I get asked this often! Lots of reasons really but the most important one is I’ve always LOVED my ‘WORK’. First I  was a Mom then I started a Job Referral Service (People Power). Next a Montessori Teacher, then a Web Designer and Trainer: Sara Ohara.com and now ALSO a Bike Tour Guide: Scenic Cycle Tours.com. There were times in between but mostly if I wasn’t happy I just moved on. Try it, you’ll love it! And Steve Jobs agrees with me!

“Make a lot of mistakes.”

Steve Jobs’s emotionally intelligent approach to mistake-making can help you build a better business.

The year was 1984. It was shortly before Steve Jobs left Apple and several years before Jobs would go on to conduct one of the biggest turnarounds in business history, bringing Apple from the brink of bankruptcy to make it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Jobs was giving an interview to Michael Moritz, who at the time was a reporter covering Silicon Valley. In the interview, Jobs argued that the key to his success, what truly set him apart, wasn’t a superior design sense, or any other special gift.

“Things get more refined as you make mistakes and do them,” Jobs told Moritz. “So I’ve had a chance to make a lot of mistakes. Your aesthetics get better as you make mistakes.”

“But a real big thing is, the way I’ve always felt is, that if you’re going to make something, it doesn’t take any more energy–and rarely does it take more money–to make it really great,” continued Jobs. “All it takes is a little more time. Not that much more. And a willingness to do so: a willingness to persevere until it’s really great.”

There’s a great message in perseverance for anyone trying to build a better product or business. But it all starts with five key words from Jobs:

Jobs’s “make a lot of mistakes” philosophy is emotionally intelligent because it allows you to shift your mindset. It takes the process of making mistakes, which most view as negative, and reframes it as an integral key to making your business or product better.

Let’s break down a story from Apple’s history that illustrates the value of this advice, and see how you can apply it as you build your own business.

Fast forward to 2001, and Jobs had already begun Apple’s turnaround. However, the company faced an unexpected dilemma.

The iPod had just been released and became an overnight sensation. Designers and executives at Apple were understandably thrilled, but they also knew they needed to keep innovating–fast.

Why? Because the next logical step was to place MP3 players inside cell phones. It was only a matter of time before a major phone manufacturer figured out how to do it, which would make the revolutionary iPod obsolete.

And herein lay the problem: Apple didn’t make cell phones.

To avoid losing market share, designers quickly got to work on the first prototype of an Apple cell phone. Tony Fadell, one of the original designers, described it as “an iPod with a phone module, if you wanted to dial a number, it was like using a rotary dial.”

His conclusion? “It sucked.”

Jobs scrapped the entire project and went back to the drawing board. He pulled up plans from 1993’s Apple Newton–the company’s first attempt at a touchscreen device (and one of its biggest flops of all time). But a decade had passed, technology had advanced, and touchscreen research had improved. Jobs took one look at the plans and said, “Maybe this is the phone.”

And the rest is history.

Stories like these illustrate the value in Jobs’s philosophy: Apple’s success hasn’t been based on getting everything right the first time. In fact, critics say that the company doesn’t actually innovate. After all, the Mac wasn’t the first computer, the iPhone wasn’t the first smartphone, and the iPad wasn’t the first tablet.

However, Apple has built a reputation for “getting things right.” They find creative ways to take design, functionality, and user experience to the next level and give the public products they adore.

So, how do you apply this lesson to your business?

Let’s say you want to build an online course, or an app, or some other product. Start by studying your competitors, and identifying what problems or gaps their product has. How can you fill those gaps? Use that question to guide your process.

As you do that, you may be tempted to wait until your product is perfect before launch, or to beta test forever using a small test group. You shouldn’t. No matter how much you research, test, and iterate it won’t be perfect. Remember, the Newton was a total failure, and even the iPhone didn’t come close to iPhone two, or three, or 10.

Instead, make things as good as you can. Use user feedback (and your own good sense) to help you identify what needs to be improved. Then, improve. And keep improving. Continue to revise your product, again and again.

Persevere until it’s great.

Above all, remember: Mistakes are part of the journey. The more mistakes you make, the more chances you have to refine and improve.

