25 inspirational stories of people going from rags to riches

03/28/2025 by

Inspirational stories can be so uplifting. Their message always says, “If other people can be successful, then you can too.“

Did you have a tough start in life?

Then perhaps you feel that your difficult past will prevent you from enjoying a successful future.

Well, let me tell you, a tough past doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a tough future.

A friend of mine had a very difficult start in life, and yet he’s now a millionaire. People do succeed, and so can you.

The past is the past, of course, and it can’t be changed. It serves only as a series of lessons to be learned. Remember, the past was simply part of your education. It was not a life sentence.

The future is different. The future has yet to be written, and the good news is, you’ve got the pen.

You can create any future you want, as long as you’re determined, focused, and prepared to put in plenty of hard work. You won’t get anywhere without those ingredients, I’m afraid.

Nevertheless, in the future there will be a constant stream of opportunities to be seized, just waiting for the fleet-footed and enterprising to grab and exploit them. One person’s problem is another person’s opportunity to provide a solution for a profit.

Success can be yours if you’re prepared to make the effort and take a few calculated risks.

Don’t just accept my word for it; look around for people who’ve done it.

There are plenty of inspirational stories if you’ll just look for them. Today I offer you a video with 25 inspirational stories. It’s well worth a few minutes of your time.

25 Inspirational Stories:

In the video included here, there are 25 excellent examples of people who had a tough start in life but went on to enjoy considerable financial success.

These are all inspirational stories of people going from rags to riches. And if they can do it, why not you?

And remember this: you’re never too old.

Colonel Sanders started KFC at the grand old age of 65.

And Ray Kroc began building the business empire we now know as McDonald’s at 52.

Believe you can and you will.

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Thank you for your support.

© Mann Island Media Limited 2024. All rights reserved.

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Why your personal philosophy for life really matters

03/23/2025 by

Let’s talk about philosophy for life and what it matters.

An article relating to philosophy sounds like it might prove to be a little heavy, doesn’t it, dear reader? You might think I’ll be debating the merits of Plato, Socrates, and other thought-leading philosophers. Not today, that’s for sure. My aim today is to consider the idea of your personal philosophy for life and why it matters.

Personal philosophy explained:

What do I mean by ‘your personal philosophy‘?

In this case, I’m not referring to the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence, and philosophical thinkers, past and present.

By philosophy, I’m referring to your mindset, whether it’s positive or negative, and how you choose to see the world around you.

I believe personal philosophy really does matter.

I think how you choose to look at life and the world around you will influence your life experiences to a greater degree than you might expect. It’ll also influence how happy you’ll be.

A simple philosophy:

My own personal philosophy for life is simple.

Firstly I accept the world around me is the world around me. It is what it is. Stuff happens and I have little or no control over most of what happens. That’s just life.

Politicians will come and politicians will go. They’ll promise much but deliver very little, usually.

Philosophically I accept that which I cannot influence directly. I see little point in worrying about any of it. Why worry about stuff you can’t change?

In my experience, people will always look after their own interests first.

That’s fair enough if you think about it because why would they do otherwise? If people don’t look after their own interests then no one else will that’s for sure.

The underlying point here is that most of what’s happening around us is all just noise really. All we can do is work around it.

And basically, that’s what I try to do.

Work on improving what you have to offer:

I focus on my own interests and those of my family and I always do my best to protect what’s mine.

My family will always come first and I will do anything for them. Well, anything that’s legal, at least.

To do the best for my family I recognise that I have to be the best that I can be. To have skills and knowledge that will allow me to add as much value to my work as I possibly can.

So I take personal development seriously. That way the more value I can add the greater will be my income.

I’m a reader and a keen learner and I’m constantly working to add to my skill set and knowledge. Learning for me is a lifelong process, it never stops, and I will keep learning until I no longer have the energy to pick up a book.

Learning is an investment in yourself.

I believe that the better-informed you are then the better prepared you’ll be to excel in your chosen field of work. You’ll also be better prepared to seize any opportunities that come your way too.

Income comes from serving other people:

Let’s face it, dear reader, work is just doing stuff for other people in exchange for money. Through our work, we serve other people.

We work to generate income. And we generate income to put bread on the table and a roof over ourselves and the heads of our loved ones.

While work gives us a sense of purpose and adds value to our lives, we should not live just to work. The idea should be to work to live. Well, I think so anyway.

Become financially independent:

We must work hard when we’re at work, of course, but we must enjoy life with the family as much as possible too. As they say, where I come from, we’ll be a long time dead.

My aim in life is to be financially independent with multiple income streams.

With multiple income streams, there’s a reduced risk of not having any income at all. Not having all your eggs in one basket makes a lot of sense to me.

Master the game of life:

Essentially, I see life as a game. And I aim to become a master of the game of life.

We must look after our own interests because no one else will.

We must be prepared to be ruthless when necessary. By that, I don’t mean being nasty or mean to people. However, if you don’t push hard sometimes, chances are you’ll lose out to those who are willing to make good use of their elbows.

My point is that we can’t afford to be overly sentimental, and on occasions, in making the right decisions for us it may prove to be less favourable for someone else.

If that happens, that’s life, I’m afraid. We must make decisions that are right for us.

Never lose sight of your own interests:

Sometimes you really have got to be prepared to use your elbows if you’re going to grab your fair share of life’s pie. Don’t be too willing to let other people go first. You might find there’s nothing left for you.

As always there’s a balance to be struck of course but never lose sight of your own interests and never do anything which works against your own interests.

There is no utopian place where all’s well and the sun shines every day. Life’s life. Some of it’s good and some of it’s not quite so good.

However in the end it’s what we make of it that counts. We get out what we put in. There’s no free ride for anyone. On Spaceship Earth we’re all crew.

Don’t let life steal your joy:

All you can do with life is deal with it as best you can.

Enjoy the summers but make sure you’re prepared for the winters too. There will always be winters. Winters always follow summers, so be prepared.

Enjoy the good times and when life gets difficult all you can do is take it on the chin and move on.

Worrying about anything you cannot control just steals your joy and spoils your day.

Life’s too short.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are and most of all enjoy every minute because the years all go by in the blink of an eye. So don’t die before you’ve lived.

And always make time for friends and loved ones. Without them, you have nothing at all.

Please share this post with your friends:

Did you find this article interesting and useful?

If you did, please share it on social media with your friends. When you share, everyone wins.

So go on, please share it now. If you do I’ll be ever so grateful and you’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Thank you.

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65 facts about life that few people ever mention

03/17/2025 by

If you’re looking for facts about life, dear reader, this post is for you. Here are some facts that rarely, if ever, get a mention.

