21 inspiring quotes from animated movies for budding entrepreneurs, startups and everyone

Here is a list of 21 inspiring quotes from animated movies for budding entrepreneurs and startups, which are in fact applicable to anyone.

What do you see when you watch films? Nothing but your own hopes, dreams, and fears played out on the big screen. We humans reflect on our world through symbolic stories of our life. Simply put, stories are metaphors for our lives.

Here is a list of 21 inspiring quotes from animated movies for budding entrepreneurs and startups, which are in fact applicable to anyone. Anything you imagine can be conceived in animated movies. They’re vivid, rich, and filled with lively characters offering us profound wisdom in the most subtle ways. They’re not just for children, but for adults too. And if we pay close attention to them, we may just find the answers to life that we’ve been searching for.

1. Nobody is entitled to anything. Anyone can become an artist; you just have to make a choice.

Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. – Anton Ego, Ratatouille

2. Change is within. If thought is the cause, effect is the outcome.

Look inside yourself Simba. You are more than what you have become. – Mufasa, The Lion King

 

3. Invest in identity capital and build it. It adds value to who you are.

Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it. – Elastigirl, The Incredibles

 

4. Success is subjective – don’t get carried away. Have your own definition of it.

There is whole lot more to racing than just winning. – Tex, Cars

 

5. Our true reality lies in identifying with other people.

As long as we are together; it doesn’t matter to me. – Marty, Madagascar



6. Abandoning your ego is a gift. Strive for it.

To laugh at yourself, is to love yourself. – Mickey Mouse

7. Storms pass. Just wait until you reach the shore and never stop dreaming.

All at once everything looks different, now that I see you. – Rapunzel, Tangled

8. Believe your gut instinct and just plunge in. All you need is a little faith.

All it takes is little faith and trust. – Peter Pan

 

9. Don’t be deceived by appearances. Search for the soul – it actually counts.

Do not be fooled by commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what outside, but what is inside that counts. – Aladdin

 

10. Your mind is everything. Wield it carefully or it will command you.

Your mind is like water. When it is agitated it becomes difficult to see, but when you let it settle; the answer becomes clear. – Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

11. Timing matters. Do not try to prove anything just for the sake of proving it.

I’m only brave enough when I have to be. Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble. – Mufasa, The Lion King

12. We create our own destiny through the choices we consciously make.

There are those who say fate is something beyond our command, that destiny is not our own. But I know better. Our fate lives within us. You only have to be brave enough to see it. – Merida, Brave

13. Never give up – you’ll find it. Trust me.

If you work on something long enough you will find it, even if you are lost for a while you will find it. – Professor Bomba, Epic

14. Everything bothers you if you let it. Remember you have a choice.

Cold never bothered me anyway. – Elsa, Frozen



15. We always search for answers without realizing the fact that answers lie within.

There is no secret ingredient. It’s just you. – Po, Kung Fu Panda

16. Never ever accept your limitations. Human spirit is eternal.

I’m flying… I’m flying! I’m not an ostrich…I’m not an ostrich! – Blu, Rio

17. When you are going through hell, just keep going.

Just keep swimming. – Dori, Finding Nemo

18. Whatever you imagine, you can conceive. The universe is waiting.

To infinity, and beyond! – Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story

19. You can’t see the future with tears of the past in your eyes.

You should, Shen. You gotta let go of that stuff from the past, because it just doesn’t matter! The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now. – Po, Kung Fu Panda 2

20. You will become, what you choose to be.

Your story may not have such a happy beginning but that does not make you who you are, it is the rest of it- who you choose to be. ― Soothsayer, Kung Fu Panda 2

21. Today is a gift.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why they call it present. ― Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda



The top 10 quotes every entrepreneur should live by

Here are the top 10 quotes every entrepreneur should live by. Learn from Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, Ted Turner, Anita Roddick, Chris Gardner, Donald Trump, Isadore Sharp, and Trip Hawkins.

Here are the top 10 quotes every entrepreneur should live by. Learn from Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, Ted Turner, Anita Roddick, Chris Gardner, Donald Trump, Isadore Sharp, and Trip Hawkins.

1. Steve Jobs, Apple

“Believe that things will work out somehow… follow your intuition and curiosity… trust your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path… You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future… The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it… Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

2. Oprah Winfrey, Harpo

“What I know for sure is that if you want to have success, you can’t make success your goal. The key is not to worry about being successful, but to instead work toward being significant – and the success will naturally follow… If you do work that you love, and work that fulfills you, the rest will come. And, I truly believe, that the reason I’ve been able to be so financially successful is because my focus has never, ever for one minute been money. Would you do your job and not be paid for it? I would do this job, and take on a second job just to make ends meet if nobody paid me. That’s how you know you are doing the right thing.”