All you need is a little more time, and the desire to see it through. Because if you can persevere, the result will be nothing short of greatness.

Thanks for your Wisdom JUSTIN BARISO

This past weekend, I had the incredible pleasure of watching my best friend, Dr. Andrew Wolf, graduate from medical school. This was a tremendous accomplishment, made even more impressive by the fact that he managed to pick up four additional degrees in the process.

Andrew and his twin brother Eric have been my constant companions for the better part of twenty years. We grew up together, facing the same challenges and navigating many of the same opportunities. Throughout all of it, he was a constant positive influence and pushed me to be my very best.

While watching him graduate, I realized just how big of an impact he has had on my life and just how vital it is to surround yourself with people who both challenge and elevate you.

This, of course, is particularly important for entrepreneurs. The old maxim that “Whom you spend time with is whom you become” holds true in business just as it does in life. We often distinguish our business and personal lives, convincing ourselves that it is okay to be one way at the office and another at home.

The truth is that there is no such separation, and to think otherwise is pure folly.  Personal consistency is all we have, and therefore must surround ourselves with people we trust, respect, and admire in every aspect of our lives. Doing so will not only make you a better person but a better leader.

Find a tribe that raises you up

Life can be lonely for entrepreneurs or leaders of organizations, as there aren’t many direct peers they can lean on for support. Interactions with other CEOs tend to become ego contests, where everyone is desperate to prove their success and brilliance.

The result is not only off-putting, but it also poses an active threat to your soul as a leader. Early on in my role as the CEO of BodeTree, I went out of my way to connect with other startup CEOs in an attempt to develop a network that I could lean on when times got tough. Unfortunately, I failed to realize at the time that startup founders can be some of the most insecure and miserable people you’ll ever find.

The tribe I found myself part of envied each other’s successes and continuously sought validation while tearing down those around them. I’m ashamed to admit it, but after a while I found myself adopting the same behaviors. I was becoming a person I did not want to be.

It was only after coming to this realization that I began to distance myself from the group and instead found mentors and friends from different walks of life. While they rarely had to deal with the exact issues I faced, they were still able to offer insight and value, and I was able to do the same for them. Most importantly, these were people whom I trusted, respected, and admired. My interactions with them made me better, not worse.

I should have realized this earlier because of the friends I grew up with and the positive impact they had on my life, but I fell victim to the fallacy that there was a separation between my personal and public experiences. Fortunately, I was able to correct the situation before it got out of hand.

Remember that attitudes are contagious

We often forget that attitudes are contagious, particularly when it comes to business. If a leader surrounds themselves with bad influences, they run the risk of picking up bad behaviors. As leaders, the implications of this extend beyond just the personal; they spread throughout your entire organization.

I’ve been a CEO on paper for about eight years, but it has only been in the last three or so that I feel I’ve earned that title. Before that, I was a CEO in name only, flying by the seat of my pants and stumbling from one crisis to the next.

Early on, one of my most damaging mistakes was thinking that my team didn’t pick up on my moods or pay attention to my attitude. I falsely believed that my emotions started and ended with me, when in reality they set the tone for the entire team.

When I was anxious, the team was concerned. When I was mad, frustrated, or aggressive, those sentiments flooded into the team as well, coloring their interactions with each other. It took me a few years, but I eventually realized that I had a higher responsibility as a leader.

I could no longer indulge in my mood swings or even share my feelings in the same way that someone else could. I had to modulate my responses and set the right tone for my organization at all times.

As usual, this was easier said than done. Despite what I’d like to believe, I’m no superman. I fall victim to the same temptations and challenges like anyone else. To master my emotions and set a positive tone for my company, I had to have a group of people around me who strengthened me and provided both insight and accountability when I faltered.

Seek out people you want to emulate, be of value, and learn from them

In the end, I realized that I had the answers I was seeking all along. Just as my tribe of friends helped me to survive and thrive adolescence and early adulthood, I needed to have a tribe of mentors and peers who could do the same in my career.

Finding these people can be difficult. There is no secret formula for success, despite what anyone tells you. Instead, all you can do is seek out people you want to be like, offer them value, and do your best to learn from them. Building these relationships isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t fast, but it is worth the effort.

