Life is what we make of it, right? Be courageous, try cool stuff, do something you enjoy and you’ll never work a day in your life, right? I tend to believe this. It’s unbelievable what you can do if you set your mind to something that you care about. There is just one giant, lingering thing that will likely get in your way. That is patience.
We live in an instantaneous society, things happen immediately. No more commercials, overnight deliveries on just about everything and if our sandwich takes more than 4 minutes we question everything in life.
We need to wrap our heads around the fact that things don’t generally happen overnight. There is a joke around my house that we are just searching for the next GRQS (Get Rich Quick Scheme). I say we “joke” about this because we know that is not a likely reality. The Get Rich Quick Scheme is a dangerous mindset and should never be expected. It’s unlikely and a very unfavorable mindset. This is the same mindset that has so many people playing the lottery. I have no problem with the lottery, it’s great to do as a hobby a couple times a year. I actually like giving lottery tickets as gifts but at no point do I think I would ever win. I always have said that the lottery is designed for people that can’t do math. Don’t be afraid to build your empire over time. That is the way the best things in the world are built, a solid foundation. Focus on the foundation and things will likely fall into place. Many of the great companies have longevity on their side. I will guarantee they had many opportunities to give up along the way. Many times when we see a struggle in business or life, we are right on the other side of our greatest successes.
I can prove that things don’t usually happen overnight, just based on salaries and positions. I speak to students in schools about this often and they are usually very surprised by these stats. In 2017, the average CEO is 58 years old in the US, so if you are in college, you have about 40 years. Women and men fall differently on the pay scale. Women’s income peaks at 44 and men’s income peaks at 55 according to PayScale. This is important for us to understand since most of us can agree, we are not wise yet. I would argue that we are at our wisest at around age 60, so many of us have some time.
Do you have a 5, 10, 20 or 30 year plan? If not, start thinking about it.
I encourage everyone to get into reading, it can be life changing. Here is a small reading list of some that I’ve enjoyed to get you started: https://www.promotionsguy.com/ryan-s-favorite-reads
I’m writing tips each week for people aspiring to improve. These are not industry related but they generally have something to do with growing as a person or growing a business. My intention is to help others grow while growing myself. My book recommendation this week is “Perennial Seller” by Ryan Holiday.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss something, feel free to shoot me an email at ryan@promotionsguy.com.