Richard Branson Says Living a Happy, Successful, and Fulfilling Life Comes Down to 4 Simple Things
Some years ago, Richard Branson gave me half his sandwich. While not advice, it was a lesson in courtesy and kindness, one I’ve clearly never forgotten. Nor have I forgotten some of his perspectives on business and life. Here are some of my favourites.
On overcoming preconditions
We all have excuses that keep us from acting. One of my favourites is letting an important task keep me from doing other things; I often allow knowing I have something big to do in the near future to stand in the way of doing other things in the present.
It’s not a reason; it’s just an excuse, disguised as a precondition.
Maybe you think you need a home office before you can start a business. (I’ve worked from a dining room table for years.) Maybe you think you need sophisticated software to manage your rental property business. (We use simple spreadsheets.) Maybe you think you have to get past this — even though you’re totally prepared and there’s nothing left for you to do — before you can start on that. (I’m still working on that one.)
Unfortunately, preconditions often keep you from following your personal, professional, or entrepreneurial dreams. Preconditions are almost always just excuses. You will never have everything you need to get started. You will never have everything you need, every step along the way.
But you will always have — and can always count on having — your willingness to try.
On Happiness
While he’s not as wealthy as Buffett, Bezos, or Gates — maybe the only time a $3 billion fortune pales in comparison — the scope of Branson’s entrepreneurial interests is incredible.
So how does he define success? It’s a common misconception that money is every entrepreneur’s metric for success. It’s not, and nor should it be.
Too many people measure how successful they are by how much money they make, or the people that they associate with. In my opinion, true success should be measured by how happy you are.
If you aren’t particularly happy — or are not happy as you would like to be — part of the problem might be that you embrace conflicting definitions of professional success and personal success. If you’re making tons of money but are unhappy, you haven’t embraced the fact that incredible business success often carries a heavy personal price, and other things are more important to you than making money. Your definitions of professional success and personal success don’t align.
But if you’re making great money and you’re also happy, like Branson, then your professional goals and personal goals clearly align.
And that may lead to even greater financial success. As Branson says: Happiness isn’t just how I measure my success; it’s also the key to it. Most people would assume my business success, and the wealth that comes with it, has brought me happiness. But I know I am successful, wealthy and connected because [my italics] I am happy.
You only get one life. Try to live yours in a way that makes you as happy and fulfilled — and therefore as successful — as you possibly can be.
On following your intuition
As Steve Jobs said, “You can only connect the dots looking backwards.”
Branson agrees: Everything I’ve done in my life has been instinctive. Having to analyze why I do things was an unusual challenge for me. I would tell a story, and then I would think, “I’ll have to (think up) a reason for that.”
I left school at fifteen, so literally everything I know comes from keeping my eyes open and learning from the real world. Branson, a dyslexic high school dropout, didn’t assume successful people had special talents or gifts. He thought, “If they can do it, why not me?” Even when others doubted him. And even when he failed.
As Branson says: Don’t ask everyone whether it’s a good idea. The best way to find out whether it’s a good idea is to try it. If you fall flat on your face, pick yourself up, try again, and again, and again, until you succeed.
Granted, intuition isn’t a substitute for data, analysis, or reasoning. But expert intuition, the kind of intuition that comes from genuine experience — from trying, failing, and trying again — can help guide you to places others won’t go.
On time management
When I talked with Richard about his MasterClass, I asked how he chooses where to spend his time. (Clearly, he’s a busy guy; the Virgin Group serves as the corporate umbrella for 40-plus travel, hospitality, financial service, media, and space companies.)
I assumed he would talk about things like schedule optimisation, prioritization, and organization. The usual suspects.
Nope: Time is interesting. I devote three or four hours a day to finding fun things to do to keep really fit. Tennis. Biking, Kite surfing. The gym. People will say, “How can you find so much time for your body?”
If you find the time for your body, and you’re feeling really great … it’s funny: Your day just expands by another three or four hours, and you’re so much more productive.
Granted, there’s a chicken-versus-egg aspect to this: If you’re extremely busy, carving out even an hour to get fit can seem impossible. It’s hard to expand your day by feeling great if you don’t have the time to do things to help you feel great.
Hence the second part of his answer: Some people are very entrepreneurial but not necessarily great at running businesses. Or don’t have the time to try. Find people to help you put your idea into practice, and continue in your profession until you see whether your idea has traction.
And if it does gain traction, it’s funny: your day just expands. We tend to pursue things that are exciting, that are fulfilling, and that we’re successful at doing … one day you’ll realize, almost like magic, that you found more time to work on your startup than you ever imagined possible.
That’s the real secret to time management. Most time management advice involves some degree of willpower. Sticking to a schedule. Checking off to-do lists. Doing what you need to do next, and next, and next — not what you want to do. But willpower is finite. That’s why Branson finds fun ways to keep fit.
The premise extends to starting a business. Running your own business means making hundreds of decisions, and unfortunately, we all have a finite amount of mental energy. Granted, exercise can improve memory and cognitive skills. Exercise can lower symptoms of fatigue by as much as 65 per cent. Exercise can help you better manage stress. (That’s another reason Branson devotes time to finding fun ways to keep fit.)
Even so: Eventually, your willpower starts to fade. Decision fatigue starts to creep in. And time starts to disappear. If you want to start a business, start from a basis of fun. No matter how great the idea, no matter how great the opportunity, if you won’t enjoy the work, you won’t find the time.
Then consider fulfilment. If success, no matter how great, won’t make you feel better about yourself, if you won’t feel a sense of accomplishment and actualization, you won’t find the time. Because we all tend to pursue things that are exciting, fulfilling, successful, and fun.
