiding failure becomes your motivation to do things, you have embarked on a path of laziness and powerlessness. (An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity, a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.)
Your mood has been very down lately, which makes me sad. I can really feel that you are still ashamed and humiliated from the investment that cost you a million dollars. This caused you to feel depressed and worried all day long. However, this is not necessary, a failure does not show anything, and will not put the label of incompetency on your forehead.
Our fate is the same. It is just that unlike some people, I take failure as a glass of spirits. It is bitter when you drink it, yet it gives you plenty of vitality.
Everyone hates failure. However, once avoiding failure becomes your motivation for doing things, you embark on a path of laziness and powerlessness.
Son, opportunity is a scarce thing. People are prosperous and rich because of opportunity. Look at those poor people and you will know that they are not incompetent or stupid neither are they not hard-working. They are deprived from opportunities. You need to know that we live in a jungle where the weak are prey to the strong, where you either eat people or risk being eaten by someone else. Evading risk is almost a guarantee of bankruptcy; but when you take advantage of the opportunity, you are depriving others of the opportunity just to guarantee yourself.
Failure is the beginning of the journey to a higher position. I can say that what I have achieved today was from climbing the spiral ladder of failure and then rose from there. I am a clever “loser”. I know to learn from failures, draw success factors from my experience thru failure, and use innovative methods that I have never thought of before to start a new career. So, I want to say that failure is a good thing as long as it does not become a habit.
My motto is: People always have to maintain their energy, remain strong and persistent, no matter what failures and setbacks they encounter, this is the only thing I can do. I myself can understand what I should do to make myself feel happy, and what is worth my efforts.
Optimistic people will see opportunity in suffering, and pessimistic people will see suffering in opportunity. Son, remember the formula of success that I believe in: Dream + Failure + Challenge = Success
The genius inventor Mr. Thomas Edison, before illuminating Mr. Morgan's office with electric lights, conducted a total of more than 10,000 experiments. To him, failure is a test field for success.
Son, if you declare spiritual/mental bankruptcy, you will lose everything. You need to know that the career path is like a wave. If you step on the wave, the merits will follow; and if you make a mistake, you will be trapped in the shallows and sorrow for the rest of your life. Failure is a learning experience. You can either turn it into a tombstone or a steppingstone.
Unless you give up, you will not be beaten. Too many people overestimate what they lack, but underestimate what they have. (Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.)
Today, the United States cherish a peculiar feeling of gratitude to commemorate the great and rare soul – the former president, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, who is worthy of God and mankind. I believe Lincoln deserves it. In my real memory, no one is greater than Lincoln. He has woven a successful and moving history of the United States. With his indomitable spirit, courage, and generosity, he liberated four million of the humblest black slaves and crushed 27 million locks that have been placed on the soul of people of colour. This put an end to the sinful history of depraved, twisted, and narrow souls due to racial hatred. He avoided the disaster of the country’s destruction and combined all different languages, religions, skin colours, and races into a brand-new country. The United States became free because of him, and fortunately embarked on the broad road of integrity and justice.
In my heart, Lincoln will always be the indomitable embodiment who is not frightened by difficulties. He was born impoverished and was driven out of his home. He failed on his first time in business, and the second time he failed even worse, so it took him more than ten years to pay off his debts. His road to politics was similarly bumpy. He lost his first campaign for state and lost his job. Fortunately, his second campaign was successful. But what followed was the loss of a loved one, and failure to be elected as the state senator spokesperson. However, he was not discouraged. In the subsequent elections, he failed six times, but even after each defeat, he was still striving for the top, until he was elected as the President of the United States.
Everyone has gone through the vicissitudes of life and suffered mercilessly, but only a few people can be as resilient as Lincoln. After every failed campaign Lincoln would motivate himself: “This is just a slip up, not as if I’m dead and unable to get up.”
Almost all those great figures have suffered a series of merciless blows. Each of them almost surrendered, but they finally achieved brilliant results because of their persistence. For example, the great Greek orator Demosthenes, he was shy because he stuttered. After his father died, he left him a piece of land in hopes that he could live a prosperous life. However, the Greek law at the time stipulated that he must win the ownership of the land by debating in public before declaring his right to own the land. Unfortunately, because of his stuttering and shyness, he suffered a fiasco, and as a result he lost that piece of land. But he was not knocked down, instead he worked hard to better himself. As a result,…
There is no lucky person who does not fail. It is important not to become a coward because of failure. If we do our best and still fail to achieve the goal, all we should do is to learn…
I hate it when my business fails and lose money, but what really concerns me is that I am afraid that in future business, I will be too cautious and become a coward. If that is…
He has a saying which was said well: “You can't sharpen your razor on a velvet.” There is nothing in the world that can replace perseverance. Talent is not acceptable. Unprecedented talents abound, and geniuses who accomplish nothing is common; education is also not acceptable. The world is full of people who are…
As we continue to reach the peak, we must remember: each step of the ladder allows us enough time to step on, and then set foot to a higher level, it is not for us to rest. We are tired and discouraged on the way, but like a boxer said, you must fight another round…
Great opportunities do not seek external validation; however, we must work hard to grasp them. As the saying goes: “Strike while the iron’s hot.” It’s really good. Perseverance and hard work are both important. Every “no” brings us closer and closer to a “yes”. “Before dawn is always the darkest”, this sentence is not a catchphrase.…
our indomitable day has yet to come, and we are still a big winner. Because we already have knowledge and know how to…
Everyone does not like to fawn on others and lead a mediocre life, and no one likes to think that he/she is a second-tier person or feel that he is forced into this situation. Is this because we don’t have the general wisdom of talents? No! The most practical wisdom for success has long been written in the “Bible”, that is, “Unshakable faith is enough to move mountains.” But why are there so many losers? I think that is because there are not many people who truly believe that they can move out. As a result, not many people really can.
