Top 90 Josh Kaufman Quotes (2025 Update)
Page 2 of 2

51. “We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”

— Josh Kaufman

52. “Oftentimes, what we experience as mental fatigue or emotional distress is simply a signal from our body that we’re not getting enough of something we physically need: nutrients, exercise, or rest.”

— Josh Kaufman

53. “Popper said many wise things, but I think the following remark is among the wisest: “The best thing that can happen to a human being is to find a problem, to fall in love with that problem, and to live trying to solve that problem, unless another problem even more lovable appears.”

— Josh Kaufman

54. “Consciously sending a mental “message received, safe to proceed” signal to your brain is a simple and surprisingly effective way to make yourself stop fixating on the issue.”

— Josh Kaufman

55. “Most drivers don’t buy expensive off-road-capable vehicles because they actually drive off the road. They buy them because off-road capability makes them feel adventurous and bold, capable of meeting any driving challenge.”

— Josh Kaufman

56. “Provide significant value to each subscriber on a regular basis. 2. Build a subscriber base and continually attract new subscribers to compensate for attrition. 3. Bill customers on a recurring basis. 4. Retain each subscriber as long as possible.”

— Josh Kaufman

57. “Now, people have the ability to filter out anything they don’t want to pay Attention to, either by ignoring the offending message or by shifting their Attention to something else. The moment you start talking about something your prospects don’t care about, they’re gone.”

— Josh Kaufman

58. “Before asking your prospects for Permission to follow up, make it clear what they’ll be getting and how it’ll benefit them.”

— Josh Kaufman

59. “Not being willing to jump in over your head is the single biggest emotional barrier to rapid skill acquisition. Feeling stupid isn’t fun, but reminding yourself that you will understand with practice will help you move from confusion to clarity as quickly as possible.”

— Josh Kaufman

60. “Climbing the corporate ladder is an obstacle to doing great work. I wanted to focus on getting things done and making things better, not drafting memos, sitting in meetings, and positioning myself for promotion.”

— Josh Kaufman

61. “Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t. – SETH GODIN.”

— Josh Kaufman

62. “No matter how much we desire certainty, predictability, and guaranteed results, the nature of human existence is fundamentally opposed to any attempt to control what will happen next.”

— Josh Kaufman

63. “Skill is the result of deliberate, consistent practice, and in early-stage practice, quantity and speed trump absolute quality. The faster and more often you practice, the more rapidly you’ll acquire the skill.”

— Josh Kaufman

64. “Your job as a marketer isn’t to convince people to want what you’re offering: it’s to help your prospects convince themselves that what you’re offering will help them get what they really want.”

— Josh Kaufman

65. “Intervention bias makes us likely to introduce changes that aren’t necessary in order to feel in control of a situation.”

— Josh Kaufman

66. “Tell your prospective customers the stories they’re interested in hearing, and you’ll inevitably grab their Attention.”

— Josh Kaufman

67. “If you encourage your prospects to Visualize what their life will look like after purchasing, you increase the probability that they’ll purchase from you.”

— Josh Kaufman

68. “It always pays to assume your prospects begin in a state of Preoccupation. Begin your marketing approach in a way that breaks their Preoccupation and earns their Attention.”

— Josh Kaufman

69. “According to Pfeffer and Fong’s study, it doesn’t matter if you graduate at the top of your class with a perfect 4.0 or at the bottom with a barely passing grade – getting an MBA has zero correlation with long-term career success. None.”

— Josh Kaufman

70. “Marketing is most effective when it focuses on the desired End Result, which is usually a distinctive experience or emotion related to a Core Human Drive.”

— Josh Kaufman

71. “Zappos could easily advertise “free expedited shipping”, but they don’t-the surprise is far more valuable.”

— Josh Kaufman

72. “Understanding what businesses actually do to create and deliver value is essential knowledge, but many business programs have de-emphasized value creation and operations in favor of finance and quantitative analysis.”

— Josh Kaufman

73. “If you’re interested in more detail on this topic, I highly recommend Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs by Karen Berman and Joe Knight with John Case.”

