On Struggling Financially
When I think about the last 13 years of my life financially, it has been a struggle. While my lifestyle has improved drastically from subsisting on canned tuna, I’ve always been at the point of going broke in a few months if money doesn’t come in. The times where I’ve started to save money, my expenses have risen. This is true both in my personal and business life.
The excuse that I’ve told myself in the past is that I’m investing in the future and one day I’ll earn so much money that I’ll never have to worry about it again. However, now at 31, an unspoken fear of mine is that I will live my whole life like this without every making progress, because I’m not shifting my mind in the way I need to.
The word I need to become friends with is PROFIT, and the word I near to be less comfortable with is BREAK-EVEN.
This is one of my big goals in 2013, and the more I explore it, the more I need to re-examine so many parts of my life.
One realization is that I need to invest less in the future. That means investing less in things that COULD work and more in the things that DO work financially.
That’s scary for me. It means cutting myself off from being open to new ideas, no matter how good they look. It means cutting myself off from existing or new people where there is not a direct path to financial profit. At some level, that feels wrong to me.
The future has always been a place of possibility for me. It has been the place of hope when I was surrounded by things I didn’t want in my life. It is weird now that this way of thinking, when not balanced correctly, can actually hurt me.
There are a lot of great things in my life that work now. I have learned a lot of best practices by meeting incredible people and reading hundreds of books and mostly by just living life.
I used to have a huge vision for my life, but I had no idea on how I would get there. Now, I know the tools, vehicles, and strategies that I will need to follow.
Here is what I have learned in one sentence:
THE BEST WAY TO CREATE THE FUTURE I WANT IS BY SPENDING MORE ENERGY LIVING IN THE PRESENT AND DOING WHAT I KNOW WORKS.
This doesn’t mean that I will completely stop investing in the future, but the ratios will definitely change!
Now, the trick is actually implementing this and really coming to grips with this in my bones.
Judging Myself Against Myself Instead of Others
I started my first business when I was 16 years old. My business partner and I made $40,000 our senior year working about 10 hours a week during the school year. There wasn’t much coverage on teen entrepreneurship in the country, so I literally thought I was one of the top handful of entrepreneurs in the country.
As a result of starting the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (http://www.extremetour.org/) and the Empact100 (http://www.empact100.com/), I’ve had the opportunity to meet a huge diversity of extremely ‘successful’ (successful in lots of ways) young entrepreneurs.
This has been a humbling process. In seeing other people’s success, I sometimes have found my self-esteem get smaller and unconsciously wondering what I’m doing wrong. I can remember ruining perfectly good days in college when I’d come across an amazing young entrepreneur, and I’d have to completely rework my world view so I wouldn’t get depressed. It is embarrassing to admit that, but it’s the truth.
I’ve been in situation after situation and still am in it where I feel like people don’t really get who I am and under-estimate me. I imagine other people feel similarly.
I’m lucky to be married to Sheena Lindahl, because she is one of the most independent thinkers I have ever met. I have NEVER seen her compare herself to other people. I’ve never seen her look down at somebody or gravel at someone else’s feet.
She is a reminder to me that I shouldn’t build my self-worth based on what society or my circle considers ‘sexy’ or ‘meaningful’ at a given time.
We all have unique strengths, timelines, and visions for our lives. I think greatness ultimately comes from judging ourselves on our own scale.
I Recommit to Life
I fell into temptation this last year.
I focused too much on illusory goals that I ultimately knew would not give me what I was looking for in this life.
There comes a point in the study of success, when you know you have mastered the principles enough to get to a point that society would call successful if you simply continue to follow the road you’re on and ride the momentum.
It is tempting to follow that direct path in order to potentially gain the respect and approval of others.
I now know that the cost of pursuing that path is ultimately losing respect for one’s self.
I know that the goals I would like to pursue in this life are not directly visible by anybody but myself.
In order to attain the goals in anyway, I now realize that I must sacrifice external approval of others at different points. That is scary for me. I thought that both could be pursued simultaneously, but ultimately, I think one must make choices.
I pray for the courage, integrity, and focus to consistently stay on the path that my soul demands.
Why I Have Hope…
We have the ability to control our mind, and our mind has ability to control our life.
When it comes to controlling the mind, every moment matters.
Every thought reinforces itself and is therefore stronger than that thought alone.
“This will be the last time.” is a lie, because making poor choices will only reinforce poor choices.
‘Taking a break’ from programming your mind is an excuse to make poor choices.
