We don’t usually talk about mindset and beliefs, but over the past 2 years of my disappearance from the scene I’m finally back, Foolishness File is back.
I’ve come to realize that it’s not just about tactics, strategies and techniques.
I thought all this mindset stuff was just a waste of time. I was like… “hey let’s just get right into it!”
First business… failed. Second business… failed. Third business… failed.
Then I thought, how many more years am I gonna keep failing. I wanna succeed already!
And it’s not just me here… even my friends and people I know have failed many times before and continue to fail.
So, I went out to find a mentor and improve myself.
Turns out a great deal of it is actually mindset. If you can improve that then nothing can get in your way.
If you have poor person’s mindset, you will be poor. If you have a 6-fig earner’s mindset you’ll be a 6-fig earner. If you have a millionaire’s mindset you’ll be a millionaire. And if you have a billionaire’s mindset you’ll be a billionaire… not overnight, not guaranteed, but without limiting beliefs that get in your way.
I and many others (perhaps you included) have been running around taking action with our mental emergency brakes on without even knowing.
And that’s the dangerous thing when it comes to mindset. We think we’re okay, but then after doing so many things and failing every time then looking at your mindset is something you should probably consider.
Here’s the first one…
1. You think of making money
The world doesn’t owe you anything. No one cares about your financial goals or what you want to achieve.
Everybody’s concern is about themselves.
No one is gonna part with their money unless you’re offering great value to them.
Nobody cares if you want to become a millionaire.
Stop thinking about how much money you want to make and stop focusing on the value you can provide for others.
The amount of money you make is in proportion of the value you provide to the marketplace.
How many lives can you impact with your products and services?
If you’re working for a boss then you’re only impacting that one person.
It’s all about transaction size and distribution.
So, if you’re providing something that’s worth $10 then to make a million, you’d need to impact 100,000 lives with it. So you either increase the amount of value you provide per person or increase the number of lives you impact if you want to reach that goal faster.
Working for one boss or one client isn’t going to make you that million unless you’re making them some serious money.
So, think of the value you can provide for others instead of the money you want to make.
If you don’t care about people’s needs then you’re gonna have some trouble to achieve your financial goals because in the end of the day – if you want people to part with their money then they better be getting some great value in return.
2. Trying to Reduce Marketing Spend
You start a business and run some Facebook ads… but you don’t sell anything.
Or worse, you have no marketing budget… “Hey, I’m gonna grow this business organically!”
That’s what they say before they fail. I’ve said it too.
But, what about those case studies of people growing their business organically… it’s all about having an amazing product that sells itself right??
It is, but it’s not enough.
Essentially marketing is all about getting as many eyeballs as you can. It’s all about getting that attention.
You can either earn it, pay for it or borrow it.
The free marketing that people talk about is when you earn it.
Don’t hope to film an awesome video about your product and then go viral.
Remember hope is not a strategy and to rely on hope is to rely on outside factors that are not within your control.
Do you really want your success to be a lucky chance or do you want to have control over it?
If you look at the most successful companies, they spend millions and billions on marketing even though they already dominate their niches. What do you think that tells you?
So how silly does it sound when a startup thinks they can dominate their industry “organically” without spending any money on marketing? Do they forget who they’re competing against?
… Increase that marketing budget.
3. You Think About Saving Instead of Investing
“There’s a big difference between playing to win and playing not to lose.” – Dan Peña
Click to tweetHow can I spend the least amount in this investment? That’s what many investors think about. They’re so afraid to invest that they end up thinking about how much they can save.
Well here’s the thing friend… if you wanna save then you shouldn’t invest at all. Just leave your money in the bank.
And if you’re already thinking of backing out like that then it means you don’t believe you can win – so you end up playing not to lose.
When you play not to lose, you go on defense. You’re already thinking about losing and how to minimize your losses.
There’s an extreme amount of uncertainty in business but there is only one thing that is certain – and that’s the possibility of failure.
Do your due diligence first, make sure the investment sounds good… if you’re not sure about the investment because you don’t have any knowledge then that’s a sign that you should be investing in yourself.
Never walk into an investment unless you’re okay with the consequences. Are you okay with losing your entire investment?
If the answer is yes then proceed.
I’m not saying you should go in wanting to lose it, but you should be okay with the consequences.
