Several years ago I was doubting whether the entrepreneur thing would work out for me...
After failing with dozens of websites... (I share 13 of my failed attempts in this video here)
It really started to sink in how DIFFICULT building a successful business online was.
All the fake gurus sold me ebooks and video training courses promising 'easy'...
I was hooked on the idea that there was an 'easy' way... Hence me jumping from business to business, niche to niche...
Shiny object to shiny object...
This perpetual search for 'easy' left me deeper in debt and further from my goal than when I started.
It was this point when I considering giving up to just 'get a real job and climb the corporate ladder'...
But then, it hit me.
And this moment became a VERY decisive turning point in my life.
You can have this exact same turning point in your life right now, in this post, too.
But you have to read this whole post to truly 'get it'!
Most won't... Because it's too much work to read the entire thing.
Just like how most people won't do the work it takes to build a real business...
But that's neither here nor there...
Back to the story:
So, what was the realization?
Well... That my entire future (lifestyle, finances, everything!) all came down to 2 options... Two potential paths.
Entrepreneur vs. Employee - Which is More Difficult?
Many people think that becoming an entrepreneur is a great way to 'escape the rat race'
And on many levels it is...
But I wonder if those same people realize how much harder it is to exit the rat race as an entrepreneur.
I often talk about the requirement to put in the work for YEARS without guarantee of success...
Publishing hundreds upon hundreds of blog posts or videos before seeing any sort of exciting data...
But with a job, you show up, punch your clock, keep that seat warm for 40 hours per week and you get a check.
Honestly, that IS the easy option.
100% of the risk has been taken on by the founders.
You may even get health benefits, paid vacations, sick time, etc.
None of that for entrepreneurs.
For an entrepreneur, 40 hours per week is like part time... Especially in the beginning.
60 to 80 hour weeks are normal.
I still work 7 days per week and often find myself hitting my computer before 5am and putting it all away around 7pm.
Clearly being an entrepreneur is harder...
There is more risk...
No guarantee of a paycheck...
In fact, Melanie and I both had to work full time jobs so support our entrepreneur habit/dream for many years.
Why?
Why would anyone put themselves through all that extra work?
Is it the money?
Well, once you hit a point where your audience is growing consistently...
And you've put out enough good will to build up a ton of trust...
Yes, the money can be incredible... No doubt.
But it is not about the money.
The truth is, it's about FREEDOM.
The freedom to hop a flight to the tropics because you are TIRED of being COLD from a brutal winter.
The freedom to only set alarm clocks when you have FUN things to do like catch early morning flights.
The freedom to have a 'commute' that consists of walking to your home office.
And sure...
If you are smart with the income you earn, you can create true freedom with your finances, too...
As long as you don't get hooked on buying liabilities like Italian sports cars 😉
But really, it is important to have your expectations in the right place.
Two Potential Paths
Choice #1 - Have less freedom and WAY more work now in exchange for more freedom in a few years.
Choice #2 - Have more of the same for decade after decade after decade.
I was about 30 when I had this realization.
Broke, at my parents' and over $50,000 in debt.
No silver spoon here.
The thought of working a 'cubicle job' and commuting every day for 35 years for average wages in an expensive metro...
Feels like a life sentence without parole!
Sure I might be able to make 100k per year, but never 100k per month in a "real job."
If it takes decades of work either way, might as well work in a system that can get me six-figure monthly income levels, right?
But it's not all about the money.
It's about the ability to skip to the beaches of Mexico for a couple weeks when it is annoyingly cold outside to get some beach time.
It's about having the ability to fly to my parent's house for 4 days when they are moving to help them pack up their house...
Without having to 'ask anyone' permission or look at my bank account to see if I can 'afford it.'
Its about living life without the ball and chain of a CLOCK every day deciding when I have to wake up, when I have to commute, when I get to clock out, etc.
But the kicker is...
You will have to work harder and longer hours as an entrepreneur than you did as an employee.
And, there is no 'finish line' where as an entrepreneur you are ever 'done'
Never.
Ever.
Jeff Bezos, wealthiest man in the world... Still grinding it out, steering his ship.
What about those people selling passive business courses?
Yep, they are all working on new funnels, ads, courses, etc.
They are writing new emails, brokering new JV deals, working on new traffic...
They are doing the ACTIVE work every day!
In the last 5 years I've been to dozens of digital marketing events all over the world...
Some as a speaker, some as an attendee...
I've met hundreds of super successful entrepreneurs...
The one TRUTH that comes up over and over and over...
Successful entrepreneurs who are making millions are BUSY as can be right now and they have a VISION for how they can do more.
And the ones who are focused on helping others...
The entrepreneurs who have chosen a niche where they get to earn their living as a byproduct of being of service to others...
They all seem to have all the energy and excitement in the world needed to keep showing up day in and day out.
To put in those 60 hour weeks.
Year in and year out...
