by John Reese
I have been an entrepreneur for most of my life. I started my journey as an entrepreneur at age 11. Ironically, it was running a BBS (bulletin board system) with a computer, a 300 baud modem, and a phone line in 1981.
(BBSs essentially became the Internet that we know today.)
It would take me nearly 15 long years of being an entrepreneur before I would really make much money. And by that I mean more than $6,500 in a single YEAR which didn’t happen until almost 15 years later.
I have made every mistake in the book and invented several new ones when it comes to being an entrepreneur.
I was in nearly $100,000 of debt by age 22 — mainly from trying every business possible.
I practically ruined my health by age 25 and it almost killed me.
(I ended up in the emergency room with a body that was so overworked and stressed that it was trying to shutdown.)
BUT… I eventually turned things around. Through hard work, faith, and perseverance. But I won’t kid you, it wasn’t easy.
I did finally start to make a good income. I was finally able to get out of that mountain of debt. And then the best thing of all happened — I was able to learn how to GROW my business.
I was eventually able to make more money in a single month than the entire amount of debt that I had racked up by age 22.
But I was only able to start having success when I learned to grasp a powerful concept that I am about to teach you. I honestly believe that this one concept can change your life, because it changed mine.
No matter what stage you are at with your business, whether you are just getting started and dream of leaving your real job, or whether you are already making good money online, I have an absolutely critical question to ask you…
WHAT THE HECK DO YOU WANT?
Reread that question. Then reread it again. Take your time.
I ask you, “What the heck do you want?”
Since we’re talking primarily about business, I am relating this question to HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU WANT?
Seriously, how much?
When people used to ask me this question, I used to have a simple answer… “Millions!”
And even, though, that honestly WAS what I wanted, that wasn’t the “right” answer.
The right answer is something SPECIFIC. It doesn’t matter how big the amount is, it matters how specific the figure is. In other words, $5,000,000 if that’s what I really wanted.
But that first “big” figure should be more of your “ultimate dream” and not what you will settle for to be happy and live the lifestyle you’d be perfectly happy with. Take it from me, when I ended up making a lot of money, I quickly realized I didn’t need anywhere close to a large amount to basically do and buy anything I wanted.
So you need to also answer this question…
HOW MUCH WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY?
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to tell you to abandon your dreams of some huge amount of money. You can still grow your business and work towards that, and it certainly can still happen. That’s not what this is about. This is about something much more powerful.
So you need to decide on a figure that will make you happy. Such as an annual income that will allow you to live the life you want without having a real job if you still have a job. Or that next level of lifestyle if you already work for yourself.
Whatever it is you really want, you need to be SPECIFIC about that dollar amount. For me, when I was in debt up to my nostrils, I eventually set that want at $40,000/year for income. I figured if I could just earn $40,000/year I could live a modest life, not be overly depressed about money, and “eventually” pay off my debt.
Setting that goal for me changed my life. Within less than 90 days of setting that realistic and achievable goal, I accomplished it.
Now how on earth did that happen when I spent YEARS trying to make money and was going literally nowhere?
It’s simple.
I learned to climb what I call “Mount Profit” starting from the top.
I wrote down $40,000. I then worked the numbers BACKWARDS to figure out how much I would have to earn per month and then per day in order to achieve that figure. Then I figured out how much my product would have to cost and how many people I would have to sell it to. (Or whatever my business model was.)
It was EASY. It was very simple MATH. There was no more guesswork. There were no more mysteries. I knew exactly what I had to do to get what I WANTED. So I got to work and got it. And it happened very quickly because I had FOCUS on what I had to do.
I believe the #1 problem that entrepreneurs have is that they have no FOCUS on what they really WANT. They simply think, “I want to make a lot of money.”
Well, I’ve got news for you, if you think that way, you’re DOOMED and you might not even realize it yet. NO ONE just goes out and makes some mysterious amount of money from their efforts.
And no one makes a million without making one dollar first. Write that down.
In order to accomplish whatever amount it is that you want, you must have a specific dollar figure in mind. You must then work the “math” and process backwards to create a plan to accomplish that goal.
You must work that process back to the smallest incremental action step of your path to achieve what you want.
Have you ever heard…
“The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Well, business is the same way. The journey to a million dollars, or even $100,000/year, must begin with a single dollar.
In order to accomplish that single dollar, you must put a ‘system’ in place to earn that dollar. But if I told you all you had to do is earn one dollar to be incredibly rich, you’d quickly and easily figure out how to do it.
Do you realize that if you can figure out how to make $1 of profit that you are 90% of the way to making $100,000/year and beyond? All you have to do is REPEAT the process of what it took to make
that $1 of profit. It’s called scalability.
Did you know that Mount Everest is exactly 29,035 feet high?
Well, you might not know that, but I can guarantee you that anyone that attempts to climb Mount Everest knows that. And they know that before they take one tiny step up the mountain.
That 29,035 feet must be the dollar amount that you want to earn. You must have a very SPECIFIC amount in mind for the next financial goal you wish to accomplish. And set that goal as a realistic figure
so it is easily reached. You can always revise your goals as you go. That’s why I stated earlier that the ultimate lifestyle you want is a lot cheaper than you realize.
So stop falling into the trap that you are just “working as hard as you can” and however much money you make will be the result.
I am trying to tell you… THAT’S THE KISS OF DEATH.
That’s the best way to keep from making money, if any.
You need to learn to THINK of everything you want backwards. Reverse engineer what you want. Visualize what you want and “see” what the path is to get back to where you are now.
Then start walking down the path towards what you want. And do it one small step at a time. Because the only way to get from here to there is many small steps. There is no other way, so why waste your time doing anything else.
With Internet Marketing, it at all starts with one Web Site visitor. Then one opt-in subscriber. Then finally one order. Not 100 orders, not 10,000 subscribers, not 1,000,000 visitors. ONE of each.
So stop making all of this HARDER than it really is. Start getting ONE MORE of each of everything you want and then SCALE that to achieve your SPECIFIC goals.
You CAN climb your “Mount Profit” no matter how high it is for you. But remember to plan your climb by knowing EXACTLY how high that mountain is before you start your climb. You stand a much better chance of reaching the top if you aren’t just climbing in the dark.
Author’s Resource:
John Reese is an Internet Marketing pioneer that has been actively marketing online since 1990. John has sold millions of dollars worth of products and services online and his network of Web Sites have received over 1.4 BILLION Web Site visitors since their inception. You can learn more about John and his home study courses by visiting MarketingSecrets.com.
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