John D. Rockefeller, Sr. led an amazing life. He was both a visionary and a builder (for more on this concept see Post #133). Starting out as a bookkeeper, by age 25, he controlled one of the largest oil refineries in the nation. By age 31, Rockefeller’s company, Standard Oil, had become the world’s largest oil refiner. By age 38, he commanded 90% of the oil refined in the U.S. By the time of his retirement at age 58, Rockefeller was the richest man in the country. Finally, by the time he died, he had become the richest man in the world.

What drove Rockefeller was his personal purpose. At an early age, he discovered that he was driven to organize the American oil industry under his company, Standard Oil. He organized the oil industry both vertically and horizontally — from the wells the extracted the oil to the pipelines that moved it, to the barrels that it was stored in, to the refineries, and to gas stations that pumped it into automobiles. The organization was too successful — in 1911, the U.S. government broke up Standard Oil into 34 new companies (the 34 new companies included today’s ExxonMobil, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, and BP) in an effort to increase competition in the marketplace.

Ron Chernow’s biography Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. is fantastic. It is a great read for historians, entrepreneurs, and executives alike.

I researched Rockefeller and his grit for my book Grow Your Grit (available for pre-order here). In the book I focused on his personal purpose and how he used it to grow his business. If you want to try an exercise on developing your own personal purpose, like Rockefeller’s, check out Post #96.

In the meantime, I wanted to share six quotes from him that didn’t make the book:

• If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.

• I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.

• Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one's aim.

• I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.

• Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

• Many of the brightest (competitors) kept their books in such a way that they did not actually know when they were making money on a certain operation and when they were losing.

Use John D. Rockefeller’s quotes to grow your grit, develop your personal purpose, and inspire you to go on the offensive in 2021.