When people go to war they go in with the aim for victory and that’s the same with business, we go in for profit.
And just like war, you don’t go to war unless you’re okay to sacrifice your life for it… similarly you don’t go into an investment unless you’re okay with the losses.
Do your due diligence, make your decision and move on.
4. Shiny Object Syndrome
I’m guilty of this one myself.
I signed up for all these newsletters and my inbox would be loaded with the next best opportunity or the latest hack!
I was afraid of missing out. I wanted to do all these things and get my hands on every opportunity.
There’s a Russian proverb that goes like “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.”
And here’s the thing…
You only need one of those strategies/business opportunities to work for you to make a million.
Whether that’s…
- Email marketing
- Real estate
- eCommerce
- Whatever…
Whatever it is… if you just focus on one you can make millions in it.
You don’t need to be doing dropshipping, Amazon private labeling, affiliate marketing, real estate and 10 other things all at the same time.
Just ONE.
Scrap the rest.
All that multiple streams of income advice is misunderstood.
You don’t try to build 7 streams of income all at the same time. You build one, then you diversify your money into 7.
You build them one at a time. Not two at a time or three at a time. ONE… just ONE!
Stay focused… stay focused.
When I realized this… I quickly went to my inbox and started unsubscribing to all those email lists I was on. Focused on mastering one stream of income until I reach the success I want with it.
5. Afraid of Fear
We’re all afraid. But it’s about your perception of that fear that makes the difference.
You need to understand that you’re not the only person out there who feels fear. When you see someone who is courageous it’s not because they felt less fear than you so they went out and did it.
High performance individuals just deal with fear differently. Physiologically our bodies react the same way when we’re excited or afraid. It’s the same symptoms with only one difference…
High performers perceive fear as excitement.
Average people perceive fear as fear – as something they should avoid.
Otherwise it’s the same thing… faster heart beats, sweating, shaking… it’s the same. It’s your body’s way to give you the energy and reflexes you need to deal with the situation.
Change the way you look at fear.
Easier said than done, I know. Since you’ve been viewing fear as a negative thing for all your life, that’s a lot of years of negative programming you’ve exposed your brain to. It’s only fair that you retrain your brain to change your perception of fear.
And here’s a tip: there’s something called “exposure therapy” which is where you’re exposed to a situation you’re afraid of many times until you get comfortable with it.
But I wouldn’t rely on this. Instead train your brain to act when it feels the fear. But just know that over time the “fear” or “excitement” will fade away over time as you get used to it.
6. Think Education is Expensive
They say you pay for your education either way… through experience or through a mentor.
It’s your choice…
I’ve paid for my education through years of failures when I could have just paid someone who had already achieve what I want to achieve and get them to help me get there faster and with less mistakes.
Isn’t that what Foolishness File is all about? Learning from other people’s mistakes.
Our time on this earth is limited, we can’t afford to make all the mistakes there are before we succeed. I’ve personally invested 5 years of my life along with thousands of dollars only to end up failing. It wasn’t until I found a mentor that I began to see results faster.
If you’ve got a problem with paying someone $5K or $10K to guide you to success… but don’t mind throwing that amount on an uncertain investment… then we need to talk.
Because if you think education is expensive – try ignorance.
7. You Hate Sales
If you don’t know how to sell, hate sales or don’t like sales people then you’re not gonna make it in business.
Business is all about sales. In fact, everything is sales.
If you can’t get a job – then you’re bad at sales.
If you’re single – then you’re bad at sales.
If you fail to sell your product – then surprise!!! You suck at sales.
The most important skill in life is knowing how to sell. But society looks badly at sales. I mean what’s the first thing that comes to mind when I mention the word sales?
- Sleazy salesman
- Used car salesman
- Snake oil
- Liar
- Pushy
- All of the above
Yeah that’s the problem. We always look at the negatives.
I mean look at the most successful people in the world… Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett… they’re all great at sales.
All the great business leaders sell their vision to their followers.
Amateurs try to convince people to buy, but great sales people make people want to buy.
So yeah… that’s what I did. I learnt from the best.
Conclusion
Think of people’s needs and offering value. Play to win, instead of playing to lose. Focus on one idea until success. Be generous with your marketing spend. Remember that fear and excitement is the same thing… invest in your education and improve your selling skills.