He acknowledges the brutal difficulties of trying to start out by doing everything oneself without financial backing. He did have help starting out and getting over some initial hurdles; his mother mortgaged her home to help him in the early days. He has likened his initial investments to going into the equivalent of credit card debt today. He is willing to risk it all on the projects he believes in.
Summary
Sir Richard Branson has a gloriously adventurous attitude no matter what he is doing. He can approach a morning in the office, or a record-setting flight, with the same spirit. He throws himself into things and goes full-bore as if there were no such thing as an obstacle in existence.
“… a laser
focus on
everything he
undertakes.”
What lessons can we take from this? He has certainly lived openly enough to be available as an example for anyone who wants to look to him for ways to create riches and success. His example is one of ambition, adventure, fulfilment and passion. He gives a strong impression of boundless energy.
Let’s distil his operating methods down into a few principles:
Create what you want to see. When Branson looks around at the way things are, he sees what he wishes were there. Then, he goes out and makes these wishes a reality. From his earliest venture, he set out to make something that filled the gulf between what was available at the time and what he wanted. Student, the paper, was the result of his noticing that young people, including himself, had no real expression and resources with which to speak. Instead of lamenting this lack, he set about creating that means of expression.
Dedication and consistency are paramount. While Branson is often viewed as a wild card, with his unpredictable moves in business and in life, he doesn’t worry as long as things make sense to him. Underlying this apparently mercurial behaviour is really the opposite—a laser focus on everything he undertakes.“…doing whatever it takes, every single day, to get the job done.”He dedicates himself to doing whatever it takes, every single day, to get the job done. So he is an irresistible combination of discipline and risk-taking that elevates entrepreneurship into the level of artistic accomplishment. His utter disregard for all the pitfalls done.” that surround him, coupled with his disciplined push to get things done every day, has rocketed him into the stratosphere of success. This brings us to the next point:
Never shy away from risks. If Branson demonstrates anything, it is the importance of taking great risks. The real key here is that vision is more important than risk. When he imagines something that he thinks should be created, it happens without regard to what anyone else thinks is the normal course of events. He has risked his capital and reputation in business, and his life, more than once, in his record-setting sailing and flying attempts. He simply proceeds as if risk were not the point of anything. He has both failed and succeeded with spectacular gusto.
Set hugely ambitious goals and constantly see if you can surpass them. It would probably never occur to Branson to be afraid that a goal was too big. He would probably be far more bothered by a goal that is too small, deeming it a waste of time. He relishes the challenge of setting goals that definitely sound too big. He knows that any goal that is set has an infinitely better chance of success, no matter how outrageous the ambition, than a goal that is never set.
Branson is a stellar example of wealth, success and fulfilment. He has generated billions in wealth, set amazing records and accomplished more in any given year—or month—than most people do in a lifetime. Yet, he is the opposite of the buttoned-up and irritable businessman that we often have as a vague image of the billionaire. His ready smile attests to the joy that a life of accomplishment can bring.
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