Anthony is author of the "The Hyperfocused Entrepreneur". He also has a Youtube channel with 15k+ subscribers, built and exited two 7-figure companies, and manages a $80M real estate portfolio.
Guest Author: Anthony Vicino
4 things every entrepreneur (probably) needs to hear:
Keep these in mind on those long, hard, lonely days when you feel like giving up.
(of which there will be many)
1. Your “Best” Is Not Good Enough
Sorry. Hate to break it to ya.
But just showing up and doing your best isn’t gonna win you any awards.
There are no participation awards here.
No.
You have to do what is required.
Unfortunately, there is almost always a gap between your best and what is required.
This means you’ll spend the majority of your time feeling like you’re in over your head.
Guess what:
You probably are.
But that’s okay, because this is how you learn to swim.
(or ya don’t, but that’s a story for another day)
Learning to figure things out as you go is THE superpower.
The secret to success in business is to realize that YOU as the founder are almost always the biggest constraint.
And again, this is because your BEST is not GOOD ENOUGH…. yet.
(all your hopes and dreams as an entrepreneur hinge upon that last word (yet)).
2. Responsibility is the Price of Freedom
This was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn at the beginning of my journey.
See, I was initially drawn to entrepreneurship because I hate being told what to do.
So what could be better than becoming my own boss?
Well, turns out.. alot.
What I didn’t realize is that I also rebel against my own internal authority.
I would create these grand plans and schedules, and then… when it came time to get down to work, I’d find all sorts of reasons to delay and procrastinate.
Turns out, I was a really lenient boss when it came to holding myself accountable.
Simply put: I lacked self-discipline.
If you want to be the master of your destiny, then that means taking full-responsibility for everything that happens in your life/business.
Nobody is coming to save you.
It’s. just. you.
3. If It Were Easy, It Wouldn’t Be Worth Doing
All paths leading to success are fairly simple…
But none are easy.
This is why most people don’t bother.
What they don’t realize though, is as Jerzy Gregorek said:
“Easy Choices, Hard Life. Hard Choices, Easy Life”
Turns out all paths in life are difficult.
The struggle is inevitable.
It’s either hard in the moment or hard in the end.
But there’s power in knowing it’s YOUR choice.
Choose wisely.
4. It’s (probably) Going to Be Okay
Humans are fantastic at imagining worst case scenarios.
Thankfully, these massive failures are the exception, not the rule.
More likely:
You’ll fail in a far less spectacular way.
Regardless of which path you choose in life, failure is inevitable…
The key is to avoid the catastrophic failures that take you out of the game entirely.
And the truth is… in this day and age, the number of catastrophic failures are growing fewer by the day…
While the potential upside only continually expands.
So go ahead, make the asymmetric bet on yourself…
On a long enough timeframe, it’ll very likely work out.
