I’ve Been There.
In the first part of my financial journey of 2 years, I chased quick money.
I wrote an article about the evils of instant gratification, which was my mindset at the time.
My Mindest Then
Trying to earn money FAST, is a form of instant gratification, and it ruined my chances of success.
I wasted $10,000s on courses that didn’t help.
I started businesses that I couldn’t maintain because they didn’t make me money fast enough.
I lost interest in them.
I looked in all the wrong places, because of my desire to become rich, quickly.
You see when I want to do something quickly, I’ll take shortcuts. I’ll only look for fast ways of doing what I want to do, and I’ll sacrifice quality for speed.
The same goes for business.
My mind was shackled to one way of thinking. Only looking for quick ways to make money.
That led me down a deep rabbit hole of unrealistic expectations, business models that only made me pennies to the dollar in profit, disappointment, and ultimately, wasted valuable time.
Instead, from day 1, if I’d looked for ways to make money long-term, 2 years later, I envy where I would be now.
2 years is a lot of time.
Enough time to make a business successful.
Enough time to earn $10,000 per month.
Enough time to change a life.
My Mindset Now
I look around me some days, and it dawns on me repeatedly, that instant gratification is the root of all evils.
I also know from my own experiences and that of others, that nothing comes quickly or easily in life, so why was I chasing quick, easy money?
It’s because I was a slave to instant gratification.
I feel responsible for it, and I am responsible for my own life, but social media and society as a whole, makes the quick thing so much more appealing than delayed gratification.
I look on social media and see people who are driving around in Ferraris, who seemingly got rich overnight. They make out they did anyway.
What I can’t see, is their struggle to get there.
They’re only showing me what I want to see or what I wish I could have. That gets them likes and follows because it’s easier to see other people’s happiness than it is to create your own.
The truth is, 99% of people don’t become rich overnight. The ones that do, won’t brag about it, because they know how precious it is.
You’re more likely to get struck by lightning, and how often does that happen?
My online business made $100,000 in its first year.
At first glance, that looks incredible. It looks like quick success.
But, what you don’t know, is that I failed over 5 businesses before that, spent $1,000s on courses, got scammed 3x, and have been trying to start a business for the last 7 years.
If I’d made a YouTube video of ‘How I got to $100k in 1 year’ — you’d be none the wiser.
I wrote an article about the only guaranteed thing that will make you rich, and it’s the opposite of quick.
Final Thoughts
I’m going to try really hard, to tackle the next part of my life with delayed gratification.
I’m going to focus on the small, but meaningful actions, that compound over time to produce huge success.
I’m prepared for the long-haul journey.
I know now, that if I start something, and quit, I’ll look back in 2 years with disgust, regret, and envy of what I could have been if I’d stuck with it.
I also know now, that no matter how hard it gets, I must carry on and persist.
I know that if I’m persistent AND consistent, I will succeed.