Sometimes MBA-types would ask me, ‘What’s your growth rate? What’s your retained earnings rate as a percentage of gross? What are your projections?' I’d say, 'I have no idea. I don’t even know what some of that means. I started this as a hobby to help my friends and that’s the only reason it exists. There’s money in the bank and I’m doing fine. So, no worries.'
Never forget why you’re doing what you’re doing. Are you helping people? Are they happy? Are you happy? Are you profitable? Isn’t that enough?"
Derek Sivers
Founder of CDBaby
Here's my college admissions version.
For high school students who want to go to college, never forget why you're doing what you're doing. You're working hard in school so you'll be educated. You're doing activities so you can have fun and discover your talents. You live in the country that has the most coveted and accessible system of higher education in the world, with over 2,000 colleges and only about a hundred that actually reject people. There is plenty of financial aid available if you apply to the right schools. You're almost certainly going to college no matter what your GPA and SAT score are. Wherever you go, you'll be attending an intellectual supermarket where you can learn, explore, discover, meet people and have fun for four years. And you, not the name of your college, will get to determine just how successful you are after graduation."
Isn't that enough?