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Going to Bat Often and Failing Fast

March 11, 2012 at 10:34 am Jason 9 comments

A very common attribute amongst successful entrepreneurs is that they try lots of things and take action quickly.

This is something that many of us simply don’t do. In fact it’s almost against human nature and requires quite a mindset sift.

We naturally try to learn everything about what we’re going to do before we start, then we want to make an excellent job of it.

Sounds good, except that it prevents us from taking immediate action and it prevents us from dropping bad ideas and moving on quickly to something better.

I have to admit I struggle a little with this myself and it’s something I personally need to improve upon.

Maybe I can learn something from what I’m about to write, as I know the theory but I just need to learn to apply it more.

Going to Bat Often

As I touched on earlier a typical scenario when we think of a great new business idea is to ponder, learn, eventually take action and persist until the idea becomes a success or dies a death. This can sometimes be a very long and expensive process.

There’s nothing wrong with Learning, taking action and Persistence as they’re vital so our success. However, there is a better way to apply these principles, a much better way in fact.

How about this scenario instead.

Think up five ideas, implement them immediately in a rather rough and ready way. See which one works the best and run with that idea.

We can then apply the principles of learning, action, focus and persistence to an idea which has already proved it has a chance of success.

It’s worth repeating again here that this implement fast, fail fast approach is a key characteristic of many Successful Entrepreneurs.

It’s not easy though, especially if you suffer from Perfectionism as many of us do. Implementing multiple ideas in a very imperfect and quick way goes against our nature.

Also, it involves failing fast and dropping the ideas that don’t work so well. Again, failure is also against our nature so deliberately introducing it into this process is difficulty for us to handle.

I feel that at this point I should explain the concept of failing fast a little more as the idea itself instils fear into many of us.

Failing Fast

The idea of dropping the bad ideas and failing fast may cause a little confusion.

I always teach persistence and tell you to Never Give Up, so why am I telling you to deliberately give up on many of your ideas using this system?

Think in terms of the overall goal. If my goal is to create successful online businesses then failing and quitting the bad ideas is fine, as long as I never give up on my overall goal, to create successful online businesses.

If ever I gave up on this overall goal though that would be different, much different. I would consider this lacking persistence and quitting in a very negative way.

However, I have no problem in dropping individual ideas which look like they stand little chance of succeeding, I’ve done it many times before.

Implementing five ideas quickly and expecting some to fail is part of the process in achieving success, there’s nothing to fear from this type of failure.

The Fear of Failure is something we all suffer from to some degree but if we build this into our system then it becomes intentional and should be nothing to fear.

Those who follow me on Twitter know I love Famous Quotes so I’d like to leave you with this one which sums up what I’ve said so well:

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed”
~ Michael Jordan

Thanks for reading and I hope we all (including myself) have learned something useful here.

Ability to Succeed behaviours, failure, fear, learning, mindset, persistence, success

Are You Making This Common Mistake?

March 3, 2012 at 11:19 am Jason 2 comments

Recently I wrote about Making Sacrifices and judging by some of the responses I received, many of you seemed relieved that I’d recognised the sacrifices you make on a day to day basis.

I’d like to take this idea of hard work a little further and discuss one of the most common mistakes people make when working hard to achieve something.

To achieve anything worthwhile we sometimes need to forcibly remove ourselves from our comfort zones and we always need to work hard.

Changing our lives and the lives of others is a process, not an event. It always takes time, effort and persistence.

However, although these are all Vital Ingredients to Success they’re still not enough.

The simple reason being, you might still be doing all the wrong things. This is a common mistake and it cripples peoples chances of achieving success.

Know Your Destination

For starters, peoples Definitions of Success differ greatly so you need to know that your goals are actually going to make you happy when you achieve them.

There’s little point in creating a business or lifestyle if it’s not going to fulfil your dreams after all your hard work. Any business idea that shows little promise of making you happy should be dropped immediately.

There’s no shame in giving up on a business that’s not conducive to the lifestyle you want. It’d be a more catastrophic failure if you kept going and found out five years down the line when you’d invested all that time, effort and money in it.

