MJ DeMarco
I followed the science; all I found was money.
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It's been a long, long time. But it seems like yesterday.
In 2007, I launched The Fastlane Forum. During this time, I've encountered 1000s of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. I soon discovered a complex reality that most people are liars—not to others, but to themselves. Here are the 9 common lies that want to convince you to sell your dreams for slaughter. And 9 easy paradigm shifts to insure your dreams stay alive and tracked for reality.
9 Dream-Killing Lies You Sell Yourself...
LIE #1: I'm not good at X.
Of course, you're not. No one is born an instant expert. We all crawled before we walked. Seinfeld's first words weren't a joke. Ronaldo didn't emerge from mom with a football. The question is, if you aren't good at X, what do you need to do to get good at X?
The fact is, "I'm not good at X" is not a fixed status but a variable one. You can suck at X today, but be better at it tomorrow. BETTER is the key; minor daily improvements create major results.
The sibling to this lie is, "Well, I just lack the education."
PARADIGM SHIFT: I'm not good at X today, but I can be better at X tomorrow.
LIE #2: I don't have time for business.
You don't have time because it isn't a priority. It isn't urgent. Other things come first. Game of Thrones. Call of Duty. Sleep and leisure. The 55th Yankees game you just watched. Would you "find time" if failure in the next three months meant the death of the loved one? You would. What's most important always finds time.
PARADIGM SHIFT: I don't have time with my current lifestyle patterns, but with the proper adjustments and reprioritizations, I can find time.
LIE #3: X just got lucky.
Yes, X did. Out of all the numbers in the alphabet, X was incredibly active, engaged, and committed to success. As such, X manipulated probability and gave themself a better chance of getting in luck's spotlight.
PARADIGM SHIFT: Luck is a function of probability, and my habitual actions can improve my chances for luck to appear.
LIE #4: Someday I'll start a business.
No, you won't. You're too comfortable, and comfort doesn't incite action. Most people allow their dreams to be bribed with a few hours of television, video games, or sleep. There will never be a perfect day, week, or month. Life is too aggressively chaotic with its own momentum. It is why Someday exists. Someday is a pacification to make yourself feel good for not quitting, but delaying. And we all know someday becomes never. Someday is a fat lie.
PARADIGM SHIFT: My best time to start a business is today. Someday is a pacifying excuse to disguise the truth of never.
LIE #5: There are no good ideas.
Never has there been one sentence that stinks of entrepreneurial ignorance. Most new businesses are built on marginal improvement and better efficiencies, not about becoming the next Steve Jobs. If life had no problems, there would be no ideas. Ideas are about solving problems, removing angsts, fixing inconveniences, delivering peace, sparking fun, and offering different ingredients.
PARADIGM SHIFT: If I see ideas as a function of life's imperfections, voids, and distress, I will have plenty of ideas.
LIE #6: I'm too old, stupid, or X.
If you have something I want or desperately need, I will not care about your personal histrionics or demographics. How much is it, and when can I get it? The injured man in the street comes to mind... if I'm bleeding in an alley and a man offers me a tourniquet, I'm not going to care how old the man is, how he's a bad father, or about his bankruptcy 24 years ago.
PARADIGM SHIFT: Relative value will be colorblind to my deficiencies and past transgressions. If I can provide value to culture, culture will overlook my self-constructed inadequacies.
LIE #7: I don't have enough money.
While this might be true, you also don't have enough discipline or focus. It's stunningly amazing how the people who claim to have no money also have no job, no education, no specialized skills, and no motivation to change the status quo. But you can bet they have the latest iPhone, a device that has instant access to unlimited knowledge.
I don't have money really means no one will give me money, and I'm too lazy to earn my own through hard work, ingenuity, and persistence. To get money to start my business, I taught myself a specialized skill (web design) that 10X'd my earning wages. Money followed.
PARADIGM SHIFT: I can increase my income and build capital by investing in education and teaching myself a specialized skill that will multiply my wages by several magnitudes.
LIE #8: I don’t have the right connections.
While having a solid network of connections can be helpful, it is not essential for success. Connections is always a function of activity. It is a function of productivity and results. Do you think someone with 1 million subscribers to their YouTube channel is struggling with "the right connections?" Be active and connections will follow, plus money.
PARADIGM SHIFT: I can expand my network by consistently acting and moving on my goals.
LIE #9: Entrepreneurship is risk.
Starting a business is inherently risky, but avoiding the risk is riskier. As I like to say, the pain of regret is far greater than the pain of failure.
PARADIGM SHIFT: All of life is a risk, some risks have lifelong returns, others have lifelong regrets.
