When you hear, read, or even meet successful people do you tend to think they were “born with talent?” Do you think they simply got dealt a better hand than you?
These Tom Bilyeu quotes will prove that talent is only part of the equation.
Sometimes people are born with more talent no question, but it’s the ones who put in the work that succeeds at the highest levels.
My success story for today is all about someone who (in his words) is “A lazy person and not a born entrepreneur.”
Yet he transformed his life and went from broke, searching the couch cushions for extra money to founding a billion dollar company. Tom Bilyeu has an incredible story that will absolutely motivate you to achieve your dreams regardless of where you are now.
I was fortunate enough to get to meet Tom at a Success Live seminar in 2017. For someone who is incredibly popular, famous and wildly rich, he was an awesome guy to everyone that wanted to meet him.
Favorite Tom Bilyeu Quotes
“You have to work long, smart, and hard to become successful.” – Tom Bilyeu
Humility finds me every day.”
“No one can give you heart. No one can give you discipline. And no one can make you unstoppable. Those are things you must decide for yourself. But make no mistake, it’s a decision. It’s not a genetic gift. It’s a mindset.”
“The greatest mind control is control over your own mind.” Tom Bilyeu
“Pick one thing. And go at it with everything you’ve got.”
“Confidence is deciding you’re unstoppable – not that you’ll never fail.”
“If you look for the negative, it will be there. If you look for the positive, it will overwhelm you.”
“Decide who you want to become. Make that the center of your focus.” Tom Bilyeu
“Don’t worry about where to start. Remember, it’s the decisions you make, it’s the decision to get started it’s the decision to face possible failure, it’s the decision to get up once you’ve failed and it’s the decision of what to learn when you fail.”
“Make it your daily obsession to make the most of your potential.” – Tom Bilyeu
“The way to build a big business is to take care of people.”
“The key to becoming successful is to work so ridiculously hard at acquiring skills that when people see how good you are they just assume you’re naturally talented.”
“Whatever you focus on you will become.”
“If you really want to cut through the noise, you’re going to have to outperform everyone else.” – Tom Bilyeu
“You could do more. You could be more.”
“Human potential is nearly limitless.”
“The truth is every human being decides how they are going to live their life because we all decide what meaning we give to each and every moment in our lives. We do not decide what shows up. But we do decide how we show up.” – Tom Bilyeu
“When you try to accomplish something, you realize there are only two things you have to leverage – your body and your mind.”
“The human mind is a comedy routine.”
How to Actually Find Your Purpose by Tom Bilyeu
“Endurance beats talent every time. Don’t ever let anyone outwork you.”
“Train yourself to see opportunity rather than difficulty. Joy rather than anxiety. Practice rather than performance.” Tom Bilyeu
“Don’t let joy be an accident. Create it.”
“Surround yourself with incredibly positive, optimistic people – people that love to see others shine. They will rub off on you.”
“Never be afraid to change course.”
“Your choices define you. Don’t let fear be the definition.”
“Failure is temporary. Move quickly past it. What lies beyond the failure is the lesson.” – Tom Bilyeu
“What price are you willing to pay for greatness.”
“Build yourself brick by brick.”
“You have to be willing to see things that are impossible and try.”
“No one is born a visionary. You cultivate it.” – Tom Bilyeu
“You’ve got to take risks to be a game changer.”
“Dissect how you spend your time. It reveals your priorities.”
“The level of effort you tolerate from yourself will define your life.” – Tom Bilyeu quotes
Who is Tom Bilyeu?
For those of you who don’t know Tom Bilyeu here is a quick bio:
- Grew up in Washington. Tom was so “lazy” that he would lay in bed for hours before actually getting up because it was too cold.
- Received an average education but suffered from self-doubt and did “just enough” to get by at his jobs.
- Worked his way up from copywriter to CMO at a data loss company.
- Lost 60 pounds — developed a passion for fitness and nutrition.
- Co-Founded Quest Nutrition in 2010.
- Helped grow the company 57,000% in 3 years.
- Stepped down as CEO to follow a new passion to “Help get people out of the Matrix.”
- Started Impact Theory in 2016 with his wife Lisa Bilyeu to “leverage the self-sustaining power of commerce to radically influence global culture.”
- Impact Theory now has millions of followers online & is currently in the community building phase.
Here are five exciting lessons you can learn from inspirational entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu:
Tom Bilyeu Lessons
1. Have Clear Goals (Your Why)
When Tom started his last company, Quest Nutrition, he had a very clear why. He wanted to create a company to “end metabolic disease and show that food can be good for you and still taste good.”
Why did this matter so much? As he talks about in this keynote speech, it was because of his mother, sister, and uncle all suffered from being morbidly obese.
When you want to start something new or create a new goal make sure you know why you are doing it.
Without a why it is easy to quit or give up before you see something through. Whether you want to earn an extra $1,000 side hustling monthly or lose 15 pounds by the holidays know why you are doing it. Is it to help support your family by eliminating money stress or being healthier to have more energy with your kids?
Whatever it is, when you write down a new goal and have your why listed next to it.
2. Develop A Passion
Tom Bilyeu realized that life is more than just making money, it’s about fulfillment. The easiest way to get fulfilled is to find your passion and going after it.
You may be thinking “I don’t have a passion” or “I don’t know what my passion is.”
Don’t worry, some people will find out their passions in life sooner than others. As Tom said in his speech I attended, “You don’t just find your passions, you have to develop your passions.”
