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Lesson #3: Make Your Mission Your Holy Grail
Article Overview: “The long term ultimate objective – the holy grail – is we would like to help make life multi-planetary,” says Musk.
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Lesson #3: Make Your Mission Your Holy Grail
“The long term ultimate objective – the holy grail – is we would like to help make life multi-planetary,” says Musk.
Musk first dreamed up his third company after a night of space talk with a friend. They realized that while the world has come to expect improvements in almost every technological sector, the space industry seems to be exempt from that expectation. Indeed, Musk says, there has been relatively little progress at all since the first man landed on the moon.
“We got to the moon, but have never done anything better since,” he says. “I'm disappointed that we have not made more progress since Apollo. I don't even see a plan that says we're going to do better than Apollo to exceed that goal.”
Musk wants to be the one to exceed that goal. But the new goal Musk is setting for himself is not just to create a successful company this time around. Musk wants to be a part of something that is bigger than himself, something that will have a lasting impact on the world.
“I like to be involved in things that change the world,” he says. “The Internet did, and space will probably be more responsible for changing the world than anything else. If humanity can expand beyond the Earth, obviously that's where the future is.”
Musk wants his company to lead the way to that future. “If we can be one of the companies that makes it possible for humans to become a multi-planetary species, that would be the Holy Grail,” he says. “It sounds a bit crazy but it's going to happen, and only if people build the means to do so. We're making progress toward a greater philosophical goal while building a sound business.”
Whether it was capitalizing on the early days of the Internet and building a platform to allow for easy online money transactions, or building rockets that will eventually help colonize space, Musk has always had a bigger picture on his agenda. It is precisely that vision that many observers believe will allow Musk to succeed where others before him have failed. To those who do not believe in him, Musk says this: “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, 'Nah, what's wrong with a horse?' That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.”
A number of entrepreneurs also wanting to fulfill their space dreams have come before Musk, most notably Mark Shuttleworth, who paid $20 million and spent six months in Russia training to be able to become the second self-funded tourist in space. But Musk’s dreams are loftier than that.
“It doesn’t do a great deal to advance the goal of humanity,” says Musk. “I would pay $20 million not to spend six months in Russia. And besides this, my interest is how do we enable many other people to go to space, not necessarily me, personally.”
Musk’s goal has never been to go into space. Eventually, that is something he would love to do. But for right now, he is happy focusing his efforts on a larger dream, the dream of building a company that will change the world.
“If we can build something that is capable of taking people and equipment to Mars,” says Musk, “such that it can service a transportation infrastructure for humanity becoming a multi- planet species - which I think is a very, very important objective - then I would consider the mission of SpaceX successful, at that point.”
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Article Tags: apollo, early days of the internet, earth, expectation, first man, holy grail, improvements, money transactions, moon, musk, objective, observers, rockets, sound business, space industry, space talk, successful company, technological sector
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Mission Mantra
- Why don't we call it a mission mantra?
It depends on the business and how much emphasis they put on a Mission Statement or Mantra. Most of the business I've dealt with don't really care to much about a Mission Statement and only believe they need one because everyone else has one.
Re: Traffic! How do you get it?
- Hi GT,
Traffic is the Holy Grail as we all know but sometimes it can get a bit cloudy. I agree that the basics are all good, article writing, SEO, blog comments, directory submission etc etc but it takes a bit of time and sadly that's when a lot of newbie’s give up because they are too impatient.
My first website was 'networldgateway.com' and when I look at it now it looks pretty poor but I chose my No 1 keyword phrase as 'best home business ideas' and if you google that you will see my site on page 1 or maybe 2 now after some time on page 1 which is great but I don't get sign ups from it because I presume it's not an appealing site but the keyword phrase works fine because it incorporates 4 different keyword phrases such as best home business, home business and home business ideas.
I was very unhappy with that site so I joined the APG who built me a much better site which is ‘Workfromhomegems.com’ and I am using the same phrase for that but it will take a while to catch up to my old site but I know one thing, if I don't start getting sign ups from the new site when I get to the higher Google pages then I will be seriously hacked off, LOL,
best wishes,
Mal.
Re: Traffic! How do you get it?
- [quote="Mal Tindle":znnzv07e]Hi GT,
Traffic is the Holy Grail as we all know but sometimes it can get a bit cloudy. I agree that the basics are all good, article writing, SEO, blog comments, directory submission etc etc but it takes a bit of time and sadly that's when a lot of newbie’s give up because they are too impatient.
My first website was 'networldgateway.com' and when I look at it now it looks pretty poor but I chose my No 1 keyword phrase as 'best home business ideas' and if you google that you will see my site on page 1 or maybe 2 now after some time on page 1 which is great but I don't get sign ups from it because I presume it's not an appealing site but the keyword phrase works fine because it incorporates 4 different keyword phrases such as best home business, home business and home business ideas.
I was very unhappy with that site so I joined the APG who built me a much better site which is ‘Workfromhomegems.com’ and I am using the same phrase for that but it will take a while to catch up to my old site but I know one thing, if I don't start getting sign ups from the new site when I get to the higher Google pages then I will be seriously hacked off, LOL,
best wishes,
Mal.[/quote:znnzv07e]
Hey Mal,
I can understand your frustration. I'm sure you're not the only one that faces this problem. I've had to face this reality as well and really think about how I'm marketing as well as the content on my site. There are many factors that contribute to the traffic/sales ratio, and it can be daunting at times to figure out what would be best to change.
One thing to consider are the offers or programs you're promoting. This can sometimes be the biggest factor, but not always. Next would be the quality of traffic. Seems like the quality is there given the keywords your site was ranking for, so I'm guessing it would be something else. After looking at your first site, I think maybe it could use a different layout. That's just my thought.
The most important thing to realize is that it takes a lot of testing, testing and testing. Once you get the traffic, test different elements to see what's going to convert better. I've changed my home page many times to aid in getting higher conversions. I'm seeing results, but I'm sure I could always do better. It's a never-ending process.
Don't lose hope my friend.
Re: Quote of the Day - "The only people witho
- Thanks for sharing this Evan, there are some very powerful quotes in there, I particularly like this one:-
You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don't think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully.
regards,
Mal.
Re: Essential Leadership skills
- Vision
Values
Mission
Strategic Thinking
Decision Making
Communication
Team Bonding
People Development
Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming
Presentation
Thanks
Robert
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