Life Advice–6 Great Ways to do Better in Business and in Life

Here is some great business and life advice from around the Web.

1) Go for it. “Today, my father told me, ‘Just go for it and give it a try! You don’t have to be a professional to build a successful product. Amateurs started Google and Apple. Professionals built [and sailed] the Titanic.’” From Makes Me Think.

2) Keep it simple in life and business. “In the late 1920s, United Fruit and Sam [Zemurray’s] company were trying to acquire the same piece of land, a fertile expanse that straddled the border of Honduras and Guatemala. But the land seemed to have two rightful owners, one in Honduras, the other in Guatemala. While U.F. hired lawyers and commissioned studies, trying to determine the legal property holder, Zemurray simply purchased the land twice, once from each owner. A simple problem deserves a simple solution.”

From WSJ article about the book The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King.

3) It’s never the right time. I was recently asked by a recruiter to consider a new job. I said, “it’s not the right time,” and then realized that it never is. Is there something you’ve been thinking about, but it’s not the right time? Is it not the right time to start a business, leave your job or start doing community service? The time will never be perfect, so don’t continue to wait. If it’s something you want to do, right now is usually the right time.

4) Don’t trust the experts. See for yourself. “In the 1930s, with United Fruit staggered by the Great Depression—its stock price fell … [dramatically]—the company’s executives, in search of a game plan, consulted experts, solicited reports and interviewed economists. [Sam] Zemurray wanted answers to the same questions—by then, he was the biggest holder of United Fruit stock—but he went instead to the New Orleans docks, where he buttonholed the sea captains and fruit jobbers who really understood the situation on the ground.

“He learned, for example, that banana-boat captains had been ordered to cross the Gulf of Mexico at half-speed, thus saving fuel. He also learned that, in the course of the extra days on the water, a large percentage of the cargo was going from yellow to ripe. One of Sam’s first orders when he took over U.F. in 1932 was: Don’t slow down; cut the number of crossings. Within six months of Sam’s ascension, the stock had rallied and reached $50 a share.”

From WSJ article about the book The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America’s Banana King.

5) You can do anything. You can start over, change your mind, try something completely different. You’re not too old, too young or whatever reason you believe is holding you back.

15-year-old Jack Andraka invented a test for pancreatic cancer that is 100 times more sensitive and 28 times cheaper than current tests.

My grandfather decided he should start working out when he was in his 90s. He got a membership at a gym (thankfully, attached to a hospital) and went (walker and all) regularly. More advice from my grandfather here.

71-year-old Hiroshi Hoketsu will represent Japan in the 2012 Summer Olympics in dressage, an equestrian contest.

6) Don’t do things because you think you’re supposed to do them.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition… Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” – Steve Jobs, Stanford University Commencement address, 2005.

I hope this business and life advice was helpful. I’d love to hear your life advice in the comments below . . .

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