We all want to make money, and some of us dream of being one of the greats like Gary Vee, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Grant Cardone, but at times we aren’t aware of the hurdles we face. These aren’t external challenges that keep us from performing like a missing appendage, being displaced from your home or lack of access to information. No, these are internal and mental challenges we face. Most of us exist daily without even realizing it because it’s deep-rooted into our subconscious. It is only when we look back in our past or see it occurring in someone else’s life is when a call to action triggers in our minds to become better. We often times exclaim we will do better, yet only say it as a buffer to make ourselves feel comfortable in the face of that uncomfortable reality. These thoughts and actions are the very same things that have put me further behind on goals that I’d mostly have achieved in a lotted time frame.
This one I feel most people can agree with. I had desired success and wanted it to come in many different ways. I hoped on as many projects as I can in hopes that one takes off to the world. As an entrepreneur (especially one that deals in information development), I got dished on a lot of projects, and each one of them was exciting. If they succeed, it can be overwhelming when it comes time to do the actual work. Not to mention I feel more of a burden than an asset when the other projects require responsibilities that I am not able to attend to, furthermore, each one began to overlap causing low performance across them all.
How I fixed this:
There are a few ways I went about solving this problem. One would be is to assign someone who fulfills the role more appropriately. If one project gets too cumbersome for my allotted time, I’m willing to wave aside my involvement to bring on someone who may be just excited about the project as I am. If the project becomes successful, I feel great that I know I helped someone to greatness and have a positive relationship for life with all the parties involved.
The other way was just to be honest from the start with those I sought to assist in a project. That honesty would go a long way, and less expectations will be placed on me to perform which will not only free up my time from that project to divert resources elsewhere, but that project can focus more on productivity than to wait around. It’s all about making things as efficient as possible.
This an extension of Experience one where I’d see something attractive and instantly aim to hop on it. I know when you scroll Instagram countless times and see someone either travelling the world, flashing money in your face, or portray the lifestyle they are living because of them doing X to get Y (Mostly followed by “Buy my course”). It’s one of the reasons why Instagram isn’t a prized place for authenticity. Now there is nothing wrong with displaying wealth, success, achievements in any fashion. The error comes from when viewers become attracted to the point where you want to get where they are instantly, and you follow doing that when you were already working on something else. This was something I had to get a handle of as it made me cross from one venture to another looking for “The Holy Grail” of a lifestyle. A Russian proverb once said,
“If you chase two rabbits, you’ll catch neither one”
How I fixed this:
This came at a time I was doing real estate studies and thought getting into dropshipping would help fund my deals when I really was best at just sticking to coding. Sucked at Drop Shipping, I was so inexperienced in RE I didn’t even know how to do a deal, then I gave that up and tried Forex because it looked like easy money (spoiler alert: it wasn’t). Ultimately I reverted to focus solely on something I was passionate about, excelled in, and something I’ve been doing pretty consistently since I was 13, and that was programming. The first thing I had to do was to drown out the noise from all these gurus. Next, I had focused on myself and sharpened my skills. As I progressively got better, I went out to see how I can help others in their business with my skill set. I then began to make money. It wasn’t “let’s-take-a-trip-to-Japan-next-week-out-of-the-blue-money”, but it was enough to pay for food and bills for the month. Then once I started to make it more consistent, I then began to venture to the next things that complemented the craft. It was all about taking the necessary steps to build on one thing until I could provide value to others. You make money by trade “Give up something, in return for something.”
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
There are a lot of things that I can be proud of and one of them is my journey. All the stories in the media show that we love to see someone taking a journey towards a goal, and hence we follow these characters until the very end. There are times where I wanted to do something, or I’d have some great idea I want to execute, but I never get around to writing a plan in place because I get distracted by some great achievement from Experience Two that I want to test out, or I get occupied with one on of my various ventures from Experience One. Then when I look back at it, I can only enjoy the vision of doing that or achieving this, instead of frolic in the reality where that idea came into fruition
How I fixed this:
This journey isn’t something that can be “fixed,” but something that can be conditioned. One of the people who inspired me the most to document my life is the UK YouTuber KSI. His qualities in how he delivers content and has strong stances about what he puts out. His actions are qualities I work on conditioning myself to have. When I finish a project, I announce it to the world with great ecstasy. For the countless ideas that I have, I simply write it on a magenta sticky note to revisit when the opportunity arises. It’s not something that has to be done right now, but a good idea to implement when a proper plan is set around it. I’m not one to actively journal daily, but I do aim to journal a few times a week to make it into a valuable habit. A platform that I found excellent for helping me with project management and life organization was Trello. To this day, it has been one of the tools that aided in my life’s transformation.
This is the number one thing that I see in the dropshipping and software engineering space. When I was partaking in these ventures, I thought the reason my store wasn’t getting any sales was that too many people were selling the same thing, or the reason people weren’t using my website was because there was a FAANG company that has a version of it on lock. Although it’s true that the world really doesn’t need another dating app or another online store that sells female fashion accessories, it doesn’t mean you can’t take a piece of the market to add something unique.