Thanks for your Wisdom Chris Myer

This favorite saying of Mark Zuckerberg reveals the way the Facebook billionaire thinks about life.

Mark Zuckerberg is the ultimate success story. He’s built one of the most powerful technology platforms in the world and at 37 years old, he is worth more than $131 billion, according to Forbes.

Tuesday, speaking from New York at the Facebook Social Good Forum, the billionaire revealed one of his favorite sayings — and it shows a lot about the way the entrepreneur operates.

“One of my favorite sayings is that there are two kinds of people in the world: optimists and pessimists. And the saying goes that optimists tend to be successful and pessimists tend to be right,” says Zuckerberg, dressed, of course, in a grey T-shirt and jeans, addressing a roomful of 300 community members and nonprofits.

“And the idea is that if you think something is going to be terrible and it is going to fail, then you are going to look for the data points that prove you right and you will find them. That is what pessimists do,” says Zuckerberg, according to a live stream on Zuckerberg’s Facebook page.

“But if you think that something is possible, then you are going to try to find a way to make it work. And even when you make mistakes along the way and even when people doubt you, you are going to keep pushing until you find a way to make it happen,” he says.

Indeed, that dogged pursuit of the possible, against all odds, is what makes an entrepreneur.

And it is the pursuit of what is possible that fundamentally drives Zuckerberg, according to a conversation the Facebook founder had with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman earlier.

“I am much more motivated by making sure we have the biggest impact on the world than by building a business or making sure we don’t fail,” Zuckerberg says to Hoffman. “I have more fear in my life that we aren’t going to maximize the opportunity that we have than that we mess something up and the business goes badly.”

“OPTIMISTS TEND TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND PESSIMISTS TEND TO BE RIGHT.”

-Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook

He’s also voiced support for universal basic income, or cash handouts, professing an optimistic belief that if everyone were able to pay their bills, then more humans would be actively chasing their dreams.

“Right now, when there are all these people who don’t have the opportunity to go pursue their dreams or go build a new business, we all lose,” according to Zuckerberg on a Facebook live this summer. “If you who are watching this had more opportunity to go build something that would be a historic business or enterprise that could serve people all around the world, that would improve the economy and give services to all of us that we could all benefit from.”

Thanks for your wisdom Catherine Clifford

Do you really think you’ll be successful if you simply copy other people’s habits? If that was the case, success would be easy.

I never met a successful person until I was 24. I grew up in a working-class family—I was more around people who were the opposite.

The first successful person I met was an entrepreneur in his forties.

He had lost his wife, the love of his life, a half-decade before. He told me that he never got over it. Even though he experienced tragedy — he still had a positive outlook on life and did good things. He truly cared about others.

He always said: “I just try to avoid being unsuccessful.” That is the number one thing I learned from him. He said that you should study what makes you unsuccessful, unhappy, broke, fat, stupid. Then, eliminate those things out of your life.

To this day, I still live by that advice. I like his concept of trying not to be unsuccessful. Because what is success? The second best definition that I’ve found comes from Bob Dylan, my favorite musician of all time.

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” – Bob Dylan

You’ve probably read articles that discuss the habits of successful people. The problem with this type of article is that it give you conditional promises.

“Eat three eggs with bacon, wash your hair with soybeans, do ten push-ups, and do your daily affirmations, AT THE SAME TIME.”

We have to let go of the “if I do x, I’ll be successful or happy” way of thinking. It does exactly the opposite: You do what other people do. Live the way other people live. I might not know a lot about success, but I’m sure as hell that’s not success.

What follows is a list of things that we shouldn’t do. If you have one of these bad habits, don’t worry, no one’s perfect. If you have two bad habits, you should worry.

Do you have three or more? You might want to change — because one thing is sure: No one wants to be unsuccessful.

1. They Are Always Distracted
Essentialism by Greg McKeown is one of my favorite books. McKeown shares the story of when he met his former classmate, years after graduating.

He told McKeown that he was in between jobs and asked if McKeown could help him. Twenty seconds into the conversation the guy got a text and started looking down to his phone and started responding.

McKeown says: “Ten seconds went by. Then twenty. I simply stood there as he continued to text away furiously.” After 2 minutes he gave up and walked away from the obsessive texter.