I think these people who cannot be saved have made a common-sense mistake. They mistook faith for hope. It is true that we cannot use hope to move a mountain, cannot rely on hope to win victory or make progress, nor can we rely on hope to have wealth and status. However, the power of faith can help us move a mountain. In other words, as long as we believe we can succeed. You may think that I am miraculous or mystifying the power of faith, no! Confidence produces the attitude of believing in “I can do it”, and the attitude of believing in “I can do it” can produce the abilities, skills, and energy. Whenever you believe that “I can do it”, you will naturally come up with a “how to solve” method, and success is born once you successfully solve the problem. This is the process of confidence displaying its might.
Everyone hopes that one day they can reach the highest level and enjoy the fruits of success that follows. However, most of them do not have the required confidence and determination, hence they cannot reach the top. It is also because they believe that they cannot reach it, so they find a route to take where they…
When I was a poor boy, I was confident that I would become the richest person in the world. Strong self-confidence inspired me to come up with various feasible plans, methods, means and techniques, and one…
I never believed that failure is the mother of success, I believe that faith is the father of success. Victory is a habit, and failure is also a habit. If you want to succeed, you must achieve sustained victory. I do not like to achieve a certain amount of victory. What I want is sustained victory.…
I have talked to many people who have failed in their business and have heard countless reasons and excuses for failure. When these losers were speaking, they would often unwittingly say: “To be honest, I didn’t think it would work.” “I felt uneasy before I…
Adopting an attitude of “I will give it a try, but I don’t think there will be any results” will lead to failure in the end. “Disbelief” is a negative force. When you disagree or have doubts in your mind, you will…
The level of confidence determines the level of achievement. Mediocre people who live their life day by day believing that they can't do anything, will only get a small amount of numeration. They believe that they cannot do great things, so they really could not. They think that they are very unimportant, and everything they do is insignificant. Over time, even their words and actions will show a lack of self-confidence. If they cannot raise their self-confidence, they will shrink in their self-judgements and become increasingly insignificant. And what they think…
in the marginfeeble spiral
Everything he does, his dealings with others, his personality, thoughts and opinions all shows that he is an expert and also an…
When I face a difficult situation, I think of “I will win” instead of “I might lose”. When I compete with people, I think of “I am as good as them”, not “I can't compare with them.” When opportunities arise,…
Everyone’s first step towards success, and also the basic step that cannot be missed, is to believe in yourself and believe that you will be able to succeed. Let the key idea “I will…
I remind myself regularly: You are better than you think. Successful people are not supermen. Success does not require superhuman intelligence, it is not about luck, and there is no mystery. Successful people are just ordinary people who believe in…
Everyone is a product of his thoughts, thinking about small goals, will lead to small results. Thinking of great goals will win great success. And great ideas and big plans usually come easier than…
Those who can reach the pinnacle in business, mission, writing, acting, and other pursuits of achievement are all because they can steadily and persistently pursue a plan of self-development and growth. This training program will bring them a series of rewards: getting more respected by their family members; getting praises from friends and colleagues; rewards that feel useful to them; rewards for…
in the marginFortitude spiral
In this sense, it is more accurate to say that we are slaves of interest rather than masters of our own souls.
I can assert that in this world, apart from God, there is no one who does not pursue profit. From the moment you step into interpersonal relationships, a protracted life game for profit begins. In this game, everyone is your enemy, including yourself. You need to fight against your weaknesses and against all the evils that build happiness on your pain.
After all kinds of deceptions and lies, I told myself helplessly: You can only believe in yourself, and only in this way, you will not be deceived. I know this kind of slightly hostile mentality is not good, but there are too many deceptions in this world, and guarding ourselves is an indispensable survival skill.
Dealing with bastards will make you smart.