How I fixed this:
Number one thing to combat this: Marketing. I realized any market you enter will have some competition at some capacity. A couple of things I had to realize were these. First, the supply of competition in particular means there is a demand for it. Second, just because someone else did it doesn’t mean you can’t do it better and supply a particular need. These two indicators I thought about entering a business venture and came to find out, most of the competition I was worried about back then, were not even supporting the project anymore, or are currently being terrible at marketing, which opens the gate for a strong competition to swoop in. All that matters is how long you can stay in business, not if you can make a wildly successful business. There is a reason why you say “Like us on Facebook” as opposed to “Find me on MySpace.” In the years to come, that may even change too.
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
I fall into this a lot especially when it comes to projects. I’ll work on a project for long periods of time, and forget that I need to go to the gym, or watch a video on improving my skill set, or call a loved one to keep in touch. It can also be the implication of there are some great investment opportunities, but I’m going to spend 50% of my earnings on food, games. There’s a lot of beneficial practices out there that can further prepare you for the future. This made me understand why we exist. Our entire existence is centered around preparing ourselves for the future, from learning how to walk to going to school with the necessary preparations to generate income to support our family (our loved-ones), both old and new. Failing to prioritize at any given moment could lead to missing big opportunities whether you are aware of them or not.
How I fixed this:
By the tips I learned in Experience Three, documentation is key. I take a small time out of my day to write or state a list of things I want to do and need to do and make sure the more important ones are done first. Rarely anyone will put “Going to the club” on their list of things-to-do, but having what you are going to do and when will be a document of your life. I much rather write down how I will spend my time, as opposed to someone else. Whether in a news headline, or a tombstone, your life will be written about. It all starts by writing down everything you want in life.
Photo by Austin Kehmeier on Unsplash
We all want to be the macho man/woman to handle things. I certainly felt this way whenever something needed to be proven, or I needed to understand something to be able to share that information effectively. As shown in Experience One, when you have so much on your plate things can begin to topple. This was something I had to come to terms with regardless of how I felt about it.
How I fixed this:
We live in a world where we are afraid to be judged, hated, or looked upon in a certain way. Most of us will already experience it just by identity alone, whether outside parties know us or not. These flaws (minor or not) couldn’t keep me from seeking the assistance I need. Now when I need help, whether it’s just to speak my thoughts or understand new concepts, I’m striving to find the most qualified person I know who can answer it for me, so that I can become further informed on how to tackle difficult tasks. Most would rely on google, which is fine for technical assistance, but google can never grant you the relationship you build with people. Google is filled with knowledge shared by people anyway, so why not just go to the source.
Photo by Luemen Carlson on Unsplash
This happens when something occurs when it has me feeling uneasy. Especially if it’s a mistake I made or a project that will launch that has a lot of interconnected sensitive parts. It could make me crawl up in my bed and squalor all-day allowing something small and insignificant to siphon the joy and focus from my life.
How I fixed this:
Time and conditioning. Each situation is different for this set. Most of the time, no amount of motivational message would jump back onto my feet instantly. However, either me mentioning to someone my issues and/or talking to people and listening to powerful messages frequently will ultimately result in confidence being restored. So if ever the case was to rise, I’d be better inclined to encounter it.
Photo by Bekir Dönmez on Unsplash
This is a branch from Experience 5 where I could lose sight of proper prioritization and get distracted and waste the whole day on something insignificant to instantly rush to fulfill my dopamine levels. There are weeks I’ll hammer in working full-time and especially when you manage different projects to ensure they are completed in a timely fashion. It can burn me out. There are also times where I take breaks by binge-watching a Netflix season and not working on the things I have to complete first.
How I fixed this:
Experience 3 states, Documenting in making an agenda and prioritizing time to chill and times to work.
This can be one that’s difficult to understand, but not being true to what you say and what you state can be detrimental to your brand/reputation. I have issues where I’ll say I’ll do a lot of things, especially by a certain time, and fail to deliver on them because of my other projects from Experience One overlap.
How I fixed this:
Honesty. Being true to yourself and delivering on things would go a long way. I find it’s sometimes best to let people know upfront your tendencies as you actively work towards becoming better. This may not be best 100% of the time, but as things start to grow and you meet more and more people. I want to ensure that I make the best decision for myself and those around me in the long run.
Photo by Alex Brisbey on Unsplash
If there’s one thing that has been keeping me from achieving greatness in most of my ventures, it would be consistency. You don’t necessarily get many places by the will of luck that happens overnight. It could happen, but most results are by chance. It’s one of the reasons why falling for the shiny object in Experience Two could be so attractive because you want to have similar results but often fail to realize the amount of work, effort, and failures that it takes to get there.
How I fixed this:
One of the best quotes I’ve heard was,
“Water doesn’t break rock wish power, but persistence.”
Hearing that made me more focused on the current ventures and projects I have and work on building up to the best of my abilities. As I learned from experience 6, if I ever stumble or lose my way, I know I can always reach out for the right guidance to show me the way.
I hope these experiences could help you to face your troubles and fears. We all are human and will be bound to make a mistake some time or whenever. All that matters is that we can encounter them and fix them accordingly.
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