6 things I learned from reading biographies on Schwarzenegger, Knight, and Buffett
Over the last few months I’ve read the autobiographies of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Knight (Nike founder), and the biography on Warren Buffett. I’m not sure why I read these books, its not like I’m super fans of these guys, but I’m so glad that I did. Fascinating stuff, and I learned a lot.
- It’s fine to make mistakes…once. Each of these guys talked about the many mistakes they made along the way, and each of them were maniacal about never making that mistake again.
- Grit is not to be underestimated. Here is a great Ted Talk on grit passed to me by AW. Each of these guys essentially came from nothing and worked their a$$es off to succeed.
- Keep a close-knit group of loyal friends and colleagues. No one does it alone.
- Always have the end-game in mind. Arnold was the king of knowing what he wanted to accomplish and doing everything in his power to get there. Phil and Warren certainly were ambitious as well, and they saw the bigger picture even when things went sideways.
- Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Each of these guys embraced new challenges with vigor and relentless energy.
- Never stop. Each of these guys, one arguably the greatest movie star of his time, the other built one of the greatest companies/brands around today, and the last became the richest man in the world, they all could have stopped pushing and growing as they had success. But it was the journey that compelled them to keep going. The ability to see just how good they could be. They never stopped.
