Inspiration | Wisdom
4 Topics Filled With Secrets From an American Tycoon
The man who “Created the American Century!”
Don’t you love learning from other people’s successes and failures? Who better to learn from than a man known as the “People’s Tycoon”? He was also regularly called the man who “Created the American Century.”
Let’s explore some of his many secrets and the wisdom they contain.
The People’s Tycoon
One of the most influential people in the 20th century, he was famously known as the “People’s Tycoon. Because of his contributions to industry in the 1900s, he is said to have “created the American century.”
Known as the pioneer of mass production, he developed the moving-chassis assembly line, drastically reducing the time needed to produce a car. It revolutionized the automobile industry.
As an Industrialist and Business Magnate, Henry Ford left an indelible mark on history. The New Yorker magazine claimed he was the first tycoon to be a hero to ordinary Americans.
Ford’s legacy will forever be bringing affordable automobiles to the masses and the enormous change it created in America. Ford passed away at 83 years old in 1947.
Let’s explore the following four topics that reveal some of his secrets to create a better life and career:
- Secrets of success
- Secrets of money
- Secrets of working
- Secrets of the mind
Secrets of success
Ford’s considerable achievements leave little room for doubt that he knew many of the secrets of success.
Getting ready
“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.”
Destiny
“The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.”
Perspective
“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”
Working together
“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
Secrets of money
Ford earned his wealth starting with nothing, so he is someone to listen to when it comes to amassing riches. His net worth in today’s dollars is estimated to be more than 150 billion. Not bad for a man with an 8th-grade education!
Service
“A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.”
Customers
“Employers only handle the money — it is the customer who pays the wages.”
Betterment of life
“The highest use of capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life.”
Independence
“If money is your hope for independence, you will never have it. The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.”
Secrets of working
Ford’s work ethic was second to none. He not only worked hard, he worked smart.
Doing more
“There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.”
Leaders
“You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader.”
Do it
“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
Insanity
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
Secrets of the mind
Thinking
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.”
Starting
“You say I started out with practically nothing, but that isn’t correct. We all start with all there is, it’s how we use it that makes things possible.”
Learning
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
Mistakes
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”
Failing
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Obstacles
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.”
God
“I believe God is managing affairs and that He doesn’t need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about?”
Final thoughts
The above is only a tiny sample of Ford’s wisdom. You can find many books about him from various perspectives, including several biographies. He is well worth studying as one of the most successful men in American history.
To get the most from this article, I suggest getting together with someone you are close with and discussing the above secrets. Doing this will help you gain wisdom while encouraging one another as you navigate life.
As Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” It’s up to you and what you think you can do! Now, go! Create the life your heart desires. You can do it!
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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION
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