The five motivational words and phrases Virgin CEO Richard Branson attributes to his success

Billionaire Richard Branson has revealed the simple-yet-sweet phrase his dad said every day that he has adopted to stay positive and motivated. 

The Virgin CEO says the three words: ‘Isn’t life wonderful?’ when he wakes up to centre him and start his day off in a positive light. 

In his monthly newsletter on LinkedIn, Richard answered a fan-submitted question: ‘What words keep you centred and motivated when you wake up?’ and gave his five mantras he lives by including ‘Screw it, let’s do it’ and ‘Only a fool never changes his mind’. 

The 72-year-old said his father, Edward Branson, who died in 2011 aged 93, lived by and would say ‘Isn’t life wonderful’ every day. 

‘Dad found delight in almost everything, and he taught me how to find the positive in any given situation,’ Richard wrote. 

‘It’s a wonderful way to approach life and it’s helped me to view challenges as opportunities.’

A saying Richard said he’s uttered ‘countless times’ in his life is ‘Screw it, let’s do it’ as he loves taking risks both in his personal and business life claiming it’s ‘the best way to grow’. 

The 72-year-old his father Edward Branson (pictured), who died in 2011 aged 93, lived by and would say ‘Isn’t life wonderful’ every day

The business mogul said he never could have launched Virgin Records or Virgin Atlantic if he didn’t ‘throw his hands up’ and say those words time and time again.

‘When somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you’re not sure you can do it, say yes and figure out how to do it later! Life is a whole lot more fun like this,’ he said.  

A phrase that Richard said ‘really stuck with him’ is ‘You miss 100 per cent of the times you don’t swing’ – something his mum would say ‘over and over again’. 

He said he was encouraged to give everything his best shot as a child by his mother who ‘practised what she preached’.

In her youth, Richard’s mother Eve, who died in 2019, disguised herself as a boy to take gliding lessons, enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service or WRENS in World War II then toured Germany as a ballerina after the war. 

‘She showed us how exciting life is when you work hard and give everything a go. Whenever I feel daunted by a prospect, but know it’s the right step to take, I repeat Mum’s words in my mind,’ the Virgin group funder wrote.  

Something Richard said motivated him to get out of bed every morning is the ‘exciting’ prospect of learning something new and reminds himself: ‘Only a fool never changes his mind’. 

‘I try to tell myself this every day, so I don’t get stuck in my ways and shut myself off from learning something new. In almost every conversation I have, I’m reminded by how much I still have to learn,’ he said.

Richard’s final mantra is: ‘You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over’. 

He said he learnt the phrase when he dropped out of school at the age of 16 and he has ‘never been great at following rules’ because of his dyslexia but learnt the most in life from first-hand experience.

In the beginnings of Virgin, Richard said he and his team were ‘total rookies’ in business as per the name implies and ‘a bunch of kids learning on this spot’ but found their own way to success. 

‘This ‘strategy’ served us well, because we soon realised that you don’t learn to walk by following rules, you learn by doing and by falling over,’ he said. 

‘The same way a small child learns to walk by trying, falling, and trying over and over again. I’m not a rebellious teenager anymore, but I’m still throwing out the rulebooks.’