Over the past three years, I’ve been investigating and writing about the ideas that motivate great entrepreneurs. Here’s what I’ve learned, in a nutshell:
  1. Accept your limitations but strive to overcome them.
  2. Avoid negative people who drain your emotional energy.
  3. Be surprised and amused by the unexpected and unusual.
  4. Become more creative by relaxing more often.
  5. Believe in yourself rather than the power of luck or fate.
  6. Breathe more deeply whenever you feel anxious.
  7. Buy and read the world’s 10 best motivational books.
  8. Celebrate your failures because that’s how you learn.
  9. Consume food and drink that give you more energy.
  10. Cut your boss and co-workers more slack.
  11. Decide to enjoy the moment more often.
  12. Don’t take your successes or failures too seriously.
  13. Don't expect perfection from yourself or anyone else.
  14. Eat something really delicious every day.
  15. Edit out of your library any books that you find depressing.
  16. Encourage your brain to think positive rather than negative thoughts.
  17. Find a role model who inspires you to be more than you are today.
  18. Find an exercise you enjoy; then enjoy it.
  19. Focus on what’s good about your job and your life.
  20. Feel gratitude more often and for more reasons.
  21. Give credit where due to others and bask in their appreciation.
  22. Hang out with people who are motivated to succeed.
  23. Have your success serve a higher purpose than just yourself.
  24. Help others who are less fortunate, especially those nobody notices.
  25. Let your inner child out to play at least once a day.
  26. Look for new ways to “give back” for when you’ve been helped.
  27. Make your office a place where you truly enjoy working.
  28. Memorize the 10 quotes every salesperson should know.
  29. Never let uncertainty prevent you from taking action.
  30. Only give people information after they ask for it.
  31. Print this list and hang it on your bathroom mirror.
  32. Realize that you can control your thoughts, but not anyone else’s.
  33. Read one of the motivating books that inspired Steve Jobs.
  34. Read one of the powerful books that Elon Musk recommends.
  35. Read one of the quirky but cool books that Bill Gates loves.
  36. Remember that the only real failure is failure to take action.
  37. Review these 101 reasons to feel good about yourself.
  38. Rewire your brain to make you more successful.
  39. Set goals that are achievable but challenging.
  40. Speak and think in strong words (e.g., "fantastic") to describe what's good.
  41. Speak and think in weak words (e.g., "annoying") to describe what's not.
  42. Step back, examine your assumptions, make a better plan.
  43. Stretch past your limits; do something different.
  44. Strive to become more self-reliant each day.
  45. Take no action that doesn't serve a higher goal.
  46. Take responsibility rather than blame other people.
  47. Thank the people who nobody bothers to thank.
  48. Think before you speak and then get to the point.
  49. Throw away something in your office or home that’s useless.
  50. Toot your own horn and pat yourself on the back once in a while.
  51. Train your brain to be as creative as Steve Jobs's was.
  52. Treat negative emotions as what you do. “I’m irritated today.”
  53. Treat positive emotions as who you are. “I’m a thoughtful person.”
  54. Understand your strengths and seek to make them stronger.
  55. Walk the talk before you talk the walk.
  56. Watch these five incredibly motivating videos.
  57. Welcome the obstacles in life that can and will make you stronger.