How to Transform Like Jeff Bezos into the Amazon of Your Niche

The Bezos Test: Will I Regret It When I’m 80?

“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.” — Jeff Bezos

Jeff had a secure, well-paying job, a job that made him happy. By a societal measure, the guy had it all. Everything, including a new “stupid idea.”

So when he asked himself, “When I’m eighty, will I regret leaving Wall Street?” he countered his question with a more specific dream:

“Will I regret missing a chance to be there at the beginning of the Internet?”

When he assessed his current situation against the lure of his stupid idea, the choice was clear.

He just had to jump ship.

He got a loan from his mom and dad, hopped into his car with his wife, and drove from New York City to Seattle in order to start a website out of his garage.

This is the story of Jeff Bezos, and the birth of Amazon.com.

AMAZON STARTED AS A STUPID IDEA

I know what some of you are thinking: “Nice try. On what planet was Amazon.com a stupid idea?”

From a current market paradigm, nothing about Amazon.com is anywhere in the ballpark of stupidity (it’s not even on the same continent).

But in the mid-1990s, the Internet was nothing close to what it is today.

Most people weren’t comfortable with the Internet or confident in the reliability of the world of e-commerce.

His idea was creative, it was innovative, and even Bezos himself called it “crazy”—all indicators, that within the framework of the mid-1990s, his idea definitely met the criteria for stupid as the “New Smart.”

“When I’m eighty, will I regret leaving Wall Street?” — Jeff Bezos

In an interview with the American Academy of Achievement, Bezos explains:

“I went to my boss and said to him, “You know, I’m going to go do this crazy thing and I’m going to start this company selling books online.”

This was something that I had already been talking to him about in a sort of more general context, but then he said, “Let’s go on a walk.”

And we went on a two- hour walk in Central Park in New York City and the conclusion of that was this.

He said, “You know, this actually sounds like a really good idea to me, but it sounds like it would be a better idea for somebody who didn’t already have a good job.”

Did you catch that?

Bezos had a good idea, even his boss thought so, but he was told it would have been a better idea for somebody who didn’t already have a good job!

Sometimes it’s not the idea that’s stupid, it’s the idea within the context of the current situation.

LEARN THIS POWERFUL LESSON FROM BEZOS

We can learn a powerful lesson from Bezos’s experience with starting Amazon.com. He said,

“If you can project yourself out to age 80 and sort of think, “What will I think at that time?” it gets you away from some of the daily pieces of confusion.

You know, I left this Wall Street firm in the middle of the year.

When you do that, you walk away from your annual bonus.

That’s the kind of thing that in the short-term can confuse you, but if you think about the long-term then you can really make good life decisions that you won’t regret later.”

What if Bezos had waited until a non-stupid time (a time when he didn’t “already have a good job”) to start Amazon?

Judging by the magnitude of growth experienced in the world of e-commerce within such a consolidated period of time, his river may have run dry before he could float a single book down it!

Instead, Bezos did the “crazy thing” and became a living legend, even gracing the cover of Time magazine in 1999 as “Person of the Year” and becoming the richest man in the world in 2017.

Jeff Bezos changed the world as we knew it, all because he was stupid enough to start.

HOW YOU CAN TRANSFORM LIKE JEFF BEZOS INTO THE AMAZON OF YOUR NICHE

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” — Theodore Roosevelt

1. WHERE NOT TO START

When I teach what I call the “Stupid Principles” to audiences or in private consultations, I’m asked this question more than almost any other: “I have so many ideas! What if I pick the wrong one?”

Beware!

You’re in the quicksand of paralysis by analysis, and it has suffocated more great ideas than all the other potential stumbling blocks combined!

You can’t let fear and indecision sink your creativity—they do not easily release their hold.

Fear and indecision will stop you dead in your tracks every time. They’ll keep you stuck where you already are; and you will start exactly zero of your beautifully stupid ideas.

Another temptation people face when trying to decide where to begin is to say, “Well, I guess I should just try them all and see what sticks.”

But then they flip right back around and say, “No, I must focus. Focus is the key!”

These two conflicting thoughts can quickly freeze you in the realm between thought and action, and as a result, again, you’ll find that absolutely nothing happens at all.

Here’s the deal:

If you’re scared of choosing the wrong idea to start, you’re going to keep yourself from starting altogether.

And on the flip side, if you try to start all of your stupid ideas at once, you’re bound to waste time, energy, and money (and go completely loco in the process).