3. Tony Robbins, Anthony Robbins Co.

“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided… The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without first taking some form of positive action toward its attainment.”

Related Post: 15 Financial terms every entrepreneur needs to know



4. Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting

“All my life people have said that I wasn’t going to make it… You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”

5. Anita Roddick, The Body Shop

“Whatever you do, be different – that was the advice my mother gave me, and I can’t think of better advice for an entrepreneur. If you’re different, you will stand out.”

6. Tony Robbins, Anthony Robbins Co.

“For changes to be of any true value, they’ve got to be lasting and consistent. Any time you sincerely want to make a change, the first thing you must do is to raise your standards… If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve… Whatever happens, take responsibility… The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.”

7. Chris Gardner, Gardner Rich & Co.

“Find something that you love. Something that gets you so excited you can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning. Forget about money. Be happy.”

Related Post: Sacrifices entrepreneurs make for their startups

8. Donald Trump, The Trump Organization

“I was relentless, even in the face of total lack of encouragement, because much more often than you’d think, sheer persistence is the difference between success and failure.”

9. Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons

“Whatever you do, don’t ever use a crutch, and don’t ever think of having an excuse for not having said, ‘Yeah, I did my best.'”

10. Trip Hawkins, Electronic Arts

“One quality of entrepreneurship is just persistence, not giving up because you have road blocks and also not giving in because other people tell you that you’re nuts. You are nuts and you should be proud of it. Stick with what you believe in.”

Related Post: 25 Excellent pieces of advice that most budding entrepreneurs and startups ignore





Don’t kill your dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Life is short. Get Set. Startup

It’s always a great feeling when your work is also what you love to do. A job may or may not provide that option. Entrepreneurship does.

I have often heard senior professionals tell entrepreneurs that they wish they had the guts to leave their jobs and startup on their own. But I have yet to hear an entrepreneur, irrespective of whether their venture is doing well or struggling, tell any professional,

I WISH I HAD YOUR JOB.

The reason is easy to understand. Entrepreneurs start ventures largely in their areas of interest or passion or competence. It’s always a great feeling when your work is also what you love to do. A job may or may not provide that option. Entrepreneurship does.

But just doing what you are passionate about is not the only reason why entrepreneurs are generally more excited about their work. In some cases, rare though, you may get to do what you really are passionate about in a job too. The big difference however is that while in a job you are living either someone else’s dream or a company’s objectives, in your own startup, you are driving your own vision, goals, dreams and aspirations. Every small step in an entrepreneurial journey feels like an accomplishment and gives you the satisfaction of having reached a new milestone.

And while the entrepreneurial journey is not always smooth and often fraught with risks, challenges and failures, the entrepreneur’s passion for the concept and the domain provides the person the patience and courage and the will to push ahead and sometimes, even if the venture fails, gives the person a personal high of having tried something.

Most importantly, irrespective of what the outcome of an entrepreneur’s venture – whether it fails or succeeds – the entrepreneur always wins, because even the failures teach you so much about business and life. They prepare your foundation for another leap. Another shot at glory.

Most entrepreneurs continue on the entrepreneurship journey. If one venture fails, they try another. If the entrepreneurial experience had not been a satisfying one, they would have given up and taken up a job.

But passion about what you do is not just a nice by-product of entrepreneurship. It is a necessary ingredient. Because, without passion and commitment you are unlikely to find the will to push through challenging times.

And challenges there will be many and at many different times of the venture’s life. That’s why I tell entrepreneurs – don’t start a venture because it was the first opportunity that came across, or because you saw someone else do something well. Don’t just think of the obvious business ideas that seem to be doing well around you, or businesses that investors seem to be funding currently. Don’t go after a fad or a sector just because it is seeing a lot of action. Do it only if your interest lies in that sector, and in what you want to do in that sector.



Most of us have a streak of entrepreneurism within us. Many of us dream of becoming entrepreneurs and starting a venture. Often we have ideas that we think we should pursue, and which we think we can build a successful business around.

But most people don’t startup. Something holds them back, and they find several excuses for not being able to even startup. How often do we hear people look at some successful company and tell their family & friends

I HAD EXACTLY THE SAME IDEA A FEW YEARS AGO.

BUT I DID NOT START A BUSINESS THEN. I WISH I HAD.