Don’t live your life in the future or past, lost in thoughts and worry. If that guy from the example was present, he might have got an awesome job recommendation from Greg McKeown.

2. They Only Talk The Talk
You know what’s better than talking about something? Doing it.

In 2010, Derek Sivers gave a TED talk called Keep your goals to yourself, where he presented scientific evidence that talking about your goals is counterproductive.

We see it all the time in real life and on social media: “I’m training for a marathon.” “I’m starting a business.”

The crazy thing is how people react. They applaud you for announcing something. Let’s pause for a second: Saying you want to run a marathon and actually running a marathon are two different things, right?

In your brain, those things are actually not that far apart. Derek Sivers says:

“When you tell someone your goal and they acknowledge it, psychologists have found that it’s called a “social reality.” The mind is kind of tricked into feeling that it’s already done. And then because you’ve felt that satisfaction, you’re less motivated to do the actual hard work necessary.” Be someone that does things, not someone who talks about things.

3. They Spend Time With Losers
Spend enough time with losers, and you’ll become one. Apply this analogy to any type of person.

Do you want to get fit? Hang out with fit people. People feed off each other’s energy.

4. They Hate Everything
They especially hate people that are doing well. Why can’t you be happy for other people? Don’t worry, you won’t be a Pollyanna. You can still be cool and be positive.

Give people some love, it won’t kill you. They even hate things that just ‘are’. “Ugh, it rained this morning, and my hair got all messed up. I hate rain.” Common, really?

Having a bad day is ok—everyone gets irritable once in a while. But if you always hate everything, you’ll have a bad LIFE.

5. They Don’t Listen To Others
Unsuccessful people love themselves. To be honest, we all love ourselves, but if you’re unsuccessful, you ONLY love yourself.

We listen to others because we care about them. How else can you show you care? Everyone can give a hug, but not everybody calls you just to ask “How are you?” Ask, listen, care, repeat.

6. They Are Lazy

Never feel like doing anything? We’ve all been there: Not feeling like going to dinner with your partner, or not feeling like buying an awesome present for your mother’s birthday. Let’s face it, it’s all because you’re lazy.

Be a sport and get off your couch — participate with your family, friends, partner. The beauty of life lies in new and novel experiences.

When you’re lazy, you don’t even give yourself a chance to experience new things. It’s also not fair to the people in your life.

7. They Are Not Nice
Somehow, people think it’s cool to be a jerk. Honestly, it’s way cooler to be nice. You don’t have to be a Buddhist Monk or anything, just be a nice person.

Try it sometime, you might make a few new friends. And if you have difficulty defining what a ‘nice person’ is, you’re likely a jerk.

8 They Are Quitters
I saved the worst for last. If there’s one thing you take away from this article, I hope it’s this:

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas A. Edison

There’s nothing I can add to that. Actually, there is: Never Give Up.

Thanks for your Wisdom Darius Foroux

For Google CEO Sundar Pichai, one quote perfectly describes what it’s like to be an entrepreneur.

Pichai spoke before a group of more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors and government officials at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Palo Alto, California.

For the long-time engineer, it’s no surprise Pichai chose a quote by Thomas Edison, the American inventor who brought the world the light bulb and the first way of recording sound.

That quote by Edison is: “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

The summit took place in Silicon Valley, which Pichai described as “more of an idea than a location,” since innovation isn’t limited to the region and is happening around the around.

Pichai said that entrepreneurship is “about more than buildings apps to make money. It’s about transforming industries, creating millions of jobs, curing diseases and fighting global warming.”

This Bit of Wisdom was written by Marguerite Ward – thanks!

The Coronavirus has required many to work from home, maybe for the 1st time. Perhaps you’re liking it and want to continue? Here are some great tips to be get started from someone I greatly admire, Darius Foroux. 

I’ve been making a living from my online business and blog since 2016. One of my readers, who’s concerned about the current state of the economy, asked me the following about working from home:

“I’d like to transition into building a career online. There’s so much on my mind and things are not getting easier. Can you share your tips for starting an online business/career?”