Some people will argue that this list is subjective. However, in my experience, the facts I offer you today are all true.

Take a look at them all and see what you think. And please feel free to pass them on.

Facts About Life

Facts about life (1-20):

  1. There’s no such thing as easy money.
  2. If you don’t go for it, you won’t get it.
  3. You cannot debate with those who despise you.
  4. Your opinion is just as valid as the next person’s.
  5. In wanting to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no one.
  6. Sometimes, the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason.
  7. You’ll be remembered not for what you got but for what you gave.
  8. Create your own job, and you’ll never be threatened by layoffs again.
  9. Life’s tough for everyone, and for many people, it’s very tough indeed.
  10. Free speech is the right to express opinions to which others may object.
  11. Rarely do people appreciate what they have until they no longer have it.
  12. If a lie is repeated often enough, eventually it becomes accepted as the truth.
  13. Just because it matters to you, it doesn’t mean it must matter to me, too.
  14. People should be judged by their character and the contribution they make.
  15. The public will get what it tolerates. An easy life comes at a significant price.
  16. We live on in the hearts we touched and within the people for whom we mattered.
  17. You don’t decide your future. You make choices, and your choices decide your future.
  18. By definition, a fact is a fact, and ignoring a fact doesn’t mean it ceases to exist.
  19. You won’t find true happiness in material things. Happiness lies in love and laughter.
  20. Blessed are the young, and those not born yet, for they shall inherit the national debt.
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Facts about life (21-35):

  1. The unquestioning acceptance of fashionable dogma is not the mark of great intellect.
  2. To believe is to accept unquestionably as fact that which cannot be demonstrated to be fact.
  3. People will believe what they want to believe, regardless of whether they can be sure it’s true.
  4. People who demand tolerance from others are frequently the most intolerant themselves.
  5. You’ll be judged not on what you say but on what you do. Talk is cheap, but only results matter.
  6. We’re not defined by the circumstances into which we were born. Life can be better if we make it so.
  7. Your years on this earth will teach you far more than you could learn in any university or college.
  8. All good ideas are eventually infiltrated and ruined by the attention-seeking few with their own agenda.
  9. In the po-faced, new-puritanical era in which we now live, we’re losing the ability to laugh at ourselves.
  10. With gambling, there’s only one winner consistently, and that’s the casino. That’s why they’re in business.
  11. It doesn’t matter what you do or how well you do it, there’ll always be someone who will criticise you.
  12. Success is enjoying what you do while having sufficient money to live your preferred lifestyle comfortably.
  13. Being too nice is not virtuous; it’s naive, bordering on foolishness, and it creates more problems than it solves.
  14. As long as we’re not hurting anyone else, then how we choose to live our lives is no one’s business but our own.
  15. If something cannot be subjected to scrutiny and criticism, then it’s probably not a good idea in the first place.

Facts about life (36-45):

  1. People will always have problems in need of solutions. If you can be that solution, you can make a good living.
  2. When your opinions run counter to the fashionable dogma of the day, you’re unlikely to get a fair hearing in the media.
  3. Past wrongs cannot be righted. All we can do is learn from any mistakes made and endeavour to do better next time.
  4. No job is more important than being a good parent because parents nurture the next generation, and children are the future.
  5. A promotion at work is not a reward for what you’ve done in the past; it’s an opportunity to show what you can do in the future.
  6. When everything’s going well and you’re feeling like you can do no wrong, think twice. You’re more vulnerable than you realise.
  7. We live in a world of Orwellian ‘newspeak’ where we’re expected to accept as fact that which everyone knows is complete nonsense.
  8. The world is full of Charlatans and con artists, all claiming to know what’s best for the rest of us. They should all be challenged constantly.
  9. Having a fancy job title doesn’t mean you’re more important than someone else. A job is just a job, and we all add value in our own way.
  10. We have to deal with reality as it is and not how we like it to be. So, we must protect ourselves and our interests because no one will do it for us.

Facts about life (46-54):

  1. Extreme political movements are usually a lot of useful idiots led by a few sinister people with an agenda that’s in no one’s interests but theirs.
  2. We’ll keep making the same mistake until we learn the lesson the mistake was intended to teach us. Life is a classroom, and the lessons never stop.
  3. A question asked comes with no obligation to provide anything other than a polite response. Remember that should you ever be grilled by the media.
  4. Remaining loyal to the circumstances into which you were born is not a noble act. Just because you were born poor doesn’t mean you have to remain poor.
  5. We live in an age when a lack of knowledge or expertise doesn’t mean people will not have an opinion on a given issue that they expect to be taken seriously.
  6. It’s for us to give our lives meaning. To leave a legacy by doing something that’ll add a little value to the lives of others and make the world a slightly better place.
  7. If you don’t tend to your own garden regularly, it will be quickly attacked by noxious weeds. Life’s like that too. We must all take good care of that which is precious to us.
  8. An employer will replace you in a heartbeat, should you pass away, but to your loved ones you can never be replaced. That should tell you where your priority should be.
  9. History serves as a series of lessons to us all. We cannot be selective about what we include in our history, otherwise, we risk forgetting the lessons and making the same mistakes again.

Facts about life (55-60):

  1. Drawing attention to injustices, wherever they are, really can make a difference. So don’t be afraid to call out those who seek to harm others for doing nothing other than expressing an opinion.
  2. To remain silent is to be irrelevant. A quiet life will come at a cost to you. The cost is people with louder voices moving the world in a direction you may not like. Speak up or live with the consequences.
  3. In a totalitarian world dissenting voices must be crushed ruthlessly or they might influence others to express dissent too. Political ideologues demand subservience and dogma accepted without question.
  4. If your job can be done from anywhere, then someone anywhere can do your job? So, if a company is looking to reduce costs, in order to increase their profits, jobs will be moved to wherever in the world labour is cheapest.
  5. Extreme ideology can pass into the mainstream and take hold if we’re all too complacent to stay on top of what’s going on. If we’re asleep at the wheel, life can quickly become a car crash and we’ll only have ourselves to blame.
  6. If we judge previous generations through the prism of modern sensibilities, they’ll always look bad. They lived in their time and we live in ours. We cannot know what their lives were really like, so we cannot judge them fairly, nor should we try.

