A husband and wife.
In their late 40s, early 50s.
Owning a large house.
Nice furniture.
A collection of shoes and suits.
Driving a Mercedes and a Lexus.
Working 4-hour days.
Running a 50-person company.
Annual income exceeding $300K.
Savings: set for life.
Can retire.
A young man.
In his late 20s, early 30s.
Nice clothes.
A collection of shoes and bags.
Driving a Prius.
Working 4-hour days.
Running a 1-man company.
Annual income: negative.
Break-even if lucky.
Savings: decreasing.
Wanting to retire.
The young man sees the glamour.
Desires the glamour.
Mimics the couple.
Wonders.
“Why are the results so different?”
21 years.
1 year.
The age of their businesses.
The difference in effort.
In patience.
5 years of trial-and-error.
Different businesses.
Experimenting with different products and services.
Making many mistakes along the way.
Until they found the right product and the right service.
10 years of red.
Bleeding money.
Doing odd jobs to make ends meet.
Never giving up.
Until their business became profitable.
15 years of going at it alone.
Having to do all the work.
Responsible for everything.
Flexibility, yes. Days off, no.
Until they could hire their first employee.
20 years of living in a small apartment.
A rental.
Buying new clothes once or twice.
Driving one car.
A fancy one.
For business.
Until they decided to purchase their own house.
The house they had been dreaming of.
Only after the business was stable.
Only after they were financially stable.
Only after their employees were taken care of.
Only after their customers were taken care of.
We look at the glamour.
We overlook the grind.
Pursue the glamour and results will elude you.
Embrace the grind and results will follow.