Thread: Not living your life until you reach a goal.....

If you want to make a lot of money your going to have to work quite a bit. Very few people built successful companies without putting in very long hours and working hard.

But thats hardly a reason why you can't enjoy life. You can't let work takeover your life, even though you work alot you need to have family/you time.

Besides building your business shouldn't feel like work. I enjoy what I do, I have no problem going in on a Sunday morning and digging a foundation or doing something else. But on the flip side if their is something I want to go to on say a Wednesday I do.

Originally Posted by Jonleehacker

I think for everyone it will be different. For years I was a shut-in workaholic. I was totally focused on earning money and getting rich.

One day I had a realization that I wasn't enjoying the fruit of all that labor. I had made getting rich the end game.

Getting rich is a stupid end game, the only reason to have money is to enjoy life more. The irony is the we can always start enjoying life more no matter how much money we have... it's a simple choice.

I consciously started to tip the balance and began to spend more of my money and spend more of my time playing.

The funny part is that the less I have worked, the more money I have made. For me this was not a coincidence, now my work is more focused and it has a real purpose... greater enjoyment of life - which is a lot more inspiring that an bulging bank account.

Jon,
My question here is, had you not put in the hard years, would you have the finanicial rewards you have today? As an entrepreneurial shut in, did you learn so much in that condensed period of your life that you now can use that knowledge to make your life easier?

Originally Posted by GlobalWealth

Jon,
My question here is, had you not put in the hard years, would you have the finanicial rewards you have today? As an entrepreneurial shut in, did you learn so much in that condensed period of your life that you now can use that knowledge to make your life easier?

Well, there is some truth to that. It's going to be tough to build passive income or wealth without taking action.

But, the time it takes to reach a goal is often determined by how much time is available. If I had a more balanced approach to life, I may have achieved the same results by working fewer hours each day, just by being more efficient in my thinking.

If I had to name the factors that have held me back the most they would be:

1.) being smart - most of the time it results in trying to impress rather than being profitable.

2.) being willing to work really hard - if you are lazy, you'll invent more efficient ways to get the same things accomplished.

3.) being a perfectionist - this is the biggest, it is simply fear of criticism, all successful people must be able to face criticism and naysayers.

4.) limited thinking - not realizing that you can have anything you want in life if you set your mind and purpose to it.

In summary, we set our own rules. If you believe you need to work 16 hours a day to be successful, then you will. If you believe that you can have all the money you need to have great life and golf all day, while working a few hours a week... well that is certainly possible too.

Originally Posted by Jonleehacker

But, the time it takes to reach a goal is often determined by how much time is available. If I had a more balanced approach to life, I may have achieved the same results by working fewer hours each day, just by being more efficient in my thinking.

As my grandpa used to always say, "if a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass so much".

I agree, that I now see many, many things in my life that could have been done better, smarter, and more efficiently. But we also need to realize those experiences are what made us into who we are today and will continue to drive us into the future. There are lots of if-thens in life, but fretting over them is pointless.

Interesting reading on this topic.

Sacrifice your health for your startup | VentureBeat

Originally Posted by GlobalWealth

Jon,
My question here is, had you not put in the hard years, would you have the finanicial rewards you have today? As an entrepreneurial shut in, did you learn so much in that condensed period of your life that you now can use that knowledge to make your life easier?

"...did you learn so much in that condensed period of your life that you now can use that knowledge to make your life easier?"

That is a fundamental (if not THE fundamental) point of human existence.

Originally Posted by biophase

Interesting reading on this topic.

Sacrifice your health for your startup | VentureBeat

Thanx a mil for this link. It was very interesting to read both opinions, guy's and wife's!