Alex Banayan > Quotes

“You have a choice,” Dan said. “You can be good at those twenty-five things or you can be world-class at the five. Most people have so many things they want to do that they never do a single thing well. If I’ve learned one thing from Mr. Buffett, it’s that the Avoidance List is the secret to being world-class. “Success,” he added, “is a result of prioritizing your desires.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“What I’m about to tell you,” Elliott told me, “ninety-nine percent of people in the world will never understand.” For the first time all week, it was just the two of us. Elliott had told Austin he wanted to talk to me one-on-one. We were standing on a rooftop lounge during sunset, looking out at the Manhattan skyline. “You see, most people live a linear life,” he continued. “They go to college, get an internship, graduate, land a job, get a promotion, save up for a vacation each year, work toward their next promotion, and they just do that their whole lives. Their lives move step by step, slowly and predictably. “But successful people don’t buy into that model. They opt into an exponential life. Rather than going step by step, they skip steps. People say that you first need to ‘pay your dues’ and get years of experience before you can go out on your own and get what you truly want. Society feeds us this lie that you need to do x, y, and z before you can achieve your dream. It’s bullshit. The only person whose permission you need to live an exponential life is your own. “Sometimes an exponential life lands in your lap, like with a child prodigy. But most of the time, for people like you and me, we have to seize it for ourselves. If you actually want to make a difference in the world, if you want to live a life of inspiration, adventure, and wild success—you need to grab on to that exponential life—and hold on to it with all you’ve got.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“You have no way of knowing what’s going on in the lives of the people in your pipeline. You can’t anticipate their mood or how generous they’re feeling. All you can do is control your effort.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“The best negotiating tactic is to build a genuine, trusting relationship. If you’re an unknown entrepreneur and the person you’re dealing with isn’t invested in you, why would he or she even do business with you? But on the other hand, if the person is your mentor or friend, you might not even need to negotiate.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Nobody is in control of who they are when they’re born,” she continued. “You’re born into the family you’re born into and you’re born into the circumstances you’re born into. So you just have to take what you can from where you’re at and not compare yourself to other people. You have to look at your path and know that whatever got you there, and where you’re going, is unique to you. You weren’t supposed to be any other way.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Gates wanted to be paid in something more valuable than cash: strategic positioning. It’s better to make a fair deal today that sets you up for more deals down the road than a great deal that doesn’t set you up for anything. The takeaway was clear: choose long-term positioning over short-term profits.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Luck is like a bus,” he told me. “If you miss one, there’s always the next one. But if you’re not prepared, you won’t be able to jump on.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Maybe the hardest part about taking a risk isn’t whether to take it, it’s when to take it. It’s never clear how much momentum is enough to justify leaving school. It’s never clear when it’s the right time to quit your job. Big decisions are rarely clear when you’re making them—they’re only clear looking back. The best you can do is take one careful step at a time.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Approach writing, approach whatever your job is, with admiration for yourself, and for those who did it before you. Become as familiar with your craft as it is possible to become.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“while you can give someone all the best knowledge and tools in the world, sometimes their life can still feel stuck. But if you can change what someone believes is possible, their life will never be the same.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“It’s about humbling yourself enough to learn, even when you’re at the top of your game. It’s about knowing that the moment you get comfortable being an executive is the moment you begin to fail. It’s about realizing that, if you want to continue being Mufasa, at the same time you have to keep being Simba.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“What I know,” she said, “is that: it’s going to be better. If it’s bad, it might get worse, but I know that it’s going to be better. And you have to know that. There’s a country song out now, which I wish I’d written, that says, ‘Every storm runs out of rain.’ I’d make a sign of that if I were you. Put that on your writing pad. No matter how dull and seemingly unpromising life is right now, it’s going to change. It’s going to be better. But you have to keep working.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“You have to cherish your mistakes,” he said. “You have to get back up no matter how many times you get knocked down. There are some people who face defeat and retreat; who become cautious and afraid, who deal with fear instead of passion, and that’s not right. I know it seems complex, but it’s relatively simple. It’s: let go and let God.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” —ALBERT EINSTEIN”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“A tipping point only appears in hindsight,” Elliott added. “You don’t feel it when you’re in the trenches. Being an entrepreneur is about pushing, not tipping.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“Most people do things because that’s what society tells them they should do. But if you stop and do the math—if you actually think for yourself—you’ll realize there’s a better way to do things.” “Is that why you’re so happy?” I asked. “Bingo,” Wozniak said. “I’m happy because I do what I want every day.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business…So I do more reading and thinking, and make fewer impulse decisions than most people in business.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“You need to start working on building a pipeline and getting other balls in the air. Business is not target practice.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“advice from Bill Gates was never my Holy Grail. My mistakes on my way to get to him were what changed me most.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“If you break my trust, you’re finished. Never, ever go back on your word. If I tell you something in confidence, you need to be a vault. What goes in does not come out. This goes for your relationships with everyone from this day forward. If you act like a vault, people will treat you like a vault. It will take years to build your reputation, but seconds to ruin it.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“No es que yo sea más inteligente, sino que dedico más tiempo a los problemas. ALBERT EINSTEIN Podemos hacer lo que queramos si ponemos suficiente empeño. HELLEN KELLER Si estás pasando un infierno, sigue caminando. WINSTON CHURCHILL Nada en el mundo puede suplir la perseverancia. CALVIN COOLIDGE”
― Alex Banayan, La tercera puerta: En busca del secreto del éxito de Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg y Lady Gaga

“Everyone has the power to make little choices that can alter their lives forever. You can either choose to give in to inertia and continue waiting in line for the First Door, or you can choose to jump out of line, run down the alley, and take the Third Door. We all have that choice.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“As I watched my mom kneeling beside my dad, it was as if my dad wanted to teach me that, at the end of life—when you don’t have access to money or possessions, when you can’t even open your eyes—all you’ll have left is your heartbeat, your breath, and your soul’s connection to those you love.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“While there’s a time for studying what’s worked for other people, there are moments when you have to go all in on what makes you unique.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“«¿Quieres saber el secreto para cambiar el mundo? Deja de intentarlo. Haz un buen trabajo y deja que este cambie el mundo.»”
― Alex Banayan, La tercera puerta: En busca del secreto del éxito de Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg y Lady Gaga

“Never use your phone in a meeting. I don’t care if you’re just taking notes. Using your phone makes you look like a chump. Always carry a pen in your pocket. The more digital the world gets, the more impressive it is to use a pen. And anyway, if you’re in a meeting, it’s just rude to be on your phone.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers

“At the time,” he said, “I was young, and I looked younger. IBM had people around the table who were initially quite skeptical of me.” He explained that the first step in a sales meeting is having to blast through skepticism, and the best way to do that is by overwhelming people with your expertise. Gates would talk fast and dive immediately into the details—character sets, computer chips, programming languages, software platforms—to the point that it became undeniably clear he wasn’t just some kid.”
― Alex Banayan, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers