Quotes That Will Change the Way You Think

It’s amazing the ability some people have to say something profound in just a few words. A well thought-out line or neatly packaged philosophical point is a truly unique art form.

And it’s a valuable art form because these soundbites can be incredibly sticky.

Think about it, you probably sat through endless lectures at university or in school. You also probably forgot most of what was said. But when a professor hits on something amusing, particularly insightful or empowering, or manages to capture the truth of something succinctly, the odds are that the message sticks. And if it stuck, the odds are also higher that it’s influenced your thinking and behaviour. It’s changed you, and that’s the power of a truly meaningful quote.

At Amplify, we’re all about conversations, podcasting and entrepreneurship. A lot of that comes through in our approach to business, but it’s also clearly visible in Bond Appetit and Should I Start a Podcast, podcasts hosted by our founder, Ronsley Vaz. We have conversations with people from all walks of life and backgrounds. We get to deconstruct their successes and failures, and comb through their experiences for inspiration. We get to talk to people about the stuff that gets them really excited, and it’s an enormous privilege.

The following is an aggregation of the wisdom from some of these conversations into one post. We’ve poured through countless episodes, literally hundreds of hours of audio content, in search of the gems. Narrowing it down was extremely challenging.

Podcasts

‘The beauty of podcasting is you don’t have to say no to something else to say yes to a podcast.’

– John Lee Dumas, founder and host of Entrepreneur On Fire

The beauty of podcasting is you don’t have to say no to something else to say yes to a podcast - John Lee Dumas' Click To Tweet

Herein lies one of the keys to the surging popularity of podcasts, they can be the background to you doing something else. Jogging, moving the lawn, washing the dishes – you name it.

‘A lot of people approach people they want to collaborate via the “in” of book research or podcasting – these are both authentic ways to not only get a foot in the door but make real and lasting connections’

– Glen Carlson, co-founder of Dent Global and the Key Person of Influence Programme

We couldn’t agree with Glen more. Podcasting is networking on steroids. The number of amazing connections that can be made is really only bounded by your creativity and ambition.

‘Podcasting speaks to a niche audience. It costs a lot less than a PR campaign, and it develops relationships and authentic connections that are of incredible value.’

– Jessica Rhodes, host of She Did it Her Way

We think of this quote in terms of Seth Godin’s ‘permission marketing’. Instead of marketing at people, podcasting develops passive connections by putting out stuff that people will love and that adds value to their lives. It allows people to opt-in, and doing this is more than half the battle.

‘There’s never been a better time to leave a digital trail for people – friends, family, future grandkids – to see how you thought about things.’

– Trevor Young, PR warrior and founder of the Zoetic Agency

Most people don’t walk around thinking about what they’re going to leave when they pass on (us included) but Trevor makes an excellent point. Podcasting is a unique way of putting your thoughts in a time capsule and building something that will last.

‘The old “build it and they will come” theory is not necessarily correct when it comes to podcasting.’

– Bruce Wawrzyniak, management, booking and promotional consultant

'The old “build it and they will come” theory is not necessarily correct when it comes to podcasting. - Bruce Wawrzyniak' Click To Tweet

Thinking you’ve got a novel idea or great product can be the start of something huge – it can also be the start of being the only one drinking your Kool Aid. Make sure there’s a product-market fit before investing heavily in a podcast or any other business.

‘For me, podcasting was a way out of the cubicle. I was stuck in a corporate job so I struck out on my own as a consultant, and a podcast was the perfect complement to that.’

– Tim Reid, host of Australia’s #1 marketing show and the author of The Boomerang Effect

Podcasting can be a stand-alone project or, ideally, a piece of a larger ecosystem you build to present ideas, products and add value to the world. Tim’s energy is infectious, and we highly recommend you check out his show.

‘The early days of podcasting are gone. Big players have entered the space, more content is available and, while opportunities still exist for anyone, the bar has been raised.’

– Adam Jaffrey, host of the MATE podcast

Some podcasters have already been at if for a decade, so if you’re considering starting a podcast, remember that there’s more competition in the market than there once was. That isn’t a reason not to start though, it’s simply a reason to be extra thoughtful in your approach and find a way to offer something that’s uniquely you.

‘I think if you’re just getting started with your podcast, you should do everything yourself. You have to understand the inner workings of every aspect of the podcast.’

– Omar Zenhom & Nicole Baldinu, founders of The $100 MBA

'I think if you’re just getting started with your podcast, you should do everything yourself - Omar Zenhom & Nicole Baldinu' Click To Tweet

We love this quote because there’s undeniable value in bootstrapping a podcast. That’s not to say don’t get professional help where you need it or use outsourcing intelligently, but treat podcasting like a craft and learn it well.

