Category: Entrepreneurship

Popular Advice Entrepreneurs Should Ignore

In this article, I share popular advice entrepreneurs should ignore. From hearing tons of advice from others throughout the years, I began understanding what was good and bad advice.

 

Whether you like it or not, you’re going to get a ton of advice and feedback from people as an entrepreneur. People somehow feel more inclined to voice their opinions when they see a new business on the rise.

 

 

I received a lot of advice. When I first started out, I was arrogant and stupid. As you can imagine, I ignored all the advice I got for a short period of time. After that, I began taking everyone’s advice and putting them into action.

 

 

Turns out, both approaches were horrible ones. Instead, I decided to take all the advice I got with a grain of salt. I get advice, break it down and see how much of it really makes sense to me before applying it.

 

 

From receiving so much advice, I quickly learned a lot about which things work and don’t work. In this article, I share a list of popular advice entrepreneurs should ignore:

 

 

Perfect Your Business Plan

 

I know some people in the startup world that have spent YEARS perfecting their business plan. Luckily, I’m extremely impatient. When I received this advice, I tried perfecting it but eventually got frustrated and decided to take action.

 

 

You don’t want to spend a long period of time on a set of documents that are going to change every few weeks. Don’t worry about even making a business plan when you’re first starting out with your idea. Just focus on putting your ideas into action and a business plan will automatically form soon enough.

 

 

Quit Your Job

 

I do a fair share of coaching and consulting with entrepreneurs from all over the world. The first thing people ask me is, “Do you think I can quit my job and go full time on this to make millions of dollars?”

 

 

My answer is always, “HELL NO!” I believe in you as an entrepreneur, but dropping everything without any sign of success is just plain foolish. You need to balance your job and your business as a side gig. Once your side gig begins growing and getting bigger than your job, you can think of quitting and going full-time.

 

 

The Customer Is Always Right

 

There is a funny thing about this. The customer is always right when they are in the same room with you, but usually wrong when they leave that wrong. Let me explain what I mean.

 

 

Customers often times don’t understand their own problems, pains and needs. They think they know, but they really don’t. Thus, they may decline an offering or offer some sort of feedback that may be completely useless to your business. As an entrepreneur, you have to be careful with how you let your customers affect your decisions.

 

 

Fix The Design & It’ll Work

 

Design is what makes things look pretty and appealing to others. However, design cannot make someone find value in your products or ideas. You can design beautiful landing pages to convert better, but those users still have to like what you’re doing.

 

 

Many entrepreneurs blame their downfalls on a lack of good design. However, if you have users that are signing up or using your product/service, you may want to focus more on the product. Don’t use a lack of design as an excuse for something that may be a bigger issue.

 

 

Never Give Up

 

I once met a guy who had a business that he was running for 12 years. I don’t know if you could even call it a business as he was still trying get this business of the ground. After 12 years, he told me he had just done over $5,000 in sales for that WHOLE time period.

 

 

I’m not trying to be an asshole, but at some point you have to make tough decisions. If you’re business isn’t working, pivot or fold the cards. As an entrepreneur, you’re only a quitter if you give up on the journey. Giving up on a business that isn’t working is just prudent and gives you the opportunity to start something new that can work. 

 

 

Conclusion

 

As an entrepreneur, you’re going to receive a lot of advice. It’s going to be up to you to take all that advice with a grain of salt. In this article, I shared some popular advice entrepreneurs should ignore.

 

 

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How To Stop Yourself From Burning Out

Burning out is a stressful problem many people have to deal with. While it’s completely unavoidable, you can do many things to prevent yourself from burning out as often. In this article, I shared tips on how to stop yourself from burning out.

 

No matter how passionate you are about a project or idea, you will burn out from time to time. It’s something that just happens. However, there are a lot of things that you can do to stop yourself from burning out quite as often.

 

 

Doctors have said that burn outs usually occur as a result of a lot of stress. If you’re unsure whether you’re burned out or not, here are list of some of the most common signs below:

 

– Lack of motivation

 

– Exhaustion

 

– Filled with negative emotions

 

– Slipping performance

 

– Problems from work interfering at home

 

 

These are just a few of many signs that means you might be burning out. In this article, I’m going to share my tips on how to stop yourself from burning out as often:

 

 

Learn To Actually Relax

 

When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I loved working so much that I couldn’t stop. Even when I’d be out with friends, I’d be checking my phone or making client calls when I knew it was my time to just relax.

