Jeff Bezos rocked the world when he announced that he was stepping down as CEO of Amazon. Jeff founded the company in 1994 as a small online bookstore. In 27 years he turned Amazon into an unrivaled tech powerhouse selling over 350 million products and growing it to a trillion-dollar business.
In Bezos’ email announcing the news to Amazon employees, he shared the roots of Amazon’s success: Invention, Curiosity, Day 1 Mindset.
- Invention – When you think of the amount of things Amazon has invented it’s impressive: customer reviews, personalized recommendations, two-day shipping, Alexa, Kindle, AWS, and so much more. Companies and people that are most successful constantly invent, re-invent, and come up with new solutions to problems.
- Curiosity – In the words of Bezos, “Remember to Wander. Let curiosity be your compass.” When we are curious we seek to learn, improve, and come up with creative solutions. It’s the combination of challenging the status quo, and continually learning and improving.
- Day 1 Mindset – Jeff Bezos’ “Day 1” philosophy is that that you should approach each day as “Day 1.” The moment you move to “Day 2” is when you maintain the status quo, stagnate, and become irrelevant. A “Day 1” mindset is to keep living each day like it’s the first, staying hungry, moving fast, learning, innovating, and focusing on results instead of activity or process.
Success is not by chance. It leaves clues if you look for them. Invention, curiosity, and a Day 1 mindset are three powerful principles to put to use.