Plus, no matter how hard you focus, if you’re laser-focused on the wrong activity or activities, your laser is going to end up burning a hole right through your potential for success.

You’ve got to be able to cut straight through all the chaos and confusion in order to pinpoint where to begin.

Start by familiarizing yourself with what I’ve termed “The Stupid Equation.”

FUTURE REGRET = TODAY’S IMPERATIVE

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could travel into the future, see where you messed up, and then go back in time to rearrange things in order to make your future better?

You can.

If you can foresee regret, you can  mind- travel to the future.

If you can train yourself to mind- travel effectively, you can intentionally affect your future by doing something about it today.

2. TAKE THE BEZOS TEST: WILL I REGRET IT WHEN I’M 80?

Question 1: Do you have a pressing thought or idea that simply won’t go away?

What have you wanted to do for a while and plan or hope to get around to later?

Perhaps these are ideas that you are deeply passionate about, but at some point you decided not to pursue them for one reason or another (not enough time, feeling underqualified, not enough money, a good idea for someone in a different life situation).

Take five to ten minutes and jot down as many of these thoughts as you can.

(Consider doing this exercise in an e-mail to yourself, so you always have a searchable, date-stamped reference for later.)

Your list can be long or short.

There are no rules here; simply do whatever works best for you.

You may end up with a list of a hundred bullet points, or you could have just one thing that is really important to you.

Now, imagine your eightieth birthday.

You’re relaxing in your rocking chair on the porch, you pull out the list you just created, and you start thinking back over the years.

You realize you didn’t end up doing anything on that list.

Some of the things you don’t feel much concern or regret over, some things on the list make you laugh, but there are a few items written there that bring you a deep feeling of sadness and regret as you contemplate the joy and fulfillment that could have been yours (and your family’s) if you’d only had the courage to try.

Question 2: Looking at your list, what would you regret not doing?

This should narrow your list down substantially.

Question 3: If you had only a short time to live, and you were required to rid yourself of all the things from your list except for three or four, which three to four ideas would remain?

This should further narrow down your list to only the things that truly are most important in your life.

Question 4: If you had to prioritize these few things in order from most important to least important, which order would you choose?

Congratulations!

You now know which stupid ideas are most impor- tant for you to focus on first.

“The common question that gets asked in business is, why?That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, why not?” — Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com

ADDITIONAL TIPS AND TRICKS

Stuck, or maybe just a little uncertain you’ve truly chosen the best idea of all? Anxiety over this part of the process is common.

For many, the concept that you’re actually allowed to do the things you’re inherently passionate about is a new kind of thinking altogether.

You’ve got to be patient with yourself as you adjust to this new paradigm.

Don’t allow yourself to get so dammed up with fear about making the  wrong decision that you are  unable to decide at all.

Quiet down, tune in, and trust your gut — go easy on yourself if overwhelming clarity doesn’t immediately come. It’s a process, and sometimes it takes time.

If you’re still in the boat of uncertainty and indecision, don’t fret.

Here are two more soul-searching (and admittedly somewhat melodramatic) questions that will help you further refine your list.

1. If this idea is the last thing I ever do, will it be some- thing I’d be proud to be remembered by?

2. If I were forced at gunpoint to choose only one of these ideas, which one would it be?

The urgency created by these two scenarios often serves to provide the clarity necessary to knock us free from indecision.

If you really take these questions seriously, they can effectively shake your best ideas from the tree, and you’ll quickly and confidently be able to deter- mine which projects are most important to you.

WHY NOT YOU?

You can apply the Bezos Test to any area in your life:

• finding a job
• building a career
• making money
• pursuing marriage and family
• focusing on health and fitness
• undertaking entrepreneurial endeavors
• leading a new project in your organization
• seeking out educational opportunities
• …and on and on and on.

No matter the area of focus, the formula is the same:

FUTURE REGRET = TODAY’S IMPERATIVE

The overarching goal is to determine which ideas are most aligned with your core values for your life, and then to simply start.

Stupid ideas have the power to change lives.

Why not let one change yours?

WANNA FIND YOUR INNER BEZOS?

Click here to get your free stupid checklist to find your next “crazy idea” and turn it into your “smart reality.’

This article includes excerpts from my award-winning, best-selling book, The Power of Starting Something Stupid.

“Perfect book for these uncertain times.” — Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media

P.S. >> Click here to get your free stupid checklist to turn your “stupid idea” into your “smart reality.’