Elon Musk’s first wife explains what it takes to become a billionaire

Justine Musk, first wife of billionaire Elon Musk, knows a thing or two about wealth and hard work — her ex-husband is a founder of PayPal, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and has an estimated net worth of $12.1 billion.

She recently posted a response to a Quora thread asking the question “Will I become a billionaire if I am determined to be one and put in all the necessary work required?”

Her answer is “no,” though she says that the Quora reader is asking the wrong question altogether.

“You’re determined. So what? You haven’t been racing naked through shark-infested waters yet,” she writes. “Will you be just as determined when you wash up on some deserted island, disoriented and bloody and ragged and beaten and staring into the horizon with no sign of rescue?”

She then offers some advice:

“Shift your focus away from what you want (a billion dollars) and get deeply, intensely curious about what the world wants and needs. Ask yourself what you have the potential to offer that is so unique and compelling and helpful that no computer could replace you, no one could outsource you, no one could steal your product and make it better and then club you into oblivion (not literally). Then develop that potential. Choose one thing and become a master of it.  Choose a second thing and become a master of that.  When you become a master of two worlds (say, engineering and business), you can bring them together in a way that will a) introduce hot ideas to each other, so they can have idea sex and make idea babies that no one has seen before and b) create a competitive advantage because you can move between worlds, speak both languages, connect the tribes, mash the elements to spark fresh creative insight until you wake up with the epiphany that changes your life.

The world doesn’t throw a billion dollars at a person because the person wants it or works so hard they feel they deserve it. (The world does not care what you want or deserve.)  The world gives you money in exchange for something it perceives to be of equal or greater value: something that transforms an aspect of the culture, reworks a familiar story or introduces a new one, alters the way people think about the category and make use of it in daily life. There is no roadmap, no blueprint for this; a lot of people will give you a lot of advice, and most of it will be bad, and a lot of it will be good and sound but you’ll have to figure out how it doesn’t apply to you because you’re coming from an unexpected angle. And you’ll be doing it alone, until you develop the charisma and credibility to attract the talent you need to come with you.

Have courage. (You will need it.)

And good luck.  (You’ll need that too.)”

http://www.businessinsider.my/elon-musks-first-wife-explains-what-it-takes-to-become-a-billionaire-2015-4/#6KXiI6VwxjGiK3fl.97

The One Controversial Thing You Should Do Before Starting Your Business

We all come to turning points in our lives. Decisions we make in those moments can shape our entire business and life. In the startup world, this couldn’t be truer.

When my co-founder approached me about starting a catering-delivery startup together, I was exhilarated by the prospect of a new venture and the potential to achieve success far beyond what I’d be able to accomplish in the corporate world.  I had come from a household of successful parents, graduated from an Ivy League school and worked for a top-tier consulting agency. If anyone was prepared for this, it was me. Or so I thought.

After being open for about six months, I hit a wall back in April 2011. I had been putting in more than 100 hours a week, with little to show for it. The company wasn’t progressing as quickly as we had expected, and we weren’t sure we could scale to make the business worthwhile. During that time, I started to question if I made the right decision. 

One weekend, I decided to take a drive to the ocean to clear my head and think about what I wanted in my life. After a lot of soul searching, I decided to continue down the startup path. And I am glad I did. The company now has locations in six cities, more than 60 employees and is continuing to grow rapidly.

As I look back to why I was ready to quit, I realize it was because I still hadn’t fully burned my bridges back to my old life. I still had the thought that I could go back to how things used to be. Over time, I realized that holding onto that lifeline turned out to be what was holding me back.

It wasn’t until I had cut off my escape route that I could truly focus on the way forward. From then on, I started each day by telling myself that what others thought (or what I thought they thought) didn’t matter, it was all about my own focus on the task at hand. Just making that choice didn’t guarantee success, but if I continued on and later failed, I at least knew that I would have given my all and had no reservations.

Starting a business requires total dedication and allowing yourself a safety line can be enough to keep you from being able to give it everything you have.

Here is what I learned about just letting go.

Survival mode sets in. When you no longer have a crutch to lean on, you realize your startup is all you have. While this can be petrifying, it can also help put you in a mindset where every decision is crucial to the success of the business. Nothing was too small or insignificant — if it affected the business, it became my sole focus.

Perception changes. When I had an easy way out, I was bitter about the sacrifices that I was making, because my life had been so much easier before I became an entrepreneur. Once I burned my bridges, I saw the sacrifices as the first steps towards the lofty goals I had set when I started. I saw each new roadblock as a challenge to overcome, not as a wall that couldn’t be surmounted.

Priorities shift. Before I was constantly questioning whether I had made the right decision but after letting go, I realized I couldn’t succeed unless I saw the business as an extension of myself. This shift allowed me to prioritize the business above all else and simplified and clarified my direction.

Keep in mind, by proposing that people burn their bridge, I’m not suggesting throwing caution to the wind. Before moving forward with a startup idea, people need to make sure there is a product-market fit, will have the tools to execute and can scale the concept. Throughout our startup process, we used lean startup principles and didn’t take large, uncalculated risks.

What makes most startups successful is the will to overcome challenge after challenge. The hard truth is that genius insights and breakthroughs are often the result of fear of failure. 

