Henry Ford Lessons for Teens (& Business Owners)

Apparently, I blinked and my two little girls are now both in high school.

My head spins as I try to comprehend how that happened so quickly, and for anybody reading this who has young kids, never, ever wish the days to go faster.  Cherish the time when your kids are beautifully innocent.

As a father of two beautiful young ladies, I am obviously concerned about all the noise and objectionable stuff they face on a daily basis (if you are in the same boat currently, you know exactly what I mean).

At this point in their lives, trying to get them to read one of the success classics in my library is not realistic. So, from time to time, I will print out little notes of encouragement, famous quotes, etc. and leave them to read before they head off to school or sports.  While I typically get the type of look one would expect from a teenager receiving such a “gift,” I notice they don’t throw away these notes, so I’m hopeful some of it will stick with them.

On a side note, one of the best ways I’ve found to get the good stuff in front of them is to “hire” my daughters to proofread the various marketing pieces I craft.  The lure of earning a few dollars is like adding a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down and they don’t realize what my real goal is.

Anyway, I digress from the gift I want to give you in this article.

Recently, I’ve been doing some research on the “captains of industry” of the Second Industrial Revolution, including the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, when I came across this e-book of quotes from Henry Ford that was put together by the Ford Motor Company.

I love reading quotes from famous people and was surprised by just how many Henry Ford quotes I had never seen before, including many that I thought were perfect for a young adult to read.  So, I shared seven of the them with daughters I thought you might like to see:

• “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”
• “To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success.”
• “Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain.”
• “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
• “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
• “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.”
• “Success is 99% failure.”

Good advice and insights for teens and adults for sure.  I found Ford’s quotes so compelling,    I am currently reading his autobiography, My Life and Work, which you can buy for less than $1.00 as an Amazon Kindle book.

One Henry Ford quote I am familiar with, and you may be too, is:

“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

If you’ve read this far, I appreciate the fact we have come together and you have stayed with me as a reader of my blog.  In today’s world, that is no small feat and I am thankful.

If you would like to consider working together to grow your business, I invite you to learn more about my 2017 Master Mind groups.  These groups are classic, small-group Master Minds as described by Napoleon Hill when he did his own research on what made the likes of Henry Ford and other titans tick.  I think Ford would approve of, and recommend, your participation in one my Master Mind groups, and the first step is getting more information.  Click here to get my Master Mind group information kit.