Facts about life (61-65):

  1. It doesn’t matter how good a job you do, others will take credit for your contribution long after you’ve gone, but you’ll be the person responsible for any problems, regardless of whether you actually had anything to do with any of them or not.
  2. Celebrities are nothing more than skilled media manipulators who profit from the public’s gullibility by constantly maintaining an image with the aim of creating the illusion that they’re something special when in fact they’re nothing special at all.
  3. The problem with social media today is that far too many people feel the need to express opinions consistent with the latest fashionable dogma currently trending regardless of whether they actually have any significant knowledge of the subject at all.
  4. Unless your ambition is to secure a job for which having a degree is mandatory, then you’re probably wasting three years of your life and $75,000 of debt by going to university nowadays. You’re unlikely to get a return on the debt you incur, so consider your options carefully.
  5. They say that those with the gold make the rules. Well, if you’re not being served in the way you feel you should be, then whoever’s providing you with that service can be reminded of the purchasing power you hold in your hands by a simple boycott. You don’t have to accept the unacceptable.

Please share this post with your friends:

Did you find these facts about life interesting and useful, dear reader?

If so, then please share it on social media with your friends. When you share, everyone wins.

So go on, please share this post now. If you do I’ll be forever grateful and you’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Thank you for your support, dear reader.

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© Mann Island Media Limited 2025. All rights reserved.

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8 Top Business Tips for Success Today

03/16/2025 by

Business tips for success:

I read an article recently about a guy with a college degree who was disillusioned because he couldn’t find a job. At least not one that met his expectations relative to the type of job and income he felt his degree merited.

Well, it’s a tough world out there, as I’m sure you know only too well, dear reader. Despite what some people may think, the world doesn’t owe us a living. The world owes us nothing, and it’s down to us to make a life for ourselves.

Work is just doing stuff for other people in return for money and there will always be people with stuff that needs doing. So rather than seeking a job, perhaps we’d all be better off if we focused on seeking customers for services we could provide.

That’s at the heart of what business is all about, providing people with solutions to their problems for profit, and there’s much to be said for becoming an entrepreneur.

So today let’s explore some business tips for success, for all those wannabe entrepreneurs.

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The advantages of self-employment:

There are many advantages to being self-employed.

For instance, not having to deal with office politics is a big advantage.

And of course, being the beneficiary of all of the proceeds of your hard work is another good reason.

Instead of making a lot of money for other people, you could be making it all for yourself. The harder you work, the more you make for yourself too.

Unless you’re a lawyer or an investment banker, the chances are the only way you’ll ever make serious money is through building your own business. Building a business that, perhaps, you’ll be able to sell for a lot of money one day.

However, remember this; you might think that if you’re self-employed then you’re your own boss. Well, that’s not true. The customer is the boss, always.

Serve customers badly and you won’t be serving them for very long, that’s for sure.

The first rule of business is that you must know your customer.

You must gain a deep understanding of the products, services, and marketing that will appeal to your target customer.

One size will not fit all and each market will require a different approach.

Now going into business is not for the faint-hearted. You must be prepared to work very hard, at least in the early days, when you’re trying to establish your business.

However, if you can provide your target customers with real solutions to real problems then you can make serious money.

If someone else is already offering a solution to the target problem, then your solution must be better or cheaper than theirs in some way, if it is to sell.

Creating great products and offering great customer service is the route to business success.

However, never forget your reputation and image. These things matter too.

Make sure you create an image that will appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Running your own business will be a challenge but it can also be extremely rewarding, both financially and in terms of a sense of achievement.

Remember also that running a small business is not a whole lot different to running a large business. The only real difference is one of scale. The key issues are always the same.

So here are some top business tips for success for would-be entrepreneurs:-

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Top business tips for success today:

1. Control your costs:

Of the many business tips for success I could suggest, none can be more important than keeping an eye on the money.

Money comes into your business and money goes out. It’s that simple.

However, if you fail to ensure that the former is always greater than the latter, at least for most of the time, then trouble will follow at some point, whatever the size of your business.

Big businesses might be able to weather the storm a bit longer but the consequences of expenditure consistently exceeding income will be the same. Keep losing money and eventually, your business will go bust.

Take every opportunity to maximize your revenue and always keep your costs as low as you can. And never, ever lose sight of cash flow.

Don’t spend money unless it is necessary.

Ask yourself, do I need to spend this money? What will I get in return? Can I achieve the same result at less or even no cost?

It might surprise you to learn how frequently it is possible to avoid the cost, whilst still doing all the things big businesses do.

The key message here is that you must keep an iron grip on costs and you must manage cash flow carefully.

2. Do your own market research:

Every product should solve a problem for your customer and you should have some idea of what that problem is and how your product will solve it relative to other products offered by your competition.

Just because you think you’ve got a great product, doesn’t mean customers will see it that way. Your opinion means nothing if there are not enough people willing to buy your product at the price you want to charge for it.

If your product won’t sell then potentially your business could be in trouble.

Perhaps you think you’ve spotted a gap in the market?

If it’s a genuine gap then you might be on to a winner. However, a gap in the market doesn’t always guarantee that there is a market within that gap. Maybe there’s a reason for the gap which you’ve yet to understand.

In business, the trick is to find out what people want and then offer it to them.

How do you find that out?

One very good way is simply to ask them yourself.

I’m not referring to your family and friends here. They’ll be far too polite to give you any meaningful feedback.

You must talk to real customers, if and when you have them, and potential customers.

You can conduct some of your own market research in your local shopping mall or wherever you think your target customers might congregate. And don’t be shy. Only by talking to people can you confirm whether your ideas have real potential.

So, identify some basic questions, stand there with a clipboard and just start asking people, as politely as possible.

Often people will be far more helpful than you might expect.

And don’t forget you can always use the Internet too.

Search engines like Google have keyword search tools that are free to use. These tools allow you to get a ‘rough and ready’ measure of what people are searching for and how frequently.

And don’t forget social media. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Quora, for instance, can be great channels for asking questions, so you can gauge what people think.

Market research doesn’t have to be expensive. As a small business entrepreneur, it is possible to do it yourself. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on this activity, but you must do it.

Your results might not be quite as scientific as those produced by professional market research people, but they will provide you with a rough guide and that’ll probably be good enough in the first instance.

3. Advertising costs money: is there a better way?

Another of the most important business tips for success has to be visibility. I cannot stress highly enough that visibility matters, both for your business and your products. It’s crucial.

Your products might be the best in the world, but they won’t sell at all if potential customers have no idea they exist. Surely that much is obvious.

The question is, how does any business ensure that customers have visibility of its products? The obvious answer is advertising of course.

However, media advertising can be costly, and it’s a cost that new businesses often cannot afford.

One small advert in the back of a glossy magazine can cost you a lot of money and yet you have to ask yourself whether that would be money well spent.

How often do you notice the small advertisements on the back of a magazine? In my case, the answer is not very often.

With so many advertisements competing for my attention, I tend to filter them all out. I’m willing to bet that you do too dear reader.

So, if you’re not careful, money spent on advertising can be money wasted in my experience.

