Most people have a dream of one day becoming an entrepreneur. They want that lifestyle of calling their own shots, waking up when they want to, and making good money doing it. The problem is, it’s not always easy to do. The road towards this type of freedom can be fraught with failure, mistakes, and problems.
There are barriers to success. You might see the lives of others who have made it and it might seem so easy. But it was never easy for them, either. Many successful people today grew up in very poor situations and built their empire on their own, brick-by-brick, failure-by-failure. The difference between them and most people isn’t the start they had, but that they were unwilling to give up their dream.
Instead, they took a circumstance they were going through and endured. They wouldn’t let it interfere with what they wanted to do, even at the risk of losing everything. There are plenty of names and stories, which will be listed below. Learn from these stories.
1) It’s Okay to Take Care of Yourself
Many people think they have to work so hard at creating the reality they want for themselves. Yes, you will have to work hard, but not at the point of completely exhausting yourself. Arianna Huffington was one of those people. Huffington went to Cambridge University and majored economics, but really dreamed of becoming a writer. She had a long-held believe that if you wanted to be successful, you have to work excessively.
She never gave herself a break and it hurt her in the long run. One day, she passed out from sheer exhaustion at the office and slammed her head on the desk as she hit the floor. She learned a lesson that day that she can make sleep a priority in her life. Working yourself to the bone won’t always translated to success and can even be detrimental, as you need a clear mind and to value the work your doing enough to ensure you’re doing well.
“I wish I could go back and tell myself that there is no trade-off between living a well-rounded life and high performance is actually improved when our lives include time for renewal, wisdom, wonder, and giving. That would have saved me a lot of unnecessary stress, burnout, and exhaustion,” she said.
2) Failure is Okay
Too many people take failure the wrong way. They end up losing their confidence and decide that maybe they shouldn’t be doing what they’re trying to do and give up. But everyone who has ever made it has failed at the venture they eventually succeeded at. Elon Musk is one example of that. He has had several failed businesses and even at the beginning of SpaceX had several rockets blow up. Did he decide that was the end for him? No. He kept pushing forward.
Musk is now worth $19 billion today. Apparently, he was successful enough at something. Musk says that failure is indeed an option. “If you’re not failing, you’re not innovating enough,” he once said. Look at failure as an opportunity to improve and grow. Build upon what failed and try again. Only then will you become successful.
3) Investment is Key
Many people work to make money. Once they start gaining a lot of success, they rarely use that money to invest back into the business to make it better. They would rather start spending their money and live lavishly. Mark Zuckerberg has a different approach. He lives a very frugal lifestyle. Has anyone ever seen him in a nice suit? Sure, as a billionaire he probably has a few toys, but he doesn’t focus on making money. He uses the money he has to improve what he’s built.
“We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services,” Zuckerberg said. Other sites and apps have come and gone with the weather. Facebook has stuck around and is as popular as ever. Why is that? Because he has tirelessly worked to build and adapt. He’s doing a lot of good in the world with his money. He invests in developing technology and is building a better world, not just collecting his money and running.