 

 

Spend some time each day or week where you actually just relax. Disconnect yourself from your work life and just do something that will relax you.

 

 

Do More Outside of Work

 

Part of the problem for me was that I didn’t do much outside of work. I only did small things such as watching television or hanging out at a friends house. The less challenging the activity was, the more pre-occupied with work I was.

 

 

Once I began doing more outside of work, I immediately saw myself less immersed in my work. I began playing lots of competitive basketball and even dabbled in some poker. This had my mind racing in other ways that didn’t involve my work.

 

 

Sleep More

 

This is probably easier said than done, but it can actually help. If you want to stop yourself from burning out as quickly, try adding a few more hours of sleep in your schedule each night/week.

 

 

Your body and minds needs enough rest to perform properly. Sleep has the potential to improve your memory and replenish important parts of your body. Use it to your advantage to prevent frequent burn outs.

 

 

Be Organized

 

One of the main reasons why I saw myself burning out in the past was because I wasn’t organized at all. As an entrepreneur, things always come up from the past whether you like it or not.

 

 

I was extremely disorganized and ended up putting old files wherever it was most convenient at that time. A few months later, I need to find that same file and I go absolutely crazy trying to find it. If you’re able to stay organized from the beginning, you’ll save yourself a lot of headache later.

 

 

Eat Healthy

 

This has probably been one of the toughest challenges I have had to take on. It’s been really hard for me to eat healthy because I’m never at home. The most accessible food for me has been fast food or microwavable dishes.

 

 

As you can imagine, that’s not a healthy solution. Turns out, my doctor told me that you can burn out faster based on the types of food you eat. The more ‘brain’ foods you eat that provide healthy nutrients to your body, the less likely you are to burn out.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Burning out is a stressful problem many people have to deal with. While it’s completely unavoidable, you can do many things to prevent yourself from burning out as often. In this article, I shared tips on how to stop yourself from burning out.

 

 

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5 Huge Myths About Millionaires

Biggie Smalls said it best, mo money mo problems. In this article, I share 6 huge myths about millionaires that people don’t realize.

 

When I first started out as an entrepreneur, I looked at millionaires as if they were some invincible superheroes roaming our world. However, I quickly realized that there was a lot I didn’t really understand about millionaires.

 

 

The truth is, it’s easier today than ever before to attain $1 million or more. Luckily, there is an endless list of ways to earn a million dollars. It just requires passion, persistence and a lot of grit to obtain it.

 

 

In this article, I’m going to discuss 6 huge myths about millionaires:

 

 

1. Millionaires Are Luckier

 

Aside from the rare individuals who win the lotto, most millionaires didn’t have any luck contribute to their success. You don’t need a lot of luck to be wealthy and successful. Instead, it requires a handful of other things to be successful.

 

 

Success is always a result of one thing. Hard work and lots of it. Ask any millionaire and they can flashback to the days where they didn’t have a lot of money. They can share the struggles and hard work they had to put in to be successful.

 

 

2. Millionaires Are Mostly Trust Fund Babies

 

I was extremely surprised to find out that only 20% of millionaires in the world today inherited their wealth. There has been a larger number of wealthy individuals who have chosen to donate their money after passing instead of leaving it off to their kids.

 

 

If you think the only way to become a millionaire is by being born into it, you’re absolutely wrong. 8/10 millionaires are self-made. They worked hard, took risks and built their bankroll up on their own.

 

 

3. Millionaires Are Smarter Than You

 

In fact, millionaires don’t tend to show a higher IQ than most individuals. The skill that separates them from the crowd is that they’re willing to take a chance in life. 50% of millionaires own a business or are self-employed.

 

 

Even more surprisingly, 80% of millionaires are college graduates but only 18% of those individuals have masters degrees. Your education has no correlation with your net worth. It’s the path you take and how hard you work to get to the top.

 

 

4. Millionaires Blow Their Money On Fancy Things

 

One of my friends has a Lamborghini Aventador, which he paid just around $440,000 for a while back. When I saw him buy that car, I started believing the notion that most millionaires just blow all their wealth on fancy things.