A better approach might be to use some creative thinking with a focus on public relations.

Smart entrepreneurs know that business is show business. It’s all about getting noticed.

For example, the entrepreneur Richard Branson is a brilliant exponent at getting media attention at little or no financial cost to his business.

It helps that he’s a likeable guy, of course, but he’s also clever and creative in his approach.

If you have an interesting back story, perhaps the local press, local radio or even television might be willing to run a story on you and your business and the products you have to offer.

Social media can be a powerful medium for gaining attention for your business too.

Social media is also a useful way of driving traffic to your company’s website, particularly Pinterest, which is an incredible tool, in my opinion.

Then there’s using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques on your website content to ensure you drive traffic to your site from the search engines.

Let’s face it, you do need to appear on the first page of a Google search if there’s to be any chance of anyone noticing you and your business through search queries. So, if you can optimize your website for SEO, then you can get enormous amounts of traffic from Google and other search engines, like Bing and Yahoo.

Make sure you offer visitors to your company website the opportunity for signing up for a regular email newsletter. And give them the incentive to sign up.

This could be a free report or perhaps a discount code for one of your products.

How about running a competition using your company’s fan page on Facebook or your company website?

The price of a smartphone or a Kindle or other desirable electronic device as a prize would be cheaper than the cost of a small advert in a glossy magazine, but it’s more likely to get noticed and it’ll probably generate a lot more excitement.

If you have a car or van, don’t forget that it can be emblazoned with your company logo, your website details and product information on the back, sides and front. Even on the roof.

It would be free advertising as you’re driving around.

Park your vehicle at a big event attended by thousands of people and you’re beginning to master the art of guerrilla marketing.

The bottom line is that creative thinking and public relations can produce powerful results in your quest for visibility at a fraction of the cost of advertising. The key message is, be creative.

4. Don’t make yourself indispensable:

The biggest mistake any entrepreneur or business manager can make is to think that every decision should be made by them.

If you’ve started a business from scratch, you tend to form an emotional bond with it. It becomes your baby and you become very protective of it.

That’s natural of course, but as the business grows you’ll have so many things to do that you couldn’t possibly do them all.

You could try, of course. However, if you try to do everything you’ll find yourself falling behind in key areas like product sourcing, sales, and keeping your accounts up to date.

Fall behind, and it becomes very hard to catch up. Potentially it is also very damaging for the business.

So you have to learn the art of delegation.

A good start would be to document every task and process within the business and then create an Operations Manual. This can include everything from the preferred method for answering the phone to completing invoices and dealing with complaints.

It can also include the degree of flexibility which you are delegating to staff, so they can get on with basic tasks allowing you to get on with those activities which are much more important for achieving business success.

No business should be dependent solely on one person.

If it is, and that person gets seriously ill or has an accident, then obviously the business would be in trouble very quickly and it would struggle.

Delegate basic activities to your staff and you can be sure that the business will continue to function even when you’re not around.

It will also give you a bit more thinking time for steering the company towards bigger and better things.

The key message here is that you must delegate. Never delude yourself into thinking that only you can do a particular task.

5. Charge sensible prices:

If you’re to earn a decent income then any list of business tips for success must stress the importance of knowing the value you can add and know your worth too.

It’s easy when you’re a small business to undervalue your products and your time. The result is that you undercharge for what you have to offer.

This is particularly true when professionals are selling their expertise and time based on a consultancy arrangement.

It’s common for first-timers to lack the confidence to charge what they might perceive to be a high rate for their services.

The problem is that selling things cheaply can be counter-productive because customers then think they’re getting an inferior product or service and can be put off.

It is a fact that price can often be used as a proxy measure for quality when your business is being judged.

You have to be very business-like when considering the pricing of your products and services.

So look at what your competitors are charging and then analyse where you think your products and services fit into the market.

If you struggle with that idea, then you can always seek guidance from someone else, like a fellow business owner or your accountant.

However, you must always remember that you must believe in your products and services. If you don’t, then why should anyone else?

You must project confidence.

If you don’t have the courage of your convictions, then the chances are that your business will never succeed.

Believe in yourself and charge what you’re worth. Sell yourself based on the value you bring and the value you can add.

6. Make the best use of technology:

Sometimes small business owners think that because they are small they can only act in a small way. However, that can be a mistake.

Don’t be afraid to invest in your business. For instance, investing in up-to-date technology like the right phone system and websites, doesn’t have to be expensive but they can be the difference between a customer contacting you or not.

These days no business, large or small, can operate without a website.

And that website needs to be as user-friendly as it possibly can be.

Make sure your website provides customers and potential customers with the opportunity to sign up for a regular email newsletter. And as suggested earlier, offer them an incentive so they do sign up.

Ensure also that your telephone system allows customers to reach you at their first attempt. Certainly, customers won’t make too many attempts to call you before they’ll simply go elsewhere.

If you don’t know how to do all this yourself, then go on a course or seek guidance from someone with the right expertise.

Good communications will pay handsome dividends over time.

7. Set goals:

Another in this list of business tips for success, that I want to stress here, is the importance of goal-setting.

You have to know what it is you’re trying to achieve if you’re to have any chance of successfully achieving it.

Never set your sights too low either. Set yourself a challenge and then put all your energy into achieving it.

Once you’ve set a goal then you need to establish a plan as to how it is going to be achieved.

For instance, if your goal is to achieve a certain level of turnover over the next year, you have to break that down into the small steps you will need to take for it to be achieved.

How many sales will you need to achieve each day, each week, and each month?

What implications will those sales targets have for production?

Do you have enough sales staff to generate that amount of business?

And so on.

Always create a plan and review it regularly, making adjustments as and when necessary.

8. If you got a great idea, then do something with it:

How many great ideas never see the light of day because the person with the idea fails to do anything about it?

And how many times does someone with an idea see someone else come along with the same idea and beat them to market?

Let me give you an example. Two years ago I thought up a great idea for a tee shirt slogan. However, I was busy and so in the end I didn’t do anything about it. Fast forward two years, and the other day I noticed one of the best-selling teeshirts on Amazon was one bearing the slogan that I’d thought up.

Someone else had the idea too, but they did something about it. And they’re now benefitting from the income generated. From my standpoint, a great opportunity was missed.

Procrastination stops many entrepreneurs from cashing in on a great idea. Don’t let this be you.

If you’re waiting for the perfect time to do anything, you will be waiting for the rest of your life. Now is always the perfect time to start.

Don’t wait until you think the economy will be better or your children have left home or some other arbitrary barrier.

The right time to start your business is right now.

So go for it. Yes, you’ll make mistakes. You won’t get everything right the first time. You won’t become an instant millionaire either.

