I've been "trying" since I was 11 years old. I babysat, mowed lawns, cleaned houses, mucked horse stalls, pulled weeds, and any other things I could find to get paid to do. I also sold bunches of lilacs each spring on the highway. When I passed the State test and got my RE license, there was no training or help with getting started. It was 49 years ago, before computers or the internet. My broker told me, "There's your desk and phone. Go to work." And that was it. I didn't know what to do or how to be successful. I failed a lot. I finally bought a book written by an insurance salesman. I memorized that book. A couple of years later, some tapes came out telling how to sell RE. I memorized them too. Success was a long journey.Have you ever wondered why some people seem born to start businesses while others stumble their way to success? I’ve been musing about this lately.
Starting a business isn’t like the sciences. It’s more like practice.
There are rules that make it easier to avoid the dumb mistakes we’ve all made at some point. Beyond that, it’s practice. You cannot read your way into being capable in a high stakes negotiation anymore than reading your way into learning how to swim.
Some people have an intuitive grasp of it and succeed very early in life. Others need time to become good. For anyone willing—open-minded to learning new skills and generally open to the world—entrepreneurship can be learned through practice.
With that logic, it pays to start as early as you can. That’s why stories of entrepreneurs are littered with lines like, “When I was a kid, I had this or that side hustle.” That was all practice.
If you’re older and haven’t had that practice but feel you’re “smarter than that other guy who’s got that successful business,” don’t assume you can do it too. Assume it’ll take you time to get there. Like getting in line at Starbucks, eventually you get your coffee. Some lines are shorter, some are longer.
If you’re younger and have failed at a few small things, be happy. You’re getting that practice. It’s like planting a seed and watering it to get to the fruit of your labor.
Hope this helps someone.
View attachment 63959
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Access Restricted: Unlock 1,000,000+ Posts
Stop Peeking Through the Keyhole.
Open the Door.
You hit a wall because the best advice isn't free—it's earned. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has been active here daily (99.9% active rate), building a war room for entrepreneurs who refuse to settle for mediocrity.
- Active Daily: Life-changing content posted dozens of times every day. No dead threads.
- MJ's Inner Circle: Direct access to the author of The Millionaire Fastlane.
- Vetted Network: Connect with founders scaling to 7 and 8 figures.
- Proven Roadmaps: Strategy over motivation. Execution over "hustle porn."
"SCALED TO 6-FIGURE MONTHS"
"Tips and advice here saved me from huge mistakes, others allowed me to scale my business to 6-figure months."— User MitchC
"INSANE QUALITY OF PEOPLE"
"The number of high quality people I've met from this forum has been insane. All of it predicated on building real value."— User Richard Peck
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with."
Are you surrounding yourself with success?