 

 

I decided to ask him more about it. Turns out, he had waited 3 years to buy that car. He took the couple million dollars he had made and began investing it rapidly. As his investments succeeded, he ended up tripling his money over the 3 year period. That’s when he decided to buy the Lamborghini Aventador. Millionaires usually don’t blow their money as soon as they get some cash, they strategically plan their purchases.

 

 

5. Millionaires Have It Easy

 

Biggie Smalls said it best, mo money mo problems. Most people think millionaires live the high life and have nothing to worry about. In fact, the more money you make, the more responsibility you probably have as well.

 

 

Remember, money isn’t everything. It’s about living a fulfilling life, being happy and enjoying what the world has to offer. People often times wish they could be a millionaire, but they never realize the hardships that come with it.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Many people don’t have the opportunity to chat with millionaires on a daily basis. If you do have that opportunity, you should use it to find out everything about them. You’ll be surprised at what you learn. In this article, I shared 6 huge myths about millionaires.

 

 

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5 Startup Lessons They Won’t Teach You In Business School

In this article, I discuss the 5 startup lessons they won’t teach you in business school. Drawing from my own experiences of managing a startup, I share further insight on this topic.

 

I am proud to say that I’ve officially dropped out of college to pursue the entrepreneurial dream. I have nothing against college, but I don’t believe college is necessary to be successful as an entrepreneur.

 

 

When building my startup and working with other college graduates, I quickly learned that a lot of important things are left out of the curriculum. No matter how amazing of a business school you attend, there are a lot of startup lessons you won’t learn.

 

 

In this article, I share 5 startup lessons they won’t teach you in business school:

 

 

1. No Book Can Help You Manage A Startup

 

Every startup is a different breed of its own. They don’t follow the ‘typical’ rules of corporations or small businesses and they feature completely different roadmaps than most companies.

 

 

Given that each startup is different, there is no pre-recorded lecture or curriculum that can teach you how to launch and manage a successful startup. These are lessons that you can only learn by hiring advisors and experiencing things on your own.

 

 

2. Building Company Culture

 

Startups are successful not because of their ideas but because of the people seeing those ideas out. The people you hire and the culture you build in your startup will eventually determine whether you will be successful in the long run or not.

 

 

Zappos didn’t do anything extraordinary from an idea standpoint. However, they built a company culture that was very different from others out there. They made sure to hire people who were hungry for success and really believed in the vision. Every startup has its own DNA but unfortunately, you won’t be learning how to create that in a classroom.

 

 

3. People Must Like You

 

Many people don’t realize how important it really is to sell yourself and your ideas. People think that a 4.0 GPA and fancy degree is just enough to get them whatever they want in life. However, that isn’t true.

 

 

People aren’t going to invest in you, work for you or partner up with you if they don’t like you. You have to sell yourself and be the type of person that others are willing to work with.

 

 

4. Success Doesn’t Come Fast

 

You read stories about how Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other startups found massive success in your textbooks. However, many key facts are left out. One of those facts being that you never really get to hear about the struggles or failures the founders of these organizations went through.

 

 

There is no formula or method to success. It requires a lot of persistence, perspiration and sacrifice. These are key things that you won’t learn in business school because they’re too focused on showing you what successful people did. However, the path to success is slow and requires a lot of grit.

 

 

5. How To Be Investable

 

One of the quickest ways to grow your business to the next level often requires money. In order to obtain this money, you must pitch your ideas to investors. More likely than not, you’ll get thrown around before anyone takes you seriously.

 

 

We hear about all the startups that get invested in, but never the ones that get rejected. It’s just the way the world works. No matter how wealthy someone is, they will NOT pull out their checkbook to write you a 6-8 figure check unless you’re able to sell the vision.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Don’t get me wrong, I think there is tremendous value that can be attained from college. However, at the same time, I think there are many important lessons that are left out. In this article, I shared 5 startup lessons they won’t teach you in business school.

 

 

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8 Ways To Set Yourself Up For Success At A Young Age

No matter how old or young you may be, you can achieve success at any age. In this article, I discuss 8 ways to set yourself up for success at a young age.

 

Young, successful and free. This is the life many of us dream of, but do very little to achieve. However, I am here to tell you that all this and more is possible.

 

 

It just requires the right amount of persistence and commitment to achieve. When I look back, it’s sometimes hard to fathom that I started my entrepreneurial journey only 4 years ago.

 

 

It amazes me to see how much is possible when you put your mind to it. However, success doesn’t come easy. I will never condone that, but I will say that your wildest dreams are possible.

