Who doesn’t love a rags to riches tale?
Almost daily we hear of another person who has come from obscurity and is now sitting on a goldmine (so to speak) with their new app, product or service.
Unfortunately, we also hear tales of other people who have lost everything.
Choosing to be an entrepreneur means you accept that you might end up telling both these tales.
No matter how much you plan, what your idea may be or how hard you work, there is no guarantee of success, and setbacks happen often, sometimes even failure.
You’ve got to develop a thick skin, because things rarely happen according to plan.
Seth Godin says in his book, The Big Moo,”Fail fast and cheap. Fail often. Fail in a way that doesn’t kill you.”
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As Michael Jordan put it so succinctly, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
The point is you have to take the shot…even if it means failure, if you ever want to succeed.
Secrets of Success
And this applies to everything in life.
Relationships, business, websites, life, raising a child, they’re all tough.
Everything in life that is worth having must be fought over.
My businesses have been challenged.
My website hacked.
I’ve lost a small fortune.
But I’m still here, and despite the lows, life is good.
The problem is for many people life has come easy to them. They’ve never had to worry about paying the bills or finding a job, but as I look around today, I see more and more people struggling.
More work, less pay. More stress, less free time.
Not me, as an entrepreneur, I dictate my own life.
While I realize it’s not for everyone, I believe everyone should at least try being an entrepreneur.
This is an awesome success story shared by Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week, on how what many envision as living a successful life.
Idea + Implementation + Refinement is what I think we could call the new formula for success.
But don’t make the mistake I made of going all in.
Start small, devote a few hours a week to your website, develop a website around it, test your ideas, promote them through social media and maybe even invest in a little advertising, and see what happens.
All ideas are like investments: some will pay off big, others will end up in the junk heap.
One of the secrets of success I think all entrepreneurs understand is to we must be willing to take a risk.
So far, I’ve been able to devote an enormous amount of time to both my family and my vision, while my job pays the bills.
Now it’s time to take things to the next level.
I can’t wait.
Adrian Shepherd