I came across the Jeff Bezos commencement speech at Princeton, this week. As you know, Jeff is the founder and CEO of Amazon.com the largest online bookstore (now, so much more than that) in the world. Here is a link to the article to read the full speech…http://bit.ly/c9B0fB

His address was interesting, in that he reflected back on a childhood experience that shaped his remarks. It’s always inspiring to see where successful people “came from” in their thinking/actions. But what was most POWERFUL for me (and I hope for you) were 13 words toward the end of that speech.

“And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?”

How often are we faced with moving forward with doing something we know so well “how to do” because it just comes easy to us…it’s truly our gift. Versus the choice of doing it or not, because of the results we’ll get. I’ll give you an example.

In our business (and careers) we often develop some skill, talent or expertise that we know would be beneficial for others to take advantage of, to improve personally or professionally. But what if the client/customer or employee doesn’t want or need our solution? Do we settle on “we know best” or do we CHOOSE to give them what THEY want/need, even if it means learning more or developing something different?

When you’re up against it, the stress in the moment and your pride will likely guide you. But I would suggest that reflecting on these 13 words could make the difference in the results you get…