However, by getting started you’ll be heading in the right direction and you’ll learn along the way.

Hard work combined with implementing good ideas will get you there eventually.

Concluding Remarks:

I hope these business tips for success prove useful to you, dear reader.

However please note, this blog post was not intended to be a comprehensive guide for entrepreneurs.

You’ll find many excellent books on the subject and I recommend that you make a point of reading as many of them as you can because educating yourself is always a good idea.

It doesn’t have to be formal education. Self-education can be just as good in practice. And then, of course, you can start creating your list of business tips for success.

And the best form of education, in my experience, is to learn by doing. You will make mistakes but the lessons learned from those mistakes will be far more valuable to you than anything anyone can teach you in a classroom.

Being an entrepreneur can be a roller coaster ride but it can be a fantastic and enriching experience too. So if it appeals to you, go for it.

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Thank you for your support, dear reader.

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15 Funny quotes on friendship that’ll raise a smile

03/04/2025 by

If you’re lucky enough to have one good friend, then you are richer than you imagine, and if you have two then you’re truly blessed.

Friendship is a relationship of equals.

Real friends are people with whom you have a lot in common, especially when it comes to things that make you laugh and those times when you enjoy getting silly.

True friends are people who know all your faults but accept you as you are anyway.

Not everyone with whom you have a friendly relationship is a true friend. Some people are just very good acquaintances.

A real friend is someone you could phone at 3 am when you’re in trouble and know they’d be out to help you in a heartbeat.

Such people are worth their weight in gold, and you should never take them for granted. They’re special, and you should appreciate them being in your life because not everyone is quite so lucky.

Here are 15 funny quotes on friendship that, for me, touch on the very essence of what it all means.

Funny quotes on friendship:

  1. Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life!
  2. Friends buy you food. Best friends eat your food.
  3. Friends come and go, but enemies hang around like a bad smell.
  4. When our phones fall, we panic. When our friends fall, we laugh.
  5. If you have crazy friends you have everything you’ll ever need.
  6. Never let your best friends get lonely. Keep disturbing them.
  7. You have a problem when your imaginary friend thinks he has a problem.
  8. There’s nothing better than a good friend, except for a good friend with chocolate.
  9. Friends come and go, like waves on the ocean, but true friends stay like an octopus on your face.
  10. A best friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find, but you’re lucky if you have one.
  11. Laughing is one of the best exercises. It’s like running inside your mind. You can do it almost anywhere and it’s even better with a friend.
  12. I’d walk through fire for my best friend. Well, not fire because that’s dangerous, but a super humid room. Well not too humid, because you know, my hair.
  13. I love making friends. I usually prefer to make them out of plaster and give them funny-looking hats.
  14. Dear Diamond, we all know who is really a girl’s best friend. Sincerely yours, Chocolate Cake.
  15. I hope we’re good friends until we die, then I hope we can stay ghost friends, walk through walls and scare people.

Poem about friendship:

Friendship is such an important part of our lives; I’m sure you’ll agree, dear reader. So, you might be interested in this poem I wrote on friendship and how I see it.

Please share with your friends:

If you found these quotes inspiring, interesting, and amusing, then please share this blog post on social media with your friends. When you share, everyone wins.

So go on, please share this post now. If you do, I’ll be ever so grateful.

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Types of debt and why they matter

03/02/2025 by

If you’re just starting your financial education, then a good starting point would be to understand the different types of debt and why they matter.

I categorize debt as either good debt or bad debt.

Understanding the difference between the two is essential if you don’t want to remain poor all your life.

Do you carry some debt, dear reader? If you do, you’re not alone.

Now you may think that debt is just part of life, and you may even believe that debt can’t be avoided.

Debt is certainly very hard to avoid; that much is true.

However, don’t forget that personal debt is a burden on us because it has to be serviced and eventually repaid.

Yes, it may be a burden you can’t avoid, but it’s no less stressful potentially for that technicality.

For emphasis, let me repeat, in my opinion, there’s good debt and then there’s bad debt.

The obvious question is: when is a debt considered bad debt? To put it another way, when is debt a bad idea?

Let’s consider some examples of debt.

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1. Secured Debt:

Buying a house is an example of secured debt.

When buying a house, most people need a mortgage, which is of course debt.

However, as long as you don’t overstretch yourself, mortgage debt is usually manageable for most people. And a lender will rarely allow you to overextend yourself these days.

With a mortgage, the debt is secured against your property, so the risk for the lender is small.

If you fail to repay the mortgage loan, a lender simply repossesses the property and sells it to recover their money.

So because the associated risk to the lender is low, interest rates on secured debt are low too.

Coupled with long repayment periods, typically around 25 years, the monthly repayments on a mortgage are not significantly different from what you might pay if you rent a property.

So, borrowing to purchase a property is good debt because eventually you’ll repay the debt and own the property, assuming you repay in full.

It’s good debt because it results in the long-term acquisition of a valuable asset.

You need a roof over your head, of course, so buying with a mortgage makes good financial sense because at least you’ll own the property in the future.

And with luck, you’ll enjoy some capital appreciation on the value of the property too. That’s not guaranteed, of course, but historically, that’s been the trend for those holding property assets for an extended period, certainly in the United Kingdom.

In summary, secured debt bears the lowest interest rates and leads to the acquisition of a valuable asset. So in my opinion, that makes it a good form of debt.

2. Unsecured debt:

When is debt a bad idea? The simple answer is that when it’s an unsecured debt.

And what’s unsecured debt?

It’s a debt against which nothing valuable has been put up as security.

If the borrower fails to repay, the lender has nothing it can repossess to sell on to recover the balance outstanding. So for the lender, that represents increased risk.

And because unsecured debt has no form of security to compensate, the interest rate charged by the lender will be high, and sometimes very high.

The interest rate charged reflects the risk to the lender. The higher the risk, the higher the interest rate applied.

Lenders recognize that there’s a risk that a proportion of their clients will fail to repay unsecured loans, so those who do make the repayment in full have also paid a premium to protect the lender from any losses they might have incurred due to non-payment by others.

There will be occasions when unsecured debt is unavoidable.

For instance, young people just starting out might need some basic items of furniture for their homes. A bed would be a good example. You must have one, and if you can’t afford it, then you might need to use a hire purchase arrangement. Handled with care, then this shouldn’t be a huge problem. But care is essential.

3. When is debt a bad idea?

So when is unsecured debt a bad idea?

Put simply, when you start buying with unsecured credit that which you could live without. That gadget you couldn’t resist or those shoes that looked nice in the store. Non-essentials you could have lived without until you had saved the money to pay for them.

