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Exactly two years ago, I purchased The Millionaire Fastlane and got interested in business for the first time. After looking back on the amateur posts I made here, and the amateur mistakes I made along the way, I began thinking "If I knew then, what I knew now... how much quicker I would be on the road to success.
I'd like to share some of the key things I learned along the way with anybody reading this so they can learn these lessons quicker than I did.
1 - Don't fear failure
If you go into business expecting not to fail every single day, you are going to give up and not be successful. You have to rewire your brain to know that you will fail hundreds on times on any idea before you hit a big success. Those of us that make it past those failures will be successful. Think of every obstacle/roadblock/failure that you hit as another barrier to entry that pushes you past the competition. 99% of people will give up along the way. There is the reason why the wealthy are in the 1%.
What I thought business was when I started
I think it was James Altucher who said a quote on here which I'll re-word like this:
Fail your way into success.
2 - Your brain always assumes the worst
Over the last millions of years, our brains have been been programmed to unconsciously assume the worst case scenario and avoid risk at all costs. If an ancient ancestor of ours made the wrong move...they would most likely die.
Society has evolved much faster than our brains can keep up. The "worst case scenario" almost never happens. You are not going to die if you lose $1,000 trying to advertise your product. You are not going to die if the guy/girl that you ask out says no. Stop acting like it.
I forgot who said this at C&B (Greg, Dale, Randall?), but this quote is starting to make sense to me now:
"When taking a leap of faith into the darkness, there is always a safety net waiting just out of site. Sometimes the fall will hurt a little, but you just pick your self back up, brush yourself off, and keep pushing forward".
This type of "worst case scenario" thinking will get in the way of success. Speaking from personal experience in March of 2012 when I was living with my parents on the east coast - I had $200 in my bank account and about $30,000 in student loan debt. I drove 2,600 miles across the country to Phoenix, AZ with no income or job, and thousands of miles from my family...and I'm in a much better situation for it. I'm not out in the desert somewhere begging for water.
3 - Don't go at it alone
Skype is your best friend. Form a mastermind group of people with similar goals as you and keep each other accountable. Schedule a conference call one night every week to keep each other moving forward.
4 - Take Action Now
Dreaming or planning won't get you anywhere. Go out there, fail at your business for a year straight to see if you can make it to the end without giving up.
I spent the last month pulling my hair out failing at IOS App development. 5 minutes before writing this, I finally "accidentally NOT failed" and got my first app submitted to the App store.... It may take 2 weeks before it is approved. So I can rest now.
This post was my rest.... time to get back to work.
What lessons do you wish you knew when you first started?
I'd like to share some of the key things I learned along the way with anybody reading this so they can learn these lessons quicker than I did.
1 - Don't fear failure
If you go into business expecting not to fail every single day, you are going to give up and not be successful. You have to rewire your brain to know that you will fail hundreds on times on any idea before you hit a big success. Those of us that make it past those failures will be successful. Think of every obstacle/roadblock/failure that you hit as another barrier to entry that pushes you past the competition. 99% of people will give up along the way. There is the reason why the wealthy are in the 1%.
What I thought business was when I started
- Have great business idea -> Bring idea to market -> Get rich (if you hit a roadblock...it must be a bad business idea so therefore you should move onto the next thing)
I think it was James Altucher who said a quote on here which I'll re-word like this:
- "In order to be successful, you have to learn that you are going to fail so many times until you accidentally don't fail once, and that is when you will achieve success."
Fail your way into success.
2 - Your brain always assumes the worst
Over the last millions of years, our brains have been been programmed to unconsciously assume the worst case scenario and avoid risk at all costs. If an ancient ancestor of ours made the wrong move...they would most likely die.
Society has evolved much faster than our brains can keep up. The "worst case scenario" almost never happens. You are not going to die if you lose $1,000 trying to advertise your product. You are not going to die if the guy/girl that you ask out says no. Stop acting like it.
I forgot who said this at C&B (Greg, Dale, Randall?), but this quote is starting to make sense to me now:
"When taking a leap of faith into the darkness, there is always a safety net waiting just out of site. Sometimes the fall will hurt a little, but you just pick your self back up, brush yourself off, and keep pushing forward".
This type of "worst case scenario" thinking will get in the way of success. Speaking from personal experience in March of 2012 when I was living with my parents on the east coast - I had $200 in my bank account and about $30,000 in student loan debt. I drove 2,600 miles across the country to Phoenix, AZ with no income or job, and thousands of miles from my family...and I'm in a much better situation for it. I'm not out in the desert somewhere begging for water.
3 - Don't go at it alone
Skype is your best friend. Form a mastermind group of people with similar goals as you and keep each other accountable. Schedule a conference call one night every week to keep each other moving forward.
4 - Take Action Now
Dreaming or planning won't get you anywhere. Go out there, fail at your business for a year straight to see if you can make it to the end without giving up.
I spent the last month pulling my hair out failing at IOS App development. 5 minutes before writing this, I finally "accidentally NOT failed" and got my first app submitted to the App store.... It may take 2 weeks before it is approved. So I can rest now.
This post was my rest.... time to get back to work.
What lessons do you wish you knew when you first started?
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