 

 

In this article, I share 8 ways to set yourself up for success at a young age:

 

 

1. Surround Yourself With Better People 

 

If you want to be successful at an early age, you need to surround yourself with people who are like-minded. Look for other driven individuals looking to achieve similar goals as you. When I was able to do that, I saw myself growing faster than I could have ever imagined before.

 

 

2. Manage Your Time Well

 

When you’re young, you develop a sense of feeling that time is infinite. As you get older, you begin to realize how valuable your time really is. Think twice about where you dedicate your energy and what you spend your time doing. When you focus more of your time and attention on things that matter, you’ll start seeing the results immediately.

 

 

3. Accept Your Failures & Mistakes 

 

When I made mistakes and dealt with failure in the beginning, I would let it affect me negatively. I would have thoughts of giving up or pretending like that failure didn’t happen. However, I quickly learned that mistakes and failure were crucial to my success. The more I accepted these mistakes, the more I learned.

 

 

4. Educate Yourself

 

The biggest mistake you can make in your teens or 20’s is relying solely on the education you receive in the classroom. It was only when I began teaching myself outside of the classroom that I found myself achieving success rapidly. If you want to be successful, you have to teach yourself something that everyone else isn’t also learning.

 

 

5. Spend Less, Invest More

 

When I made some money at the age of 17, I bought a sports car. I looked cool and I got to drive a fast car, but that was one of the worst investments I made. I quickly learned that you need to spend less and invest more. The younger you are, the more risks you can take with your money. Use that time to your advantage.

 

 

6. Try Often

 

When you’re young, it’s key that you maximize that time to dive into as many opportunities as possible. I thought about waiting and starting my entrepreneurial journey after I graduated from college, but my lack of patience wouldn’t let me do it. Thankfully, it was the greatest thing that could have happened. You will never know unless you try!

 

 

7. Do Your Best No Matter What

 

When I worked tons of jobs between the ages of 15-17, I wish I had tried my best at each of these positions. I quickly learned that no matter what the circumstances are, you should always give your 100% in everything you do. By doing your best, you have the ability to learn and see how talented you really are.

 

 

8. Breathe

 

Many of my friends that are the same age as me never really get a chance to breathe. Even though I manage multiple businesses and have a lot more obligations than the average person my age, I’m a lot more relaxed than others. At a young age, you really need to learn to breathe and relax.

 

 

Conclusion

 

No matter how old or young you may be, you can achieve success at any age. In this article, I shared 8 ways to set yourself up for success at a young age.

 

 

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8 Things Great Leaders Do

I had to take on the role of a leader at the age of 17, which was one of the toughest things I had to master. I learned a lot with the help of others and through my own experiences. In this article, I talk about 8 things great leaders do.

 

I had to learn how to be a leader at the age of 17. Not only was it hard to learn these skills at a young age, but it was even harder applying them with people who were much older than me.

 

 

However, I knew I had to find a way to make it happen. I decided to talk to other great leaders, read books and ‘practice’ my skills. It took me some time, but I eventually figured out a couple of things that would help make me a great leader.

 

 

In this article, I share 8 things great leaders do:

 

 

1. Remember: The Business Comes First

 

It’s almost first nature for your own needs to come before the needs of others. However, as a business owner, I couldn’t be selfish about my needs regardless of the situation.

 

 

Great leaders put their business first and foremost. They don’t allow their own emotions to make decisions for their business. I always asked myself a question before making a big decision, “Is this the best decision for the company or for me?”

 

 

2. Promote Independence & Freedom

 

The reason why I couldn’t stand working jobs was because I had no creative freedom or independence at the job. I had a manager breathing over my neck telling me exactly what to do and how to do it.

 

 

Instead, I take a very different approach. As a leader, I hire individuals who I think are capable. Thus, I tell them what needs to be done and when it needs to be done, but I don’t tell them how unless they really want to know.

 

 

3. Listen 

 

Just because you’re the leader of your organization doesn’t mean you know everything. One of the best qualities I had developed early on was the ability to listen to my team.

 

 

Respect your employees and team. Give them the chance to speak out and provide their opinion. You’ll be amazed at how many good ideas can come out if you take the time to listen to others.

