MAKING THE DECISION TO BECOME THE ONLINE MILLIONAIRE: YOU MUST PAY THE PRICE FOR SUCCESS IN FULL AND IN ADVANCE.
“There’s an old story about two men who built similar homes. One built his house on rock, while the other built his house on sand. A great storm arose. It swept away the house placed on sand, but the house that stood on rock escaped unscathed. You and I are building houses. Let’s be certain to choose the proper foundation for success by acquiring the correct knowledge.”
1) You must pay the price for success in full and in advance:
If you’re going to be an entrepreneur, you must understand that the cost of success is hard work; dedication to the job at hand; the determination that whether you win or lose, you’ll apply the best of yourself to whatever you do; and the mental toughness to bear the envious criticisms of others. This price is one you must pay in full and in advance.
But first, you need to define what success means to you. In general, success can be considered the accomplishment of an aim or purpose or a favourable or desired outcome. But doesn’t that mean the face of success will change regularly as your goals change? And if so, isn’t there an ongoing cost associated with success? The answer to both questions is yes. But the thing to realize here is that you can’t snatch success from a specific opportunity. You must develop the knowledge, talent, skills and resources that will be demanded by all the opportunities you seek; you must pay the price of success in advance. It’s true! You’ll have no time for preparation when an opportunity presents itself.
Haven’t you heard that luck is that moment when opportunity and preparation meet?
You should also be aware that while some define success as the attainment of wealth, favour, or eminence, I think this definition is limiting. Accumulation of money, the approval of others, and the achievement of fame or a position of superiority are usually just scorecards, ways of measuring how well you’re doing regarding specific pursuits. In other words, they’re side effects of the effort you’re making to reach a certain goal. Yes, some people will make the accumulation of a specific sum of money a goal, but you should consider that to do so requires they come up with ways to earn and save that money, which will become an entire set of goals. Thus, the actual pursuit isn’t money, is it? The same argument applies to the acquisition of favour or eminence.
So, we’ve determined that success isn’t a final destination (just as failure isn’t fatal) but rather an ongoing process, and what counts is that you have the courage to continue. I’ll even step out on a limb and suggest the way to build that courage is to consider success as a journey you can enjoy from moment to moment. You can develop this viewpoint by consciously deciding the meaning of each experience instead of allowing your behaviour to be dictated by beliefs haphazardly set down over a lifetime. Don’t be dragged down by the challenges life throws at you! Make them work for you by visualizing a different result and a different future (eg. define them as opportunities you’ll enjoy pursuing).
Pay the price of success by making the right choices in the here and now.
Once you’ve settled on your definition of success and the price you’ll have to pay for it, you must answer an important question: What is your WHY? For what reason(s) are you subjecting yourself to the pain and suffering of becoming an entrepreneur, and what’s going to keep you going when the chips are down? Your WHY is your emotional reason for doing what you do, and your emotional reason is what’s going to make you stand up and take all the beatings life will dish out. It’s also going to help you ease the pain when things don’t go right.
So, why are you investing time and money in starting a business?
I typically find that people invest to help their parents or their children. That’s usually their WHY. Everyone has a WHY. And here’s another key to consider: if it can’t make you cry, it’s not your WHY. So, think about the emotional anchor that makes you want to go into this crazy game of business because that WHY is what’s going to help you stay in business and become successful over time.
