105 Great Dan Peña Quotes From The $50 Billion Man

Arkoprabho Sadhu
Dec 12, 2023 By Arkoprabho Sadhu
Originally Published on Mar 12, 2021
Edited by Monisha Kochhar
Senior man reading newspaper at home.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Dan Peña is one of the most successful businessmen and business coaches in the world.

After starting his career as an analyst in Wall Street, Dan Peña quickly made his first few millions through slick decisions and innovative thinking. Best known for his time as the president of Great Western Resources, Inc., the retired Dan Peña has turned into a very successful business performance coach.

Always imploring us to take action, Dan Peña quotes are motivating and fun to read. In Dan Pena quotes, you will find many quotes on business, many quotes on his life, and much more. So, let's read these Dan Peña quotes.

If you like Dan Peña quotes, take a look at Dan Lok quotes and Charlie Munger quotes.

Amazing Dan Peña Quotes

Here are some amazing Dan Pena quotes for you to check out.

1. "Show me your friends and I will show you your future."

- Dan Pena.

2. "Reading books is not taking action! Taking action is pulling the trigger!"

- Dan Pena.

3. "People with low self-esteem protect themselves by not taking risks. High self-esteem gives you the power of confidence to take chances."

- Dan Pena.

4. "Man plans — God laughs!"

- Dan Peña.

5. “The difference between a failure and a high performance individual is how each deals with fear. We are all afraid. A high performance person uses his fear to galvanize his actions."

- Dan Peña.

6. "Don't waste time on things you can't change!”

- Dan Peña.

7.  "A deal is either hot — or it's not."

- Dan Peña.

8. "Business deals start and end with people — the interaction of flesh and blood, bone and sinew, heart and mind, emotion and soul."

- Dan Peña.

9."Success starts with you being comfortable being uncomfortable!"

- Dan Pena.

10. "We are preached to that those 'things' are for the 'other' people; you certainly can't expect that for yourself; whom are you kidding? You'll only disappoint yourself."

- Dan Pena.

11. "Turner, Iacocca, Ford, Dell, Edison, Gates, Jobs, Tom Watson, Perot, Fred Smith, Knight, Bezoes, and probably any superstar you know all subscribe to do what others felt was wrong."

- Dan Pena.

12. "Well since I am about 2/3 through my most active years, I want to go on the record now, as7 opposed to waiting till I am 100!"

- Dan Pena.

13. "There's no secret sauce to being a billionaire!"

- Dan Pena.

14.  "My life was changed a number of years ago when I heard Ted Turner of Time Warner/Turner Communications fame say 'set goals you cannot accomplish in your lifetime.'"

- Dan Pena.

15. "All our lives we are told by the pundits our goals are not realistic. Our dreams are too far-fetched. Our expectations are too high!"

- Dan Pena.

16. "Popular consensus = recipe for failure. The aforementioned rhetoric is what we and every other human being have been told since Guthrie man."

- Dan Pena.

17. "We are told you have to remember who you are and where you came from."

- Dan Pena.

18. "Our lives are a series of lowered expectations year after year. We got pounded by everything around us. Just like our parents and their parents. We are products of our social and economic milieu."

- Dan Pena.

19. "It's a changed world! Are you changing?"

- Dan Pena.

20. "You see, all super high performance people go against conventional wisdom."

- Dan Pena.

21. "It's wrong to be taught you're the pension fund of your parents!"

- Dan Peña.

22. "Quantum Leap success means fishing with nets, not just with lines."

- Dan Peña.

23. "Progress often masquerades as trouble."

- Dan Peña.

24. "Never ever share your doubts."

- Dan Peña.

25. "I’ve never seen a 'part-time' super successful, high-performance person."

- Dan Peña.

Inspirational Dan Peña Quotes

Asking us to take charge and take action, Dan Peña quotes will always inspire. Take a look at these Dan Pena quotes.

26. "Tough times don't last — tough people do!"

- Dan Peña.

27. "Don't just work longer hours, 'staying busy' as most other people do. 'Work smart' i.e. Stay productive and don't get distracted."

- Dan Peña.

28. "The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself!"

- Dan Peña.

29. "The Hedgehog Vs Fox… the fox is smart & cunning but gets caught up in lots of details, becoming misdirected and chasing his own tail… hedgehogs do only one thing and do it well and nothing else… eat."

- Dan Peña.

30. "CEO’s most important task…never stop becoming qualified for the job."

- Dan Peña.

31. "Question: how do you know if your company is worthy of lasting??? Answer: does it stand for something great to someone?"