 

 

4. Lead By Example

 

Poor leaders say, “Go do this”. Great leaders say, “Lets go do this”. That small change of words can have a dramatic impact in the meaning. As a leader, I became very careful of the way I phrased various things.

 

 

As a leader, your goal isn’t to boss around people to the best of your abilities. It’s to get a group of people to come together on one idea or plan and for all of you to execute on it. Leaders are in the forefront leading their team with the execution.

 

 

5. Stay Positive 

 

The emotions you show as a leader are very important. The rest of your team will look to you for support and confidence. I quickly learned that being a leader was one of the hardest roles to take on.

 

 

Even when things are going horribly, you have to put on a smile and be positive about the situation. If you lose hope or optimism in your own business, others will too.

 

 

6. They Encourage Mistakes

 

I became successful as an entrepreneur only because I made a ton of mistakes. I encouraged myself each time I made these mistakes because I knew I was getting a little bit better every time.

 

 

When managing other people, I had the same mindset. I told my team, “Mistakes are great. Make as many of them as you can because that means you’re really trying.” Great leaders promote mistakes and foster personal growth within the workplace.

 

 

7. They Lead By Example

 

One of the best leaders I ever knew told me something that I remind myself about everyday. He said, “Before you do something, always ask yourself if you would allow one of your employees to do what you’re about to do.”

 

 

Those were the most powerful words I had heard about leading by example. He told me, you must practice what you preach otherwise your whole organization is a hoax.

 

 

8. They Are Fearless

 

Great leaders have to be fearless. It’s just a quality and skill that they must pick up along the way. With so much that goes on within an organization, you have to be willing to do the ‘scariest’ stuff in order to get past certain situations.

 

 

As a leader, it is your job to clear up drama in the workplace. It’s your job to keep the organization moving forward. It’s also your job to get everyone on the same page when things get rocky.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 8 things great leaders do. What are some other things that you do as a leader? Feel free to share in the comments below.

 

 

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Why Bad Grades & Poor Test Scores Do Not Define You

I am sick and tired of seeing the grading system in schools killing the dreams of people. In this article, I talk about why bad grades & poor test scores do not define you.

 

Growing up, I had my moments of being a great student and being a poor student. In elementary school, I was on top of my game mainly because my parents forced me to study hard. I was at the top of my class each year and I had really good grades.

 

 

As things progressed, my grades began to drop dramatically in Junior High and High School. It wasn’t that I was stupid, but rather that I was uninterested. Boring curriculums being taught by boring individuals wasn’t a great combination.

 

 

However, I never let those bad grades and poor test scores define me. Many people categorize poor grades as stupidity, but that’s far from the truth.

 

 

In this article, I’m going to talk about why bad grades & poor test scores do not define you.

 

 

Experience Triumphs Memorization

 

From my time in school, I remember doing one thing and one thing only. Memorizing a crap ton of material so that I can hope for that big A on my next test. Eventually, that routine got old.

 

 

Instead of spending my time indoors studying the textbook inside and out, I was outside experiencing life. I learned so much from putting myself out there and getting an education through experience.

 

 

Turns out, those experiences helped more than you’d think. Where are the kids today who got all the A’s during high school? They’re in college becoming a product of society. Most likely, they’re going to get a mediocre job doing mediocre shit.

 

 

I on the other hand didn’t have great grades and I admit to that. However, I get to speak at conferences around the nation, build amazing businesses and do things most people my age don’t ever get to do.

 

 

This was all made possible because I sought out my own path in life. I didn’t become a product of the schools, instead I went out seeking my own answers. As a result, my experiences allowed me to take a path no one else usually does.

 

 

Grades & GPA’s Are All Superficial Things

 

In high school, my teachers, counselors, friends, and family members constantly reminded me how important my GPA was. When I started my own business and pitched to clients, not a single person gave one shit about my GPA.

 

 

They cared about who I was, why I was the best candidate and how I can help their business. It was all about selling myself. I don’t care if you have a 4.0 GPA and a 2,400 SAT score because if you can’t sell yourself, you’re screwed.

 

 

You think a 4.0 GPA and a 2,400 SAT score is enough to get into Harvard? Think again. Interviews play a significant role in your admission. If you think you can flash that 4.0 GPA and 2,400 SAT score on your resume and just get hired, you’re wrong.

 

 

Just because you flunk or get C’s in school doesn’t mean that you’re stupid. It just means that you refuse to be weighed down by the superficial labels schools are trying to place on your intelligence.

