My top 10 of James Altucher's lessons learned from Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX:

1. Never think someone is “lucky”. Luck is created by the prepared.

2. If you want to create $1 billion in value you need to find a problem that nobody solved.

3. Make a product that YOU would use every single day. You can’t sell it if you, personally, don’t LOVE it.

4. SELL. The only way to get anywhere is to come up with ideas and then sell them. STRONGLY.

5. She sent Spanx to Oprah Winfrey’s stylist. Who was more perfect to wear Spanx than Oprah?

6. Millions heard about it through Oprah, an opportunity that Sara created for herself. And she also spent a season on Richard Branson’s reality show, defying every fear she ever had. She promoted herself down every avenue. That’s what you have to do to succeed. You can’t have any shame. I see in myself that I have a lot of shame in promoting myself that I have to get over. She had no shame.

7. YOU are the best promoter of your product.

8. You KNOW you are creating value. The money is just a side effect of passion.

9. If every day you wake up and say, “what adventure will happen to me today?” then adventures will happen to you.

10. Don’t be a hater! 99% of people are haters.

Another lesson from Sara Blakely comes from Entrepreneur Magazine:

My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something, he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age that failure is not the outcome, failure is not trying. Don't be afraid to fail.

Also, "Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' is my go-to song to pump myself up if I'm having a tough time or if I get really nervous right before a speech."

Awesome post. Every post this James Altucher guy writes is excellent. My favorites:

It doesn’t cost much to make a billion. She started with $5,000. That’s it. She never took investors. She never borrowed money. Now her revenues are hundreds of millions a year.

If you have an idea: don’t focus on the money. Don’t focus on how you will make a living. Do this:

• Build your product.
• Sell it to a customer.
• Start shipping.
• Then quit your job.

Sara, the founder of Spanx, didn’t quit her job until she was already well on her way to selling her first million in orders.

This reminds me of something Steve Jobs once said:

"Your job is not to make money. Your job is to make great products."

That's a key value at Apple.

"My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something, he would be disappointed."

Awesome!