- Dan Peña.

32. "Build something that is worthy and stands for something to someone…"

- Dan Peña.

33. "The difference between me and a lot of you here is that I have no fears. Once you become fearless, life becomes limitless."

- Dan Peña.

34. "Great DNA encoding of people and values (not ideas) in young companies early on will create the truly great and lasting companies later."

- Dan Peña.

35. "If you change a billion lives, that's the formula to become a billionaire and change the world."

- Dan Peña.

36. "Practice within when you're without. Practice success."

- Dan Peña.

37. "Too many people waste time on personal development instead of execution. They confuse reading for action."

- Dan Peña.

38. "We have two bank accounts - the emotional bank account and the financial bank account. We empty one into the other."

- Dan Peña.

39. "The internet is a giant lab experiment for corporate America and those companies that recognize this and play well within the rules of ambiguity & fluidity will survive and win."

- Dan Peña.

40. "I can guarantee you, you will never achieve anything greater than your highest aspiration."

- Dan Peña.

41. "The best form of customer service is self-service."

- Dan Peña.

42. "Size is the enemy of speed! Speed to react matters more than size of company…"

- Dan Peña.

43. "I don't want anybody to love me. In fact, I don't want anyone to even like me. I want them to respect me. Respect is fine."

- Dan Peña.

44. "Good leaders make sense of change in the world… then imparts that insight to the team."

- Dan Peña.

45. "Political Correctness is a manifestation of a lack of self-esteem."

- Dan Peña.

46. "The job of CEOs is not to be the smartest guy in the room but to attract other smart guys to work for him. The 'group brain' is far more powerful than individual brainpower."

- Dan Peña.

47. "Human talent is the currency of the new economy."

- Dan Peña.

48. "The best CEOs of all time are hedgehogs!"

- Dan Peña.

49. "You can't have a dream come true unless you have a dream."

- Dan Peña.

50. "Don’t under any circumstances, ever, second guess yourself."

- Dan Peña.

Motivational Dan Peña Quotes

If you are in need of some extra motivation, these Dan Pena quotes will surely help.

51. "Always shoot for the moon. Even if you don’t hit the bulls-eye, you’ll at least get 80 percent.”

- Dan Peña.

52. "We must all remember life doesn't have to be fair for us to succeed if we take change and become masters and creators of our own destiny!"

- Dan Pena.

53.  "If you want things to change, first you have to change."

- Dan Peña.

54. "Realists are brutally honest with themselves… yet they still have an unwavering belief that they will prevail…"

- Dan Pena.

55. "Talent base - people… are the most important assets of new economy companies."

- Dan Peña.

56. "Great companies didn’t start with what they planned on doing, but they started out great by who they picked to do it with!"

- Dan Peña.

57. "You will definitely encounter lots of resistance on the road to super success but don’t let others stop you from reaching your goals."

- Dan Peña.

58. "High performance people don’t keep track: they’re macro thinkers, not micro thinkers. To be really successful you can’t be part-time. You have to be enthusiastic – have passion."

- Dan Peña.

59. "Don't litigate frivolously – but don't be afraid to protect what is right either."

- Dan Peña.

60. "I can be rich… I know I didn’t do it by accident…there’s no doubt in my mind I can do it again!"

- Dan Peña.

61. "I have been dead in business five times. I know what it’s like to have a house repossessed …I’ve been there!"

- Dan Peña.

62. "Once you learn to make money it is not that hard….what’s hard is to stay excited about it."

- Dan Peña.

63. "The only things in life you regret are the risks you didn’t take."

- Dan Peña.

64. "Most success and business coaching today is nothing more than a big scam!"

- Dan Peña.

65. "The reason a lot of people don't get more done is they do too many things and they do them all poorly - focus."

- Dan Peña.

66. "Super-success is not for everyone, and you will endure weeks and months and years of hard work, obstacles, failures, victories, pain, and any manner of 'negative' experiences to reap the rewards of success, drink from the golden goblet, own the brass ring."

- Dan Peña.

67. "The big lie is that success is easy, it’s for everyone!"

- Dan Peña.

68. "Most people procrastinate because they're not sure. So just do it."

- Dan Peña.

69. "The road to success is always under construction …there are lots of potholes but no traffic jams!"

- Dan Peña.

70. "We’re all self-made but only successful people admit it. What’s keeping you from doing it – You!"

- Dan Peña.

71. "Always tell the truth, no matter what. The truth will set you free!"

- Dan Peña.

