Elon Musk. The name instantly sparks awe and curiosity in the minds of those who know this man. He is not your average entrepreneur. This man is a disruptor. When it comes to business, he doesn’t compete with the rest, he sets new trends and makes others see how they’ve been stuck in a rut.
Now, the average entrepreneur wants to make some money by producing a unique product, and then enjoy the riches for the rest of their life.
But Musk, he wants to expand the collective consciousness of our human species by doing things that have a huge impact on the entire world. Sounds insane?
1. Optimism, pessimism, f*** that; we’re going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.
Intention drives results. Not circumstances, not what others think about you and not what happened in your past. When you believe in such negative things, you give your power away. Reclaim your power to create life on your own terms. This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows no obstacle can stop you if your resolve is strong enough.
2. The first step is to establish that something is possible. Then probability will occur.
Don’t worry about the chances of success or failure. Make sure it is possible, then attack with full force.
3. I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.
You only rise as high as the goals you set in life. Dream bigger, if your dream doesn’t frighten you, you aren’t doing it right. This one of the most enlightening Elon Musk quotes, as it shows greatness is a choice.
4. Really pay attention to negative feedback and solicit it, particularly from friends. … Hardly anyone does that, and it’s incredibly helpful.
A mark of a great man lies in his response to criticism. Don’t run away from criticism. Understand it. If it has some truth to it, then fix the problem and your life or product will improve.
5. If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have. You are only as young or as old as your vision and your dreams. If your vision is old and gloomy, you will feel low no matter how much money you have.
6. People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.
Here, Musk shows the importance of purpose. You need to have a why for whatever you want to do. A strong sense of purpose makes you persevere when the going gets tough.
7. When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.
When you want to bring your vision to life, it doesn’t matter whether you’ll succeed or fail. The odds improve with time, as you learn from your failures.
8. I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.
Fear is a raw, human emotion. Everyone feels it. What matters is whether you run away from it and take a blow to your confidence, or you face it, understand it and then defeat it to strengthen your confidence. This is one of the greatest Elon Musk quotes, as it shows that everyone feels fear.
9. There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.
Risk is handsomely rewarded in the business world. Not everyone can colonize Mars. Because Elon says he will, NASA invested $3.1 billion in his company, SpaceX. The lesson is that, always follow your gut and you will find support along the way.
10. Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This]improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40-hour workweeks and you’re putting in 100-hour workweeks, then even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.
You need to show loyalty toward your dreams. Give your best to reach the peak of success in your field. But don’t start working 16 hour days right from tomorrow. Take it one step at a time. Increase 1 hour or maybe 30 minutes each week. The most important thing is to know what works for you. Working 100-hour weeks works for Elon, may not work for you and may in fact, break your momentum. What matters is that you give your best.
11. When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars, people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.
People resist change. So if people around you don’t like your unconventional ideas, don’t listen to them. Follow your heart. This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows why we shouldn’t believe everything others say.
12. If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic – being able to talk to people over long distances, to transmit images, flying, accessing vast amounts of data like an oracle. These are all things that would have been considered magic a few hundred years ago.
In this life, we all are creators. You can put a dent in the universe if you try hard and remain loyal to your dreams.
13. Going from PayPal, I thought: ‘Well, what are some of the other problems that are likely to most affect the future of humanity?’ Not from the perspective, ‘What’s the best way to make money?
This shows how important purpose is to succeed in life. Money is a means to an end. If you have no end purpose, then you’ll feel empty even if you get the money.
14. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.
You need to constantly experiment and reinvent in your craft, whatever you want to do. This is how you create something unique. Because, normal sucks and remains unnoticed. This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows the importance of failures.
15. When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world. Now I am.
Do what you want to do. Don’t choose a field of work because your friend said something or your parents said something. Know your talents and abilities, and create something incredible.