Habits of thought are INCREDIBLY strong and require immense will-power and self-awareness to alter.
Creating positive habits is a lifelong discipline.
By fully taking this power into our hands, we break the link between past and future.
We can choose our future, and then choose thoughts that will create that future.
I have hope for the world, because I know we all have this power to create our world.
How can we help each other use this power in every moment?
On Being a New Parent (Again)
Alright, I’ve just entered a new phase of my life with a second child.
I’m really excited about it.
I’m now a big believer that life has its seasons. Each season makes energy flow in a certain direction. I notice things are more in harmony when I go with that energy.
If I had to look back from 20 years in the future and give this season a title, I would call it: BUILDING. This is probably closest to the end of winter.
I’m building a family and building my first real business. I think I’ll be looking back at this period of life with nostalgia at the children being so young, and I’ll appreciate all of the time I spent with them. I will also appreciate all the hard work I put into the business so I could enjoy the growth financially and personally along with the impact in the future.
I appreciate being in situations where I MUST change for the better. Maybe, other people can change more easily, but I find I operate best (metaphorically) when I have a gun to my head and the person holding it says, “Dance!” There is something to be said for taking away all your options except the best ones.
During winter, things die or go into hibernation. I’m going to need to say no to parts of myself and things I do, which I previously allowed. This is not easily, but it is good.
The Secret that Young Entrepreneurs Want to Share with the World
As the co-founder of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (http://www.extremetour.org), I’ve had the opportunity to personally meet hundreds of young entrepreneurs in their teens and twenties making very good livings and changing the world. I know of thousands more who I haven’t had the opportunity to meet yet.
They’ve told me a secret that’s not widely known.
Here it is:
We are not an anomaly.
We are a sign of things to come.
Any success we’ve had is replicable and therefore teachable.
We’re successful because we started young and had years of deliberate practice running our own business before we hit it big.
We’re possible NOW at such a young age and in such large numbers because rapidly evolving technology has democratized starting a business for people who don’t have money or a network.
Our mindset is the solution to what most people in America care about: JOBS!
Small businesses create 2/3 of jobs.
To build an entrepreneurial country, we need to teach entrepreneurship to young people as early as we can.
In the same way we groom athletes and musicians from a young age with deliberate practice so too can we groom tomorrow’s job creators.
“I’m Gonna Show You How Great I Am!” -Muhammad Ali
Growing up, I wanted to be discovered. I wanted people to see how great I was. I felt under-appreciated, like people didn’t get me. But, I didn’t break out of my shell and show people how great I was.
No one is obligated to believe in us.
We have to make it impossible for people not to see our greatness.
Is Action the Best Measurement of Learning in Entrepreneurship Education?
I think the answer is yes.
What good does it do an entrepreneur to have a great idea and business plan, if he/she doesn’t know how to turn that plan into action?
The biggest hurdle I’ve seen to would-be entrepreneurs is the resistance to actively and consistently talking with customers.
Without a customer, somebody using or purchasing a product, the idea’s value is close to zero.
The ONLY way to get customers is to engage them in a conversation. At the very least, the customer gains an understanding of what your product is, how it can help them, and then decides to move forward. At the most, a conversation with a potential customer leads to deep mutual understanding and the decision to work together for mutual benefit.
The more conversations you engage in, the more customers you get and the more you learn about your customers.
What often stops people from talking to customers is not lack of knowledge. It’s because talking to potential customers is outside of one’s comfort zone.
It’s hard to realize this basic fact because people veil it in excuses.
They say they don’t have enough time, money, or knowledge to start a business.
In reality, talking to customers doesn’t cost a lot of money, require a huge amount of knowledge (you should be listening 80% of the time), and takes very little time.
Most entrepreneurship education courses and curricula don’t realize this and, in so doing, do students a disservice.
I think one of the biggest benefits an entrepreneurship course could offer is FORCING students outside of their comfort zone until they become comfortable and skilled at talking to customers. Most students would NEVER take this kind of action on their own without this sort of accountability. If a course did nothing, but give this confidence, then I think it would have to be considered a success.
Getting those first few customers provides critical inspiration to the founder(s) and also gives initial proof to would-be stakeholders (investors, employees, partners, etc.). That is massive momentum.
Many entrepreneurship courses end with the creation and presentation of a business plan. While this certainly does inspire some students to action, I would wager that the percentages are extremely small.
What do you think the best way to measure the success of an entrepreneurship course is?