72. "Choose your Battles: No one should sue over every wrong."

- Dan Peña.

73. "Purveyors of conventional wisdom have told me for years I couldn’t do this or that. I’ve kept the list of the things they said I couldn’t do but did."

- Dan Peña.

74. "It is not important what we do, but whom we do it with!"

- Dan Peña.

75. "Failure is not an option, even in the face of great adversity…just know what your adversity really is!"

- Dan Pena.

76. "Don’t set time limits for achieving goals. They should transcend time."

- Dan Pena.

77. "Find your passion and wrap your career around it. Live your life on purpose!"

- Dan Peña.

78. "Everyone knows how to manage success. But no one ever asks, 'How do we manage failure?'"

- Dan Peña.

79. "No matter how tempting, never accept short-term solutions to long-term problems."

- Dan Peña.

80. "Set goals you cannot achieve in your lifetime."

- Dan Peña.

Dan Pena Book Quotes

Here are some quotes from Dan Pena from his books. These Dan Pena quotes also talk about his successful business model of quantum leap advancement.

81. "Money is not all there is in the world – but it is the only thing anyone keeps absolute statistics and track of since the time of pharaohs..."

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

82. "There is a massive difference between playing to win and playing not to lose! Which have you followed?"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

83. "You'll also understand it's not a book for everybody because success (and the wealth it brings) isn't for everybody."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

84. "Analysis equals paralysis! But the main ingredient is not giving up and the amount of heart you possess!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

85. "It's about achieving the mental toughness and laser-beam focus you need to make a ton of money."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

86. "My Dad was an incredible role model in many aspects of my life!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

87. "They used to call me crazy...and worse. They'd say, 'Dan, you can't do that!' And, by God, I'd do it. Then, when I made my first few million dollars, they started calling me controversial.'"

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

88. "As I have said for many years - we are the average of the 5 people we are exposed to most in our lives!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

89. "This is a book about making money."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

90. "I owe my massive self-esteem mostly to my Mom!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

91. "Now, in my early fifties, I'm mellowing into 'eccentric.'"

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

92. "Being the most successful high-performance business coach, as measured by value/equity created, is a big responsibility and a great honor."

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

93. "I've built from scratch more dollar value than any other personal development or business success coach who'll ever try to sell you a book."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

94. "... if you can’t take reality and tough love, I am the wrong guy!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

95. "I reasoned that if other super successful business performers could deliver their proven wisdom and strategies to a willing and receptive audience of eager listeners ready to take bold action, so could I."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

96. "When these kids told me they slept in their office and everybody thought they were nuts – I just laughed!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

97. "My goal is to change the way personal success development strategies and business success coaching are communicated to the world - and make another ton of money, of course!"

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

98. "Hitting rock bottom was necessary for me to put myself on high gear."

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

99. I'm not going to tell you what I think you want to hear so you'll like me. I don't care if you like me or not.

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

100. "As I tweeted, I have changed my goals due to me accomplishing many of them in just 9 weeks of this New Year!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

101. "You should also read on because, if you can handle it, this book is written for you."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

102. "I have decided to aim much more than that - to become known as The Trillion Dollar Man! And that was officially realized in January 2020!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

103. "I've made over 75,000 business decisions during my 37-year business career. That's probably: 70,000 more than anyone who'll read this book - or anyone selling success books and tapes."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

104. "Not everybody wants fame – only fortune!"

- Dan Peña, 'The Trillion Dollar Man'.

105. "I've lost more money in just one bad deal than a lot of those slick-suited guys on the 'feel-good-get-rich' lecture circuit ever made in their whole lives."

- Dan Peña, 'Your First 100 Million'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Dan Pena quotes, then why not take a look at Mark Cuban quotes or Herb Kelleher quotes.

We Want Your Photos!
We Want Your Photos!

We Want Your Photos!

Do you have a photo you are happy to share that would improve this article?
Email your photos

More for You

Top view image of feet of young people standing in a circle.
Quotes

50+ Feet Quotes

See All

Written by Arkoprabho Sadhu

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English

Arkoprabho Sadhu picture

Arkoprabho SadhuBachelor of Arts specializing in English

Arkoprabho is an English graduate from Bidhannagar University with experience in academic writing on various subjects such as business management, law, and medicine. He is a published poet and enjoys films, music, and finance. As a member of the Content Updating team, he aims to become an expert in SEO content writing and editing. In his free time, he likes to write film scripts, research the stock market, and indulge in creative interests such as poetry writing, anime, and music.

Read full bio >