Walk that walk and go forward all the time. Don't just talk that talk, walk it and go forward. Also, the walk didn't have to be long strides; baby steps counted too. Go forward.
Chris GardnerRead
One of the things young people always ask me about is what is the secret to success. The secret is there is no secret. It's the basics. Blocking and tackling.
Interpretation
Success is about mastering the fundamental skills rather than looking for hidden secrets.
In this quote, Chris Gardner emphasizes that many young individuals seek a 'secret' to success, but he asserts that true success lies in understanding and mastering basic principles. The metaphor of 'blocking and tackling' suggests that the foundational skills and practices are what truly matter in achieving one's goals, rather than relying on elusive shortcuts or hacks.
In practice
In a motivational speech to students at a career day event.
Walk that walk and go forward all the time. Don't just talk that talk, walk it and go forward. Also, the walk didn't have to be long strides; baby steps counted too. Go forward.
I've said that if you're not doing something that you're passionate about, you're compromising yourself every single day.
I chose to embrace the spirit of my mother, who, though she had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred, and destroyed, she still instilled in me, her child, that I could have dreams and that I did have a responsibility and the power.
The secret to success: find something you love to do so much, you canβt wait for the sun to rise to do it all over again.
Passion is the thing that won't let you sleep at night because you want to get up in the morning and go do your thing.
You know how mountains get moved? Everyone who can move a couple, move a couple. Those who can move rocks, move rocks. Those who can move boulders, move boulders. That's how mountains get moved. If every one of us did everything we could, I believe we would be in a different world.
The most successful people in this world recognize that taking chances to get what they want is much more productive than sitting around being too scared to take a shot.
Build your own business team. Survival in business requires a synergy of skills.
The ideal business is one that earns very high returns on capital and that keeps using lots of capital at those high returns. That becomes a compounding machine.
Almost everyone who has had an idea that's somewhat revolutionary or wildly successful was first told they're insane.
Success is the result of a delicate balance between making things happen and letting things happen.
I have found that people who really want to work at 'Saturday Night Live' and pursue it get pretty close. You have to be funny - but everyone who works there, it was their dream to work there. So it's kind of nice in that way - there's a lot of people who say, 'I just always wanted to do this, and now I'm doing it.'
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.