You know the experience, I’m sure. You see something you can’t resist, out pops your flexible friend, and an impulse purchase is made before you’ve thought about whether it was a good idea or not.

The reckless use of credit cards, store cards, and payday loans can be a disaster because this type of debt is not secured against anything, so naturally, the associated interest rates applied are very high.

Credit card or store card debt can bear interest rates of around 30% or more.

In the UK, payday lenders have been known to charge interest rates equivalent to 3000%, 4000%, or even 5000%.

I find it hard to believe people fall for these loans, but they do. I guess if people are desperate sometimes, perhaps they feel they have little choice.

4. The magic of compounding:

Why does this matter? The simple answer is the magic of compound interest.

The compounding effect of high rates of interest will quickly turn small sums borrowed into enormous sums owed.

For instance, if you borrow $1,000 at 3% interest, after five years you’ll owe $1,159, assuming nothing was repaid.

However, if you borrow $1,000 at 35% interest, then after five years you’ll owe $4,484, again that’s assuming nothing was repaid.

The difference is a massive $3,325. And more importantly, the value of your debt has also quadrupled.

So when interest rates are high, even if you make minimum payments, your debt can grow rapidly if you’re not careful.

And that’s when you can become enslaved by your debts.

And that’s why it matters. Ultimately, this burden can become very stressful.

5. Manage your money:

Far too many people borrow money in the form of unsecured debt to purchase discretionary items. That’s items they could live without if push came to shove.

Wasting money in this way is a bad move. Not just bad; it’s seriously stupid.

I recommend that you follow this simple rule:

If you can live without it, never use debt to buy it.

Yes, of course, it’s nice to have the latest smartphone or the latest television or whatever but is it worth the pressure of unnecessary debt?

When high rates of interest start pushing up the sum outstanding significantly, you have to ask yourself, will the burden of this unnecessary debt still seem worth it? I doubt it.

Wouldn’t it be better to wait until you’ve saved up the money to make the purchase instead?

Wouldn’t it also be cheaper in the long term to save up and buy the product when you have the money? You’ll appreciate the item so much more too.

The message is simple:

Manage your money or your money will manage you:

6. Debt is a form of slavery:

Being indebted is just a form of slavery. It’s as simple as that. And, once again, that’s why it matters.

For as long as you owe money, you can never be truly free.

If you’re debt-free, then you’re stress-free too. Wouldn’t you prefer to be debt-free and stress-free?

Good debt will help you, but bad debt will make your life a misery.

7. Conclusion:

Put simply, there are two types of debt, good and bad.

Debt is either secured or unsecured.

Interest rates on the former will be relatively low, whereas interest rates on the latter can be very high.

Interest rates matter because of the compounding effect.

Unsecured debt can be the road to the poor house, particularly if you use it to buy the stuff you could live without with credit that bears interest rates that are very high.

The type of debt that’s bad will enslave you, and it’ll become increasingly stressful.

If you only take one message away from this article, it is to avoid bad debt.

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Thank you.

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27 Quotes by Steve Jobs to fire your imagination

02/12/2025 by

If you’re looking for quotes by Steve Jobs, dear reader, I’ve got some excellent ones here for you, today.

Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur best known as the driving force behind the success of Apple Inc. Together with Steve Wozniak, he was a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.

Famously, he dropped out of college and proved, if proof were needed, that you don’t necessarily need qualifications or a college degree to make an impact and leave a genuine legacy to the world.

What you need is passion and a desire to do something well and to do it better than everyone else. And Steve Jobs had that in spades.

Sadly, Steve Jobs died, far too early, at age 56 on October 5, 2011. His death was due to respiratory arrest related to the pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour for which he was being treated at the time.

However, his influence on business and technology was enormous and his ideas resonate with people to this day.

In my opinion, he was one of life’s great thinkers, and I think his views on life and work are worth reflecting on.

So here are 27 quotes by Steve Jobs that I think are worth a few minutes of your time.

Read them; reflect on them. And then consider your life and where you’re going. Are you living your life with passion, or are you just going through the motions?

As Steve Jobs implied, our time is precious. We must live our own lives in our way. And we cannot be defined by how other people think we should be. We must be ourselves.

Quotes by Steve Jobs in Video

Quotes by Steve Jobs (1-10)

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

I want to put a ding in the universe.

We’re just enthusiastic about what we do.

Things don’t have to change the world to be important.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

I believe life is an intelligent thing; that things aren’t random.

We hire people who want to make the best things in the world.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

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Quotes by Steve Jobs (11-20)

Older people sit down and ask, ‘What is it?’ but the boy asks, ‘What can I do with it?’

Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future.

My favourite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.

Sometimes, when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.

I think money is a wonderful thing because it enables you to do things. It enables you to invest in ideas that don’t have a short-term payback.

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.

We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we’ve chosen to do with our life.

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Quotes by Steve Jobs (21-23)

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. 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.

Quotes by Steve Jobs (24-27)

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups. And I remain extremely concerned when I see what’s happening in our country, which is in many ways the luckiest place in the world. We don’t seem to be excited about making our country a better place for our kids.

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How the power of words can change lives

02/09/2025 by

Today I aim to explore the power of words.

Have you ever considered just how powerful words can be? In my experience, the power of words can have a much greater impact than you might imagine.

Let me tell you a heartwarming story to emphasize today’s point.

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The reunion:

Some time ago I had lunch with a group of old friends.

Now there’s nothing unusual about that, you might say.

Even though it was the first time we’d all been together in the same place at the same time for more than 40 years, it was nothing exceptional.

Such reunions happen all the time, don’t they?

It was a genuine pleasure to see them all again and swap stories about how our lives had progressed since those far-off days.

However, it’s the story of one of my fellow diners that day that’s worth sharing with you now because I think it’s a source of inspiration and reinforces the importance of just how powerful words can be.

Saeed’s story:

Back in the day, we were all working together for the national telecommunications operator in the Middle East.

Three of us had been young, graduate engineers on an upward career trajectory, with the future seemingly ours for the taking. We had it all.

The other member of our group, let’s call him Saeed, had been the handyman and tea boy in the department at that time.

Saeed was then just a young teenager, straight out of school.

He was a bright and willing fellow, but he had no academic qualifications, and he spoke very little English at the time.

Now Arabic was his mother tongue, of course, but in the international business we were in, a good command of spoken English was essential if you were to have any chance of career success.

Saeed came from a poor village, and his perceived failure at school had left him feeling that, at just 16, he’d blown his chances and was destined for a life filled with low-paid, low-skilled jobs.

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The power of words:

Fast forward 40+ years, and Saeed’s now every bit the poor-boy-made-good story.