 

 

Go through the list of the wealthiest and most successful individuals in our world today. Individuals such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk weren’t really amazing students in the classroom. They showed their brilliance outside of these confined rooms.

 

 

Achievement Correlates To Mindset

 

If I really cared about school and enjoyed it enough to really try, I would have absolutely crushed it. I have no doubt in my mind, but the problem was that I hated every minute of it. I didn’t want to thrive in the classroom setting.

 

 

When I journeyed into entrepreneurship, I wanted to be successful more than anything else in the world. I put my mind to it and BAM, I saw myself achieving things I could have never imagined before.

 

 

School isn’t for everyone. That’s absolutely fine. It’s a shame that education in the classroom has become such a mainstream form of learning. I didn’t go to school for entrepreneurship.

 

 

I learned entrepreneurship through taking action, making mistakes and teaching myself along the way. If your mind isn’t in the classroom, don’t worry about it. Some of the most intelligent people never succeeded in a classroom setting.

 

 

Conclusion

 

I am sick and tired of seeing the grading system in schools killing the dreams of people. In this article, I discussed why bad grades & poor test scores do not define you.

 

 

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5 Habits The Richest People In The World Share

In this article, I share 5 habits the richest people in the world share. Drawing from my own experiences and readings, I give you an inside perspective on what things wealthy people do exceptionally well.

 

When I was 17 years old, I started my first company. In the next two years, I’d go through a lot of changes in my life. I started making money at that age, which wasn’t the best thing for me.

 

 

Instead of spending my money wisely and investing it as I know to do today, I was wild. I bought a sports car, went to tons of Laker games and blew money in various ways. From my networking, I came across a group of wealthy individuals who held a mastermind group each week.

 

 

They were determined to teach me some things about money. One of the greatest things they shared with me were some of the habits the super-wealthy people in the world had in common.

 

 

In this article, I discuss the 5 habits the richest people in the world share:

 

 

1. They Worship Their Time

 

The one thing I’ve learned over time is that time is the greatest currency in the world. Wealthy people understand that and value their time greater than others do. That is why they are so successful.

 

 

They don’t waste time watching television or doing counterproductive things. Not only that, but they have a strong focus for working on income-generating activities. For all others tasks, they outsource or hire others to manage it for them.

 

 

2. Their Network Determines Their Net Worth 

 

Have you heard of the saying? If you divide the average income of your 5 closest friends, that will be your income. Wealthy people not only understand this model, but they make it their mantra.

 

 

Surround yourself with people who are going to make you better. When I started off as a young entrepreneur, I was pushing myself to the limits because the people around me were doing the same.

 

 

3. They Take Risks

 

Meet any extraordinary person and I guarantee you that they have taken a risk at some point in their life. However, rich people don’t just take risks. They take smart risks.

 

 

What is a smart risk you ask? Well, a smart risk is the same as a calculated risk. A risk where you weigh the pros and cons while doing everything possible to minimize the risk aspect of it.

 

 

4. They Don’t Give Up

 

97% of people work for 3% of people. Do you know what that most likely means? That 3% of the population refused to give up when things got tough. While a large group of that 97% decided to give up when things got rocky.

 

 

Wealthy people wouldn’t be where they are today without a lot of persistence. Failure and quitting are words that do NOT exist in their vocabulary. If you want to be wealthy or successful, you cannot give up.

 

 

5. They Spend Less & Invest More

 

Money is a very tricky thing to master. Most people are never able to master the concept of money in their life. The regular person increases their expenses as their income increases. However, that brings them back to average.

 

 

Wealthy people instead spend less and invest more even when their income is increasing. By doing this, they are able to create long-term assets and income streams that don’t require a tradeoff of time. In the long-run, they continue to grow their income while the regular person struggles on a month to month basis.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 5 habits the richest people in the world share. Through your experiences, what are some habits you’ve developed that have helped you greatly? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

 

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7 Tips For Becoming An Early Riser

In this article, I share 7 tips for becoming an early riser. Ever since I started waking up early, my productivity and efficiency levels have dramatically increased. Find out the various things I did to switch my schedule around.

 

6 months ago, I made one of the best decisions in my career. It wasn’t starting a new company or quitting a job. Instead, it was making a minor adjustment in my daily schedule.