Most would know friends who have had this exact feeling of regret because the very idea that they did not act upon is now a successful company.

Today it is far easier to get started. Cost of starting up has gone down. Accelerators and incubators and forums like TiE and NEN provide mentoring to first-time entrepeneurs. Access to investors is easier through angel groups and online platforms that connect startups and investors. That opens up entrepreneurship as a career option to anyone with ideas and aspirations.

Get Set. Startup.

Author: Prajakt Raut

Prajakt is the founder of Applyifi. He was previously a part of the founding team of The Hatch for Startups, co-founder of Orange Cross, Asia Director for TiE (The IndusEntrepreneurs), and head of operations of Indian Angel Network. He mentors early-stage companies on strategy, business model & monetization, fundraising/bootstrapping and on preparing the company for growth.

This article was originally published in Inc42

Image credit: bretcontreras.com



10 Powerful quotes from Indian entrepreneurs that will empower you

Here are ten powerful quotes from Indian entrepreneurs that will recharge your energies and once again encourage you to dream big!

Oprah Winfrey was right when she said, “Don’t worry about success. Worry about being significant and the success will naturally follow”.

Here are ten powerful quotes from Indian entrepreneurs that will recharge your energies and once again encourage you to dream big!

1.

Crackverbal is a startup offering GMAT and GRE coaching and application services.

Author’s Take: What Arjun said is absolutely true. When I got the chance to work on an arts and crafts startup, my first day at work entailed safai, jhaado and duster intact! There is no peon going to hand you chai in the initial days of your startup, so be prepared to take on the fancies and the frivolities, both with equal responsibility.

2.

Saumil Majumdar is personally engaged with over 100,000 children, 50,000 parents and over 200 schools in the sports domain over the last decade. He is an alumnus of IIT Mumbai and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Author’s Take: Many business owners boast about the turnover of their enterprises, but according to Saumil, rightly, the word reeks of vanity. Profit is still a more realistic interpretation of how a business is performing. But the real thing is definitely the cash.

3.

What: Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support software that lets you support customers through traditional channels like phone and email. It serves some 30,000 customers worldwide including Hugo Boss, UNICEF, Good Reads, University of Pennsylvania, etc.

Author’s Take: Girish’s comments once again remind us of the need to be good to others, even if you are exceptional at what you do.



4.

Venture Partner, Seed Fund; Advisor at Ojas Venture Partners, Sanjay has over 25 years experience as entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, angel investor, teacher, advisor and mentor. He is an advisor to early stage funds and also overlooks a social fund.

Author’s Take: Any entrepreneur who is more interested in the money than his own vision of his product is not a true entrepreneur. When you are pitching to VCs or even to a customer, what you should sell is not just the product, but your vision, your dream.

5.

Kalpana Rao of Pari’s created a specialty store in Bangalore that deals in clothes made up of natural, environment-friendly dyes.

Author’s Take: For all those who sometimes get bogged down in the long, tiresome and lonesome journey of entrepreneurship, this one is for you!

6.

RJS is a leading game and app development company based out of Kolkata, India.

Author’s Take: Involve customers and your social community whenever you can. One reason why the AAP was hailed as a disruptive political party when it started was that it involved its supporters whenever it could. Learn from that.

7.

For those awesome companies that want to attract the finest minds and play the game beyond HR, plugHR drives hiring, motivation and performance, and automates people management in minutes. It also innovates for culture development in organizations.

Author’s Take: Any organization that really wants to succeed loses or wins half the battle if it is able or not able to hire the right talent. Therefore, don’t just account the experience and qualifications of the person, peer inside and try to hire him for the person that you make of him.



8.

Practo is an innovative health startup which schedules appointments of patients with doctors online. Practo’s technology significantly improves patient experience and allows better functioning of clinics.

Author’s Take: As a new startup, you should polish the product and make it such that customers are themselves pulled by the magnetism of the product. A sales officer/team should be set up only to scale operations later.

9.

GoodWorkLABS is a new-age boutique software lab offering solutions in Software Development, Mobile Apps and Games, UX and UI Design and enterprise solutions.

Author’s Take: The home loans, car loans and other things your batch mates and colleagues are managing will be a struggle for another day’; for now, you’ve got a baby at hand!

10.

Vaatsalya is an award winning social enterprise, focused on building a network of hospitals in Tier II and Tier III towns in India.

Author’s Take: Be a firm believer in the adage that winners aren’t those who never fall, but those stand up and fight again!

