5 Top Secrets To Success By Jeff Bezos

For those who want to succeed in life, it is paramount you learn a little about Jeff Bezos. The story of Jeff Bezos and the rise of the largest online retailer in the world isn’t a new one, but it has staying power. In an age where business is hyper-focused on the next, newest, brightest idea, Amazon dares to rest its future on a set of principles that were written in 1997 when the company first went public.

Focusing on the long term has always been at the cornerstone of Bezos’ empire state of mind. Beyond that, here are some key principles he employs.

1. Surround yourself with the best possible team.

“Every time we hire someone, he or she should raise the bar for the next hire, so that the overall talent pool is always improving,” Bezos says.

2. Learn from your mistakes.

Amazon has famously failed more than a few times. To compete with eBay, Bezos once launched its own version of marketplace bidding. It flopped. But it also paved the way for Amazon Affiliates.

More recently was the Amazon Fire Phone, which was widely considered a publicity stunt. Without failure, innovation could never be possible. But with innovation comes misunderstanding.

Learning from failure is easy to preach and harder to practice. Remind yourself of The Amazon Story and its many failures when you’re struggling with a decision of, should I?

3. Stay frugal.

Frugality is a near-direct opposition to modern big business practices. Bezos has preached and practised it from the beginning. A now-famous picture depicts Bezos sitting behind a desk made out of a door propped up on two-by-fours. Amazon was already a publicly-traded company at the time. Doors were simply cheaper than traditional desks and Bezos always had a thing for symbolism.

4. Stand firm.

Only in recent years has Bezos graced the media with social appearances. For many years, he was content to work behind the scenes—a kind of “head down, work hard” mentality. His recent social emergence speaks to an evolution of sorts. Bezos understands that in order to stay relevant and growing, you must be willing to adapt.

5. Think big.

Amazon was never intended to just be an online bookstore or even just an online retailer. Books just happened to be the easiest entry into the marketplace at the time. And for Bezos, Amazon was just the beginning. In 2000, he secretly founded Blue Origin, a space exploration company, to fulfil his ultimate dreams of not only exploring deep space but eventually colonizing other planets as a backup option for the earth.

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Think about your dreams versus the tools you’re using to get there. Don’t confuse the two, and don’t settle for the easier option.