The 38 Letters from J.D. Rockefeller to His Son: Perspectives, Ideology, and Wisdom
I have talked to many people who have failed in their business and have heard countless reasons and excuses for failure. When these losers were speaking, they would often unwittingly say: “To be honest, I didn’t think it would work.” “I felt uneasy before I started.” “In fact, it’s not too surprising that this has failed.”
Adopting an attitude of ‘I will give it a try, but I don’t think there will be any results’ will lead to failure in the end. ‘Disbelief’ is a negative force. When you disagree or have doubts in your mind, you will come up with various reasons to support your ‘disbelief’. Suspicion, disbelief, the tendency to fail subconsciously, and the lack of desire to succeed are the main causes of failure. If you doubt it, you will fail. If you believe in victory, you will definitely succeed.
Too many “smart people” think that the purpose of the brand is not to trade, but to pick up a bargain, hoping to buy things at the lowest price. This time, the price offered by Morgan is more than a million lower than the actual valuation. If he only wants to make this kind of transaction, it means that he will lose his chance to ascend the ladders of the US steel industry. The essence of the transaction is exchange value, exchange what others want for what you want.
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you—their tastes may not be the same. Instead, do unto others as they would have you do unto them. This is the first rule of sincere cooperation. Thereafter, I never did anything for anyone else that I would not do for myself. I prefer to do all the things that I can do myself. I gather so that I may give. Thereafter, I command, dominating persons to support them. Otherwise, I command cooperation and keep the spoils for myself.
Success is not measured by a person’s height, weight, education, or family background, but by the size of his thoughts. The size of our thoughts determines the size of our achievements. The most important of all is that we must value ourselves, overcome the greatest weakness of mankind - self-deprecation, and never sell ourselves cheaply. You are greater than you think, so you should expand your thinking to the extent to your fullest potential, and never underestimate yourself.
Cooperation is not a question of being a good person, but a question of benefits and interests. No alliance is permanent, and cooperation is just a profitable tactic. When the environment changes, the tactics will change accordingly, otherwise, you will lose. The reality is harsh, you have to be tougher, but obviously you also have to be a good person.
If it is not God who gave me what I have accomplished today, I would like to attribute it to the support from three powers: The first power comes from following the rules, which allows the enterprise to operate continuously; the second force comes from cruel and ruthless competition, it makes every competition more perfect; the third force comes from cooperation, which allows me to obtain benefits and profit from cooperation.
Not to be outdone will win
The greatest reward for our hard work is not what we get, but what we will become.
I firmly believe that our destiny is determined by our actions, not by our origins. As you know, when I was young, my family was very poor. I remember that the books I read when I was in high school were bought by my kind neighbours. In the beginning of my career as a bookkeeper, I was only earning a weekly salary of 5 dollars. But it was only through unremitting efforts that have enabled me to establish an enviable oil kingdom. In the eyes of others, this may be a legend, but I think it is the reward for my perseverance from the god of destiny.
Therefore, when you and your sisters were very young, I deliberately concealed the fact that I was well off. I instilled many values such as frugality and personal struggle in you because I know that the quickest way to harm people, and cause them to lose their source of happiness, is to give them money. It can make people corrupt, dependent, arrogant, and foolish; make you all into my beloved children with wealth, and foolishly make you all into one that is incompetent and only depends on the success of their parents.
I admit, just like a person cannot have no money, a person cannot have no luck. However, if you want to make a difference, you cannot wait for luck to patronize. My credo is: I do not live by God-given luck, but I do-so by planning luck. I believe that a good plan will affect luck, and in any case, it can successfully affect luck. My plan to turn competition into cooperation in the oil industry justified this.
The most horrifying thing is Spiritual Bankruptcy. Failure is a good thing as long as it does not become a habit. When you take advantage of opportunities, you are depriving others of opportunities in order to guarantee yourself. Once avoiding failure becomes your motivation to do things, you have embarked on a path of laziness and powerlessness. An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity, a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
Optimistic people will see opportunity in suffering, and pessimistic people will see suffering in opportunity. Son, remember the formula for success that I believe in: Dream + Failure + Challenge = Success
Son, what is presented to us is often a great opportunity to solve tricky problems ingeniously. Borrowing money is not a bad thing, it won’t make you bankrupt, as long as you don’t treat it like a life buoy when you only use it in times of crisis, but instead treat it as a powerful tool, you can use it to create opportunities. Otherwise, you will fall into the quagmire of fear and failure, where fear will restrain you from attaining great achievements, and no success will be achieved in the end.
Lincoln’s life wrote a great truth: unless you give up, you will not be defeated.
Adopting an attitude of “I will give it a try, but I don’t think there will be any results” will lead to failure in the end. “Disbelief” is a negative force. When you disagree or have doubts in your mind, you will come up with various reasons to support your “disbelief”. Suspicion, disbelief, the tendency to fail subconsciously, and the lack of desire to succeed are the main causes of failure. If you doubt it, you will fail. If you believe in victory, you will definitely succeed.
Everyone hopes that one day they can enjoy the fruits of success that follows. However, most of them do not have the required confidence and determination, hence they cannot reach the top. It is also because they believe that they cannot reach it, so they find a route to take where they cannot reach the top, and their actions always stay at the level of ordinary people.
