Entrepreneur Secrets: The value of aiming high

By Jerry Bellune
.

The value of aiming high
You may not know who Fred Hamilton was.
Fred and his brother made a fortune in oil.
They aimed for big discoveries for big dollars.
Small discoveries take as much work as large ones.
You might as well aim high, he said..
Anything less is like betting on favorites at the track.
“You may win a lot of races,” he said.
“But you don’t take home much money.”
That’s a good lesson for all entrepreneurs.
.

A second lesson is this: Forget past mistakes.
Fred and his brother Ferris came from wealth.
Both bad boys, they were kicked out of prep schools.
They were expelled from a small college, too.
They went to Texas and worked as roustabouts.
They studied and learned the oil and gas business.
With a borrowed $5,000, they started their company.
Luck was with them. They made big discoveries.
They succeeded in Texas, Canada and the North Sea.
Ferris invented a revolutionary floating oil rig.
Did they regret their past mistakes? Probably.
But they didn’t let them hold them back.
All of us make them. Don’t dwell on them.
Forgive yourself, learn from them and move on..
.

Here’s a third lesson from the Hamilton brothers.
Optimism is a precondition for success,” Fred said.
“Pessimism does not get anything done.”
He tackled risky ventures with optimism. It worked.
.

A fourth lesson: Look for and listen to good ideas.
Value them and act on them, Hamilton said.
When he heard a good idea, he acted immediately.
“Lets get on that like a duck on a junebug,” he’d say.
.

A fifth lesson: When you succeed, be generous.
He endowed the prep school that had expelled him.
He gave $100 million in art to the Denver Museum.
Of his paintings he said, “I won’t miss them.”
.

Special offer for Success Strategies readers
Many myths can hurt or destroy your business.
“9 Myths That Break Businesses” is available free.
Just write me at [email protected]
Next: Don’t fall for ‘free’
Want to share this with a friend? Be my guest.
We only ask that you tell them where it came from.
Invite them to send me their email address.
They can reach me at [email protected]
I’ll email this strategy letter to them each week.

©2016 The Bellune Company, Inc.

Neither MidlandsBiz.com nor The Bellune Company, Inc. makes any warranty as to the results that may be achieved from using this information. ©2015 The Bellune Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reprint or circulate may be obtained by emailing [email protected]

.