As I’m writing this, there are thousands of people over the world who are forced into quarantine because of the novel Coronavirus. On the Spanish island Tenerife, 1000 people are not allowed to leave their rooms. That’s tough.

There are only so many movies, tv shows, and books one can consume. At some point, you want to work. It’s in our nature to make ourselves useful. And working from home is a great way to do that. Plus, it gives you a lot of freedom.

Before I get to the steps I took to build an online career, I’d like to share a few quick thoughts:

• It’s never too late. Sure, it was better if you started on Instagram in 2013. It was better if you started on Twitter in 2008. And so forth. These are all excuses and bullshit reasons to not take action. The best day to start is today!
• Get rich quick doesn’t happen often. If you look hard enough, you’ll probably find a few people who built an app in 24 hours and became rich. But I wouldn’t count on that. But you already knew that. So adjust your expectations.
• There are certainly no “schemes.” If there were secret blueprints to making millions, they would remain secret. If I had a secret way to make a lot of money, I would keep it secret. That’s the truth.
• What works for me, might not work for you. And vice versa. So don’t just listen to a single person. Instead, take in the information and think about how you can apply it to yourself.
• You only need a laptop. Maybe you’ll need a camera and microphone if you want to create videos, but that’s not even necessary. Everything I share in this article works if you want to make money from home or any other place.
• This is not a “50 freelance online jobs that will make you rich” type of article. Those articles are useless. Instead of finding jobs, build a career. I’ll talk about that in Step 1.

That’s it. You certainly can build an online career. If the thought ever came up, it means you probably have it in you. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Identify your key skills

If you keep chasing jobs and gigs, you will become a person who’s hired based on completing a task. That’s the definition of a job. Someone hires you to do something they tell you to do.

Instead, build a career. The difference is that you’re no longer compensated to complete a task (or multiple tasks), but you’re compensated based on the value you provide.

This is the #1 business lesson I’ve learned from one of the most-respect business thinkers of all time, Peter Drucker. I’ve spent 6 years getting two business degrees.

Not once during that time did I learn the following. You build a career based on your skills—things you’re good at. And before you say, I’m not good at anything: You can acquire skills.

Need some inspiration? Here are a few skills that I’m constantly working on (in alphabetical order):

• Communication: We think we’re all master communicators. But the truth is that we suck. Communication is both art and science. And our ability to work with others depends on it.
• Graphic Design: A basic knowledge of design can help you to do your own design work. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it has to be genuine.
• Negotiation: You negotiate all the time. With your spouse, kids, parents, teachers, friends, co-workers, managers, etc. Learn to get the best deal for all parties.
• Personal Effectiveness: Learn how to maximize the results you can get during the 16–18 hours you’re awake. Get more done — effectively.
• Persuasion: Learn how to get what you want in an ethical way. It’s true that you can’t make people do anything, but you can be more persuasive in your messaging.
• Writing: We communicate more in the written word. Especially if you work from home.

The key is to acquire multiple skills. Scott Adams has this theory that combining skills you’re decent at results in an exceptional career. You want to figure out your own unique skill stack.

The beauty of this career strategy is that you can do a lot of different types of work. You’re not limited to do one job, you can do multiple things to earn a living—as long as you’re providing value.

Step 2: Demonstrate your work

To build an online career, you need to find a way to provide value. That’s why you want to know what you’re good at. The better you are at something, the more value you can provide.

Until this point, I haven’t talked about specific careers. Why? The list is endless. In today’s world, we have coaches who help people to tidy up their homes. We have people who sell their art on web-shops. The opportunities to work from home are endless.

I don’t want to list 50 careers because that’s too limiting. Maybe you’re thinking about doing something new. And you shouldn’t allow another person to tell you to pick your future career from a list.

Now, let’s say you’re good at writing and persuasion. And you want to find a way to earn money with your words, you could become a copywriter.

No matter what career you pick, the next step is to demonstrate your skills and work. This is the #1 reason I couldn’t get any work in the beginning. Like almost everyone else, I only talked about my work, I didn’t show it.

Now, I’m not talking about building a resume and asking for testimonials or endorsements. I’m talking about doing your actual work for people to see.