I always recommend creating your own Definite Major Purpose (DMP) which is a personalised destination for your life. It’s that you want your life to be in the future. It’s what drives you to keep going.

Anything that doesn’t take you closer to this destination is not worth your time or effort.

Now you know what you really want from life, it’s time for the next step.

Know How to Get There

At this point you might expect me to mention business plans, and I just did, but I’m definitely not going to tell you to spend a week writing one.

There are many Reasons Why Not to Write a Business Plan. Amongst other things they’re largely guesswork, inflexible and unless you need external funding, no-one will ever read them.

You need to set yourself goals and sub goals and continually keep track of them. You also need to keep referring to your DMP and ensure you’re always heading closer towards it.

Exercise Relentless, Focused, Action towards your goals and eventually you WILL get there.

It’s difficult to create a generic guide to ensure you’re all doing the right things to achieve your goals though. As your goals, paths and businesses are all different you’ll need to do some research to make sure you’re doing what’s required to achieve your specific goals.

Finding a mentor who has already achieved what you want to achieve is probably the single best way of staying on track. Otherwise, find out how other people did it and whether there’s already a proven formula.

Don’t try to re-invent the wheel if you don’t need to, but if what you’re doing is truly innovative you may have no choice but to create your own path.

The commonest and most tragic mistake though is investing all that effort, all that money and all that time in the wrong things. You need to make sure doing the right things is a key part of your Business Mindset.

Work out what lifestyle you really want to achieve, be specific and write it down as your DMP. Set yourself goals, track them and work towards them. Refer to your DMP often and tweak it if your circumstances change.

This should ensure you stay on track, achieve your lifestyle goals, avoid wasting time, effort and money and most of all Achieve Happiness.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment about your own journey.

Ability to Succeed definite major purpose, DMP, failure, focus, persistence, startups

Making Sacrifices and Where to Draw the Line

February 27, 2012 at 8:37 am Jason 7 comments

For many years now I’ve been a believer in living modestly and not being materialistic.

The problem with too many possessions is that what you think you own can end up owning you, especially if you use credit.

A materialistic way of living isn’t very conducive to freedom, which is what I’m really striving for, so I’ve always avoided being much of a consumer.

Most of my disposable income has been invested in some way for the future and I have maintained a very modest lifestyle as a result. Too modest maybe.

Although these sacrifices are taking me closer to my Definite Major Purpose goals, that path can sometimes be a little bland as a result.

How Much should We Sacrifice?

Recently I’ve been wondering how much sacrifice we should make now to obtain our goals?

I guess my recent Health Scare has made this question even more pertinent to me. All of this investing for the future is great, if you can guarantee you’ll be around in the future to enjoy it. Who can really guarantee that though?

When I read The Richest Man in Babylon a few years ago I remember it stated that while saving and investing at least 10% of our income is highly recommended, life still has some wonderful things to offer and we shouldn’t sacrifice too much and prevent ourselves from enjoying them.

I wish I could remember the exact wording, but I ignored it anyway and maybe missed out on more than I should have.

One of my great passions is cars and I visit my local race track many times during the year. I’m even considering volunteering to be a marshal there.

Anyway, in the name of sacrifice for the greater good I kept my same old car which I’ve had for 9 years now and have resisted the temptation to upgrade it. After 121,000 miles it’s almost falling apart.

I Finally Cracked

Well, yesterday I finally cracked and bought a car I’ve wanted for well over ten years but could never justify the cost.

From a business mindset perspective I still can’t justify the cost so I won’t even try.

From a personal point of view though, I’m not getting any younger and I’ve already waited over ten years. Should I wait another ten years until I cannot even get in it?

Warren Buffett who I admire but cannot compare myself to in any way once did something similar, but obviously on a much larger scale.

As the richest man in the world, and one of the most modest, still driving a Volvo and living in the same house he bought in 1958, he purchased a private jet.

He called it “The Indefensible”. Maybe I should call my little car by the same name as it is indeed indefensible.

In my defence there’s no credit involved and it won’t cost me a penny more than it needs to, but like I said, no excuses.

Do You Sacrifice Too Much?

