In 2016, I read a fascinating biography of Elon Musk.
Earlier this year a new Elon biography topped bestseller lists.
And while I still haven’t read the new version…
I did find a fantastic summary online from Seth Dillon, the CEO and founder of The Babylon Bee.
Seth’s insights are so good I wanted to share them with you…
And I’ve also added my own “CB’s Take” for each one to help you apply Elon’s wisdom in your life and business.
5 Big Lessons From Elon
By Seth Dillon
1. The only unbreakable rules are the laws of physics.
Every other rule or restriction was put in place by a person, and people are idiots. :)
Progress means questioning every rule and seemingly arbitrary guideline.
If you aren't re-writing the rulebook, then there's no hope of ever beating the status quo.
[CB’s Take: What industry “standards” need to be questioned” in your business? What have you “been doing forever” that no longer serves you? What excuses do you accept and why? Question everything!]
2. Failure Happens More Than Success
Failure is far more likely, but it's also part of the process.
Getting a rocket into space doesn't happen without a few explosions.
There were times when Musk was just one failure away from total loss, but he knew he'd never succeed if he wasn't willing to take big risks and suffer massive losses.
[CB’s Take: You should NOT be out aiming for "massive losses"... however, every setback should be looked at as a learning opportunity. If you ever experience failure, remember it is happening FOR you, not to you. Do your best to plan and prepare so that you avoid setbacks, but when they do happen, use them to make your future P&P even better.]
3. Optimization is everything.
Elon was able to cut the price of a rocket trip by nearly 25X’s.
But only by questioning everything… and tweaking everything.
Efficiency saves time and money and can mean the difference between profitability and bankruptcy.
But you'll never know if you're maximally efficient unless you question every process and procedure, no matter how seemingly small and insignificant.
Just because something has historically been done a certain way doesn't mean it must be done that way. Perhaps it could be done faster, and with fewer parts.
The only limiting principle one should accept ties back to the first takeaway:
The only unbreakable rules are the laws of physics.
[CB’s Take: Question every dollar spent in your business... every meeting ... every demand... every opportunity... run it through your filters... set your parameters... and don't be chasing shiny objects at the expense of low-hanging fruit that is easier to pick.]
4. Pain tolerance doesn't hurt.
Musk says his life was shaped by adversity and that he consequently developed a "high pain threshold."
Rather than being discouraged by drama, he's energized by it — both at work and his relationships.
He attributes the success of his many companies to a willingness — even an eagerness — to run for long periods of time at his maximum pain threshold.
[CB’s Take: The most difficult discussions you need to have are often the most valuable. I don't want you to feel pain, but if there is something that you know will cause you discomfort, it's probably worth doing - this goes for certain exercises in the gym, and challenging conversations at work.]
5. Urgency gets results.
Musk creates urgency with insane deadlines and demands to move things forward as quickly as possible. This has produced results no one believed were possible. But he doesn't demand anything from others that he isn't willing to do himself.
[CB’s Take: Success loves speed. Cut your deadlines. Communicate your plans. Raise your expectations. Lead from the front. Let's gooooo!]
*****
I hope you enjoyed these insights as much as I did.
I challenge you to spend some time this weekend thinking about how you can apply these ideas in your business…
And then actually implement some of them next week.
Let us know how it goes, we’d love to hear from you!
Success Loves Speed,
Craig
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