In SUCCESS BUILT TO LAST, Jerry Porras (collaborating with Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson) explore how to apply the Built to Last concepts of building an enduring business to individuals striving to become enduringly successful people. It’s a powerful book chock-full of thought-provoking “money quotes.”
My single post of select money quotes cannot begin to adequately convey the magnitude of meaning this book shares. Success Built to Last is a MUST-READ for everyone seeking to find the nexus point connecting personal happiness with professional happiness.
Money Quotes from SUCCESS BUILT TO LAST …
”Success in the long run has less to do with finding the best idea, organizational structure, or business model for an enterprise, than with discovering what matters to us as individuals.” (p. 4)
”Extraordinary individuals take one step back and two steps forward with most every challenge—and sometimes two steps back to one step forward. They harvest useful lessons and knowledge from what doesn’t work, and they display a remarkable resiliency; and ability to bounce back from adversity.” (p. 9)
(Note … playing off the “clock-builder” concept introduced in Built to Last, the authors describe people who “… feel compelled to create something new or better that will endure throughout their lifetime” as being Builders.)
“For Builders, the real definition of success is a life and work that brings personal fulfillment and lasting relationships and makes a difference in the world in which they live.” (p. 19)
”Builders insist that success may never come without a compelling personal commitment to something you care about and would be willing to do with or without counting on wealth, fame, power, or public acceptance as an outcome. (p. 21)
”When achievement for you or your organization comes without meaning, then it doesn’t last.” (p. 23)
”Most of us worry more about being loved than being what we love.” (p. 30)
”It’s dangerous not to do what you love. The harsh truth is that if you don’t love what you’re doing, you’ll lose to someone who does!” (p. 35)
”Enduringly successful people, many of whom live a life that’s a gift to the world, don’t raise balance as a major issue—not because they had it masterfully handled, but because they were all busy doing what mattered to them.” (p. 54)
”Opportunity comes from expertise, not just luck, talent, and passion. If you find it impossibly tedious to become an expert about what you think matters to you, then you’re not chasing a dream, you’re just daydreaming.” (p. 120)
”Builders insist that self-esteem comes from trying and failing, trying and failing, then succeeding with small wins and doing the work a little better each time.” (p.125)
”Builders think of success and failure as feedback. They don’t judge either as a complete win or loss.” (p. 137)
”For most Builders, the journey is like shooting for the moon and instead hitting Mars—perhaps a better, but different outcome than envisioned. Builders are the first to admit (at least, in private) that planning works, but as the adage goes, the plan itself, rarely does.” (pgs. 173-174)
”Builders take bold risks that they measure in small steps.” (p. 175)
”The thing that matters is meaning! It drives everything. Builders align their attention to the things that matter to them, and they know a lot about that stuff.” (p. 207)
Learn more at the Success Built to Last website.
Recent Comments