For DECADES.
The big key, in my opinion... Choosing the right niche for your online business.
The path to true freedom takes WAY MORE WORK condensed down for a few years...
More work than most people are ever willing to do...
Sacrifices that most people aren't willing to consider... No happy hours... No weekend barbecues... No Netflix & Chill...
There's simply no time for that for SUCCESSFUL entrepreneurs.
40 hours per week on the side hustle, 40 hours per week on the day job to pay the bills and 20 hours/ week dealing with 'life' (groceries, commuting, laundry etc)
This leaves 68 hours/week left over... That's over 9 hours per day!
So take an hour and a half for 'family time' if needed, or apply that to the side hustle...
And you're still getting 8 hours of sleep per night.
The math works!
But here's the TOUGH part.
Keep this pace up for 5 years straight while seeing minimal results for the first 3 years.
To keep that persistence going day in and day out while your list is at 21 subscribers and hasn't grown in a week.
When your ads aren't converting any customers and you've been trying different funnels for 5 months.
To keep publishing to your blog, post number 143... Then post #144 the next day, when you are only getting just 164 visits per month.
To persevere through tech challenges dealing with WordPress, shopping carts, themes, plugins, etc. when you aren't a tech geek.
All while your friends are texting "Why don't you hang out anymore" or "Meet us for dollar drinks at happy hour Thursday at 6"
Or the family is wondering why you spend so much time in the home office and not with them watching Netflix every night...
The truth?
Because you have a vision for a better future with greater FREEDOM...
And you know that takes YEARS of sacrifice, trial, error, perseverance and intense energy to get there.
The Employee's path?
A slow grind through your late 60s where 40+ hours of your life every week goes to create freedom for someone else.
All those hours go to support the CEO who earns on average 361x more than the average worker.
And the owner's who's stocks get more and more valuable based on your life energy and work product...
But you just get more work for the same pay...
And, the average wages (adjusting for inflation) are just about the same as they were in 1978!?! Click here for the source on that stat
This is some WTF stuff right here...
I did not come here to this planet to enrich someone else at the expense of 40 years of my life.
But maybe the biggest WTF moment is when people think spending 3-5 years to grow a business...
Spending 3-5 years to create TRUE freedom... Is 'too long to spend to get rich'
I see it in the YouTube comments all the time... I just SMH
So many people want to apply an employee "just do the work" mindset to a results driven world of Entrepreneurship.
This distinction is the trap most entrepreneurs who fail get stuck in...
Watch this video to avoid that trap:
They buy into the lie that they are just 1 funnel away, so they make the funnel and then... Nothing happens because they didn't skill up first!
They expect success in 90 days because some guru said so in their overhyped B.S. webinar pitch...
So they click on another Facebook ad promising the next magic solution....
Before you know it they are on another webinar promising riches fast... And out comes the credit card, AGAIN...
And another fake guru gets to make their Lamborghini payment...
Yet they are farther from the true path of success than ever before with their newest shiny object to the collection.
It Comes Down To Work Ethic
Maybe it is because I have farm-boy roots from North Dakota.
My dad grew up without running water... No indoor plumbing... No electricity.
In NORTH FRIGGEN DAKOTA! (how cold tho?)
Hard work has never turned me off...
Sure it is natural to want things faster... To find more efficient ways of doing things.
But once I realized that the path of double or triple the work for the next 5 years was for me.
That 5 BRUTAL years of challenges, trial and error and looooooong nights dealing with tech B.S. was indeed the short path.
Melanie and I had a heart to heart...
Then we decided to do whatever it takes...
That was 2009...
In 2014 we had paid off all our debt and we were making more each month that we used to in a year, combined!
We went on a perpetual 4 year trip around the world to visit the most beautiful beaches on Earth...
All while growing our business to levels that no one in our family or 'network' has ever experienced.
And the freedom has been worth it.
Sorry for the long rant today, but this is so important.
If the mindset and expectations are off, then you won't follow through.
The power is in the follow through.
Growing a business out of nothing with your time and energy is incredibly difficult.
You need to have a BIG motivation... A huge reason WHY you are going to persevere through all of the challenges.
Because honestly, working a desk job and making 'enough' is the 'comfortable' option.
So you need to ask yourself....
"Why am I willing to give up the secure/comfortable option to take unnecessary risk and double my workload?"
If you don't have a GREAT answer to that question that motivates you on an emotional level...
You may not find the energy you need to persevere when you need it most.
None of the fake gurus will be this honest with you because they need to make it sound 'easy' to sell you their course/method.
But I want you to be ready for the reality...
Because having your expectations in the right place is the only way to be ready to overcome the challenges...
And if your reason why is big enough...
You will find a way!
You can do this.
Embrace the ridiculous amount of work and get GREAT at helping your audience transform their lives.
You'll be amazed at what you create!
Miles "Hard Work" Beckler