I only show my feelings when the situation is only beneficial to myself; I can let my opponent teach me, but I will never teach my opponent, no matter how much I know about it; think twice about everything, no matter how others may urge, do not act without making a full consideration; I have my own truth, only responsible for myself; be careful of those who ask me to treat them sincerely, they want to reap benefits from me.
I know that deception is only a strategy in a profit-making game and cannot solve the problem. But I also know that games for profit are played day and night, so I must be vigilant from morning to night and understand: in this game, everyone is the enemy, because everyone takes care of their own interests first, whether or not it is good for others. The important thing is knowing how to protect yourself and prepare for war anytime, anywhere.
a good horse will not fall twice in the same place.
Ignore those who say I am greedy. For many years, I have been enjoying this “praise” that seems not so wonderful to others – Greed. This special tribute to me first appeared when my career was in full swing, when Rockefeller's name was no longer just a symbol of a person, but a symbol of wealth, and a huge business empire.
But I know that there is a kind of power hidden in human nature, one that grows in places lacking ability and will, that is jealousy.
A gentleman will never argue with the ignorant, and I certainly will not argue with those who “praised” my greed, but I cannot refrain from despising their ignorance. Looking back calmly at history and examining the footprints of mankind, we can conclude that no society is not built on greed. Those who want to slander me, seemingly as if they are moral watchmen, which one of them would not want to monopolize what they have? Who does not want to control all the good things? Who does not want to control everything that everyone needs? There are always many hypocritical people.
When I was in business school, one of my teachers said a phrase that I will never forget. It can be said to have changed my destiny. He said: “There is nothing wrong with being greedy. I think being greedy is a good thing. Everyone can be greedy. From the beginning of greed, there will be hope!”
As those evolutionists told us, nature is not a benevolent and selfless place, but a place where the strong are kings and the fittest live, so is our so-called civilized society. If you are not greedy, you may just be “eaten” by others. After all, there are not many delicious desserts.
From a bookkeeper with a weekly salary of only five dollars to the richest person in the United States today, it was greed which made me achieve this miracle. Greed is the force that drives me to create wealth, just as it is the force that drives social evolution.
My son, destiny must be created by oneself, and what one really wants must be obtained by every means. The distance between success and failure is not just a single thought as what people may think, that is to see who has the stronger greed, who has this power, who can radiate and display all their power, do their best, and surpass themselves. Every step I move forward can make me feel the power of greed! Greed not only allows a person's abilities to be maximized, but also forces him to dedicate everything, remove all obstacles, and move forward at full speed.
Many people have asked me the same question: “Mr. Rockefeller, what supported you on your way to the top of wealth?” I cannot express my true feelings because greed is despised by people. However, the fact is that greed is the support that supported me to become a generation of millionaire, that is, I aroused my greed and deepened my greed.
There is a lively, sensitive, and powerful greed in everyone's heart. But you must love her, tell yourself that you want to be greedy, and you want more, then she will come out to play and help you succeed.
No force can stop me from lifting the ban on greed because I pursue success. Success achieved under greed is not a sin. Success is a noble pursuit. If you can achieve success with noble behaviour, you will contribute far more to mankind than what can be done in poverty. I did it! Let us look at the philanthropies we have done today. Investing huge wealth in education, medicine, churches, and those in need is definitely not a place for me to do charity on a whim. It is a great charity, and the world is becoming more beautiful because of my success. It seems that greed is very good, and not a crime.
John, I am the focus of my life, I decide what suits me, so I do not care what those people say, my heart is still peaceful. To some people, I always seem to be a businessman with despicable motives. Even if I invest in charities that benefit the people, It will be regarded as a trick by them. They suspect that the motivation of my charities is to pursue self-interest, or a form of atoning my sins, but they do not see it as a selfless spirit of public welfare. This is really funny.
I want to tell you very sincerely that your father will never make you feel ashamed. Every penny in my pocket is clean. The reason why I became rich is my superior mind and strong career. The heart is rewarded. I firmly believe that God has clear rewards and punishments, and that my money is given by God. And I can always make money. If God helps, this is because God knows that I will return the money to society for the benefit of my fellow citizens.
The people who can get ahead in this world are those who know how to find their ideal environment. If they cannot do it, they will create it themselves.
John, I like victory, but I do not like unscrupulous pursuit of victory. A victory at any cost is not a victory. The ugly means of competition is disgusting. It is tantamount to painting the ground as a prison. You may never be able to surpass it. Even if you win a victory, you may lose the chance to win again.
There is a story that may explain why I rarely pay attention to the beggars who beg me to give them money to solve their personal problems, and it can also explain why this makes me more nervous than earning money. The story goes like this: There was a farmer who kept a few pigs in captivity. One day, the owner forgot to close the door and gave the pigs a chance to escape. After a few generations, these pigs became more and more fierce and began to threaten pedestrians passing by. Several experienced hunters heard about this and wanted to capture them for the people. However, these pigs were very cunning and could never be fooled. John, when the pigs start to become independent, they will become tough and smart.