 

This article was originally published in MensXP.com

Image credit: www.albaniperfumes.com





10 Motivation strategies for entrepreneurs

We asked around 75 entrepreneurs how they get their motivation back. Here are some of the most popular techniques.

Motivation is elusive. Some days we’re pounding the keyboard, brainstorming ideas, and jabbering on the phone well past dinner; others, we look at the clock only to discover that lunch is still two hours and four minutes away. Especially during the holiday season, it’s hard to stay motivated.

We asked around 75 entrepreneurs how they get their motivation back. Here are some of the most popular techniques.

1. Take a Break

Taking a break is an obvious fix, but effective. It clears your mind and can even increase your creativity: exposing yourself to new ideas can help you be more creative in your own field. And, of course, some people claim to have their best ideas in the shower, or when they’re not actively thinking about work.

In fact, the Pomodoro technique for productivity and time management revolves around breaks, which punctuate 25-minute intervals of focused work. The idea is that your thinking is elevated by short rests. Working nonstop, however, can bog down the brain:

“When I’m not feeling motivated I just stop working. Personally I can’t get anything done well if I’m feeling ‘out of it,’ says Well.io founder and CEO Arin Sarkissian. “I’ll go hang out with friends, play a game, meet up with other founders, etc. Anything but work – sometimes you just need a break.”

One common way to spend that break is exercising. “I go for a run, but everybody has their own tricks. I have a friend that used to do underground fight clubs. He is one of the most talented designers I know, and a complete wacko,” says BJ Fleming, a content specialist at Grubwithus.

You can also take a walk, watch a movie, or plan a mini-vacation. BestBuzz founder and CEO Carrie Layne rents a pontoon boat and reads a book in the middle of a lake, or heads to the casino for some poker. “You most likely work seven days a week, so don’t feel guilty about running off on a Tuesday afternoon,” she says.

And Fundable founder Wil Schroter turns to good old video games:

“I come home, tell my wife how I’m feeling, sit down at my computer, and play video games for three to four days straight without a break. My wife just puts food next to my left hand and leaves me alone until I reset. Is that weird? Yes. But boy it works every time.”



2. Think about Your Customers

One big difference between online businesses and brick-and-mortar stores is the customer interaction, and it affects motivation. While small business owners might see smiles and happy faces all day, entrepreneurs are (more often than not) staring at their computer screens.

But customers and users are so critical to a startup – they are the ones who benefit from what you create, and they keep you in business. So, many entrepreneurs turn their thoughts to their customers to get back their motivation. “When I lack motivation, I go straight to my store locator on my website! I remind myself of how many great companies believe in us and it fuels me to move forward and continue to grow the business!” says Christy Cook, the founder of TeachMy.

If you want something more tangible, take a look at customer reviews and feedback – or create a short survey to gather some. Anita Malik, CEO of BrideRush, even keeps a “kudos board” on the wall that includes reviews from brides and vendors. “It energizes our small team on slow or frustrating days,” she says.

3. Think about Your Team

If you forget why you’re doing this, your co-founders and employees might help remind you. Like your customers, they’re also benefitting from your work: they get exciting jobs and the chance to create something new.

As Julia Hartz, president and cofounder of Eventbrite, says, seeing the enthusiasm of your team can give you a boost. “It’s hard to lose motivation when I go into the office every day and see 200 Britelings. I spend a lot of time focused on supporting our Eventbrite culture, and that serves as a constant source of motivation for me.”

Remember, these are people who have chosen to follow you and your dreams – and if you don’t stay motivated and give it your all, you will be letting them down.

Also read: 65 of the best Time-Management tips that will work for you

“As a leader, motivation is essential because having it or lacking it is infectious,” says Christian Gurney, the CEO of Torsion Mobile. “I think of the team and how I am responsible to them to make each day worthwhile and rewarding.”



4. Get Social

Talking to other entrepreneurs can be reassuring when you’re feeling down. In particular, it helps you realize that the ups and downs of startup life are perfectly normal. “I typically grab a meal or cup of coffee with other entrepreneurs,” says Jacqueline Jensen, cofounder and COO of Ticket Cake. “It’s refreshing to hear I’m not alone in the mountain-and-valley terrain entrepreneurs tackle each day. After some time with the community, I usually discover I’m ready to dive back in.”

For Brent Coker of Webreep, this is one good reason to mentor young entrepreneurs – their bright attitude is infectious and untempered by the harsh realities of failure. “Intense passion is contagious – unfortunately it gets diminished as you get older,” he says.

