| Did you know that after Elon Musk made $110 million from the sale of PayPal…
He burnt through ALL of it and was one week from bankruptcy on Christmas Eve, 2008?
Similarly…
Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, was pretty much broke for the first 18 years running that company.
Read that again – 18 years. Not 18 months, weeks or days.
J.K. Rowling, the now billionaire, has been quoted as saying:
“I was as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless. Rock bottom became the foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
After she came up with the idea for Harry Potter…
It still took her SEVEN years to write the first book.
Brad Horowitz, author of The Hard Thing About Hard Things, spent years on the verge of bankruptcy with his company… had to layoff many close friends… went weeks on 2 hours of sleep each night… missed out on his kids growing up…
Then after a series of “Hail Mary” decisions — he finally sold his company for $1.6 billion.
Why tell you all this?
Because too many entrepreneurs get discouraged or even want to throw in the towel after one rejection or one bad day.
Yet many of the most successful men and women have endured years of those.
Understand that everyone goes through challenges.
When you see someone’s success you only see the outcome, the win, the trophy.
What you don’t see is all the pain and struggle it took them to get there.
Like the tip of an iceberg — you can’t see the other 90% hidden below the surface.
Most of our “hardships” are barely hardships anyway…
We have nothing but first world problems (generally of the self-afflicted kind).
It's all part of the territory when you decide to play The Great Game of Business.
We are on an "Entrepreneurial Roller Coaster Ride" with ups and downs.
Business growth doesn’t stop the problems...
It just brings different challenges because as you grow you become responsible for more clients, more team members, etc.
I have several CEO clients with $100 million manufacturing businesses that are responsible for 3000+ employees. That's heavy stuff with sky high inflation and a recession around the corner.
But it sure sounds better than being stuck in a J-O-B with no control.
There is always someone else out there with challenges that make our problems look small.
Whether it’s the next Phil Knight staving off bankruptcy for nearly two decades until finally hitting the jackpot…
Or one of my CEO friends who is turning around a business while also dealing with clinical depression.
“Only those who never stand up, never fall down.”
You're going to be okay and you're going to get through this.
The solution for all of us is to get our mind right ... And keep going.
Here are some ways to help you win this Great Game of Business:
1. Take care of YOU.
Get the right amount of sleep, exercise, sunshine, water, and healthy food.
You are a PRO athlete and it’s the playoffs all the time.
2. Clear your head.
Take time for regular meditation, gratitude, prayer, and self-reflection, and always maintain a proper perspective about what really truly matters in life.
3. Subtract.
Instead of adding MORE to your life, consider cutting back.
Most people attempt to fix things through addition (like using “app timers” to focus).
That works, BUT... the better answer is usually the REMOVAL of the trigger, stimulus, distraction, or temptation.
“It’s not the daily increase, but the daily decrease. Hack away at the inessential.” — Bruce Lee
4. Ask for help.
Someone out there has already solved the problems you are trying to solve…
Just get the answers!
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Find your path… find your tribe… find a coach who can help you accomplish your goals.
Not only is it the greatest shortcut you could ever ask for…
It’s a major emotional relief when you connect with like minded, successful people who are going through – or have gone through – the same things you are.
BONUS TIP: Put these books (audiobooks) on rotation (finish one, go to the next, finish them all, and go through them again):
- Relentless by Tim Grover - Unstoppable by Craig Ballantyne! - The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer - ManUp by Bedros Keuilian - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Day-by-day, conversation-by-conversation, book-by-book, word-by-word, you’ll get hold of your demons and win these battles.
It won’t happen overnight…
But when you get your mindset right… and you look at everything as a solvable problem because everything is a learnable skill…
When you see every connection as someone who can help… and who can be helped by you…
You will make business and life a whole lot easier.
And you’ll allow BIG success to find you 10X faster
You got this.
I believe in you.
Time for you to believe in you too.
Success Loves Speed,
Craig |
