1. People WANT To Help You
ESPECIALLY the people in your network: family, friends, friends of friends.
Possible investors? Maybe you!!!
It's amazing what happens when you decide to put yourself out there into the world, focus and work on things you're good at and things you're passionate about. Opportunity comes knockin'. Time to let the mother ***** in.
I'm someone who's always naturally seen people as good-hearted (theory Vol I), until they pull some shit that proves otherwise. And I've found that to be increasingly true in my business venture up until this point. I'm not actually even a month in yet but work with me here. As I'm writing this post, I'm currently working with three different companies, each of which I've acquired directly through my personal network. All it takes is one person to see what you're doing and reach a hand out to you. Then the ball starts rolling and a little mojo goes a long way. And I'll be honest, I've been lucky up to this point. It's probably not always this easy. But, something else I've also always believed says that "you make your own luck" (theory Vol II). It's funny that the harder you work, the "luckier" you get.
Regardless of that remarkable theory, telling my friends and family of my plans at first had me nervous. No doubt. I may have seemed calm and composed on camera to most people, but you can only see me from my waist up in the video. You couldn't see the pee stain in my underwear just 6 inches underneath where the camera cuts off.
Posting that first Facebook status, the one where you tell the world what you're doing is some crazy stuff tbh. You see it everyday, from someone new and you more often than not senselessly scroll by it "yay wooo" *clicks like* but you don't really care. For the person posting that status, though, it's a wild mix of nervousness, excitement, anxiety, whatever, whatever. It brings you out of your comfort zone for sure. Which brings us to Nick's Life Theories Volume III: you're really not going to get anywhere in life (worth getting to) if you don't step out of your comfort zone. But once you do, you'd be surprised who might need your help or who's willing to help you. Someone lending a hand, which might seems like the world to you, is a simple email or phone call from them. It makes a lot more sense when you look at it from that scope. And if no one that you know directly does, you can bet that someone they know will. It's the Kevin Bacon theory or law or whatever the fuck people call that thing.
2. Entrepreneurship is a Lonely Mother
I consider myself an introvert. When I was working full-time at my last couple of jobs, my favorite days were those that I was working from home. I'm sure almost everyone is like... no shit Nicholas... but probably not for the same reasons. You could double my workload on those days, but simultaneously, my level of happiness (so much happy) was doubled so it didn't matter. It meant freedom and getting things done how and when I wanted to. But with that freedom comes a lot of, just that, freedom. I'll have some freedom with my freedom please. #Merica.
While everyone you know is working full-time from 8AM to 6PM or sitting in class pretending to learn all day, you need to keep your head on straight. You lose the social aspect of a real office. There's little-to-no human interaction when you're working remotely. This is where hipsters get a bad rep. Hipsters freelance. Hipsters put random stickers on their laptop. Hipsters hibernate at Starbucks for hours at a time.
FAck.... I think I'm a hipster. But I like sports ... and my beard sucks though?
But in all seriousness, the longer I've been working on my own, the more frequently I've found myself packing my backpack and racing my dented white Mazda to Starbucks, Barnes & Noble or a different local coffee shop. It might sound weird, but just being around and seeing people is an upgrade from the home office in that sense. Shit, I'll work in my backyard if the squirrels will have me. But for the most part, everyone else at these places are there to work too, so you're able to get into a zone. Kinda like back in college, when you'd pop an adderall, head to the library and knock out a semester's worth of work in 341 minutes. Starbucks is the college library for adults. And 14-year old white girls. But I digress.
Staying occupied, focused and driven is proving to be a much larger challenge for myself than I had anticipated.
3. If You Don't Enjoy the Process, You'll Never Make It
You've probably heard this phrase or something like it the most too many times in your lifetime. (I know that was grammatically incorrect on THE MOST number of levels. That's how I talk) But everything, from relationships to losing weight to building a business, is about enjoying the process not reaching the finish line.
I was up this morning at 6:30AM. It's Sunday. What kind of psycho does that shit and why? I done did it. Because at this point in my life (I'm 24 years old), for the most part, I'll gladly sacrifice 12 shots of tequila, two "you up" texts and a $215 bar tab for a good night of sleep and an early rise to work. Nothing gets me quite hard like a little sunrise action, sipping on a hot cup of Dunkin (Unsweetened french vanilla, two splendas, no cream/sugar/milk, probably a donut on the side, but only one I can eat with a straw.) and ready to begin typing away on my crystal white iMac keyboard. If you ain't about the life, you're going to get burnt out eventually. That's just #Facts.
I mean really, though. Cashing that first big check, putting the ring on a girl's finger, stepping on the scale to see that you hit your goal weight. The finish line is great in theory, but now what? You didn't win, nothing changes. It's like asking someone how they feel on their birthday, now that they're 23, not 22. Exactly the fucking same as I did two hours ago asshole. You're going to remember the journey that brought you there. Take the lessons you learned from it, set new goals and continue moving forward until you cash that second big check, lose even more weight, or you have two wives. (I'll give you a W if it comes to that)
If the journey doesn't satisfy you, I can guarantee you that the finish line won't either homies and homettes.