‘Podcasts consist of conversations, and conversations can lead to so many beautiful things.’

– Amber Hawken, speaker, author, teacher and host of the Just Be You podcast

There’s simplicity and truth in this quote, and it aligns perfectly with Amplify’s philosophy. We’ve had some tremendous results along our journey, and they can all be traced back to individual conversations.

‘A good place to start with your podcasting business strategy is to figure out whether your goal is advertising or something bigger (hint – you want something bigger).’

– James Tuckerman, host of the Not-So-Freaky Podcast

Don’t be myopic. A lot of people have the false impression that to be a successful podcaster you’ve got to build a huge audience and then advertise to them. This is one model, but certainly not the only one.

‘Podcasting is a really great way to practise moving into discomfort.’

– Amber Hawken, speaker, author, teacher and host of the Just Be You Podcast

‘Podcasting is a really great way to practise moving into discomfort. - Amber Hawken' Click To Tweet

Podcasting can push your buttons – it can stretch you and it can make you uncomfortable. This is good from the perspective of personal or professional development. As Amber says, moving toward the discomfort is the way forward.

‘The podcast is part of our asset ecosystem that helps prime the market as to who we are, what we like, what we don’t like and, ultimately, how we roll.’

– Glen Carlson, co-founder of Dent Global and the Key Person of Influence Programme.

Podcasting (and the marketing collateral built behind it) does essentially all the work needed to build a group of people who know, like and trust you. When it comes time to sell, all the hard work has already been done (and done so in a natural fashion).

This wouldn’t be much of a list if we didn’t include some words of wisdom from our founder, so here are three of Ronsley’s top quotes on podcasting.

#1 – ‘The key to podcasting success is not the show itself, it’s all the marketing that comes off the backend.’

‘‘The key to podcasting success is not the show itself, it’s all the marketing that comes off the backend. - Ronsley Vaz' Click To Tweet

#2 – ‘The auditory sense is the first that develops in the womb – it’s sacred. Podcasting taps into this and it’s extremely powerful.’

#3 – ‘The problem with most podcasts is that the hosts don’t take the time to have the great conversations or suss out what people are really after.

Entrepreneurship

‘This anxiety, this absolute petrifying fear of impending doom-driving action is the only thing that got my business off the ground.’

– Glen Carlson, co-founder Dent Global & the Key Person of Influence Programme.

In many ways, entrepreneurship boils down to facing your fears. There’s also something to be said for really having something on the line. With ample safety nets, it’s easy for an entrepreneur’s motivation to go soft.

‘Kids are not taught that working for themselves is a viable option – that needs to change. We’ve got to inspire the next generation to take destiny into their own hands.’

– Jessica Rhodes, host of She Did It Her Way

‘Kids are not taught that working for themselves is a viable option - that needs to change. We've got to inspire the next generation to take destiny into their own hands. - Jessica Rhodes' Click To Tweet

Our educational system needs a shakeup. As traditional career paths dry up and legacy industries get disrupted, the younger generation need to be taught that creating a business can be a ticket to personal autonomy and financial security.

‘The dangerous thing is getting to a place where you think you know what you’re doing, a comfort zone – that’s when you’ll get overtaken.’

– Trevor Young, PR warrior and founder of the Zoetic Agency.

Entrepreneurship is about constant growth, action and learning. Trevor makes a solid case against complacency. Avoid the comfort zone.

‘A common understanding of innovation is a business launching a new product, but actually, innovation is also happening through the way people do their business. It’s about making a business relevant and sustainable. Innovation is simply about pushing ourselves to be better.’

– Alex Blauensteiner, business and innovation manager at Brisbane Marketing

We love Alex’s distillation of innovation. If you look up the definition the word, it’s all about introducing new methods and ideas. This quote decouples innovation from its semantic handcuffs and gets to the heart of it – a simple drive to be better, happier and more successful people.

‘I quit my corporate job for a very simple reason – I was lacking in freedom.’  

– Steph Taylor, founder of Wildbloom Creative

‘I quit my corporate job for a very simple reason - I was lacking in freedom. - Steph Taylor' Click To Tweet

There are millions of people around the world who feel stifled in their jobs – being an entrepreneur is the path to freedom.

‘You have to be solving problems for your community through your podcast.’

– John Lee Dumas, founder and host of Entrepreneur on Fire

If a podcast is to be viewed as a product that you’re selling to customers, you’ve got to put a solution on the table. You’ve got to hit a pain point – this is where all the value addition comes in, and it’s often what makes or breaks a show.

