Here are some of the best ideas that show up again and again across time:
“Work hard in the dark to shine in the light” - Muhammad Ali
Greatness requires OBSESSION - MJ, Kobe, Phil Knight
When everyone else is sleeping, I’m in the gym - Kobe & David Goggins
Be positive be first - Peter Kaufman
“I am consistently consistent” - Ari Emanuel
Consistency beats intensity, everytime - James Clear
The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones - Phil Knight
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement” - James Clear
“Genius is the art of taking pains. The advertising man who spares the midnight oil will never get very far.” - Claude Hopkins
“The most important conversations you’ll ever have are the ones you’ll have with yourself” - David Goggins on conquering your inner Soundtracks
“History never repeats itself but man always does” (gambling investor psychology) - Voltaire, Howard Marks, Morgan Housel, John Kenneth Galbraith
The best thing money can buy you is freedom - Morgan Housel
If supply surpasses demand, goodbye pricing power - Sam Zell & William Zeckendorf
Feed the Beast (excessive growth cultures) - Innovator’s Dilemma
Be like a cockroach, hard to kill - Paul Graham on lean cost-conscious businesses
“Differentiation is survival!” - Jeff Bezos, applies to Danny Meyer’s restaurants, HBO, Trader Joes, Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s, & the Innovator’s Dilemma
"Cash, though, is to a business as oxygen is to an individual: never thought about when it is present, the only thing in mind when it is absent" - Warren Buffett
“Charlie and I have pledged that Berkshire will always hold more than $30B of cash and equivalents. We want your company to be financially impregnable and NEVER dependent on the kindness of strangers” - Warren Buffett
“Competition is for Losers” - Peter Thiel and Sam Zell
“One of the things we always overvalue in Silicon Valley is growth rates and we undervalue durability” - Peter Thiel on 85% of a company’s value coming from the outer years (prioritize SURVIVAL)
"Ick investing means taking a special analytical interest in stocks that inspire a first reaction of 'ick." - Michael Burry practicing value investing, or disagreeing loudly with popular sentiment
Bet where you have an edge - Ed Thorp
“Innovate or die” - Roone Arledge
“Change is the only constant in technology” - Howard Marks
“In the electronics industry today, everything is changing rapidly; in fact, the only thing we can be certain of is that the business will never stand still” - Akio Morita, founder of SONY
“Champions behave like champions before they’re champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners” - Bill Walsh
“I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year. It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success” - Lionel Messi
“How you practice is how you play” - John Wooden
“You have to be your best self when you’re least motivated” - Goggins
“Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits… You get what you repeat” - James Clear
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned” - the Buddha
“Advertising is multiplied salesmanship. It may appeal to thousands while the salesman talks to one.” - Claude Hopkins
“You have to sell the products, and to do that you have to show the potential buyer the real value of what you are selling.” - Akio Morita
“REMEMBER: the people you address are selfish, as we all are. They care nothing about your interests or your profit. They seek service for themselves… The best ads ask no one to buy… The ads are based entirely on service. They offer wanted information. They site advantages to users.” - Claude Hopkins
Repetition is the mother of retention - Bill Walsh
“Stories sell stocks” - Ed Thorp, Morgan Housel
"Every market valuation is a number from today multiplied by a story about tomorrow. And the stories change much faster than the numbers." - Morgan Housel
“Pick ROI over EGO” - Jon Acuff on listening to feedback (Bill Walsh & Michael Jordan)
Success disease - or the slow creeping complacency that winning creates (Bill Walsh)
“Conventional wisdom produces conventional results. Conventional wisdom didn’t produce Jerry Rice” - Bill Walsh
The common denominator of success is doing what no one else is willing to do
“The problems we face today eventually turn into blessings in the rearview mirror of life. In time, yesterday's red light leads us to a greenlight” - Matthew McConaughey
“When you think you’re done, you’re only at 40% of what your body is capable of doing. That’s just the limit that we put on ourselves” - David Goggins 40% Rule
“A roof is a man-made thing” - Matthew McConaughey (ditch the limiting beliefs!)
Your reputation follows you - Bob Iger
“Life is growth. Business is growth. You grow or you die” - Phil Knight
“Our plan is to lead the public with new products rather than ask them what kind of products they want. The public does not know what is possible, but we do.” - Akio Morita & Steve Jobs
Wisdom is prevention - Munger
We want to be surrounded by mediocrity to make us feel better, but we need to keep grinding even after reaching the top of the mountain - Goggins never stop fighting your victim mentality...
“Without competition, I could set the price - and the market” - Sam Zell
“I brainwashed myself into craving discomfort” - David Goggins
A mile wide and an inch deep means you have no priorities - Frank Slootman
The best brand names own a piece of consumer’s minds - Munger
A brand is a promise - Buffett
The essence of Scientific Advertising: “we let the thousands decide what the millions will do” - Claude Hopkins
Hire talent as FOUND, not as needed - John D. Rockefeller & Phil Knight
There are only 3 ways a smart person can go broke: liquor, ladies, and leverage (Munger)
“When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys” - David Ogilvy
“Every day do something that makes you uncomfortable” - David Goggins
“There’s only one rule in training: if it doesn’t suck, we don’t do it” - David Goggins
Watch game tape - Kobe Bryant (study the greats who came before you!)
“FOMO is recklessness masked as ambition” - Morgan Housel
Interest rates are to asset prices what gravity is to the apple - Warren Buffett
“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results” - Phil Knight
Become the best in your field within 2 years by doing “professional research” and seeking out wisdom from the experts - Bill Gurley
Jobs not done! Legends aren’t defined by their successes, rather they’re defined by how they bounce back from their failures - Kobe Bryant
“In the real world, people do not want the mathematically optimal strategy. They want the strategy that maximizes for how well they sleep at night.” - Morgan Housel
Essentialism: boil down your decisions to the one most important variable
“Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy” - James Clear
“The internet is widening the gap between those that want to learn and those that want to be entertained”
Stoic philosophy: focus on what you can control and ignore what you can’t control
Take a simple idea and take it seriously - Charlie Munger
Your people are assets, not expenses - Adam Grant
Electricity doesn’t make your beer taste better → Jeff Bezos (specialize or provide the infrastructure)
Soros Theory of Reflexivity: the strong get stronger