“Then I dug a hole and erected the first corner pile. Every time I add something, they will stay away for some time, but in the end, they will come again for free lunch. The fence is built, and the trap door is ready. Well, the habit of getting something for nothing made them walk into the fence without any hesitation. At this time, I unexpectedly put away the trap, and the pigs that ate free lunch were easily caught by me.” The moral of this story is simple, when an animal depends on humans for food, its wit will be taken away, and then it will be in trouble. The same situation applies to human beings. If you want to make a person disabled, just give him a pair of crutches, and wait for a few months to achieve your goal. In other words, if you give someone a free lunch for a certain period, he/she will develop the habit of getting something for nothing. Do not forget, everyone has a need to be “taken care of” in the womb.
More importantly, when you give alms to a person, you deny his dignity, and if you deny his dignity, you take away his destiny, which is extremely immoral in my opinion. As a rich man, I have the responsibility to be a messenger for the benefit of mankind, but I cannot be the initiator of making lazy people.
These smart people condensed a book into a chapter, then reduced it to a page, then turned it into a paragraph, and finally turned it into a sentence. The wise old king was very proud when he saw these words. “Gentlemen,” he said: “This is really the crystallization of the wisdom of all ages, and once people everywhere know this truth, most of our problems can be solved.” This saying is what we have known as: “There is no free lunch in the world.”
Son, I know you are an outstanding graduate of Brown University, and your knowledge of economics and sociology is excellent. However, you should be clear that knowledge is originally empty, and unless knowledge is put into action, nothing will happen. Moreover, the knowledge in the textbooks is almost all compiled by writers with theoretical knowledge, hence, it is difficult to use it to help you solve practical problems.
You need to know that learning itself is not very good. Learning must be used to make it work. To become a person who can use what you have learned, you must first become a person with practical ability.
So where does the ability to practice come from? In my opinion, it is hidden in hardship. My experience tells me that walking a difficult road – a road full of hardships, misfortunes, failures and difficulties will not only build our strong character, but also the ability to implement great things that we rely on will come into being. Those who climb out of the midst of suffering know what it means to…
Maybe you might ridicule me, thinking that there is nothing more stupid than trying to experience hardship deliberately. No! People who have no experience with misfortune are unfortunate. A lot of things come and go quickly. Those who have realized their dreams of becoming famous overnight and getting rich overnight, which one of them did not disappear without a trace all of a sudden? What you get from hardship is having the ability to build your career on a solid ground,…
Doing small things is the cornerstone of making big things. If you are at the top from the beginning, you will not consider the mood of your subordinates, and you will not be able to use others. To survive and create achievements in this world, you must rely on manpower, that is, the power of others, but you must start from doing small things to understand the mood of being a subordinate. When you…
Son, there are only two kinds of smart people in the world: one is smart people who use themselves, such as artists, scholars, and actors; the other is smart people who use others, such as managers and leaders. The latter needs a special ability – the ability to grasp the heart. But many leaders are clever fools. They think that in order to seize the hearts of the people, they must follow a…
If a pig is well praised, it can climb the tree. Managers, leaders or people who are good at driving others have always been magnanimous and they know the art of admiring others and praising others. This means they have to give emotionally. Leaders who give their deep…
Everyone needs to know that all knowledge will be transformed into preconceived notions, and the result will be one-sided conservative psychology, thinking that “I understand”, “I understand”, and “society is like this”. With the prejudice of “understanding”, there will be a lack of interest in knowing, and if there is no interest, it will lose the motivation to move…
in the marginnot understanding keeps things interesting
every opportunity that we don't understand will become a turning…
A person who is smart is a fool, and a person who knows how to play a fool is really smart. If smartness is regarded as a criterion for reaping…
Playing stupid brings you many benefits. The meaning of pretending to be stupid is to stay a low profile and become humble, in other words, to hide your cleverness. The smarter the person, the more necessary it is for them to play stupid, because as the saying goes – the more mature the rice, the more they sag.
I am glad to receive your letter. In your letter there were two sentences that I appreciate. One is “If you are not a winner, you are defying yourself”, and the other is “Diligence brings Nobility”. These two sentences are my true-life motto. If I am not self-effacing, I would like to say that they are the epitome of my life.
As immigrants, it is our nature to be hopeful and hardworking. When I was a child, my mother implanted the virtues of frugality, independence, diligence, trustworthiness and unremitting entrepreneurial spirit into my bones. I sincerely believe in these virtues and regard them as great success creeds. To this day, these great beliefs still flow in my blood. And all of this formed a ladder for me to climb up and sent me to the top of the mountain of wealth.
No! It is hard work! Opportunities are only reserved for hardworking people! When I was young, I believed in a law of success: wealth is an accident, a by-product of hard work.
