GlobalWealth
Silver Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
LEGACY MEMBER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
From a business perspective, the last year has been incredible. Our domestic corporate services biz is bringing in new clients every month and the process is fairly smooth. The offshore corporate services biz is even better. The trust company is booming. The publishing/event biz is going well, but we are changing the format for '15. Very excited.
Lessons learned:
Hiring a PA was critical to the success. Without her freeing up time I was spending on menial tasks, I would not have been able to pursue bigger picture stuff.
Outsourcing some other critical tasks was also critical for the same reasons. Things like editing and publishing, website management, etc. I am not an expert here and have no business trying to do so.
Trust but verify (this seems to be a common them, right @MJ DeMarco?). Last year was an interesting year. I found out some people I had trusted were not very ethical business people. I also learned that some of the people I had done business with at a small scale, can be much, much better partners and highly ethical business people. Going forward I will do background checks on anyone I do business with. It may be a bit slow and more costly, but much more efficient in the long run.
You cannot make meaningful relationships and business deals sitting at your desk day after day. You need to get out and network. Go to local meetup events. Go to seminars and conferences.
Success will never chase you. You must chase success. And it rarely is found at your desk.
From a personal perspective, the last year has been one of the hardest in my life (maybe THE hardest). I was separated from my wife of 18 years in the fall of '13 and initially it was pretty amicable (there were bumps but overall ok). We were living a 5 minute walk away from each other so I could easily see the kids every day.
A few months later she kidnapped our children and moved to the US (yes, kidnapped because when both parents don't agree it is called kidnapping). We bought round trip tickets for her and the kids to visit family in the US and she never got on the return flight. As of this writing, I cannot even get her to sign a reasonable custody agreement and my kids are having to endure her daily barrage of hate talk about their father. It has been an emotional roller coaster.
Just before Thanksgiving my father passed away. He was suffering from cancer for many years and finally cancer won. He was a good man and mentor.
Lessons learned:
No matter how good a long term relationship is, the potential for it to blow up exists. If you would have asked me even 9 months ago 'would she vanish with kids' I would have thought you were crazy for even suggesting it.
Protect yourself - whatever that means in your personal situation.
If you have kids, make sure your relationship with them is a personal one and not dependent on your spouse. Even if your marriage never blows up, it is good for that relationship to be strong with them personally and not reliant on the other person. This is difficult to explain, but it is the difference between "we (your mother and I) love you" and "I love you".
Surround yourself with people you love and those that love you. This past year has shown me who are my real friends and who are the superficial ones. This includes family relationships. Originating from the bible belt south, you quickly learn which family members are not supportive in hard times like divorce.
Not only surround yourself with those closest to you, but focus your time and energy on those relationships. The important relationships rise to the top in times of need. Those are the good ones. Those are the relationships that need cultivating and maintaining.
The superficial ones become clear and should remain that - superficial or even non-existent.
Lessons learned:
Hiring a PA was critical to the success. Without her freeing up time I was spending on menial tasks, I would not have been able to pursue bigger picture stuff.
Outsourcing some other critical tasks was also critical for the same reasons. Things like editing and publishing, website management, etc. I am not an expert here and have no business trying to do so.
Trust but verify (this seems to be a common them, right @MJ DeMarco?). Last year was an interesting year. I found out some people I had trusted were not very ethical business people. I also learned that some of the people I had done business with at a small scale, can be much, much better partners and highly ethical business people. Going forward I will do background checks on anyone I do business with. It may be a bit slow and more costly, but much more efficient in the long run.
You cannot make meaningful relationships and business deals sitting at your desk day after day. You need to get out and network. Go to local meetup events. Go to seminars and conferences.
Success will never chase you. You must chase success. And it rarely is found at your desk.
From a personal perspective, the last year has been one of the hardest in my life (maybe THE hardest). I was separated from my wife of 18 years in the fall of '13 and initially it was pretty amicable (there were bumps but overall ok). We were living a 5 minute walk away from each other so I could easily see the kids every day.
A few months later she kidnapped our children and moved to the US (yes, kidnapped because when both parents don't agree it is called kidnapping). We bought round trip tickets for her and the kids to visit family in the US and she never got on the return flight. As of this writing, I cannot even get her to sign a reasonable custody agreement and my kids are having to endure her daily barrage of hate talk about their father. It has been an emotional roller coaster.
Just before Thanksgiving my father passed away. He was suffering from cancer for many years and finally cancer won. He was a good man and mentor.
Lessons learned:
No matter how good a long term relationship is, the potential for it to blow up exists. If you would have asked me even 9 months ago 'would she vanish with kids' I would have thought you were crazy for even suggesting it.
Protect yourself - whatever that means in your personal situation.
If you have kids, make sure your relationship with them is a personal one and not dependent on your spouse. Even if your marriage never blows up, it is good for that relationship to be strong with them personally and not reliant on the other person. This is difficult to explain, but it is the difference between "we (your mother and I) love you" and "I love you".
Surround yourself with people you love and those that love you. This past year has shown me who are my real friends and who are the superficial ones. This includes family relationships. Originating from the bible belt south, you quickly learn which family members are not supportive in hard times like divorce.
Not only surround yourself with those closest to you, but focus your time and energy on those relationships. The important relationships rise to the top in times of need. Those are the good ones. Those are the relationships that need cultivating and maintaining.
The superficial ones become clear and should remain that - superficial or even non-existent.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
