The Harsh Truth About Business and Success
Today’s article is subtitled, “It will suck. You will suffer.”
Nice and blunt, huh?
This will suck and you will suffer is the theme of today’s QnA, and yet it might be the most important email that I ever send you.
Listen, it’s time to mentally get over “The Secret 4-Hour Law of Attraction Week” mindset and get our lazy butts back to work.
Real work.
That is what built American and all other great free market based economies, NOT scheming how to add the least amount of value so that you can waste your life away couch surfing on some stranger’s futon in Berlin.
Time to get real.
I get 4 hours of work done BEFORE 11am six days per week.
So let’s get busy – it’s the only way to add value and save the world.
Q: How do you carve out time for family when trying to start a business in addition to a 40-hr/week job? – Aaron
Answer: Get up earlier and work on the business or stay up later and work on the business. Either way, you’ll be working on the business when everyone else is asleep.
You will suffer. It will suck.
But what else are you going to do? Not do it?
No, you’re not going to not do it, because that’s not an option.
Q: Is a vision board the best way to manifest my dreams?! – Lisl
Answer: Taking action and doing a lot of hard work is the best way to achieve your dreams. Vision boards are a nice guideline, but it all comes down to work. Painful, excruciating, demanding, challenging, and rewarding work.
Q: Hey Craig! Every since school started I’ve been having a difficult time adjusting. I still get up at 5am every day to go to school then work out. After I finish my homework and studying I finally have time to do what I really want and that is develop my business skills and knowledge, but I find myself
so tired when that time finally comes. What can I do to either have more energy or work on it while still keeping up with school? – Andrew
Answer: You get a similar answer to everyone else today.
In your case, your workouts might suffer, because they need to be
shifted to the end of the day.
So get up at 5am, work on your preferred business (ALWAYS work on your #1 priority first when you have the most energy), then go to school and do your homework, and then train.
You will suffer. It will suck.
But what else are you going to do? Not do it? No, that’s not an option if you truly want things to change….
The great news is that you are young, full of energy, prioritized, willing to learn, and just a darn good kid who understands you have to give value to the world.
People are noticing…they are saying, “Hmmm, interesting, who is this youngster asking these great questions and working so hard? I’m going to keep an eye on him…see how he grows and matures…and when I have a chance to help him, to connect him with someone, to move him along in life, I will make the extra effort to do it, because he deserves it.”
You are earning it. Never give up.
Q: How do you manage your time when your passion is the project you’re working on, but your income is coming from your freelance work? Should the project take priority, even if it means losing a bit of money in the short run? The tough part for me is giving 100% to client work when all I want to do is work on my own stuff. – Omar
Answer: Something has got to give. Something must be sacrificed.
I gave a similar answer to Aaron earlier, but here’s your version:
Get up earlier and work on the side business or stay up later. Work on the side business when everyone else is asleep.
You will suffer. It will suck.
But what else are you going to do?
Not do it? No, that’s not an option if you truly want things to
change…
The great news is that as a copywriter, you have already developed some of the hardest skills to develop for selling products. You know how to sell. That’s what most people have to learn. You are many steps ahead of the game.
Q: I struggle with the “combine your interests and expertise” I have so many varying interests. My largest driver is being an organizational development consultant but I dream of owning a small brick and mortar business. How do you keep your dreams grounded in reality so that you can be successful, love what you do, and still make money and have some life balance?
Answer: Balance is a myth. No one can tell you that you are balanced or how to “be balanced” any more than anyone can tell you what Happiness is, or “how to be happy”.
Balance and happiness are your own ideals.
You have your own balance scale. You can’t live according to someone else’s definition……..I could go on forever on that…….
Anyways, listen, you have to make a decision. If you have no experience running a brick and mortar business, than you need to stay the heck away from trying.
Please read a book called, “The Reluctant Entrepreneur” by Michael Masterson. It will get you some ideas to get started.
***
The end.
These answers are not what people probably wanted to hear, but the
answers are the truth.
There’s no point in lying to you, in making false promises, or being a hypocrite and telling you it’s easy when I’m working hard every day to achieve my own goals.
Maybe some people have found the easy way to riches. I haven’t.
But I have found a fulfilling line of work that I love to do, that gives me an incredible lifestyle, and that allows me to help a LOT of people…I can’t wait to share with you what we have planned for January…it’s the biggest project of my life and it will allow me to help exponentially more people than I ever have before.
You will love it…
…because it will help you. And it will be free.
So, that ends the GREATEST QnA session ever. Thanks so much for all of your questions.
You can always join us on my Facebook page for QnA sessions, almost daily at 10am EST, at www.SuccessQnA.com
I really enjoy helping you,
Craig Ballantyne
You must look at what could be, not what is. You can change. Things can be different. It’s up to you. So much can be accomplished with a long-term vision and resilience to short-term setbacks.