All dignity and honour must be obtained by one's own creation, so that such honour can last. But in our society today, the children of the rich are in a situation where they do not advance or retreat. Unfortunately, many of them lack the enterprising spirit, but are prone to leisure and profligacy, so even though they grew up in a wealthy environment, they die in poverty.
Therefore, you have to teach your children that if they want to perfect themselves, gain achievements, enjoy the joy of success, win the respect of society, and praise life, they can only create with their own hands; let them know that the crown of honour will only be worn on the heads of those who dare to explore; let them know that diligence is for themselves, not for others, and they are the biggest beneficiaries of diligence.
Our wealth is a reward for our hard work. Let us strengthen our convictions, identify our goals, and continue our efforts with faith in God's will, my son.
Captain Schofield lost again. He lost and got a little furious and threw his beautiful golf club into the sky in a rage. As a result, he had to buy a new one. Frankly speaking, I prefer the character of the captain. The goal of life is to win, and the same goes for playing basketball. So, I am going to buy a new club for him, I hope this will not be regarded as a reward for his tantrums, otherwise he will be out of control and I will be miserable. Captain Schofield also has a commendable advantage. Although losing will make him unhappy, he believes that winning does not mean everything, and the practice of trying to win is the most important. So, after losing, he never made excuses.
In my opinion, “excuses” is a mental illness, and people with this serious illness are all losers without exception. Of course, most people also have some mild symptoms. However, the more successful a person is, the less excuses he will find. The biggest difference between those who are prospering everywhere and those who do nothing is excuses.
Once a loser finds a “good” excuse, he will hold on to it, and then always use this excuse to explain to himself and others: why he can no longer do it, why he cannot succeed. At first, he still knows how much his excuse are lies, but after repeated usage, he will become more and more convinced that it is completely true, and believe that this excuse was the real reason for his failure, and as a result his brain begins to be lazy and rigid, and the motivation to work hard to win in any way will be reduced to zero. But they never want to admit that they are a person who loves making excuses.
Occasionally, I have seen someone stand up and say: “I succeeded by my own efforts.” So far, I have not seen any man or woman, dare to stand up and say: “I am the one who made myself fail.”
There is an old saying that says it well: “I have been annoyed by my broken shoes until I met a man who has no feet.” It is better to be grateful for your health than to complain about your discomfort. Be thankful for your health, which is able to effectively prevent various illnesses and diseases.
I found that most people have two basic wrong attitudes towards “intelligence”: too underestimating their own brain power, and too overestimating the brain power of others. Because of these mistakes, many people despise themselves. They do not want to face challenges, because that requires considerable talent. People who think that they are stupid are really stupid. They should know that if a person does not consider the question of talent at all, and has the courage to try, he will be able to do well.
The outcome of things is often proportional to our enthusiasm. Enthusiasm can make things a hundred times or a thousand times better. Many people do not know what enthusiasm is. The so-called enthusiasm refers to “this is amazing!” – this level of enthusiasm and drive.
I believe that an average-talented person who has an optimistic, positive and cooperative attitude towards the world will earn more money and win more respect as compared to a talented but pessimistic, passive and uncooperative person. Regardless of whether a person is dealing with trivial things, difficult tasks or important plans, as long as he is dedicated and enthusiastic to complete, the results will be far better than smart but lazy people. Because concentration and perseverance account for 95% of a person's ability.
Some people are always moaning and sighing: Why do so many talented individual fail? Here is the reason. If an extremely smart person is always using their amazing intellect to prove why things cannot succeed, instead of guiding their minds to find various ways to succeed, the fate of failure will find them. Negative thoughts have implicated their intelligence, making them unable to use their skills to accomplish anything.
Many people believe the so-called “knowledge is power”. In my opinion, this sentence is only half right. People who use “lack of intelligence” as an excuse also misunderstood the meaning of this sentence. Knowledge is only a kind of potential power. Only when knowledge is applied constructively, then will it show its power.
A person who does not use talent as an excuse, never underestimates his own talents, nor does he overestimate the talents of others; He who focuses on using his assets and discovering his outstanding talents; Knows what really matters is not how much talent he has, but how he uses his existing talents and how to make good use of his talent; He will often remind himself: My mentality is more important than my intelligence; He has a strong desire to establish a “I will win” attitude; He knows to use his intellect to actively create and find ways to succeed, not to prove that he will fail; He also knows that thinking is more valuable than memorizing. He needs to use his mind to create and develop new ideas, find better new ways of doing things, and remind himself at any time: Am I using my mind to create history? Or is it just recording the history created by others?
Assuming that Standard Oil Company wants to completely reorganize based on luck, it will put the names of all the company’s employees in a big bucket, the first name drawn is the president, the second is the vice president, and so on. Isn’t it ridiculous? But this is the function of luck.
I never succumb to luck; I believe in the law of cause and effect. Look at the people who seem to be lucky, and you will find that it is not luck, but preparation, planning and positive thinking that bring them beauty.
