So there you are, a young entrepreneur just starting out with your first company. Most of your friends just got $45,000+ per year jobs upon graduating. They spend their paychecks as if they were disgustingly rich. Some of your entrepreneurial friends may even be running a successful business right now — making more money than you, have more clients than you, and appear to be having much more success than you.
And there you are… sitting at your desk… running a business, busting your ass, working long hours, not making much cash at all, and on top of all that… you have to watch your 9 to 5 friends bask in their “safe” paychecks every weekend and your entrepreneurial friends pull in buckets of cash with clients to spare.
So how do you feel? What’s running through your mind? Are you angry? Are you going to give up because you aren’t making cash? Are you going to cry like a baby?
I’m not sure how you feel, but if there is ever one time in your life that you should be ignorant, it should be now.
As a young entrepreneur running a startup, it’s imperative to be ignorant of the success of others. You can’t let that get to you. Same goes for your competition, you have to ignore them as well.
Turn a blind eye to what others are doing, how much people are making, and how strong other companies are, and just focus on what you are doing. Sure, stay on top of your game and learn how others are becoming successful and how larger companies are growing, but don’t let it affect your performance; don’t let it discourage you at all.
Professional golfer Zach Johnson just beat the best golf player in the world at the Masters, Tiger Woods. He stated that: “when I heard the crowd cheer for Tiger after he made a great shot, I would just block it out and stay focused on my own game.”
And it worked. This nobody golf player that wasn’t even recognized around the world is now sporting the legendary green jacket for Masters’ winners.
Stay focused. Worry about your business the most, not what other people are doing with theirs. Your business has to be of paramount importance to you.
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Good point Dave. Take this and make it your practice for ENTIRE life, not just startup. Always compare yourself ONLY with yourself. How you have become better than what you were yesterday. Learn from others, dont compare.
Focus on improving your knowledge and network so that you can provide a better value to even more people. Better than what you provided yesterday, not what others provided. Every person and every business is unique. And everyone will get corresponding clients whose needs uniquely resonate with what you uniquely provide.
I don’t know if it’s ok to be ignorant but focusing on your game is great advice.
Be aware of your competition and what else is out there but focus on your game. You know what’s “speaking” to your customers so just keep working at what works for you.
Dave,
I do agree with Aaron about ignorance vs. focus, but the point you were trying to make is well received. I couldn’t agree more. It’s what I have always done, and what I’m beginning to realize is that, no matter how successful you become, you’ll never be quite as successful as you want to be – because as an entrepreneur, it’s your job not to feel comfortable. This focus (and maybe even slight ignorance) is necessary for as long as you want to remain in business, not just in the beginning stages.
The point is, to stay focused on your own business and not to let other peoples’ businesses distract you with their success and their competitively advantages. Pure and simple. I don’t think that I was “trying” to make that point, but “was” my point precisely. I noted in the article: “Sure, stay on top of your game and learn how others are becoming successful and how larger companies are growing, but don
But aside from that one sentence, the rest of the article seems to concentrate on the theme of complete ignorance – that’s even the attention-grabbing headline of the article. I think that’s what threw off Aaron, myself, and possibly others. But obviously, the point was clear enough because in the end, it seems like what everybody got from it is what you intended, and it’s a great piece of advice.
I would like to add a thought, though. While you shouldn’t make a habit of comparing and contrasting yourself to other peers, there does come a point where you need to begin benchmarking yourself against others. It’s easy to talk about shutting others out and only concentrating yourself in your early 20′s. But if you’re only comparing yourself to, well, yourself, and by 25-30, you haven’t advanced much, maybe it’s time to look around and ask yourself, “well, what DO these people know/do that I don’t?” You do need to give yourself and your business(es) time to advance, but you also have to have the guts to admit if/when a wrong direction has been taken and possibly cut your losses while you still have time to catch up. Like everything else in life, there’s a very fine line.
Anthony. Thats what is learning from others. Comparing is different. When you compare, either you feel great that you know something which others dont know. Or you feel sad that you dont know/have even this much.
There is nothing of age here. The way remains the same throughout your life. Learning always keeps going, even when you are in 20s. The day we start feeling we are greater than others and stop learning, we start inviting our doom.
Also you can never ‘benchmark’ against others. I repeat – every person is unique, even though they may look similar from a distance. Even if you come up with an amazing, revolutionary new product, not everyone on earth is going to like it. People who resonate with you, your product will come to you and same for others. And there is something very big in this physical world – TIME. You will never know how, when, what will come to you. Just because something has come to others doesnt necessarily mean you are doing something wrong. Persist, learn and keep doing your best
David,
You’re right on the money here.
Being self-employed requires sacrifice, commitment, focus and drive. The self-employed individual often finds himself pulled in several directions at once. Rather than buckle against the pressure, he must find the strength to honor his own convictions and subscribe to his own personal code of conduct – both at home, and in his business.
And of particular importance for him is to steer clear of people claiming to have the prescription for happiness – the “proper” way to live one’s life, manage one’s careers, raise one’s children and nurture one’s own spirit. If these people are communicating this message simply by doing something different than he is, living one’s beliefs and values becomes all the more important.
Interestingly, what appears to be a life out of balance to an outsider, may actually feel, to an entrepreneur, like a natural, healthy, and productive way to function. Those who are no longer forced to live by the clock of working society are often delightfully surprised by the power of their autonomy and the ease in which they are able to slip into the “new rules” of their own life. The challenge, however, is to first learn how to free oneself from preexisting fears, misconceptions and other mental blocks.
Thanks, David. Yes, I agree, we should all stay away from those who push their own agendas unto us and declare that there’s only way to succeed in life.
Your last paragraph is so true. So many us feel trapped and locked in life. We each have to learn how to free ourselves in our own ways. I love being free. I love being in control of my life. We should “all” strive for that.