For example, I’ve published hundreds of free articles. That’s how I demonstrate my skills and provide value. If you do client work, you want to provide value before people hire you. People think it’s the other way around.

I used to think that someone should hire you first, and then, you do the work. That’s what everyone else does. Want to stand out? Give your audience or prospective clients a free sample. There’s nothing new about this.

If you’re old enough, you remember those folks who sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door. They came by and showed you how the product worked. They didn’t ask for your money. They just tried to be helpful. Now, times have changed. But the basic idea behind earning a living is the same.

Demonstrate. Don’t tell.

Step 3: Take yourself out of the equation

At some point, you acquire skills, you get clients, sell products, services, or do something to provide value, working from home.

Now, it’s time to think about the long-term sustainability of your career. Think about it. You want to keep providing value over the long-term. The last thing you want is to burn yourself out. And trust me, there’s a big risk that will happen.

Working from home can be lonely. And without some kind of system, you can’t keep it up. You want to avoid exchanging your time for money. Look at it this way: What happens if you stop working for a week?

Do you still have income streams? Or is your income tied to your hours? You want to avoid the latter. You can do that in two ways:

• Hire someone who works remotely. If you’re generating consistent income, it’s okay to hire someone. Ideally, you want to hire someone who can take over important tasks. I’m not talking about hiring a personal assistant that schedules meetings or books plane tickets. Hire someone who can actually do some of your work. When I hired someone for my blog, I looked for someone who could fully take over customer support. That’s an essential part of my business that needs to keep going no matter what.
• Create products. This is what everyone loves to do. But most people do it for the wrong reasons. I’ve met a lot of people who tried to rush creating a product. As a result, no one bought it. I do recommend everyone to create something that’s scalable. But don’t see it as some kind of magical thing. I have a bunch of products and it still requires work. People make you believe in the “passive income lifestyle.” But that’s nonsense. Passive income streams are hardly ever passive. Most entrepreneurs create products and multiple income streams to diversify. It simply means less risk if you have multiple ways to generate value.

There are a lot of misconceptions about building a career—online or offline. The number one reason there’s so much bullshit advice on the internet is that we’re impatient.

I’m no different. I’d love to come up with an idea today, work on it tomorrow, and launch it the day after. Also, it would be great if a million people were excited about whatever I launched.

That doesn’t happen. But it’s fine. If you play it right, you can have a long career. Let’s say you’re 40 and you’re committed to working as long as you can, which is one of the best things you can do in life. You might have another 40 years of work in you! FORTY. Just do the math based on how old you are.

So take your time my friend. Over 40 years, taking 4-5 years to build a foundation of skills is nothing. Here’s one thing that’s sure: You’ll profit from those skills for the rest of your life. Because that’s the only thing people can never take away from you.

Thanks for your Wisdom Darius Foroux 

Are you a people pleaser?

Do you take on more than you can handle? Or would you like a way to focus on your work without becoming distracted by other people’s priorities?

Productive entrepreneurs and executives make smart decisions about how to spend their time, energy and resources. They also know to what to turn down, and how to do it.

1. Urgent Requests That Don’t Really Matter

An email arrives in your inbox with a request for “your thoughts before lunch.” Responding takes ten minutes and isn’t directly related to anything you’re working on.

While it’s nice to help others, these urgent but unimportant activities soak up time and mental energy.

Important but not urgent activities represent other people’s priorities and often arrive in your email inbox when you’re bored or procrastinating.

Beware!

The 34th president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower said, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.”

Instead, say yes to important tasks that help you achieve your goals faster and say no, or at least not right now, to everything else. Only later should you return to these requests and activities (if at all).

2. Ways of Working That Drain You

Several years ago, I worked with a sales manager of a large team. He loved nothing more than reaching a decision by talking about his ideas out loud with his team. On the other hand, I often need time and space to reflect on information before reaching a decision.

At first I thought I was just procrastinating and should work more like this sales manager, but then I realized he was a classic extrovert, whereas I’m an introvert. Both work styles are OK.

In Quiet, Susan Cain wrote, “Don’t think of introversion as something that needs to be cured.”

He arranged his working day so he was surrounded by others, whereas I built in blocks of quiet or alone time into my day.