For a poor child who wants to start a business, they often suffer from lack of capital. If they fear failure, they will hesitate and move slowly like a snail, or even stop on the road to success, and never rise above others, so I specifically reminded him in my reply: “From poverty, the road to prosperity is always unobstructed. The important thing is that you firmly believe that you are your greatest capital. You have to exercise your faith and keep exploring the reasons for your hesitation until faith replaces doubt. You have to know that you can’t achieve what you don’t believe in; faith is the force that drives you forward.”
John, whenever I remember this story, I cannot help but sigh on behalf of Al Hafid. If Hafid stayed in his hometown and dug his own fields and gardens instead of looking in a foreign land, he would not have become a beggar, suffer from poverty and starvation, then jump into the sea and die. He already had the diamonds. Not every story is meaningful, but this Arab story has brought me precious life lessons: your diamond is not between the distant mountains and the sea, if you are determined to dig, the diamond is in your backyard. The important thing is to sincerely believe in yourself.
Everyone has a certain ideal, which determines the direction of his efforts and judgment. In this sense, I think that a person who does not believe in himself is like a thief, because anyone who does not believe in himself and does not fully exert his abilities can be said to be a person who steals from himself; and in the process, because he is running low on creativity, he is tantamount to stealing from society. Since no one will deliberately steal from themselves, those who steal from themselves obviously did so unintentionally. However, this crime is still very serious, because the damage it causes is as great as deliberate theft. Only by quitting this kind of stealing from ourselves can we climb to the top.
"Think about it, young man," I reminded Hansen, “If you have money, you can benefit your family and friends, give them a happy and comfortable life, and even benefitting the society, save the helpless poor people, then money will become the source of happiness.” “Young man, every penny in your hand adds a penny to the power to determine your future destiny.” I persuaded him, “you should not let those paranoid ideas lock your powerful hands. You should spend time to make yourself rich because having money gets you power. And New York is full of opportunities to get rich. You should get rich, and you can get rich. Remember, young man, although you are a hurried passer-by in the world, you still have to show the light of life.”
However, religion has a strong prejudice against this idea because some people believe that being a poor people of God is the supreme glory. I once heard a man praying at a prayers’ meeting and said that he was very grateful that he was a poor child of God. I could not help but think to myself: If this man’s wife hears her husband speak such nonsense, I wonder what will happen. What do you think? She would definitely think that she married the wrong person. I do not want to see such poor people of God again, and I do not think God wants to! I can say that if someone who should have been wealthy is weak and incompetent because of poverty, then he must have committed an extremely serious mistake; he is not only unfaithful and disloyal to himself, but also mistreating his family!
The reason why I am who I am, is a creation of my past beliefs. Frankly speaking, when I felt that the world was suffering due to poverty, I had a belief: I should be a rich man and I have no rights to be poor. Over time, this belief has become as hard as steel. When I was young, it was the time when the idea of worshiping gold was sanctified. At that time, tens of thousands of gold prospectors rushed into California with dreams of getting rich, even though it was later discovered that the gold rush was just a trap. It had greatly aroused the desire of millions of people to make a fortune, including me, a child who is only slightly older than ten years old. At that time, my family was in a dilemma, and I often had to accept help from kind people. My mother is a very self-respecting person. She hopes that I can shoulder the responsibility of being the eldest son and build this family well. My mother's desire and teachings have cultivated a sense of responsibility that will remain unchanged throughout my life. I made my pledge: I will not become poor, I will make money, and I will use wealth to change the destiny of my family!
In the dream of getting rich in my youth, money is not just a tool for my family to lead a prosperous and worry-free life, but a society where money can be exchanged for moral dignity and social status by giving – spend wisely. These things are far more exciting to me than luxurious and magnificent residences and beautiful outfits!
My son, there is nothing more pitiful and contemptible than someone who makes money for the sake of making money. I know how to make money: let money be my slave, not me. This is how I did it.
I never seem to lack ambition. Since I was very young, to become the richest person has always been my impulsive ambition and dream. This seems a bit too big for a poor boy. But I think the goal must be great, because if you want to be successful, there must be stimulation. A great goal can enable you to exert all your strength, and there will be stimulation. Losing the excitement means that there is no strong force to push you forward. I often remind myself to not make any small plans, because it cannot inspire the soul.
Of course, the opportunity to become great is not like the rapid decline of the Niagara Falls, but slowly one drop at a time. The difference between greatness and close to greatness is the realization that if you expect greatness, you must work toward your goals every day. But for a poor boy, how can this great dream become a tangible reality? Should it be achieved by working hard for others? This is a stupid idea. I believe that working hard for myself will make me rich, but I do not believe that working hard for others will make me successful.