Not only is he now a wealthy international businessman with two very successful businesses, he also has a string of qualifications, including two doctorate degrees. Now completing one PhD is hard work, but two? Wow.

In short, his success is impressive by any measure.

Nevertheless, how did Saeed get from where he was then to where he is now?

The simple answer, of course, is with determination and a lot of hard work.

You cannot achieve anything without those ingredients.

However, he also needed a reason to believe. He needed a spark to light the fire. And that is where the story gets interesting.

The spark that lit the fire:

Over lunch, Saeed explained that it was a kind and encouraging word, back in the day, from one of our fellow diners that had made him believe that he could make a success of his life despite a poor start.

My fellow diner, let’s call him Tom, didn’t even remember the conversation.

So, what was this kind and encouraging word?

Your past does not define your future.

The past is just a series of lessons. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter.

The future is an endless stream of opportunities we can choose to take or not.

Tom had explained these basic principles to Saeed and encouraged him to pursue his dreams.

You can make your life whatever you want it to be. That was Tom’s message. The life you want can be yours if you’re willing to work hard for it.

The impact:

The power of these well-timed words of encouragement had an impact on Saeed. It propelled him to a destiny he did not think possible. And that is today’s underlying point.

Words have power; choose them wisely.

The power of words matters. A few well-timed words can inspire young people.

And never, ever forget that young people need encouragement much more than they need criticism.

Encourage young people:

So next time you’re working with someone in the early stages of life’s journey, remember your words can have the power to encourage them.

Unfortunately, they can also have the potential to discourage them if you’re not careful.

What you say and the tone with which you say it does matter.

Always offer young people positive words of encouragement rather than harsh words of criticism.

Never, ever forget how powerful your words can be. The right words, at the right time, really can inspire young people to achieve their full potential.

Leave a legacy:

If you want to leave a legacy behind you, then it would be hard to improve on encouraging a young person to become the best and most successful person he or she could be.

Remember the power of words. You have power with your words. Use it wisely.

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33 life lessons learned that are best learned early

02/02/2025 by

Life lessons learned for most of us are learned the hard way. Here are 33 of those lessons that are best learned as early as possible, ideally in your teens or early 20s.

LIFE LESSONS LEARNED
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Life lessons learned:

1. On experiencing life:

Wherever you are, be there. Be present and experience the moment. You’ll remember moments with friends and family all your life, whereas you’re unlikely to remember social media posts moments after you’ve read them. No experience beats having a good laugh with your friends and family.

2. On making choices:

As an adult, you’re free to make your own choices but you must accept any consequences that follow. A wise adult learns to make good choices because the choices you make will dictate the quality of the life you lead. Your choices matter. Make too many bad ones and your life experiences won’t be very good at all.

3. On the future (1):

Where you’re going is more important than where you’ve been. The past was a series of lessons to be learned. The future is where you’ll spend the rest of your life. You can’t change the past but your future has yet to be written, and you’ve got the pen.

4. On the future (2):

The future is an endless stream of opportunities that you can choose to seize, or not. However poor your past may have been, that doesn’t mean you can’t seize new opportunities and exploit them to your own advantage. You can, with determination and hard work. And, never let anyone discourage you from having a go. Better to try and fail than to spend your life wondering what might have been

5. On asking questions:

Intelligent people ask questions. So, never be afraid to ask questions when you don’t understand something, or when you need clarification. Better to appear a fool momentarily than remain a fool permanently.

6. On attitude:

The greatest disability in life is a bad attitude. If you’ve got one you’d better change it, if you want your life to improve. Attitude matters. An average person with a positive attitude makes a much better employee than a genius with a chip on his or her shoulder.

7. On fairness:

Life isn’t fair. It never has been and it never will be. We’re all dealt a set of cards in life, and all we can do is play that hand as best as we can. We could get angry about the unfairness of it all or we can just get on and make the best of what we have. The latter approach is much easier on our nerves, in my experience.

8. On bullying:

When you’re having fun at someone else’s expense, remember it may be fun to you, and you may not mean any harm, but for the other person the impact of such an experience can be humiliating, upsetting, and it can cause significant, lasting and often permanent psychological damage to that person. So remember, it isn’t fun at all if it isn’t fun for the other person. If it isn’t fun for them, it’s just bullying. And if you’re bullying, you’re not being cool, you’re being nasty.

9. On judging others (1):

You’re free to judge others if you’re sure that you’re perfect in every way. If you conclude that you’re not quite perfect then why would you expect others to be?

10. On judging others (2):

For everyone, life is a struggle. No one is without problems, despite any external signs to the contrary. We just have to keep going for it’s the only way. Life goes on and we must too. If you’ve not walked two miles in someone else’s shoes, you’re not in a position to judge them. So, don’t.

11. On authenticity:

Authenticity is simply being who you are and not trying to be who you think you should be or who you think you’re expected to be. People will respect you for being who you are. An original is always better than a fake.

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12. On trust:

Trust takes years to build and seconds to break. And once broken the way you’re seen by others will never be quite the same again. Trust is a valuable commodity. Protect it.

13. On reputation:

Never underestimate the importance of your reputation. And if you wouldn’t be happy to read something about yourself on the front pages, don’t do it.

14. On communication:

If you want to tell anyone anything, speak softly and you’ll find that they’re much more likely to listen to you.

15. On success:

No one can ever be a failure but everyone can be a success. Failure is not a person it’s just an outcome you didn’t want. It’s also an opportunity to try again with greater knowledge and experience. Everyone can achieve some degree of success if they believe in themselves, they’re determined and they’re willing to work hard.

16. On priorities:

We all have the same amount of time. 168 hours a week. It’s how we choose to use it that dictates whether we achieve anything significant or not. Time is a resource, pure and simple. So, decide on your priorities and allocate your time accordingly. And just because someone wants a piece of your time, doesn’t mean you’re obliged to give it to them. If it’s not a priority, nor an obligation, just say NO.

17. On watching television:

Few people seem to recognise this but there’s a significant cost to watching television. Not the cost of purchasing the television set or any cable or satellite subscriptions you may have. The real cost is the opportunity cost of your time. That is the time you spend watching television. Time is money and you could be doing something more profitable with your time. Learning something new perhaps or running your own little income-generating side hustle.

18. On qualifications (1):

Most of the work done by most people in life doesn’t require a college degree at all. If you have one that’s great but stay humble. A motivated individual with common sense and decent reading, writing and arithmetic skills can succeed in life without one.

19. On qualifications (2):

You may need a college degree to work for an employer but you don’t need one to work for yourself. If it’s your business, you make the rules.

