Focus On The Long Game If You Want To Be Successful
Everyone is in such a hurry in today’s world.
Everything has to be done right now.
We have no patience when it comes to letting things like a new business grow organically.
I am just as guilty as anyone when it comes to this, I want everything to happen right now. I don’t want to wait 5, 10, 15 years for something to happen.
The problem with today is that everything has turned into a get rich quick scheme.
Maybe its always been like this and I’m just now noticing, but I think we need to slow down and focus on the long game.
Everyone thinks they need to be a millionaire by the time they’re 30 years old.
We read stories about the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world and think that the rest of us have failed because we are over 30 and haven’t “made it.” Sure, it is great that there are people who are able to get to that level of success when they are young, but they are few and far between.
Master Of The Long Game
Ever heard of Jeff Bezos? He started this little company called Amazon. You may have heard of it.
He started that company in the early 90s in his garage and over the course of 20+ years has turned the company into what we know today. He is a master of the long game.
Remember when they only sold books?
Now they sell everything on Amazon.
You can even buy Live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches!
Not everything has to happen this moment, your patience will pay off.
Now I’m not saying that any of us are going to go out and start the next Amazon out of our garage, but I am saying that it is certainly possible. And I don’t want you to ever think that you’re too old or its too late to start a business.
For every Mark Zuckerberg you read about, there are thousands of others out there that killing it but they are older and its taken time to get there. Not exactly a glamorous story but it doesn’t make it any less fucking credible.
Its ok to start something small and let it grow organically over time, you never know what it could grow into.
Life is a game of chess, stop treating it like a game of checkers.
Set Yourself Up For Success
So how do we learn to slow down and not focus on the short game?
1. The first thing is to make sure you’re not putting all of your eggs in one basket.
This business should not be your only source of income. You are less likely to allow it to grow slowly over time if you are depending on it to put food on the table.
Start your business as a side hustle that you do on evenings and weekends. Its really just a hobby at this point so treat it like any other hobby.
2. Don’t sink your entire life savings into this new venture.
That is a recipe for disaster as you will be expecting it to make a huge return on investment immediately. Probably not going to happen.
Invest an amount of money that if for some reason you lost it all it wouldn’t really impact your life.
3. Put all of the profit back into the business.
Its very tempting to take that initial profit and go buy something. Instead, take that money and feed it directly back into the business.
If you’re selling physical products, increase the size of your order. If you have an online business, purchase additional ads. Just continue to grow incrementally.
You just have to allow it to feed itself. And since you’re going to take my advice and not make this your sole source of income, you do not need to take any money from the business right now.
4. Above everything else, choose something you love.
This is not a get rich quick scheme, this is something that you are going to love and nurture for years so make sure its something you are passionate about. Otherwise, it will seem like just another damn job.
You’ll figure out the rest as you continue to grow but I think if you follow my guidance above, you will at least start off in a good position.
Now go, start your business, and think about how fucking amazing it will feel in 10 or 15 years when you can tell your story about how you started your business with nothing and grew it into something amazing.
NH
Nicholas Hetzler is a Husband. Father. Entrepreneur. Writer. Trying to learn and grow everyday.
**Click here to for new articles, helpful resources, and free stuff!!!
