5 Lessons from the Jeff Bezos Mindset

I analyzed the Jeff Bezos mindset and have come up with 5 key takeaways you can apply to your life and business.

Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon and the world’s richest man. At the time of this writing, his net worth is over $180 billion. He grew Amazon from a garage office into the world’s largest online sales company. All this in 25 years.

Here are some golden nuggets of wisdom I captured from Bezos.

1. Bet Big, Bet Bold.

Jeff Bezos bet big and bold on the internet revolution. He saw the massive growth of the internet and decided to bet on it. Even though he was working at a reputed Wall Street firm, he left it to start Amazon.

This has been a recurring theme of Jeff Bezos’ life. He saw opportunities and pursued them. Where others were hesitant to start, Bezos led the way.

This has made Amazon break free from the chains of being considered an online store and venture into consumer electronics, cloud computing, media and entertainment, and AI.

Jeff Bezos in his commencement speech to the Princeton University students in 2010 said that in the quiet moment of reflection when we are eighty years old, our life story will be about the series of choices we made.

As baseball legend, Yogi Berra put it, “ When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It.”

Learn to bet big and bet boldly.

2. Focus on Goals

Jeff Bezos always focused on goals, not the competition.

While most companies focus on competition, Amazon chose to focus on its goal, the customer.

Customer satisfaction was the driving force behind decision-making processes at Amazon.

Lesson: While it is important to pay attention to competitors, never obsess over them. Focus on your goals and work towards them.

3. Think Long Term

To become the online store for everything was the sole idea of Amazon from day one.

Jeff Bezos is a proponent of long term thinking and believes that humans can accomplish more if they think long term.

Lesson: Short term thinking is the way of the world we are living in now. We are constantly looking for instant gratification. Let us think long term and build whatever we are building to stand for years to come. Let us look further ahead in time and keep improving us and those around us along the way.

4. Invent. Don’t Follow.

Amazon has always led the way into a new revolution.

This comes from its founder Jeff Bezos who is always looking to be the one who tries to do something new and not follow along.

Amazon pushed into e-readers with Kindle, cloud computing with Amazon Web Services, and AI virtual assistants with Alexa-enabled devices.

Lesson: While it’s important to follow along when a new technology emerges, the invention is important. From the 1st takeaway, learn to bet big and bet boldly.

5. Keep Raising the Bar

Jeff Bezos constantly pushes the bar and raises the standard.

This is reflected in Amazon’s hiring process where each new hire raises the bar for the next.

Jeff Bezos ensures that Amazon keeps raising its bar towards fulfilling the vision of being the ‘Earth’s most customer-centric company’.

Lesson: In everything you do, as an individual or team, keep raising the bar. Set standards and elevate them as you go.

Ponder over these lessons from the Jeff Bezos mindset and try to inculcate them into your life.

I hope you take small yet sure steps towards a bigger and brighter future.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon book by Brad Stone was instrumental to deduce these key characteristics.

Originally published at https://motivationcastle.com on July 24, 2020.