The important part is that you need to try new things to find out what you actually like to do. Some things you will love, others you will hate. The point is you have to try everything. Learn what you like, what you hate, and what you might want to keep doing.
3. Always Be Reading
As Tom says, ABR = Always Be Reading.
Reading is a very common habit of the most successful people on the planet. Whether it’s Warren Buffett reading 5 hours a day or Bill Gates reading a book a week. Reading is always associated with success.
Tom Bilyeu on Developing Your Mind
This Tom Bilyeu quote from Forbes is one of my favorites:
“I went from dead broke, in debt and not able to pay all of my bills to building a billion-dollar brand and completely changing my financial circumstances by going on a decade’s long quest to develop my mind as aggressively as a bodybuilder develops their body. I promised myself that if I ever had the opportunity to pay it forward and teach people to do the same, I would.”
4. You Can Get Good At Anything
As Tom says, “Humans are the ultimate adaption machines and that the brain actually builds faster and better connections to things you think on. It’s incredibly important to be thoughtful about what you think about.”
This is a snippet from his video “Dwell on The Vision” video → check it out below.
The purpose? Be careful of what you think about because you become what you think about!
If you are always thinking about what you don’t want to happen or what you fear it’s time to stop this negative habit asap.
Switch your thinking to what you want to accomplish. Focus on you achieving your goal whether it’s starting a business, losing weight, or getting that promotion.
The next time you find a negative thought creep in your mind flip it with the opposite to create a new habit.
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think of, we become.” — Budda
Think of yourself as a winner who accomplishes their goals.
5. Be An Eternal Student
I loved when he talked about this at the seminar — never stop learning, regardless of your age.
Be a student of life.
I think one of the reasons people are opposed to reading and learning new is because it was forced on us in school. We got in the habit of dreading learning since it was associated with learning things we didn’t care about (i.e. calculus, anthropology).
Instead, take it upon yourself to learn something new every single day.
It has never been easier to learn new skills with endless books, online courses, and seminars. The best investment you can make is always investing in yourself.
Start Learning from Tom Bilyeu
Success comes in so many different ways and is achieved differently by everyone. But there are a ton of common habits that successful people share and Tom is no different.
He continues to inspire me and millions of others as he shows the world that anything is possible. Whether you 25 or 55 years old you can achieve greatness.
Whether you were “born with talent” or not it really doesn’t matter. Humans are capable of nearly anything. Work your ass off and believe in yourself.
Use theseTom Bilyeu quotes and lessons to create amazing goals, never stop learning, and live your life with passion.
I couldn’t recommend his Youtube channel enough — it’s filled with amazing interviews and short motivational clips.
Here are some of my favorites:
- Tom’s Full Story of Success
- Power of Rejection Podcast Episode
- Lessons From The Toughest Navy Seal Ever
- Change Your Mindset — Change Your Belief
Are you already doing any of these habits for success from Tom Bilyeu? What is your favorite Tom Bilyeu quote?
Let me know in the comments.
How to Start a Morning Routine and Change Your Life
Michael Leonard
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Tom had some very real struggles in the beginning and offers some great advice. The lessons he’s pointed out he learned are pretty typical of entrepreneurs.
Agreed, he’s done a lot and succeed at very high levels!
My parents always taught me to be an eternal student, if you keep your mind open to learning the possibilities are endless.
Great job Mary — never stop learning is key!!
I agree that goal setting is a good idea as it drives your efforts. Goal setting constitutes a tool against which you can evaluate your efforts. My passion is performing and writing . My goal is to combine both passions to first promote my book and ultimately to support my Youtube channel.
Great post, as usual, Mike! I thought I didn’t have a “why”, but reading this post I remembered that a few months ago I had a few talks with a life coach (Kristin, she is so awesome), and I told her the reason why I started my blog was to create an income to be home for my baby girl. I can’t believe I forgot about that! I guess I had it in my subconscious because despite what seems like me not succeeding, I’m still blogging!
What a very great and inspiring post. Everybody should read this and they will surely inspire. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jake much appreciated!
I think that keeping learning is such an important thing. Without growth we die. So I definitely think that’s important in developing your passions and helping them flourish.
Without growth we die…very well said David!
the inspiration is awesome! i can’t believe he has done so much at such a young age. following our passion is so important.
Yea for 41 he has done so much — super inspiring and a great guy all around!
Very inspirational. My mom being an educator actually instill in me the importance of being an eternal student, to make sure that continuous thirst for learning never go away. Your post reminded me of this quote that has become one of my favorites: “Hustle beats talent, when talent doesn’t hustle.”
That’s awesome, never stop learning is so important! Love that quote 🙂
Wow I just love the messages Tom Bilyeu speaks about. I love the idea that it’s important to take care on what we focus our energies on thinking about. The importance of not dwelling on the fears but rather what we strive to achieve. Will be checking more on him.
You’ll love his work Jennifer — thanks for reading!
hi its really inspiring and happy that from internet like-minded people can associate from anywhere. it is a great article and not to that level but yes I am on the same way. I am a new blogger and the most important a lifelong student. I have my own challenges and from my learning attitude, I am trying to face it. it is because to face a problem with stability is also an art. I am not a regular reader but a listener of great videos from youtube. currently, I am trying to define myself what I am and where I want to go until my last breathe. I want to make a connection with you and learn how to be a great learner.
The first step towards achieving massive success is to believe that it’s possible for YOU. It’s easy to believe that achieving massive results in a short period of time is possible for others, because you can simply look at real life examples for the evidence you need to support that belief.