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235997

Danger of venturing out too late

If you have to spend more than 15 years studying, and another 10-12 years to specialise in a field, how can you expect to invest right the first time with no relevant training or prior experience?

The riskiest investors in property investment are people who have deep pockets from years’ of savings or a huge pension, but are investing for the first time.

Compared with their younger days, they now have more to lose. A wrong purchase can wipe out their entire savings during the prime of their life and set them back for years. Nothing can be more traumatic than a forced descending from having it all to losing it all.

“It’s very good to lose everything, but do it when you are young. Do it when it’s 50,000 dollars or 5,000 dollars, not when it is 50,000,000 dollars,” said Jim Rogers in a media interview.

He mentioned the same thing in his book Street Smarts: “It is good to lose money, to go broke at least once, and preferably twice, but if you are going to do it, do it early in your career. Do it early and it is not the end of the world…. it teaches you how much you do not know.”

Source: Property Soul

I tendered my resignation without securing the next job. Here’s why I don’t mind.

I have committed a taboo – I have tendered my resignation without securing the next job.

The reactions to the announcement were varied but they all pretty much hint at a deep sense of disapproval.

“Why did you do that?” It was as if I had renounced my faith.

“What are you going to do from now on?” Almost as though a misfortune had incapacitated me.

“What does your family have to say about it?” As if I had offered to cook for the next family dinner.

I was, and still am, certain of my reasons and motivations for the resignation. However the response I received got me thinking about why people are so concerned about the gaps in their careers.

The developed world evolved from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy to the service age, then to the knowledge economy in the late 1990s and 2000s marked by breakthroughs in technological innovations and competition for innovation with new products and processes that develop from the research community. According to The Work Foundation, the knowledge economy is driven by the demand for higher value added goods and services created by more sophisticated, more discerning, and better educated consumers and businesses.

In my opinion, if the economic landscape has changed, why should our approach towards employment remain the same, to the point of being archaic?

I have heard horror interview anecdotes of candidates being unforgivingly grilled on why they left one job without first securing the next, never mind the accolades achieved during the tenure with the recently departed organisation. Unless the candidates’ reasons hinge on family and/or a health crisis, the interviewer’s doubts and suspicions tend to run awry.

There are virtues to taking a break before moving on to the next job; because it is a career that all meaning-seeking humans want, and not simply a paycheck.

The most critical part when planning for a hiatus is addressing the question “why you are doing it”. Without thinking through “why”, you can easily take a six-month break and end up in the same unsatisfying place.

After thinking through, I put forth the following four reasons for taking a hiatus:

1. Detox and Re-boot

Before you land yourself in the next job, it is important to let go of any emotional baggage and address physical ailments that you have accumulated during your previous employment. These issues can include tensions with your superior, disagreements with a co-worker, demanding clients, stress-related health problems such as hair loss, body aches, sleep disorders, etc.

Run, join a yoga class, meditate, consult your doctor – get your mental and physical health back on track.

It is important that we enter into our next phase of career with a brand new frame of mind, one that is not tainted by previous experiences.

2.Reflect, Take Stock

While in employment, we are inevitably consumed by “busy-ness”. In the flurry of activities, we often fail to take stock of our lives and fall behind planning and executing plans to fulfill educational and personal development goals.

It is essential that we look back on what we have accomplished at the previous workplace and contemplate on whether previously set goals have been attained; which areas have we performed well; and which aspects need improvement. Doing so can help us identify what we want out of our next job.

The break is also timely for us to re-visit our work motivations, philosophy and ethics as we move forward to ride the next wave of our career.

“A discerning employer will appreciate your confidence, common sense and insights instead of focusing on the void in your resume.”

3. Getting to Know Yourself Again

Last year, when I was contemplating taking a break from work, I was concerned that I would lose my bearing without a job. I had grown so comfortable in my professional title that I was afraid to face the world in my own skin – the skin that had marked my individuality in the past 30 odd years. We are more than the summation of our paychecks.

It was then that I knew that something was amiss, and I needed to move. Fast.

Remember that doe-eye, enthusiastic fresh entrant you were when you first reported to work, all eager to recommend ideas? That individual was a product of your education, family upbringing, social interaction and personal development. You and I have unique strengths and offerings to bring to the table; we simply have to take time to mine those hidden gems and bring them to the next phase of our career.

4. Actually Do Something About the Bucket List

Most of us have a bucket list. A hiatus from work offers a good time to actually do something about it.

Pick up a new language, explore new hobbies, meet people, and travel!

For most people, money is the topmost concern during a period of unemployment; so if you cannot afford to travel to an exotic destination, make do with a short getaway. It’s what you do that matters, not where you go.

Want to try your hand at table service? Go for it – learn to do coffee art, make a cuppa and handle irate customers.

Doing and experiencing new things can widen your horizon, equip you with a fresh perspective, and you will become a much learned person in all aspects. A discerning employer will appreciate your confidence, common sense and insights instead of focusing on the void in your resume.

Do keep in mind though that one should not take frivolous breaks. If you are ready to tackle the challenges in your next job without going on a hiatus, go for it. Once you know why you want to take time off and have mentally committed to doing so, put your plan into action. Trust that things will work out and look forward to the next phase of your career in good faith.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/tendered-resignation-without-securing-next-033039932.html