I’m not about to tell you what’s right or wrong when it comes to how much sacrifice you make to obtain your own goals. I don’t think I’ve really answered the question myself yet.

What I do want to achieve here is to at least make you think about it, so you obtain the right balance for you.

I’m sure we all know people who gamble everything on their retirement, savings, investments, pensions etc then don’t even make it to retirement.

Try not to go down the path of Bad Spending Habits if you can help it. Live within your means and avoid credit where possible. But surely the odd little toy here an there is ok, we’ve earned it. But maybe I’m just trying to justify it to myself.

I’d be interested to hear about your own levels of sacrifice and whether you think you have the balance right, so please leave a comment.

And yes, the car in the picture is the one I put the deposit on, I have no excuses.

Desire to Succeed behaviours, definite major purpose, desire, DMP, focus

Achieve More with Just in Time Learning

February 18, 2012 at 1:48 pm Jason 4 comments

You may have heard about Just in Time Learning but have you ever adopted the idea yourself? Let me explain how it can help you learn more, achieve more and save money…

How many times have you been on a training course for some new skill or technology you’re expected to use in the near future, but not used those new skills for months or even years?

By then you’ve forgotten most of what you learned and that expensive training course was both a waste of time and money.

This happens a lot and it’s very inefficient and in todays world, totally unnecessary.

A similar principle applies when we’re learning about business. There’s so much to learn and naturally we want to learn it all.

But this is impossible and in attempting to learn everything we don’t leave enough time or energy to actually do anything and we end up learning stuff we’re not going to use for months, if ever.

So what’s the solution?

Just in Time Learning

The idea of Just in Time Learning could be the solution. As the name suggests it involves learning just what you need, just when you need it.

For many it’s a difficult discipline to adopt because as I mentioned earlier it’s human nature to want to learn everything there is about a subject which interests us.

However, Just in Time Learning is a very efficient way of learning. You’ll forget much less and utilise far more of what you’ve just learned.

Using your new skills or knowledge immediately will also help you transition it into long term memory so it really stays with you, rather than just being lost amongst all the other stuff you learned years ago but have long forgotten.

Knowledge and skills are a classic case of “use it or lose it”.

Paralysis by Analysis

I’m sure that you’ve heard the term paralysis by analysis before. It’s the problem of trying to analyse, study and learn everything before you take action and actually do something useful.

This is a dangerous cycle and as you’ll never be able to learn everything, you’ll theoretically never actually take action and do anything. Many people do fall into this trap.

It’s much better to just take some action even if you know little or nothing about what you’re doing.

Of course there are exceptions to this Just in Time Learning approach. Bomb disposal, bridge building, brain surgery, to name but a few extreme and slightly daft examples.

Outside of these extremes most tasks or projects you take on can easily evolve and be improved as you learn more. You don’t need to learn everything before you begin, just learn what you need as and when you need it.

The Time is Right for Just In Time Learning

With the evolution of the internet, mobile learning and other technologies you can learn most things quickly, easily and often at zero or very little cost. Just in Time Learning has never been easier.

With the amount of information overload nowadays, Just in Time Learning has also never been more relevant.

We shouldn’t see learning as something we do before we take action, we should see it as something we do continuously, something I advocate and call Lifelong Learning.

In this modern, fast moving, fast changing world a lot of what we learned a few years ago might now be totally outdated.

Imagine learning about Social Networking five years ago and finally applying what you learned in todays world. Things have changed so much and you’d remember so little anyway it would be a complete waste of time.

This is another reason why Just in Time Learning is so efficient, your new knowledge and skills are right up to date.

It’s now just a matter of having the discipline to change your mindset and take some action on that idea you’ve had for ages.

Start with Small Baby Steps and learn as you go. You never truly learn anything until you try it for yourself, Make Some Mistakes and Learn From Them.

I hope you enjoyed this article on Just in Time Learning, feel free to leave a comment.

Ability to Succeed efficiency, learning, lifelong learning, mindset, productivity

Why YOU Should Consider Freelancing

February 11, 2012 at 3:07 pm Jason 2 comments

A recent survey I did of my Twitter followers showed that the majority were freelancers.