‘The best salespeople in the world have two abilities that set them apart from everybody else: number one, they can build trust faster; and number two, they qualify buyers better.’

– Taki Moore, author of The Million Dollar Coach

Most people don’t like generic sales conversations. From the entrepreneurial perspective, a podcast is a brilliant hack to this problem as it builds trust and it qualifies customers almost regardless of your sales acumen.

‘Every day, I focus on mindset and self-development, no exceptions. Because all success starts with your thinking.’

– Michael Griffiths, the referral marketing guru

'Every day, I focus on mindset and self-development, no exceptions. Because all success starts with your thinking.’ - Michael Griffiths Click To Tweet

Mindset gets bandied about so much that it’s become cliche and some people just roll their eyes when you bring it up. Let them roll their eyes. Be like Michael, constantly priming yourself with inspiration, knowing your ‘why’, and being surrounded by people who foster positivity.

‘I’ve worked for people that I don’t respect and when I’ve worked for those people, I can’t get motivated to make the money for them.’

– Jules Galloway, naturopath and health blogger extraordinaire

Many an entrepreneur was born of a terrible boss. When you work with people you don’t like or don’t respect, every day is a slog. Entrepreneurship is a way to reclaim some control and choose the people you invest time and energy with.

‘Put ideas through the “stress test”. Is it aligned with your big picture goals, the strategy you’re working on and your values? Is it going to work best for your business, yourself and your team?’

– James Short, real estate consultant, coach and podcaster

Being an entrepreneur means developing and refining your critical thinking skills in ways you can’t imagine before you try it.

‘Having a trust in the universe without drinking your own Kool-Aid is an imperative to achieving success in life (or in business).’

– Amber Hawken, speaker, author, teacher and host of the Just Be You Podcast

Starting your own business is an act of faith. If you don’t believe in yourself, how will customers, partners or employees? In our experience, having people around you who believe is priceless – it can kickstart your own belief at moments of uncertainty.

‘You don’t start a business because you want a business. You don’t become an entrepreneur because you want to be an entrepreneur. You start a business because you know there’s a problem that has to be solved that hasn’t been.’

– Daniel Priestley, international speaker, bestselling author and co-founder of Dent Global

It really can be as simple as that. Solve problems, add value to people’s lives, fix headaches and you’ve got the core for a business. All the accoutrements can follow.

And to round off that section of entrepreneurial magic, here are three top quotes from Ronsley on the topic:

#1 – ‘At the base level, I feel like not enough people figure out who they’re serving and drill down on how they’re serving them.’

#2 – ‘You can’t call yourself a business owner or an entrepreneur unless you really put yourself on the line.’

#3 – ‘Being an entrepreneur makes it infinitely easier to understand and serve other entrepreneurs. I believe entrepreneurship is the future.’

‘Being an entrepreneur makes it infinitely easier to understand and serve other entrepreneurs. I believe entrepreneurship is the future. - Ronsley Vaz Click To Tweet

Conversations

‘Where I excel is talking to people, so a conversation-based model such as podcasting was a natural fit for our content needs.’

– Glen Carlson, co-founder of Dent Global and the Key Person of Influence Programme.

Even if you’re not as gregarious as Glen, the conversations you’re having every day undoubtedly contain value for your business. Podcasting is simply a way of harnessing that power and leveraging it to maximum effect.

Where I excel is talking to people, so a conversation-based model such as podcasting was a natural fit for our content needs. - Glen Carlson Click To Tweet

‘My husband and I were having a stressful money-related conversation, we stopped and listed out some things we are grateful for and it shifted the entire energy.’

– Jessica Rhodes, host of She Did It Her Way

A conversation can carry a lot of energetic weight with it. People are not intentional enough in their conversations, the compound total of the conversations you have in life constitute a large part of who you are.

‘Building authentic connections through conversation is the key to and the power of podcasting.’

– Trevor Young, PR warrior and founder of the Zoetic Agency

‘Building authentic connections through conversation is the key to and the power of podcasting. - Trevor Young Click To Tweet

Attention is a scarce commodity these days, and talking to someone in a long-form podcast is a rare opportunity to put everything to the side and really connect. The conversation is everything, it’s the centrepiece and it frames everything you might ultimately do with a guest.

‘You just need one person to listen, get your message and pass it on to someone else and you’ve doubled your audience.’

– Robert Gerrish, podcaster, speaker, author and founder of Flying Solo

Podcasting scales through word of mouth and dinner party conversations – not just the number of people who actually tune in. If you consider this 1+1 ripple effect, you begin to grasp another element of podcasting’s exponential power.