— Josh Kaufman

74. “Finance is the art and science of watching the money flowing into and out of a business, then deciding how to allocate it and determining whether or not what you’re doing is producing the results you want.”

— Josh Kaufman

75. “When financial wizardry and short-term returns trump prudence and long-term value creation, customers and employees suffer.”

— Josh Kaufman

76. “I can’t emphasize this enough: the quickest and easiest way to screw up your life is to take on too much debt. The primary reason people spend decades working in jobs they despise is to pay off their creditors. Financial stress can destroy relationships, threaten your health, and jeopardize your sanity.”

— Josh Kaufman

77. “If you are good enough to get in, you obviously have enough talent to do well, regardless.”

— Josh Kaufman

78. “The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The.”

— Josh Kaufman

79. “Books like The New Business Road Test by John Mullins can help you identify promising markets from the outset, increasing the probability that your new venture will be a success.”

— Josh Kaufman

80. “Over time, managers and executives began using statistics and analysis to forecast the future, relying on databases and spreadsheets in much the same way ancient seers relied on tea leaves and goat entrails. The.”

— Josh Kaufman

81. “When creating your list of MITs, it’s useful to ask a Self-Elicitation question: “What are the two or three most important things that I need to do today? What are the things that – if I got them done today – would make a huge difference?” Write only those tasks on your MIT list, then try to get them done first thing in the morning.”

— Josh Kaufman

82. “Choose a lovable project. 2. Focus your energy on one skill at a time. 3. Define your target performance level. 4. Deconstruct the skill into subskills. 5. Obtain critical tools. 6. Eliminate barriers to practice. 7. Make dedicated time for practice. 8. Create fast feedback loops. 9. Practice by the clock in short bursts. 10. Emphasize quantity and speed.”

— Josh Kaufman

83. “Mental Simulation, our minds are designed to automatically imagine the consequences of our actions. You can use this natural tendency to your advantage by helping your prospects imagine the positive experiences they’ll have.”

— Josh Kaufman

84. “Using what you make every day is the best way to improve the quality of what you’re offering. Nothing will help you find ways to make your offer better than being its most avid and demanding customer.”

— Josh Kaufman

85. “Information is valuable, but it comes at a price: experimentation is sometimes a form of Malinvestment.”

— Josh Kaufman

86. “Asking for Permission to follow up after providing Free value is more effective than interruption. Offering genuine value earns your prospect’s Attention, and asking for Permission gives you the opportunity to focus on communicating with people you know are interested in what you have to offer.”

— Josh Kaufman

87. “It’s often far more comfortable to focus on the features: you know what your offer does. Even so, it’s far more effective to focus on the benefits: what your offer will provide to customers.”

— Josh Kaufman

88. “Remember, I’m starting as a complete beginner, and I don’t know what I’m doing.”

— Josh Kaufman

89. “A venture that doesn’t create value for others is a hobby. A venture that doesn’t attract attention is a flop. A venture that doesn’t sell the value it creates is a nonprofit. A venture that doesn’t deliver what it promises is a scam. A venture that doesn’t bring in enough money to keep operating will inevitably close.”

— Josh Kaufman

90. “When creating a Hook, focus on the primary benefit or value your offer provides. Emphasize what’s uniquely valuable about your offer and why the prospect should care. Brainstorm a list of words and phrases related to your primary benefit, then experiment with different ways to connect them in a short phrase.”

— Josh Kaufman

91. “The essence of effective marketing is discovering what people already want, then presenting your offer in a way that intersects with that preexisting Desire.”

— Josh Kaufman

92. “It’s hard for me to understand why getting an MBA is a better use of time and money than actual experience combined with a dedicated reading of 30 or 40 books.”

— Josh Kaufman

93. “Every business is fundamentally limited by the size and quality of the market it attempts to serve. The Iron Law of the Market is cold, hard, and unforgiving: if you don’t have a large group of people who want what you have to offer, your chances of building a viable business are very slim.”

— Josh Kaufman