Welcome to our collection of quotes by Dan Pena. We hope you enjoy pondering them and please share widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Dan Pena
Daniel Steven Peña Sr. (born August 10, 1945) is a Mexican American businessman.
The truth is, I almost always did accomplish what I said I would -- in the face of overwhelming obstacles!
I have been following what is now called the 'Spartan Way' long before it became popular!
People want to be led by strong leaders, and good leaders are constant students.
As I have often said, I would rather be lucky than smart! But it is even better to be lucky and super smart!
Remarkably successful people habitually do what other people won't do. They go where others won't go because there's a lot less competition and a much greater chance for success.
High performance people take action quickly and change their mind slowly!
Once you learn to make money, it is not that hard... what's hard is to stay excited about it.
As I have said many times -- no 1 loves me as much as I love myself! And if you can't really love yourself, you can't love anything you do!
Virtually all big law firms have good to super-good lawyers. All big law firms don't have great litigators.
Good leaders make sense of change in the world... then imparts that insight to the team.
It is extremely gratifying to see success like exhibited by the founders of Instagram!
If you don't embrace a workload others would consider crazy, then your goal doesn't mean that much to you.
You will definitely encounter lots of resistance on the road to super success, but don't let others stop you from reaching your goals.
We cannot change the past, only recover from it. And perhaps learn its cruel lessons.
I have always known I had talent, LOL, but to be called a 'talent' feels a little strange -- but well within my comfort zone!
If you want to make more money, you'll have to do things differently. You will have to do things you never even thought of doing in the past. You will have to do things out of your comfort zone.
High-performance people have larger, more expanded comfort zones than most!
Next time, you question what you are doing -- ask yourself? What could I do more? In most cases, extra time will be the greatest leverage you can apply!
When you truly believe in your idea or your company or yourself, then you don't need to have a huge ego or a huge personality.
As I have told many, the only goal my dad had for me was to keep me alive to reach the age of reason! He had no aspirations for me vis-a-vis education, wealth, or anything else!
We must all remember life doesn't have to be fair for us to succeed if we take change and become masters and creators of our own destiny.
Of course I have said, till I am blue in the face -- people don't lack goals, passion, grit, or drive -- they lack leadership!
I coach my mentees to act as if they are invincible -- to act as if they could accomplish anything!
Now, admittedly, my power of concentration is and always has been extraordinary since my army training! In fact, other people say it is legendary and almost cosmic!
The more emotional distractions you have the harder it is to accomplish your goals -- especially at the extreme levels!
A famous man once said, 'A sure formula for failure is to try and please everyone.' Some might say I built a career on doing just the opposite of pleasing everyone.
Wishing, hoping, and dreaming without an action plan -- is nothing more than a pipe dream!
In late May 1993, I gave my first QLA Seminar at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles.
There's no seminar in the world that will give you multi million-dollar advice on building a business from scratch!
The road to success is always under construction... there are lots of pot holes but no traffic jams.
Don't set time limits for achieving goals. They should transcend time.
My time is much too precious to be wasted on people who merely want to talk about being a high performance person and can't or won't take action!
I could write a book describing what differentiates the high performance person from all the rest! Hell, I could write volumes!
Super-success is not for everyone, and you will endure weeks and months and years of hard work, obstacles, failures, victories, pain, and any manner of 'negative' experiences to reap the rewards of success, drink from the golden goblet, own the brass ring.
I have said countless times high performance people are never satisfied with what they do or how they do it! Hence, I am always endeavouring to improve.
The Internet is a giant 'lab experiment' for corporate America, and those companies that recognise this and play well within the rules of ambiguity and fluidity will survive and win.
QLA is not about filling your brain with information -- it is starting a fire within your heart and soul!
I have written and said countless times it is not what happens to you in life that makes a difference! It is how we react to what happens to us in life that creates our history and -- more importantly -- our future!
Good lawyers win so-so lawsuits. Great lawyers can win lawsuits in which you have little or no chance to win.
Our lives are a series of lowered expectations year after year. We got pounded by everything around us. Just like our parents and their parents. We are products of our social and economic milieu.
You would think that American educators would want our kids, especially our kids from poorer families, to hear what top-rated Oxford students hear. But you'd be wrong. American schools now hide their students from ideas like mine if they don't approve of the man or the message.
By definition, to work with me, you need thicker skin and must be OK with a certain amount of verbal abuse!
The truth is, successful people are not ten times smarter than you. They don't really work ten times harder than you. So why are they successful? Because their dreams are so much bigger than yours!
When I volunteered for the draft as a 20-year-old, mischievous guy at the height of the Vietnam War, most thought I was destined to pass from this earth early!
Never start small where goals are concerned. You'll make better decisions -- and find it much easier to work a lot harder -- when your ultimate goal is ultimate success.
Year-end goals are terrific! Affirmations with goals are even better! And goals, affirmations, along with visualization is even more effective!
Jim Newman, the business visionary who created the term 'comfort zone,' showed me how to expand my horizons. Thanks to Jim, after I attended one of his PACE Seminars in 1978; I moved out of my comfort zone at Bear Stearns and became a super successful oilman.
The best form of customer service is self service. Constantly empower customers to get their own answers themselves.
Life without dreams is like a bird with a broken wing -- it can't fly.
The world is full of people who want their ears tickled on strategies for wealth creation and protection and so-called revealed secrets to wealth creation. And there are plenty of slick 'business coaches' who are more than willing to do just that -- for a fee. This is the world of the seminar guru.
I could not be more proud of the countless lives that I have changed since I began my coaching and mentoring career!
Jerry Ormand was already a legendary Texas oilman when I met him. Yet he took the time to introduce me to the fine points of the oil business and how to survive and prosper amid the chaos of a rough-and-tumble industry.
Constantine 'Costa' Gratsos had made his fortune as a lifelong associate of shipping icon Aristotle Onassis. He took a liking to me, became my first mentor, and showed me how to swim in the deep, dangerous waters of business.
Entrepreneurship is enduring pain for a long time without relinquishing.
I have said many times: We have self-esteem or don't, based on how we were raised! Self-esteem is normally produced in your first 7-8 years of life.
Fear of failure is caused by lack of self-esteem and confidence. Dealing with fear is the key to super success.
I may be wrong, but I am never in doubt! And anyone who has been around me for even a minute understands that my self-confidence and self-esteem is sometimes overwhelming!