20. On qualifications (3):

Plenty of people graduating from Harvard will end up working for people who didn’t. So, stay humble. Studying at a top university is no guarantee for career success, nor does it guarantee wealth. A Harvard, Oxford, or Cambridge degree may look good on your CV but five years after graduation the only thing that will matter is what you’ve achieved in the workplace since.

21. On experience:

Doing is by far the best way to learn. The classroom is useful, of course, but nothing beats doing and learning from your mistakes. Making mistakes will teach you lessons that you’ll never forget. And learning from your mistakes will give you that valuable commodity known as experience. Knowing the theory is useful, whereas having experience is essential.

22. On employability:

You don’t sell who you are. You sell what you can do and the value you can add. Every job is about doing stuff for other people and delivering results. What is it you can do and what can you confidently deliver? Before you go for any job interview, make sure you have answers to these questions and make sure you can give examples of stuff you’ve delivered on previous occasions.

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23. On work (1):

Employers can quickly replace you with someone just like you and you’ll be forgotten quickly. So be professional in carrying out your duties, of course, but not at the expense of your interests or those of your loved ones.

24. On work (2):

Make sure you take good care of yourself. Employers will take everything you give and a bit more besides but if you died tomorrow your job would be posted online before your obituary. You’ll be replaced within days and the memory of your presence won’t last long.

25. On making money:

To make money you have to be doing stuff for other people. To make a serious amount of money you have to be doing stuff for multiple people simultaneously, even when you’re asleep. Sounds impossible but it can be done. For instance, serving the many with your digital products, sold online, can lead to great wealth.

26. On sales:

Successful selling is not about tricking people into buying something they don’t need. The art of selling is in proactively finding customers who’ve got problems for which your products can provide the ideal solution. If you can offer solutions to problems, you’ll find customers in need of what you have to sell. Find the right customers and a good product will sell itself.

27. On change (1):

It’s easier to remain as you are than it is to change but unless you change your life will not improve. Embracing change is hard but it is well worth the effort.

28. On change (2):

For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to get better. You can become more than you are but it won’t happen by accident. It all starts with you saying, I can; I will; and I won’t stop until I get there. And you must make any changes necessary.

29. On finding a life partner:

You’ll find, as you go through life, that Mr or Miss Perfect doesn’t exist. If you’re looking for a life partner, find someone whose faults you can live with. Yes, you’ll need to enjoy each other’s company. And yes, you’ll need to have things in common. However, everyone you meet will have faults of their own, even if they’re not immediately apparent.

30. On children (1):

When you have young children they need your attention much more than your mobile phone does. Your children should be your priority, particularly in the early years. You’re their role model. Be a positive role model and give them all the attention they deserve. The years pass quickly and your children, good or bad, are your legacy to the world.  Social media can wait. Anything less is simply a disservice to your child.

31. On children (2):

Children need continuity and they need boundaries. They need to be brought up with a set of values too. Fail to give them those things and you fail as a parent. Materialism is no substitute for the things that matter most.

32. On your social life:

You’ll never fit into every social group, nor should you try. Just focus on finding a group of people that are right for you. In other words, find your tribe. People that are welcoming to you, with interests like yours and personalities that appeal to you. It’s better to be in the company of people that appreciate your company, rather than trying to fit into groups that don’t want you there at all.

33. On experts:

There are plenty of people referred to as experts whose ideas and recommendations can prove to be stupid beyond belief. Listen to experts by all means but then use your own judgement. Don’t be fooled by people, just because they’ve got an impressive job title. If your instinct says they’re wrong, have the courage of your convictions and act accordingly. Just because an ‘expert’ said it, doesn’t mean you have to accept it.

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29 exclusive favourite quotes to inspire you

01/15/2025 by

Your favourite quotes can be such a source of inspiration, especially when we’re feeling a little down. When everything’s not quite going how we’d like, it’s helpful to reflect on the wisdom of successful people.

Successful people weren’t always successful. They started as ordinary people with a dream and a determination to follow that dream and take it as far as they could.

In getting to where they are, they’ll have met many obstacles along the way, and at times, they, too, will have felt a little down.

No one has it that easy. The only difference is that successful people keep going. They never give up.

Successful people make sure they have a source of inspiration for when they need it. They always have something to lift them when times get tough.

When feeling a little down, I love to reflect on inspirational quotes. I love them.

Here are 29 of my favourite quotes that inspire me when I need a lift.

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FAVOURITE QUOTES (1-10)

Every artist was first an amateur. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whoever is happy will make others happy, too. ~Mark Twain

You are what you think about all day long. ~Dr Robert Schuller

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them. ~Albert Einstein

Courage is like a muscle; it is strengthened by use. ~Ruth Gordon

I benefit from a change of scenery; it’s always inspiring. ~Kurt Vile

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. ~Henry Ford

The most important thing is to be whatever you are without shame. ~Rod Steiger

Sometimes the best ideas will come in the least inspiring places. ~David Droga

Do not let what you cannot do; interfere with what you can do. ~John Wooden

FAVOURITE QUOTES (11-20)

It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are. ~E. Cummings

What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left. ~Oscar Levant

For me, money is not my definition of success. Inspiring people is the definition of success. ~Kanye West

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. ~Samuel Johnson

Do not be afraid to ask dumb questions; they are easier to handle than dumb mistakes. ~Author Unknown

You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. ~Christopher Columbus

The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living doing what they most enjoy. ~Malcolm Forbes

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. ~Steve Jobs

That’s precisely the question everyone should be asking—why the hell not? Why not you, why not now? ~Timothy Ferriss

Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. ~Henry Van Dyke

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FAVOURITE QUOTES (21-29)

Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit. ~Conrad Hilton

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour. ~Vince Lombardi

It’s very important to have the right clothing to exercise in. If you throw on an old T-shirt or sweats, it’s not inspiring for your workout. ~Cheryl Tiegs

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. ~Dale Carnegie

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive. ~Howard Thurman

Your destiny is to fulfil those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something. ~Ralph Marston

An exciting and inspiring future awaits you beyond the noise in your mind, beyond the guilt, doubt, fear, shame, insecurity, and heaviness of the past you carry around. ~Debbie Ford

Although I am not Jewish, I have been to many Friday night Shabbats at my friends’ houses, and I absolutely love it. It’s a great and inspiring tradition to keep the family close. ~Yolanda Hadid

It’s always inspiring to me to meet people who feel that they can make a difference in the world. That’s their motive, that’s their passion. I think that’s what makes your life meaningful, that’s what fills your own heart and that’s what gives you purpose. ~Maria Shriver

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So go on, please share it now.

If you do, I’ll be forever grateful, and you’ll be helping a keen blogger reach a wider audience.

Your support is appreciated. Thank you.

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