What is skin in the game? It is pain if things don’t go your way. Only listen to people that have skin in the game. Only listen if the other person suffers downside by things not going according to plan. If he has no skin in the game, ignore. (Summary of extract of Nasim Taleb’s…
How can you expect to achieve your dream without taking some risks? You can’t. By definition, a dream is beyond your reach. You have to take a jump to get there. A financial jump, a reputation jump, an emotional jump. You have to take a risk. No risk = No dream.
Sometimes you have to make a tactical retreat. Rest, recover, and live to fight another day. Just be careful you’re not seen to be giving up. Be careful your retreat doesn’t turn into a rout. You need your backers & followers to be there when you decide to fight again. If they think you’re quitter,…
Just because you’ve heard yourself say the same thing countless times, doesn’t mean your audience has. Whatever you have to say, keep saying it. To shareholders, to staff, to customers. It’s the only way to get your message across. Repetition repetition repetition.
Never assume your staff know what they’re talking about. Never assume they understand what you’ve just said. Ask the other guy to explain back to you. “Tell me where you’re going with this? What’s your goal?” “Give me an update, what is the progress report?” Trust, but verify.
Do you need a mentor? Is there a business leader/entrepreneur that resonates with you? Someone you’d love to meet to glean pearls of wisdom? Want to meet her? It’s very simple. Reach out. Write a letter. Send an email. SMS. Phone. LinkedIn. Find a friend who can do an introduction. Use your initiative. You never…
Maybe you think taking a hit makes you weaker. You’re wrong. Even if a knock takes you to the mat, you’re still stronger once you’ve recovered. Mentally, you’re less afraid. You’ve taken the hit. You’ve stood up. You know in your heart that you can do it. The more hits you take, the more hits…
Starting a business is not about loving every day of your life. It’s about finding financial freedom. Financial independence. You won’t love every day. You won’t love every task. But that’s cool. It’s not about love. It’s about making money.
In the race for riches, it’s easy to fool yourself as to why you’re doing it. “I’m doing it for my wife.” “I’m doing it for my kids.” “I’m doing it for my parents.” That’s all BS. There’s only one valid reason: “I’m doing it for myself.” That’s the truth. You’re chasing riches for yourself….
Promised yourself to wake up at 5am every day? Do it. Promised yourself to phone every customer every week? Do it. Promised yourself to do a new deal every month? Do it. If you break one promise to yourself, you’ll break others. Don’t make light promises to yourself. Keep your promises.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re in sales. Your life is mostly about getting people to do what you want. Buy your product. Join your company. Whatever. It’s about sales. About persuading people. The single most important part of sales is persistence. Don’t ever give up. No matter how many times you’re rejected, you never know when…
It’s easy to let crooks get under your skin. Mark Zuckerberg must have been burning up inside when he was forced to pay-off the Winkelvoss twins so they would drop their lawsuit. But it was the only way for Facebook to move forward. Fighting would have hurt Facebook more than it hurt the Winkelvii. The…