5. Get organized

If motivation is the drive to accomplish something, obviously we can’t feel motivated to do things we think are impossible. So when work starts to feel impossible, you can lose your motivation. To get it back, get organized and convince yourself that you can do it.

“I make a list. Sounds simplistic, but it works every time,” says Malik of BrideRush. “I usually get unmotivated when I feel overwhelmed, which is nearly daily when running a startup! The simple ritual of making a list in order of priority gets my brain moving again. I feel like I’m on top of it all rather than drowning in the details.”



6. Do something new

A lack of motivation can also come from a feeling of boredom, and shaking up your routine may be just the ticket.

“Entrepreneurism is a drug,” says Craig Negoescu, CEO of NAKA Media. “When things get routine, or safe, or tedious, you begin to slip. So you need to challenge yourself, get out of your comfort zone, and do something new with your business. To paraphrase a most interesting man, ‘Stay risky, my friends.’ The adrenaline of a new challenge will wake you up, energize you, give you a victory or a failure to learn from. And it’s cheaper than coffee!”

Also read: 20 Must watch movies for all Aspiring Entrepreneurs

7. Take responsibility

Many people are drawn to entrepreneurship because of the independence. When motivation wanes, remembering that everything is on your shoulders – your actions will determine the success or failure of your startup – can be a motivator. Deadlines and penalities can motivate, after all, even though they are negative incentives.

“The greatest thing that keeps me motivated and focused as an entrepreneur is that no one is paying the bills for me. Being the one in my company that is responsible for sales, it’s up to me to keep the company growing,” says Brian Bosscher of Condo Control Central.

To light the fire even quicker, take a look at a few of your metrics. “The typical motivation is looking at your fixed cost compared to revenue coming in. That’s the quickest slap in the face for motivation,” says Joel Gross, founder and CEO of Coalition Technologies.

Adds Rohan Hall, founder and CEO of Cool Mojito, “I look at my bank account.”



8. Count your blessings

“On my desk, I keep a picture of the old, drab cubicle I used to report to every day at my corporate job. Whenever I’m feeling unmotivated, I look at that picture and then look around me and see the vibrant and fun workspace I’ve created. It brings a smile to my face every time!” says Dale Burgham, owner of Revo Exotic Wood Guitar Straps.

According to Gallup, only 30 percent of Americans were engaged by their work during the first half of 2012. That means 70 percent of people spent their days bored, unchallenged, uninspired, watching the clock until 5 pm strikes. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re probably not in that category – so consider yourself lucky.

“When I start to feel unmotivated I think back to my last ‘normal’ job and how much I hated it,” says Tech Cocktail contributor Danny Boice, cofounder and CTO of Speek. “It was a 9-5 corporate hell working for a large bureaucracy where posturing and politics mattered more than actual results. It was absolutely brutal and I really don’t think I could ever go back to a role like that. That’s not living.

“I make it a point to feel gratitude about the fact that I can do what I absolutely love with my life and there are very few people that can say that. It sounds trite but I really do force myself to stop and smell the roses. I know when I look back on this very point in my life it will be right up there with the birth of my kids in terms of happiness.”

9. Rediscover your inspiration

This is really the root. To get motivated, you need to remember why you were ever motivated in the first place: why you’re doing what you’re doing. Maybe you want to change the world, maybe add a little fun, maybe make people happy for 5 minutes per day – whatever.

“I try to go back to the beginning of my project. There was a reason why I started: passion, motivation, determination. I go back to the starting days of my business and rekindle my motivation in my company,” says 19-year-old Jeet Banerjee.

But inspiration can come from other places, too: quotes, the life stories of Steve Jobs or Thomas Jefferson, the Eminem song “Lose Yourself” (as one entrepreneur said), or a movie like Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Or, of course, your family:

“When I feel unmotivated, I close my eyes and think about (a) how hard my immigrant family worked to enable me to pursue my dreams,” says Sparkology founder Alex Furmansky.

10. Suck it up

If all else fails, a few entrepreneurs said, just suck it up. That basically means: tell yourself that being unmotivated isn’t an option. You chose this career, you choose this startup, and you’re the only one who can keep it going.

“Get tough. It’s important to remember that every minute of every day counts and you own your attitude and effort. There is always a solution to the problem. Staying motivated requires tremendous perseverance and creativity, but that’s what separates those who make it and those who don’t,” says David Rush, co-founder and CEO of Evzdrop.

You may also like: Why Following Your Own Dreams Is Not Selfishness

This article was originally published in Tech Co

Image credit: www.youtube.com

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