 

 

Normally, I had been waking up around 8:30 to 9:00 AM and going to bed around 1:00 AM or so. Instead, I decided to wake up every morning at 6:00 AM and go to bed around 11:30 PM.

 

 

Initially, I made this change simply because I was beginning to invest in the stock market and being that I was in California, I had to be up when the market opened. However, this small change in my lifestyle started creating dramatic results.

 

 

Not only was I getting far more work done each day, but I felt really good. By becoming an early riser, I was more productive and efficient throughout the day.

 

 

In this article, I share 7 tips for becoming an early riser:

 

 

1. Get The Most Annoying Alarm Clock Money Can Buy

 

I’m a very deep sleeper, which made it a tough challenge for me to wake up early each morning. My brain started getting really smart over time. It had the amazing ability to tune out all of the alarm clocks I had previously used.

 

 

I tried really hard to wake up at 6 AM the first few times, but I still woke up at 8 AM. I decided to invest in a new alarm clock that was ridiculously annoying. It was frustrating at first, but now I’m used to it. Find an alarm clock that annoys you to death and use it.

 

 

2. Have A Reason For Rising Early

 

My big reason for getting up early was that I really needed to get in on all of the early morning action within the stock market. I had tried waking up early for many years before that, but it simply wouldn’t happen for me.

 

 

When I had a reason to do it, it became a lot easier. Whether it’s creating an exercise or work routine, find a solid reason to get up early each morning.

 

 

3. Kill The Snooze Button

 

Another horrible habit I had was hitting the snooze button every chance I got. The snooze button is literally the worst invention ever.

 

 

Find a way to disable the snooze button or buy an alarm clock that doesn’t feature it. You’ll be much happier that you killed the snooze button since you won’t have a choice but to get out of bed.

 

 

4. Tune Out Distractions Before Bed

 

The longer it takes you to fall asleep, the less sleep you get each night. It’s a basic mathematical equation that many seem to forget. I decided to completely tune out distractions when I got into bed.

 

 

Instead of watching television, finishing up some emails or doing something else that will keep my mind running, I completely tune out all distractions when hopping in my bed. The results were amazing. I was falling asleep much quicker, which made it a lot easier to wake up early.

 

 

5. Make The Most Of Your Extra Time

 

Lately, I’ve been so happy with the extra time I get each morning, I’ve set up a little routine for myself. Between 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM, I’m reaching inbox zero, managing my social media profiles and taking care of all other non-income generating tasks.

 

 

Then, I utilize my time between 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM to do interviews, press requests and other media related inquiries. Thus, I’m able to start working on income generating tasks by 10:00 AM every morning, which was a luxury I never had before.

 

 

6. Reward Yourself

 

When I was a kid, I’d wake up super early on Saturdays. Why? Well, I got an amazing reward every morning for doing so. I got to eat cereal and watch new episodes of my favorite cartoons.

 

 

My reward nowadays for rising early throughout the week is having the opportunity to sleep in on Sundays. I turn off all of the alarms and allow my body to wake me up when it’s ready.

 

 

7. Be Consistent

 

Consistency is key when trying to become an early riser. I had some patches a few years ago where I woke up at 6 AM for a day or two, but it never lasted.

 

 

However, I set my mind to it this time around. The results have simply been amazing. Once you get into the habit of waking up early, it feels unnatural to wake up late. If you’re consistent with your schedule and build it into a routine, you’ll adapt to it within no time at all.

 

 

Conclusion

 

I know many successful individuals who wake up far earlier than I even do. I eventually want to wake up at 5:00 AM and use that additional hour each day for working out. What are some tips and tricks you have found useful for becoming an early riser?

 

 

photo credit: Lars Plougmann via photopin cc

 

10 Lessons I Learned From Working For Everything I Have

In this article, I share 10 lessons I learned from working for everything I have. I use some of the experiences from the early days of my life to share how hard work has impacted me in a positive way.

 

When I was 15 years old, my parents dropped a bomb on me. They said that they would only pay for my necessities while making me earn the money I needed for the ‘fun’ things in life.

 

 

I was devastated. I didn’t want to work, I just wanted to be a kid who sat around and played games all day. However, my parents were serious. They meant business.

 

 

Within a few months, I had picked up my first job. Ever since that day, I have earned every single thing that I have today. No handouts, no inheritances and no breaks. When I first started working, I despised my parents for putting me through it.

