Over the weekend I had a great conversation with a good friend. I told her about my plans to do good with the wealth I was creating for myself, my family and my investors.
After I painted the picture of what I would do once the plans unfolded as expected she asked a simple question: “What would you say you have done differently from other people in our generation, people like me, who are not yet in a position to do what they really enjoy and give back in the ways they want to?”
No one had ever asked me that question before but I have thought about the answer many times because I have seen what my friends and acquaintances have had to go through, and still go through, after having followed the traditional “go to school, graduate, get a good job” advice (most of them are unhappy).
There are a number of things that I have done differently but the most important ones are below. I hope they will help you in achieving your goals.
1. Don’t do what everyone else is doing
If you want to be average just do what everyone else does. If you want to be above average, do something different.
That is my personal motto and has been since I started high school in Jamaica. At university I majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry and Religion. I also took Economics classes so that I could understand that aspect of the world. The other Biology majors only focused on sciences.
Most people go to college because someone told them to, not because they actually wanted to. I knew the path I wanted and understood the various ways I could get there. I was also willing to take new paths if they opened up for me instead of sticking to the one I originally thought was the best path.
My friend Mike Michalowicz, author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, calls it tacking ,like when you are sailing. Focus on the destination and change paths as required because the destination is the goal, not the path.
2. Don’t defend the status quo
Just because something is done a certain way right now doesn’t mean it is right or the best way. Don’t assume that you are too young, too new or too dumb to have a better idea than those who have come before you.
3. Read and open your horizons
I read a lot, a whole lot. My reading isn’t just limited to business books and articles either. I read about cultures, history, motivating people and about failures.
Reading so widely allows me to be open to more experiences and ways of doing things. It helps me to see opportunities or connect the dots where others don’t see them. (Of course that is a problem if you cannot explain that to your stakeholders who probably don’t connect the dots).
4. Willingness to sacrifice
Most people look at successful people and wish they could be like them. Few people have ever done research to understand what that individual had to suffer through to get where they are today. Reading Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity and Jackie Chan’s I Am Jackie Chan gave me a profound appreciation for what it takes to be successful.
Few people would be willing to suffer through what those people had to yet they feel that they deserve the wealth those individuals have earned. There have been days where my wife and I could not afford to put gas in the car or to buy groceries, when my brother and I faced debts that made us joke about jumping off bridges (that genuinely scared our parents) but we always believed it was a sacrifice worth making.
When my parents promised us the first US$10,000 for Random Media, they didn’t give us a cheque, they made us get jobs and they absorbed our living expenses up to the $10,000. Dad said this was so that we would understand the value of the money by having to earn it because we would spend it differently.
Few people are willing to make that kind of sacrifice but it can only help you.
In the same way, I was willing to take full-time, part-time and even weekend work if it would help me grow, help me network and give me insight into potential opportunities. I was never too good for any job and no job paid too little if it would help with my long-term plan.
Richard M. Powell was a multi-millionaire on paper but still lived with his parents for a while. To him it made complete sense because he was saving so much money, was helping his parents and had less things to worry about while he grew his company. We did the same thing and stayed with our parents as long as possible.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or to earn it
Robert and I have been very fortunate to be close to Richard M. Powell and his family since we were born (His dad is Robert’s godfather and our dad is his brother Josef’s godfather). He has helped to steer us in the right direction and been our biggest investor to date.
This was not just by chance because there are other people who know Richard but have not benefitted in the same way. What did we do differently?
Firstly, we genuinely kept in touch and cheered him on with each success. Too often people only reach out to friends AFTER they are successful, forgetting to be there during the tough times when friends are really supposed to be there.
Secondly, we asked for his help. Some people feel that they shouldn’t ask, you should volunteer help but I disagree. Ask for what you want. If you get a no you can’t be any worse off than if you didn’t ask but if you get a yes, the sky is the limit.
Thirdly, we earned the help by helping Richard when he asked for it. He would ask us for advice at times and we had no problem sharing it, even if it was advice we charged other people for. Not everything must be paid for right away. It can come back 10-fold years later.
Sometimes you should just help.
6. Study other successful people and change your mindset
Instead of complaining about lack of contacts, not going to an Ivy league school, not having rich parents, etc. we focused on studying how other people created wealth, how they setup their companies, how they minimized taxes legally, how they got their first investors on board and how they thought about money.
Once you understand those things it becomes much easier to speak the same language as potential investors. No one owes you anything in life so don’t behave like they do.
7. Be Patient
I feel like my generation watched too much “Cribs” on MTV and think that wealth should come quickly. That is rare and usually leaves just as fast as it came.
It has taken us 15 years to get where we are today through deliberate actions and choices. It can happen faster for those we will mentor but it will still take years. Those who are not willing to be patient end up making poor decisions in search of short-term gains which hurt them in the long-term.
8. Put yourself out there
Few people have tried to build a reputation. They don’t try to stand out or differentiate.
I was taught that when you became a scientist you had to focus on getting published and being quoted by other scientists. If you did not do research and get your name out there then you wouldn’t get tenure at a university or be able to secure funding for your projects.
I wasn’t taught any of that during my MBA though. Most disciplines do not tell you that you must build a reputation and sell yourself even though that is exactly what you have to do to even land a job. If grades and a resume alone got you a job then there would be no need for job interviews.
Interviews exist because people have to sell themselves and their skills.
I have met people who say they want to write for a major newspaper just like me. I then ask them what they have done to help accomplish that goal and rarely do I get the answers covering what I did.
I wrote notes on Facebook, I wrote a blog, I wrote letters to the editors of the newspapers. I volunteered in an organization that let me be a spokesperson who interacted with the press and speak at events.
In short, I was writing long before I got a column in the newspaper. I practiced, developed my style, made mistakes and built a reputation just by putting myself out there.
You don’t just land on top of a mountain; you have to climb it to get there.
9. Have a plan
Yes, I had a 15-year plan broken into blocks of 5 years that written when I was 15 years old. I don’t expect everyone else to do that or to plan some of the things I planned (marriage, having children, the kind of girl to marry, etc.) but having a plan, even a 5-year plan, helps.
“Graduate from college” is not a plan. That is a task that falls within a plan.
What degree are you graduating from college with and how does it help you achieve your life goals? That is what a plan is for.
What kind of jobs can you get with that degree? Will you have to move? If you have to move will that affect your life plans? Is the degree going to land you a job that allows you to pay back your student loans and live a decent life?
All of these are questions that must be factored into your plan, otherwise you are taking some uncalculated risks.
It is imperative that you have some sort of plan, even if it is just focused on the destination. That is how you will be able to guide your decisions because you can work backwards from where you want to be and thus figure out what you have to do to get there.
Applying the lessons
Those are the 9 things that I feel have made a huge difference in my life that everyone can learn from and apply to their life, no matter where they are born or what year they were born in.
I hope they help you.