Stop lying and get busy doing.
In 2007, I launched The Fastlane Forum. During this time, I've encountered 1000s of entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. I soon discovered a complex reality that most people are liars—not to others, but to themselves. Here are the 9 common lies that want to convince you to sell your dreams for slaughter. And 9 easy paradigm shifts to insure your dreams stay alive and tracked for reality.
9 Dream-Killing Lies You Sell Yourself...
LIE #1: I'm not good at X.
Of course, you're not. No one is born an instant expert. We all crawled before we walked. Seinfeld's first words weren't a joke. Ronaldo didn't emerge from mom with a football. The question is, if you aren't good at X, what do you need to do to get good at X?
The fact is, "I'm not good at X" is not a fixed status but a variable one. You can suck at X today, but be better at it tomorrow. BETTER is the key; minor daily improvements create major results.
The sibling to this lie is, "Well, I just lack the education."
PARADIGM SHIFT: I'm not good at X today, but I can be better at X tomorrow.
LIE #2: I don't have time for business.
You don't have time because it isn't a priority. It isn't urgent. Other things come first. Game of Thrones. Call of Duty. Sleep and leisure. The 55th Yankees game you just watched. Would you "find time" if failure in the next three months meant the death of the loved one? You would. What's most important always finds time.
PARADIGM SHIFT: I don't have time with my current lifestyle patterns, but with the proper adjustments and reprioritizations, I can find time.
LIE #3: X just got lucky.
Yes, X did. Out of all the numbers in the alphabet, X was incredibly active, engaged, and committed to success. As such, X manipulated probability and gave themself a better chance of getting in luck's spotlight.
PARADIGM SHIFT: Luck is a function of probability, and my habitual actions can improve my chances for luck to appear.
LIE #4: Someday I'll start a business.
No, you won't. You're too comfortable, and comfort doesn't incite action. Most people allow their dreams to be bribed with a few hours of television, video games, or sleep. There will never be a perfect day, week, or month. Life is too aggressively chaotic with its own momentum. It is why Someday exists. Someday is a pacification to make yourself feel good for not quitting, but delaying. And we all know someday becomes never. Someday is a fat lie.
PARADIGM SHIFT: My best time to start a business is today. Someday is a pacifying excuse to disguise the truth of never.
LIE #5: There are no good ideas.
Never has there been one sentence that stinks of entrepreneurial ignorance. Most new businesses are built on marginal improvement and better efficiencies, not about becoming the next Steve Jobs. If life had no problems, there would be no ideas. Ideas are about solving problems, removing angsts, fixing inconveniences, delivering peace, sparking fun, and offering different ingredients.
PARADIGM SHIFT: If I see ideas as a function of life's imperfections, voids, and distress, I will have plenty of ideas.
LIE #6: I'm too old, stupid, or X.
If you have something I want or desperately need, I will not care about your personal histrionics or demographics. How much is it, and when can I get it? The injured man in the street comes to mind... if I'm bleeding in an alley and a man offers me a tourniquet, I'm not going to care how old the man is, how he's a bad father, or about his bankruptcy 24 years ago.
PARADIGM SHIFT: Relative value will be colorblind to my deficiencies and past transgressions. If I can provide value to culture, culture will overlook my self-constructed inadequacies.
LIE #7: I don't have enough money.
While this might be true, you also don't have enough discipline or focus. It's stunningly amazing how the people who claim to have no money also have no job, no education, no specialized skills, and no motivation to change the status quo. But you can bet they have the latest iPhone, a device that has instant access to unlimited knowledge.
I don't have money really means no one will give me money, and I'm too lazy to earn my own through hard work, ingenuity, and persistence. To get money to start my business, I taught myself a specialized skill (web design) that 10X'd my earning wages. Money followed.
PARADIGM SHIFT: I can increase my income and build capital by investing in education and teaching myself a specialized skill that will multiply my wages by several magnitudes.
LIE #8: I don’t have the right connections.
While having a solid network of connections can be helpful, it is not essential for success. Connections is always a function of activity. It is a function of productivity and results. Do you think someone with 1 million subscribers to their YouTube channel is struggling with "the right connections?" Be active and connections will follow, plus money.
PARADIGM SHIFT: I can expand my network by consistently acting and moving on my goals.
LIE #9: Entrepreneurship is risk.
Starting a business is inherently risky, but avoiding the risk is riskier. As I like to say, the pain of regret is far greater than the pain of failure.
PARADIGM SHIFT: All of life is a risk, some risks have lifelong returns, others have lifelong regrets.
Stop lying and get busy doing.
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