Jeff Bezos is undoubtedly one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. Thus, he knew how to believe in his destiny and to follow through on the vision he had during the early 1990s. Fascinated by the rapid growth of the Web, he chose to pursue his idea of creating an online bookstore with millions of titles. Rather than regret not having participated in the Internet adventure, Jeff Bezos left a comfortable position in the world of finance and founded Amazon.com to build the world’s largest bookstore.

Amazon opened its first website in July 1995 and it was then the beginning of a huge success story for a company that has now become the world’s largest online sales company. Throughout Amazon’s success, Jeff Bezos has never stopped experimenting and trying out new areas. His sense of risk and innovation has enabled him to overcome all obstacles and launch into new fields such as space travel with his company Blue Origin.

Some of his attempts have been failures, but it doesn’t matter because Jeff Bezos is one of those people who understand that failures are the foundation of tomorrow’s successes. Whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee, you necessarily have a lot to learn from Jeff Bezos in terms of perseverance. In this article, I offer you 5 of his most inspiring quotes that will help you reaching success in your life.

“What’s dangerous is not to evolve”

When he decided to found Amazon.com on July 5, 1994, Jeff Bezos was a brilliant person who had worked in several Wall Street financial companies. His situation was more than comfortable and he had no reason to take the risk of questioning himself by embarking on the Internet adventure. Nevertheless, deep inside him there was this little inner voice that pushed him to try this adventure for fear of having to regret it one day.

Jeff Bezos then took the challenge to evolve. He said to himself that the real danger in life is not to evolve for fear of change. When we see where this risk taking has led him today, we can say he was right to evolve.

This obviously applies to all of us. In life, we often find ourselves in very comfortable situations that it seems difficult to leave aside to pursue our dreams. It would be a mistake to refuse certain opportunities for fear of change. It is therefore necessary to be attentive to all the opportunities that arise, and then to weigh the pros and cons. And then make the best decision, bearing in mind that you should never renounce for fear of change and evolution.

“If you decide that you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table”

In life, people have skills that they have developed during their education but also during their professional experiences. Nevertheless, at a certain age, some people will tend to want staying in their initial field of competence. Thus, they will miss opportunities for fear of doing things they don’t know or think that couldn’t work. This type of behaviour inevitably prevents you from moving up a gear and achieving success.

When an opportunity presents itself, you should not refuse it for the simple reason that it is in a field that you are not familiar with and that you are not sure will work. An excellent opportunity remains whatever happens an excellent opportunity. You must absolutely enter it and then make the necessary adjustments to be able to transform it into a success. You must take the risk of failure.

At the launch of his company Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos was certainly not an expert in the space world and was not at all sure that this company would work. Nevertheless, he felt an opportunity and embarked on it. For the record, Elon Musk also works in the same way and that’s how he chose to found SpaceX for example. All these great entrepreneurs of our time act in this way.

So you should never limit yourself to things that you are sure that work. You must seize the opportunities and take the risk of failure.

“People who are right most of the time are people who change their minds often”

This quote from Jeff Bezos is particularly inspiring to me. Indeed, it highlights the importance of knowing to evolve in life. We live in a world that is evolving at an incredible pace. In fact, it seems obvious that a truth today may no longer be true in 6 months or 1 year. You have to be able to stay in alert and adapt as you go along.

People who are always right are therefore people who know how to analyse situations for what they are and not by being biased with their past experiences. By applying the idea behind this quote, you can achieve success and make it last over time. Indeed, you will be able to adapt and change the recipes that were the basis of your initial success.

People who do not know how to evolve can be successful, but it will probably not last over time. When you see Amazon’s enduring success, I think you can trust Jeff Bezos on this issue.

“You have to be willing to be misundersood if you’re going to innovate”

People who are ahead of their time are often initially misunderstood. That’s the price Jeff Bezos says you have to pay for innovating. So, if you want to accomplish great things in life, you will have to accept to be misunderstood sometimes. Being right too early is never easy. You must be aware of this and follow your ideas whatever it costs.

Never forget that Amazon’s path to success has been no easy one. The company has been heckled many times but Jeff Bezos clung to his vision and continued to move forward at the risk of being misunderstood. Some of his projects have failed but he has always taken the challenge to follow his intuitions and follow through with his ideas.

Thus, the failures he may have suffered have been largely offset by the successes he has experienced. Whatever your level, it’s the same thing. Take the risk of failure and you will necessarily succeed one day or another.

“If you can’t tolerate critics, don’t do anything new or interesting”

Criticism is the driving force of an entrepreneur. For Jeff Bezos, it’s quite simple, if you can’t tolerate critics, you don’t have the soul of an entrepreneur because you will never be able to do anything new or interesting. Anything new attract critics. Some will be positive and some will be negative. Nevertheless, you will need to take all of them into consideration if you want to evolve and achieve success.

I would even say that a negative but constructive criticism will probably bring you more because it will lead you to review, eventually, your initial idea in order to improve it. In any case, don’t take it personally and always keep an open mind to criticism.

Conclusion

Jeff Bezos’ success is no coincidence. It is the result of a determined entrepreneurial spirit that is willing to take the risk of failing to innovate and realize the wildest visions it has ever had. Jeff Bezos’ career path should serve you to understand that you must never back down from criticism or obstacles.

You must be prepared to constantly evolve over the course of your life and take the risk of being misunderstood. This is the price to pay to try new interesting things and succeed in your most innovative ideas.