Stupidly hard work may still get nothing after all the hard work, but if you think of working hard for your boss as a ladder to serve yourself one day, it is undoubtedly the beginning of wealth creation. The feeling of being your own boss is so great, it is beyond words. Of course, I cannot always be immersed in the pride of being amongst the trade agents at the age of 18. I warned myself: “Your future depends on the days that pass by. Your end goal in life is to be the richest man in the United States. Where are you? It is still far, far away. You must continue to work hard for yourself.” Being the richest person is the basis for my efforts and the strength to spur myself. In the past few decades, I have always been a believer in the pursuit of excellence. The one sentence I most often motivates myself with is: For me, second place is no different from last place.
A great life is the process of conquering excellence.
Before investing in the oil industry, our own bank, agricultural product agency sales, was doing a good job, and I was fully expected to become a big middleman if we were to continue. But all this were changed by Mr. Andrews, an expert in lighting. He told me: “John, when kerosene burns, the light is brighter than any lighting oil. It will definitely replace other lighting oils. Think about it. Well, John, how big of a market will that be. If we can step foot into it, what will it be like!” The more things I have, the greater the power. The opportunity is here, letting it go is not just about money, but it also weakens your power in the arena of getting rich. I told Andrews: “I do!” We invested 4,000 dollars, which was a lot of money for us, and started an oil refining business. When the money is invested, I did not think about failure, although at that time, while oil made many millionaires, it also turned more people into paupers. I plunged into the oil refining industry and worked hard. In less than a year, oil refining earned us more profits than agricultural products and became the company's largest business. At that moment, I realized that it was courage and adventurous spirit, that opened up a new way of making money.
But then I aggressively expanded the business strategy of the oil industry and irritated my partner Mr. Clark. Clark is an ignorant, conceited, weak, and lacking courageous person. He is afraid of failure and advocates a prudent business strategy, which is completely contrary to my business ideology. In my eyes, money is like dung. If you scatter it around, you can do a lot of things, but if you hide it, it will be just an unbearable foul-smelling asset. Clark is not a good businessman; he does not know the true value of money.
The company started the auction from 500 dollars, but it quickly climbed to several thousand dollars, and then slowly climbed to 50,000 dollars. This price has exceeded my estimate of the value of the refinery. But the bidding price continued to rise, as it started to exceed 60,000 dollars, and then soared to 70,000 dollars. At this time, I began to fear. I was worried about whether the company created by me, could still be bought back and whether it was valued that high. But I calmed down quickly, and I warned myself at a lightning speed: “Don’t be afraid, since you have made up your mind, you have to go forward!” The competitor offered 72,000 dollars, and I did not hesitate to offer 72,500 dollars. At this time, Mr. Clark stood up and shouted: “I won’t add it anymore, John, it belongs to you!” Dear John, that was the moment that decided my life, and I felt its extraordinary significance. Of course, I paid a high price for buying out Mr. Clark. I gave Clark half of the agency’s shares and seventy-two thousand five hundred dollars. But what I won was freedom and a glorious future. I became my own master, my own employer, and I no longer had to worry about those short-sighted mediocre people blocking my way. When I was 21 years old, I owned the largest refinery in Cleveland, and became one of the largest refiners in the world. Today, thinking about it, this guy who consumes 500 barrels of crude oil a day was undoubtedly the weapon that brought me to the path of hegemony and…
It is almost certain that safety first cannot make us rich. If we want to get paid, we must always accept the necessary risks that follow. Isn’t life like this? There is no such thing as maintaining the status quo. If you do not advance, you will retreat. It is that simple. In my aspect, being cautious is not the perfect way to succeed. No matter what we do, or even our lives, we must choose between taking risks and being cautious. And sometimes, the chance of winning by taking risks is much greater than by being cautious. Merchants are chasers of profits and wealth. They rely on creating resources and obtaining resources from others, and even forcing others to give up resources to make themselves rich. Therefore, taking risks is an indispensable means for merchants to conquer the market. If you want to know the tricks that are risky but does not incur failure, you only need to remember one sentence: plan boldly and implement carefully.
Everyone enjoys applause and praises. It is either affirming our achievements, or affirming our quality, ethics and morality; when we are attacked, insulted or suffered from another’s malice, I think the reason we are being insulted is because of our poor ability. This ability may be related to our character or the way we are doing things. In short, it does not constitute respect for others. So, I want to say that humiliation is not a bad thing. If you are a person who knows how to reflect calmly, you might think that humiliation is a measure of ability. That is what I did. I know that any slight insult can hurt dignity. However, dignity is not given by God, nor is it given by others. It is your own creation. Dignity is a spiritual product that you enjoy yourself. Everyone's dignity belongs to him. If you think you have dignity, you have dignity. So, if someone hurts your feelings and your dignity, you have to stay calm. If you do not cling to your dignity, no one can hurt you.
Son, many people make the same mistake. They do not know what they are doing. In fact, no matter which industry you are engaged in, such as oil refinery, real estate, steel business, or being a president or employee, you are all engaged in one industry, that is, dealing with people. Negotiation is even more so, it is not the business that is at war with you, but the people!