‘For me, podcasting conversations have been like eating some incredible gourmet meal. They are raw. They can expand your senses. They thrill you and help you explore new territory.’

– Emma Franklin Bell, author, interviewer and founder of the Beautiful Business Academy

Emma has summarised our feelings perfectly here.

‘You don’t have to listen to me, but if you want to learn from my experience and be wiser than me, tuning in to our conversations can give you that’

– Michael Bromley, ex-Lawyer, podcaster and co-founder of Beyond Billables

People don’t like to be lectured, but the symbiotic nature of many podcast conversations lays it all out in a perfectly accessible format.

‘Our words are seeds, and when they land on fertile soil, something grows. My job is to share and spread that seed.’

– Steve Maraboli, coach, author, keynote speaker and all-around force of nature

We love Steve’s imagery of soil and seeds as stand-ins for open minds and words. At Amplify, we’re busy spreading seeds as well. And if the words of our clients move the needle in a positive direction, then we’ve done our job. Conversation is our primary method of achieving this.

‘One thing I’ve learned in life is that the only thing you take out of it is the relationships you make. At work, we spend a lot of time away from our family and our loved ones, so to make it different and enjoyable, you’ve got to make it personal.’

– Peter Finn, seasoned mining hand, podcaster and founder of FACE contracting

At the end of the day, relationships are about all that matter. Communication is at the heart of all good relationships and to ‘make it personal’ you’ve got to have meaningful conversations with people. It’s a simple fact of life, but one that is increasingly lost in the smartphone age.

‘My purpose in life is to create and hold spaces that empower people. These spaces can be different things. It can be physical, it can be the capital needed to start something, or it can be to just hold space conversation and invite people into it.’

– Cat Matson, chief digital officer for the City of Brisbane

The world needs more people like Cat. Holding the space for others to comfortably verbalise their dreams and freely communicate might sound hokey, but it’s not. It can be incredibly powerful.

‘As podcasters, we’ve got to start with what your audience knows, things they can relate to because that creates the initial connection that you can branch off from.’

– Andrew Griffiths, best selling author, inspirational mentor and global speaker

As podcasters, we’ve got to start with what your audience knows, things they can relate to because that creates the initial connection that you can branch off from - Andrew Griffiths Click To Tweet

Podcasting is simply having a public conversation, and like any other conversation, if people aren’t interested they’ll quickly tune out.  A relatable hook, a story or a dramatic snippet are all good ways to ensure that people stick around to hear you out.

‘No great leap forward ever happened by staring at an excel spreadsheet. Great leaps forward happen when you connect, just like this conversation that we’re having right now.’

– James Tuckerman, host of the Not-So-Freaky Podcast

The right kind of conversations creates sparks. They help to conceptualise inspiration. They push people in new and unplanned directions, and they drive positive change in this world.

‘The stories we tell ourselves – our internal conversations – are of paramount importance. They’re how we get through the toughest moments in life.’

– Amber Hawken, speaker, author, teacher and host of the Just Be You Podcast

Internal conversations can be just as important as external ones. How you frame ‘failure’ and whether or not achievements go to your head are key determinants of continued success in any aspect of life.

And finally, let’s see what Ronsley has to say on the topic of conversation with three of his top quotes.

#1 – ‘Almost every single conversion that happens comes about because of a conversation, why not harness the power of those conversations?’

#2 – ‘Sharing food around a table is a fundamental human experience. It’s about connection as much as it is about not living off of McDonald’s and Redbull.’

Sharing food around a table is a fundamental human experience. It's about connection as much as it is about not living off of McDonald’s and Redbull. - Ronsley Vaz Click To Tweet

#3 – ‘The conversations are already being had in the business world, we just Amplify them.’

Now, Go Out and Amplify Your Own Voice

We know, that’s a lot to take in all at once. Perhaps the best approach is to bookmark this page and return to it when you need inspiration most. Or use it as a source to scribble down a few key highlights from. As great as many of these quotes are, being reminded and continually priming yourself with them is the way to achieve maximum effect.

The real beauty here is that the applicability of these ideas is nearly limitless. Entrepreneurial philosophy can often be applied to just about any hard problem in life. Podcasts can be valuable for everyone, regardless of whether you’re a producer or consumer. And conversations are a universal human experience that holds within them tremendous amounts of power. We’re firm believers in leveraging the power of conversation, and if more people had access to (and were intentional about) this power, the world would be a brighter place.

Now it’s your turn. Whether your message is around entrepreneurship, podcasting conversation or anything else, don’t let it go unheard. Realise it, amplify it and share it with the world.

45 Quotes That Will Change the Way You Think Click To Tweet