As you might know, Jeff Bezos founder and CEO are Jeff Bezos. Jeff Bezos Net Worth of $177 billion, making him the world’s richest person.
Amazon is one of my favorite companies.
I have benefited so much from Amazon, being so convenient, stress-free, and able to do more creative work.
Aside from being the founder of Amazon, the largest retailer in the world, Jeff Bezos is also the founder of Jeff Bezos.
I recently read a book on Jeff Bezos: “The Everything Store” – and was struck by how he applied certain life lessons to his business and personal life.
Content Outline
7 Best Life Lessons To Learn From Jeff Bezos
In the following, I share some lessons he taught me, which are applicable to any area of life:
1. The “Regret Minimization Framework”
Bezos applies a “regret minimization framework” to his life as one of the lessons I learned from him.
This is the idea: Imagine yourself at the age of 80 and ask yourself, “What regret have I had in my life? He then worked backwards.
He was working at a high-powered finance job at the time when this “Jeff Bezos” thing came about, as well as in the middle of his bonus season.
If he quit his job, he wouldn’t receive his massive bonus. Therefore, he wanted to quit his job and start an internet company.
“Would it bother me if I were 80 years old if I hadn’t tried the internet?” He left his job to join Amazon (to the chagrin of everyone around him).
It’s history from there.
Lesson:
Living a “perfect” life is impossible. Living a life without regrets is possible, however.
Think about whether you will regret not taking a particular action at 80 or on your deathbed when you make a big life decision.”
Don’t let anything else guide your life.
2. Avoid The Narrative Fallacy
A journalist asked Jeff Bezos about his personal history and Bezos pointed out that this would not be an accurate picture of that history since, at some point in time, we usually tell a narrative about our past successes – such a narrative is felt to be easy to understand.
Unfortunately, the “narrative fallacy” fails to take into account the fact that our personal histories are more complicated, messy, and confusing than we think they are.
Instead, we present them in a neat and tidy way.
Studying successful people presents this problem.
It is common for these individuals to tell us about their successes while underplaying (or ignoring) their failures.
Lesson:
In my opinion, you should ignore all those books on “how to become successful in life” – because no one knows the answers.
There are a lot of success stories that can simply be attributed to luck (and some hard work, of course).
There will be things that apply to others but not to you. Success does not follow a formula.
In this context, it’s more about you taking risks, leveraging the strengths you already have, and trying to add value to the lives of others.
Don’t be fooled by other people’s narratives- because they are likely falling victim to it as well.
3. It Is Easier To Invent The Future Than To Predict It
The quotation is attributed to Alan Kay and says, “It is easier to invent the future than to predict it.”
Amazon was founded on the same principle by Jeff Bezos.
In the beginning, Amazon was the only place to sell books online – and purchasing things with a credit card was considered strange.
However, rather than predicting the future, he invented it.
His first innovation with Amazon was booked, then he made it the place to buy everything. Bezos did the unthinkable with Amazon Prime: he offered 2-day shipping for free on almost all items (with an Amazon Prime subscription).
In addition to the Kindle e-reader, he created the Kindle publishing platform (that enables anyone to publish).
In addition, the company has pursued a number of risky ventures- into the manufacture of mobile devices, tablets, voice assistants, TV/Music/Movie streaming, grocery delivery, fashion, and numerous other innovations I am unaware of.
Lesson:
The future won’t come to pass if you wait.
Be the change you wish to see in the world if there is anything you are frustrated by in life (Gandhi).
4. How To Make Money?
Jeff Bezos is confusing to many people – some of them believe Amazon is only about selling things.
It is instead Amazon’s recommendation engine, as well as its review system, which makes the site so successful. Bezos states: Selling things doesn’t make us money. Our income comes from helping customers make informed purchases.
It’s not hard to add value to other people’s lives in today’s world.
There is a huge untapped market for helping others make decisions.
Lesson:
You don’t have to sell things or sell your time or services to make money.
Rather, there are many different ways to earn money.
By improving the lives of others, you can make money and build a business.
Give your customers a sense of meaning and direction and help them make complex decisions.
5. The Customer Always Comes First
Jeff Bezos’ belief in always serving the customer first is one of the reasons Amazon has become so successful.
Seeing that customers wanted low prices and faster shipping, he made those priorities a priority (which caused Amazon to lose money).
Yet Bezos is involved in a long-term game with Amazon.
He knew that if you focus on the customer, you’ll hook customers (like myself) and build long-term value.
Lesson:
It is common for businesses and individuals to focus on short-term profits and gains.
To make an extra few nickels, they take advantage of their customers.
Yet, by always trying to please your customer, you will end up making money down the road.
You should treat your customers the way you would like to be treated. Your business can benefit greatly from this ethical principle.
6. It Is Better To Cannibalize Yourself; Than Let Others Cannibalize You
As with Apple, it is better to cannibalize yourself (hurt yourself) rather than let others do so.
Dogs eat dogs in the world. Your spot will be taken by someone else if you don’t keep pushing yourself to innovate.
Kodak was a pioneer of 35mm film photography, and they made one of the first digital cameras.
But they did not invest more into digital photography due to the fear of cannibalizing their film sales. Where are they now? Insolvent, largely irrelevant.
Lesson:
In order to help me continue to innovate, I always try to think to myself: “What can I do to make myself redundant?,” as a way to help me do so.
I prepared in-depth presentations when I conducted a lot of workshops. In an effort to share this information, I recorded my lectures and posted them on YouTube.
It was suicide. “What incentive will people have to attend your workshops if they can watch your lectures?” Actually, it helped me innovate.
I ended up having students watch my presentations in workshops, and using more workshop time to shoot 1:1 (what is more valuable).
In addition to making yourself redundant, what other methods do you have? What can you do to be more innovative and creative at work and in your life?
It’s okay to cannibalize yourself. I would recommend cannibalizing yourself rather than allowing someone else to do so.
7. Be Stubborn On Your Vision; Flexible On Details
Our lives are filled with great visions. Creating lasting art and empowering others is our vision.
The importance of having a big and great vision cannot be overstated.
We get stuck in the details when we become too stubborn.
When we become inflexible on details, we will miss out on potentially better options. For that to happen, we need to stay true to our big vision, but be flexible in the details.
Lesson:
You need to have a big vision for your life if you don’t already have one. In my opinion, it is better to fail at a big dream than to achieve a mediocre one.
We will achieve more in life if we set a high goal for ourselves.
You will still be closer to greatness if you have a great goal (than if you don’t have any goals).
Jeff Bezos In Media:
Quick Links
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Conclusion: Jeff Bezos Net Worth In 2024
Even if you disagree with Amazon, I believe many of Jeff Bezos’ beliefs and ethics can be applied to us in our daily lives.
Make a bold move. Dare to be different. Be brave. Create the future instead of waiting for it to happen.
Make others’ lives better by improving value. Invest for the future. Be patient and never regret your actions.
