15 pieces of advice from former Fortune 40 Under 40 winners

Fortune's annual "40 Under 40" list honors the most influential young people in the world of business. Last year's 40 Under 40 class included powerful names in various industries, from Taylor Swift to Fitbit President and CEO James Park to UFC fighter Ronda Rousey.

While prepping this year's list, Fortune revealed 15 pieces of advice from previous classes of 40 Under 40 winners.

1. "You have to create the quiet to be able to listen to the very faint voice of your intuition."

            –Michael Dubin, cofounder and CEO of Dollar Shave Club (class of 2015)

2. "Avoid bad meetings and the tempting 'inbox zero.' Skip email on occasion, pick up the phone and have a wonderful conversation from time to time. Memories count."

            –Ashifi Gogo, CEO of Sproxil (class of 2015)

3. "In Eleanor Roosevelt's words, 'Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes.'"

            –Jessica Alba, founder of The Honest Company (class of 2015)

4. "Find a life partner better than yourself. I would not be where I am without my wife Srishti."

            –Vas Narasimhan, global head of development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals (class of 2015)

5. "Things are not ever as risky as they seem. People always overweigh risk."

            –Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator (class of 2015)

6. "Focus on building knowledge, experience and confidence first. Rewards will come later."

            –Karen Fang, managing director at Bank of America (class of 2015)

7. "Anytime you have a difficult decision, imagine yourself as a 90-year-old looking back at this moment. What decision would you wish that you would have made? Go forward and look backward."

            –Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro (class of 2014)

8. "Construct your own definition of success, don't let the world do it for you. Just because someone puts a carrot in front of you doesn't mean you have to chase it."

            –Michael Patterson,  partner at Highbridge Prinicipal Strategies (class of 2014)

9. "When pursuing your first job, focus on working with great people, and not the job with the highest paycheck."

            –Kevin Chou, cofounder and CEO of Kabam (class of 2014)

10. "Underpromise, overdeliver."

            –Clara Shih, cofounder and CEO of Hearsay Social (class of 2012)

11. "Take time to master your discipline. Take the nitty-gritty jobs early in your professional life. You will benefit."

            –Dolf van den Brink, president and CEO of Heineken Mexico (class of 2012)

12. "I'll speak at an event, and there will be a line afterward, and I make sure I talk to every single person. That's where you learn. That's where you get the best idea."

            –B. Bonin Bough, host of CNBC's Cleveland Hustles and former chief media and ecommerce officer at Mondelez International (class of 2011)

13. "Be curious. Ask questions. Find and express your passionate enthusiasm for whatever you believe in."

            –Rio Caraeff, chief content officer at Magic Leap and founder of VEVO (classes of 2009, 2010 and 2011)

14. "Don't be afraid to make heroic failures."

            –Tor Myhren, vice president of marketing communications at Apple (class of 2011)

15. "One of my mentors said, 'You're going to have success in your career, just make sure you never believe your own press, because you'll stop trying as hard.' I've lived by that advice pretty rigidly ever since."

            –Wendy Clark, president and CEO of North America at DDB Worldwide (classes of 2009 and 2010)

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