If you want to have a substantial advantage, you must know: First, the overall environment: what is the market situation and what is the business situation. Second, your resources: what are your strengths and weaknesses, and what capital do you have. Third, the opponent's resources: what are the opponent’s assets, and where are his strengths and weaknesses. In any competition, one of the important factors in planning a grand strategy is to understand the strengths of the opponent. Fourth, your goal and attitude: The motto of the god of sun, Apollo, is only a short sentence: “You know yourself.” You need to know what you are doing, what goals you have, and how determined you are to achieve them. Like a winner, I still doubt my own strengths and weaknesses in spirit and attitude. John, you have to remember my saying: The more you think you can do it, the brighter you will become, and a positive attitude will create success. Fifth, the opponent’s goals and attitudes: try to judge the opponent’s goals, and it is also important to try to penetrate the opponent’s heart and understand his thoughts and feelings. There is no doubt that the last one – predicting and understanding your opponent – is the most difficult to put to use, but you have to strive to achieve it. Most of those great military generals have a habit. They always try their best to understand the opponent’s character and habits in order to judge the opponent's possible moves and direction of action. In all…
cooperation is not the same as friendship, love, and marriage. The purpose of cooperation is not to gain emotions, but to gain benefits and an advantage. We should know that success depends on the support and cooperation of others. There is a gap between our ideals and ourselves, and we must bridge this gap. In order to fill this gap, we must rely on the support and cooperation of others.
Of course, when I meet an arrogant and rude person, I cannot forget to humiliate him. For example, I once taught Mr. Vanderbilt, the owner of the New York Central Railroad a lesson. Vanderbilt was born a nobleman, made military exploits in the Civil War, and enjoyed the title of General. However, he regarded the honours he received on the battlefield as an indispensable capital in his life, and he thought that he held the power of transportation, so he could treat us as part-timers. Once, Henry went up him to talk about transportation, but who knew that this arrogant guy said: “Young man, you want to talk to me? Your rank seems lower!” Henry has never been insulted like this, but at that moment, his good upbringing helped him. He did not lose his mind, but when he returned to the office, his beautiful pen holder suffered, and fell to pieces. I quickly comforted him: “Henry, forget what the dog piss said, I will definitely return you your dignity.” Later, Vanderbilt was anxious to do business with us and asked us to negotiate with him. I sent someone to tell him: “Yes, but you have to come to our office to talk.” As a result, this general who was accustomed to others’ flattering and pleasing him could only condescend to meet a young man who was more than forty years younger than him, and at the same time succumb to the conditions put forward by the two young men. I think, at that moment, General Vanderbilt must have understood this truth: Be nice to others when you climb up,…
But I do not want to make wrong judgments because of this, thinking that cooperation will make me a good person. No. Cooperation is not a question of being a good person, but a question of benefits and interests. No alliance is permanent, and cooperation is just a profitable tactic. When the environment changes, the tactics will change accordingly, otherwise, you will lose. The reality is harsh, you have to be tougher, but obviously you also have to be a good person. John, the essence of life is struggle and competition. They are exciting. However, when they develop into conflicts, they are often devastating and destructive, and timely cooperation can resolve them.
The young people at the University of Chicago are very cute. They have a beautiful vision for the future, and they all have the motivation to achieve something. A few of them with childish faces came up to me and said that I am their role model, and sincerely hoped that I can give them some advice. I accepted their request, and advised the future Rockefellers: Success is not measured by a person’s height, weight, education, or family background, but by the size of his thoughts. The size of our thoughts determines the size of our achievements. The most important of all is that we must value ourselves, overcome the greatest weakness of mankind – self-deprecation, and never sell ourselves cheaply. You are greater than you think, so you should expand your thinking to the extent to your fullest potential, and never underestimate yourself.
On the other hand, those who believe that they have the “capability of taking heavy responsibilities” will really become a “very important” person. Therefore, if you want to be an important person, you must first make yourself believe that “I am really important”, and you have to truly feel that way before others will follow. No one can escape the principle of reasoning: how you think will determine how you act, and how you act will determine how others think about you. Just like your own success plan, it is actually very simple to gain the respect of others. In order to be respected by others, you must first feel that you are indeed worthy of respect, and the more you respect yourself, the more others will respect you. Please think about it: Do you respect those who wander in the dilapidated streets? Of course not. Why? Because those rascals do not value themselves at all, they will only let their inferiority corrode their souls and eventually give up on themselves. A person's self-esteem is the core of his personality. What kind of person you think you are, will make you become that person. Everyone, no matter where he lives, whether he is unknown or prominent, civilized or barbaric, young or old, has a strong desire to become an important person. Please think carefully about everyone around you – your neighbours, yourself, your teachers, your classmates, your friends, who does not have a strong desire to hold a lot of power? All of them do, and the desire is the strongest…