 

 

However, I am very thankful they did what they did today. In this article, I’ll share 10 lessons I learned from working for everything I have:

 

 

1. The Value Of A Dollar

 

You’ll never truly understand the value of a dollar until you see how difficult it is to make money. When I was getting paid $8 an hour, I truly realized how hard it was to make money.

 

 

All my life, I would go to the store and point at the things I wanted. When I got a job, I began carefully contemplating each purchase before I made it. Getting a job and working hard teaches you the value of the dollar, which in return causes you to spend your money more wisely.

 

 

2. Ambition Is Addicting

 

Whenever I put my mind to something, I do it to be the best. I don’t care about consolation prizes or being good enough. I do it because I want to be the greatest.

 

 

After getting my first few jobs, I had an overdose of ambition. I quickly found out that ambition can be quite addicting. No matter how many mistakes I made, I wanted to do more. That ambition still has my mind running in circles today.

 

 

3. Earning Something Is Way More Satisfying

 

Early on, I wished that I had parents that would just hand me a million dollars. However, that thought process changed when I received my first paycheck. When I earned my own money, it just felt a lot more satisfying.

 

 

You can live off other people for the rest of your life or you can earn it. Living off other people is much easier, but the satisfaction isn’t there.

 

 

4. Nothing Is Permanent 

 

Just as quickly as you can have it all, you can lose it all just as easily. I learned that lesson the hard way when working various jobs. I had a job where I was making $20 to $25 an hour in high school.

 

 

I thought I was top shit and I ended up losing my job within a few weeks. The shitty part about life is that nothing is ever permanent. You have to continue working hard and making great decisions to keep things moving.

 

 

5. You Can Make More Money, But You Can’t Make More Time

 

I also realized early on from starting my business that time was the best commodity in the world. Most people believe it to be money, but I realized I can always make more money if I really tried.

 

 

Time on the other hand is unrecoverable. Once you’ve used up a certain amount of time, you cannot get it back. Focus on making the best of your time, rather than solely focusing on making money.

 

 

6. Invest In Yourself

 

The greatest investment you can make is the one in yourself. When everything is said and done, you are what matters. Friends come and go. Unfortunately, I’ve met way too many people who only care about the money and success. Once that’s gone, they’ll be gone.

 

 

However, if you invest in yourself from an early age, you will always be able to support yourself. Brand yourself, educate yourself and take risks to experience things you normally wouldn’t.

 

 

7. Hope For The Best, Expect The Worst

 

With my first company, I remember pitching to a client for a $50,000 project. I had developed a wrong mindset after the meeting. I felt that I had this client locked in because he ended up asking me a lot of questions.

 

 

I had this strong belief that I got the project and that was the only ultimatum. 2 weeks later, I got a phone call from him saying that he had awarded the project to my competitor. As you can imagine, I felt horrible. Hope for the best in everything you do, but expect the worst to happen as well.

 

 

8. Nothing Worth Having Comes Easily 

 

If you really want something that is worth having, remember that it won’t come easily. If it does, it’s properly not as worthwhile as you thought it was.

 

 

This was the hardest lesson I had to come to terms with when I started working hard as an entrepreneur. I wanted to build the next great startup, but it wasn’t easy. However, if you’re persistent and stay committed to your goals, you can achieve the impossible.

 

 

9. Don’t Rely On Luck

 

Everyone at some point wishes for some luck to help them out with something. When I started my first company, I thought that I would eventually get lucky just because I worked hard.

 

 

Turns out, the more I relied on luck, the less it showed up. You need to separate luck and hard work in your life. You need to simply work hard without worrying about luck. If luck wants to show up, it’ll show up. If not, you have to continue grinding anyway.

 

 

10. No Doesn’t Mean Shit 

 

The word “NO” was definitely a tough thing to deal with early on in my life. I felt rejected and isolated when I received NO’s. However, I quickly realized that NO doesn’t mean shit.

 

 

It means that one person at that time doesn’t side with my way of thinking. However, there are still millions of others who may think differently. Not to mention, that individual himself may change his mind in the future. Don’t let NO’s stop you from getting what you want.

 

 

Conclusion

 

In this article, I shared 10 lessons I learned from working for everything I have. Share some things you have learned from hard work in the comments below.

 

 

photo credit: mayeesherr. (in West Bengal!) via photopin cc