I often need to recharge after events or large meetings although he found these activities revitalizing.

3. Say No Like A Pro

Learning how and what to say no to is a skill that demands practice. It’s particularly difficult if you’re used to accommodating others.

Once you know yourself and your working style, you’ll be better able to identify what to refuse by saying no to or postpone until you’re free to help a colleague or peer.

After all, self-knowledge (and a little diplomacy) are important traits for entrepreneurs and executives.

Thanks for your Wisdom Bryan Collins

Please answer me this: Why do we work 8–9 hours a day so that we can earn free time, while we endlessly waste that hard-earned free time?

Have you ever looked at it this way? It’s an absurd way of living. And yet, everyone with a traditional job lives that way.

I remember the moment I realized that vividly. It was about three years ago. At the time, I worked at an IT Research firm in London while working on my own business in the evenings and weekends.

I was sitting on the train to home after a day at the office. And I was reading On The Shortness Of Life by Seneca . That book is famous for causing a shift in thinking for a lot of people.

I’ve met (and read about) many people who say that Seneca had an impact on the way they live. I don’t know why, but the simplicity and directness of Seneca’s writing hit you hard.

So I was just sitting there on the train like the millions of other folks who commute daily in London. It sounds like I’m setting the scene of a cheesy drama movie about an alcoholic who decides to better their life.

Believe me, my situation wasn’t that dramatic. It was just an ordinary day. A day that you forget you ever had because it’s similar to the day before… And the day before that. Do you know that feeling? Sometimes life feels like an endless deja vu.

But this specific section from On The Shortness Of Life made me think:

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.

I thought about how I invested my time: About two and a half hours on the train each day, working a job I wasn’t passionate about and spending my free time drinking in the pub with co-workers, watching TV shows or gossiping at work.

We all work hard to earn two things: Money and free time that we can spend on leisure activities. Sounds pretty normal, right? But the shitty part is that we end up wasting that time on bullshit activities. Seneca continues to talk about time:

But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.

At some point, you have to stop and say, “No more.”

• No more working to live.
• No more wasting the free time you earn.

Only when you say no, you can start using your time. Because like Seneca says, life is really long. Let’s say you’re currently 35 years old. And let’s assume you stay healthy until you’re 70 years old.

That’s another 35 years of time you can spend on anything you like! Well, not anything. You probably won’t go skydiving at 67 years old. Or maybe you would. Why not?! It’s your life.

Anyway, if you keep wasting your time for 35 years, it’s no good.

The problem is not time, the problem is the way you invest it.

We work hard to earn free time — but we can’t do anything with it because we’re too tired.

That’s how I felt. When you have a life that only drains energy, there’s not much left in your tank during the evenings and weekends.

That’s the one thing you want to avoid at all cost. It is simply not worth it to give all your energy to earn money and time if you can’t use it.

“But I need my job. I can’t just quit!”

That’s true. You’ve got to stay practical. But please, don’t tell me that it’s not possible to live a life that gives you energy. Also, don’t tell that to yourself. Without believing in something, you will never achieve it. Just keep both feet on the ground.

When I finally quit my job, I moved back to my hometown, started living cheaply, and focused on growing my business and later on, my blog. I didn’t go out, spend money, and didn’t engage in any activity that only gives pleasure.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to give up the fun things.”

Now we’re getting somewhere! You want the good life, but you don’t want to sacrifice anything for it.

I don’t have to tell you that’s impossible. You already know it. You know that you can’t party all the time and at the same time learn new skills. That’s not how real life works.

To achieve anything that’s worth it in life, you need two things:

1. Focus — What are you trying to get out of life? What’s on your bucket list? And why?
2. Perseverance — Now that you’re focused on what you want to do, don’t stop until you’ve made it happen. And once you’ve made it happen, make something else happen.

Sure, you might need other things too — it depends on what you want to do. But Focus and Perseverance are the two essential things everyone needs.

No one in the history of mankind did anything noteworthy without those two things.

Realize that you have one life. I don’t mean that in an idiotic YOLO way. That’s only an excuse to chase pleasure.

No, find something that’s worth achieving. Something you desire deeply.

And then: Go after it!

Thanks for your Wisdom Darius Foroux