16. It’s very important to like the people you work with, otherwise life [and] your job is gonna be quite miserable.
You need people who lift your spirits, not the ones you drain your energy and make you want to curl up in your bed.
17. I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.
Each one of us can contribute something – humor, technology, political acumen. You need to discover your potential, your unique talents, and then use them to improve the quality of life for others.
18. [When asked about three consecutive failures at SpaceX] Never. I don’t ever give up. I’d have to be dead or completely incapacitated.
Musk tried to build his own rocket and send it to Mars. He failed three times and lost millions of dollars. But his determination was unshakable – he invested all of his money, hundreds of millions of dollars in SpaceX, borrowed money from business partners and landed successfully the fourth time. So, don’t ever give up. This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows victory is guaranteed if you persevere.
19. Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.
Change is the law of life. And this is good for you. Would you like it if every day was the same? We are here to constantly enhance our experience of life and reach greater heights spiritually, physically, emotionally, and financially. When there is no progress, there is no life.
20. It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.
Don’t be afraid of taking risks as long as you take calculated risks. Understand the consequences clearly and learn from people who have walked the same path earlier. This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows that taking risks is okay.
21. (Physics is) a good framework for thinking. … Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.
When we rely on external evidence, we give away our power to innovate, to reinvent. Learn the fundamental truths and then create your own style to build a unique product or service.
22. Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive and determination of the people who do it as it is about the product they sell.
It’s not about the product you create, it’s how you create it. If you create a good product and then stop working hard, your customers will soon be taken by companies who focus on innovation and improving their customer experience.
23. My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.
In a recent post on Mental Toughness, we showed how real strength comes from your heart, not your mind. When you have a strong purpose to stay, you won’t ever give up. If someone is passionate about their work, it will show in the results they produce.
24. I came to the conclusion that we should aspire to increase the scope and scale of human consciousness in order to better understand what questions to ask. Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.
Musk teaches us here that we should create goals that matter to us. What is the one thing you would change about the world? Go work on it, do it, be it, achieve it.
25. Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.
Patience is required because life doesn’t change overnight. So be patient, take it one day at a time.
26. Whatever you do, whatever area that you get into, even if you’re the best of the best, there’s always a chance of failure. So I think it’s important that you really like whatever you’re doing. If you don’t like it, life’s too short. If you like what you’re doing, you think about it even when you’re not working. It’s something that your mind is drawn to, and if you don’t like it, you just can’t make it work.
Discover what your mind is drawn to – movies, painting, singing, writing, engineering, rapping. Pick whatever naturally comes to mind. Work on it for a few months, don’t dismiss it outwardly. Then when you have built some skill, take it to the professional level. This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows you cannot be great at something you don’t like.
27. So many people tried to talk me out of starting a rocket company. One good friend of mine, collected a whole series of videos of rockets blowing up, and made me watch those. He didn’t want me to lose my money.
People will reject your ideas even when they care for you. So, discover the truths on your own and trust your gut.
28. We focused on signal over noise. A lot of companies get confused, they spend money on things that don’t make the product better. For example, at Tesla we never spent any money on advertising.
Show off when you have something to show off. If your product isn’t good enough, why would people want to hear about it? This is one of the best Elon Musk quotes, as it shows what really matters in business.
29. The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing just sounds like the worst. It sounds horrible to me. I would go bonkers. I would have to be on serious drugs. I’d be super-duper bored. I like high intensity.
Understand your emotional nature. If you need some quiet, alone time to recharge, make sure you get some every day. If you like to keep busy, always around people, do that. Do whatever works for you.
30. I think it [colonizing mars] would be the most inspiring thing that I can possibly imagine. Life needs to be more than just solving problems every day. You need to wake up and be excited about the future, and be inspired, and want to live.
The profound lesson here is that you are not meant to just solve problems and die. You can create a life of adventure, mystery, and burning passion. You get what you ask from life. Keep your standards high. Ask for your most courageous vision, work on it, and achieve it.