Freelancers are not employees, they’re not really running a conventional business which they can leave and still make money from, but they’re somewhere in between.

I myself make a large chunk of my income right now from freelancing but it’s not really the ultimate goal and it doesn’t appear on my Definite Major Purpose.

So, why do I do it and more importantly why should you?

There are a whole raft of questions when it comes to freelancing as a form of running your own business so I’d like to answer a few here.

If you’re a freelancer yourself, depending on the field you work in things may differ from my own sector which is Software Engineering.

Lets start with the first question…

Do Freelancers Really Run Their Own Business?

This is a grey area, but let me answer simply. Technically ‘yes’ but in reality ‘no’. Let me explain.

Technically I created and own Tycoon Software Ltd for my freelancing and some other work, which is a UK limited company. I’m the director and the same company laws apply to me as for any other UK company.

For these reasons it’s technically a business, no doubts. However, consider a well structured conventional business.

The owner will still earn Passive Income whether they’re working or not
The potential for growth and to earn money is often near limitless

Now consider my freelancing company.

If I don’t work I don’t get paid, ever.
The potential to grow and earn money is limited to my ‘hours worked’ x ‘hourly rate’

I could always take on employees which would resolve the above issues, but then I wouldn’t be freelancing, I’d be running a conventional company.

For those reasons I don’t consider freelancing to be truly running a company. Although if you ask me when I’m knee deep in paperwork my answer may be different.

Is Freelancing Better than Being an Employee?

This is another grey area, mostly due to the wooly definition of ‘better’, but it’s why it’s a good question and one worth discussing.

If you’re in an industry which allows freelancing, you have few commitments, you’re not scared of a lack of security and you’re bored of the daily monotony then ‘yes’ freelancing is better than being an employee.

For those who like security (and I use that word loosely), have family commitments, are tied to one location and want a career then ‘no’, freelancing might not be the right move.

I may be biased but there are lots of advantages to being a freelancer:

Tax advantages – paying less and claiming expenses
Financial flexibility – pay yourself what and when you like
Working flexibility – work less hours if/when you fell like it
Living on the edge – no employee rights and short notice period
Ltd/LLC companies – learn the basics of how to run a company
Lack of rules – not having to conform to all of the client company rules
No holiday allocation – take whatever holidays you like or can afford
Company politics – not having to be involved in or care about them
No appraisals – if you do well you stay, if not you go, simple
Business mindset – freelancing forces a positive mindset change
Far more money – very lucrative if you can find the work

The list goes on and some people might not see them all as advantages, but I do.

People often ask me what about lack of sick pay? Even after my Recent Stay in Hospital I’ll still be financially much better off this year, so not an issue.

What about lack of company pension? I don’t trust pensions and I don’t want one. I’ll make my own investments thanks because I do trust myself.

What about lack of job security? My current client recently slashed their staff numbers, many of the permanent staff went and 90% of the contractors were axed. It was a real shame but I’m lucky enough to still be there. No-one nowadays has job security.

So called security is always expensive though, remember that. Whether it’s pensions, insurance, loan payment protection, income protection or job security, someone somewhere is making money from it at your expense.

Nothing worthwile was ever achieved by people seeking security and stability. Moving out of your comfort zone is the only way to progress.

Where Does Freelancing Fit Into Your Success Plan?

Although freelancing may not be part of your overall business goals, it makes a good step between permanent employee and running conventional businesses.

You’ll learn a lot as a freelancer about the different business mindset required to live on your wits rather than being entirely dependent on your employer.

Freelancing is a natural step in the right direction if you want to Achieve More in Your Life. I wouldn’t recommend freelancing as a long term goal, because you’ll always be limited in what you can earn and you won’t achieve much if any Passive Income.

However, moving away from the secure weekly pay check and into the more uncertain but potentially more lucrative world of freelancing is a good move towards Starting a Real Business.

If your professional field allows it and you fit the criteria, go for it.

Feel free to leave a comment if I’ve missed anything or you’re a freelancer yourself and have different issues in your particular field.

Thanks for reading.

Ability to Succeed, Real Examples business, business models, freelancing, ideas, mindset, startups

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