Money is a short-term result that incentivizes short-term decision making.

All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year.

Wal-Mart's size and scale is so vast they literally have the ability to change the face of the entire country. If Wal-Mart were to make a decision tomorrow to refuse to sell a single product made with partially hydrogenated oils, for example, we'd probably see rates from heart disease decline a few years later. That's how powerful Wal-Mart is.

I'd rather play in the major leagues and have some bad games than play consistently good ball in the minors.

The goal of business should not be to do business with anyone who simply wants what you have. It should be to focus on the people who believe what you believe. When we are selective about doing business only with those who believe in our WHY, trust emerges.

We pursue exercise even though empirically we see no benefit from the energy we're spending and we're hurting. So empirically we should quit. The why is exactly the same thing. You persist even though there are some short-term stresses and even though there is some uncertainty.

Putting yourself first is not selfish. Quite the opposite. You must put your happiness and health first before you can be of help to anyone else.