I never believed that failure is the mother of success, I believe that faith is the father of success.
“Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.” This is not a call for selfishness. It is a call for something more: Socratic cooperation. Together, I learn what you want, you learn what I want, and I am willing to use my power to help you get it. Together, we can create something greater than ourselves, and we can both get what we want.
Cooperation is not a question of being a good person, but a question of benefits and interests. No alliance is permanent, and cooperation is just a profitable tactic. When the environment changes, the tactics will change accordingly, otherwise, you will lose. The reality is harsh, you have to be tougher, but obviously you also have to be a good person.
Not to be outdone will win
A friendship built on business is far better than a business built on friendship.
My son, your relationship with yourself is the beginning of all relationships. When you believe in yourself and are in harmony with yourself, you are your most faithful partner. Only in this way, will you stay indifferent.
Too many “smart people” think that the purpose of the brand is not to trade, but to pick up a bargain, hoping to buy things at the lowest price. This time, the price offered by Morgan is more than a million lower than the actual valuation. If he only wants to make this kind of transaction, it means that he will lose his chance to ascend the ladders of the US steel industry. The essence of the transaction is exchange value, exchange what others want for what you want.
I always encourage you to help others, but as I always tell you, give a person a fish, you can only support him for one day, but if you teach him the skill of fishing, it is equivalent to supporting him for life. This old saying about fishing is very meaningful.
John, there are too many people and things that require us to be patient in this world, and they entice us to be emotional. Therefore, you have to cultivate your ability to manage your emotions and control your emotions, and you should be careful not to be influenced by your emotions when making decisions, but to instead make decisions based on your needs and always know what you want. You also need to know that in the world of opportunity, there are not too many opportunities to fight for. If you really want to succeed, you must grasp and protect your own opportunities, and try to seize others’ opportunities.
Tags: #emotional-control #decision-making #opportunity #stoicism
But this is just one of the reasons why Standard Oil is so powerful that it awes its opponents, while sincere corporation is regarded as the most important factor in our lives. In this regard, Mr. Charles exemplified his practice.
Tags: #leadership #team-building #human-nature #power-dynamics #management
Of course, we should not read books written for businessman by businessmen. Their books are like a plague, spreading shameless evil thoughts, corrupt news, and arrogant stupidity. Their books are only worthy of those shallow and vulgar people. What we need is a book that can bring us the confidence and strength to act, can push our life to a new height, and guide us to do good. For example, “Pushing to the Front” by Orison Swett Marden.
Tags: #peak-performance #continuous-improvement #holistic-health #ambition
Finding out a way to do things better is the guarantee of being able to complete anything. This does not require superhuman wisdom, the important thing is to believe that things can be done, and to have this belief. When we believe that something is impossible to do, our brain will find various reasons for us not to do it. However, when we believe—really believe that something can be done, our brain will help us find various ways.
Tags: #belief #mindset #problem-solving #possibility #execution
Most people fail, not because they make mistakes, but because they are not fully committed.
Tags: #commitment #failure #mindset #strategy
The best way to find the best idea is to have lots of ideas. The greatest success is reserved for those who have the attitude that they can do things better.
Tags: #idea-generation #problem-solving #mindset #optionality
36 Wealth is a form of responsibility The greater the wealth, means the greater the responsibility. Only fools are pretentious because they are rich. Never let anyone with selfishness get a little benefit. (With a good conscience our only sure reward, in hour of maximum danger, we do not shrink from this responsibility, we welcome it.) November 20, 1907 Dear John: I am very happy that a financial crisis that almost caused a national crisis has finally passed! Now, I think our President, Theodore Roosevelt, can go to Louisiana to continue hunting with peace of mind, despite his surprising incompetence in this crisis. Of course, Mr. President did not do nothing. He supported Wall Street with “worries”. God! Our taxpayer was so blind that he sent such a New Yorker into the White House. Frankly speaking, the mention of Theodore Roosevelt’s name and everything he did to Standard Oil makes me indignant. He is the meanest and most vengeful villain I have ever seen.
Tags: #responsibility #wealth #crisis-management #leadership #philosophy
Making good use of everyone’s wisdom
Tags: #leadership #delegation #personal-leverage #focus #management-philosophy
Just like our physical appetite, we also have spiritual appetite. But many people often use the lack of time as an excuse to keep their hearts hungry… We are in an era where we continuously satisfy our needs below the neck but ignore the needs above the neck. In fact, you often hear people say: Missing a lunch is a big deal, but you never heard: When was the last time you satisfied your soul’s hunger and thirst? Are we all spiritually rich? Obviously not.
Tags: #prioritization #spirituality #self-discipline #mindset
gratitude of local residents, no matter where he goes, he is great. But if he is not thanked by the local residents, no matter where he goes to the earth, he will not be a great person.
Tags: #philosophy-of-life #action #purpose #fulfillment #virtue
Putting your subordinates first. Always put the employees who worked for me first. Blindly asking and not willing to pay, will eventually face a day of exhaustion. Give people the respect they deserve, and they can fully realize their potential. (Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from his neck saying: Make me feel important!)
Tags: #leadership #psychology #management #motivation
Patience is the strategy
Tags: #strategy #patience #long-term-thinking #non-conformity #endurance