Well, almost an idiot. Very successful entrepreneurs don’t consider themselves smart or talented. Most would say that they’re are an average Joe. Why is this? Because most smart and talented people will never be “ultra wealthy”. Say what?

Successful entrpreneurs understand the importance of finding people more talented and smarter that themselves to run their businesses. The fact is, there is not enough time in someones life to learn it all. If you want your business to dominate with online marketing, find an expert in online marketing. Don’t expect to learn in your spare time what an expert has spent years mastering. Leave it to the experts.

Successful entrepreneurs are always starting projects, building companies, adding assets and investments, etc. There is no way they have the time to learn how to be an expert in every field. They are too busy finding the next opportunity. They simply find people who can get the job done and leave it to them. Its that simple. Its a recipe for disaster to think you can do it all. You may think you are saving money, or helping the bottom line, but with all the time you are wasting trying to learn new techniques, you still probably won’t be as good as the experts and you may have missed other opportunities. Trust me on this.

So why don’t most extremely talented and smart people make more than these so called idiots? Because to stay an expert in their field, they need to constantly work at it and focus on it, spending most of their time in one area. Don’t get me wrong they can still make lots of money, but its the Entrepreneur that’s paying them.

Why is it that there are so many self made millionaires that grew up in slums, or were homeless at one point, or had a tragic childhood? The answer, they were uncomfortable. They each shared a drive and passion to get our of their situation and make things better for themselves, and their family. Many of us, if we grew up in a stable home, can never fathom this drive to succeed. It’s not that we were spoiled, we just had the luxury of knowing things were going to be OK if we failed.

I see that the major culprit of people not living up to potential is COMFORT.

When I purchased my first home, I lost my job a few months later. I was desperate to find a way to make enough money to pay the mortgage and I did. I pushed and pushed until finally I could live comfortably and not have to worry about finances. Then I just stopped pushing. Sure I was living fine, but I really had no motivation to keep trying to climb the financial ladder. It was not until I truly understood what real weath was from some very successful people did I find some motivation to keep going.

You must find fear. I learned that I was not as finacially secure as I should be. What if something happened and I could no longer work? what would happen to my family? What If someone in my family needed help, could I help them? This insight gave me the motivation to do more.
Once you make more money, your expenses typically increase as well. You have to pay for that new lexus, the vacation home, and the boat.. Now you have to fear the loss of those things too.

If that doesn’t work, perhaps you can fear the greatest fear of all : living a mediocre life….

You only live once. Do you want to make your mark? Do you want to leave a legacy?

If not, you’ll be fine….If so, embrace the fear of failure to drive you to success.

Time is one of the most misunderstood commodities. Yes, commodity. It is like gold, like diamonds, like oil! It has a value and is the most precious commodity in the world. Everyone needs it, and everyone wants more of it.

Most people dont understand this concept. When I ask people, “how much is your time worth?”. They usually answer with either their hourly rate at their job or say “it depends on what I will be doing”. First to understand the value of time, lets look at how very successful people manage it.

Why do you think almost all very successful people have assistants, employees, housekeepers, etc? Because they can purchase their time at a discounted rate! Here is what I mean. If someone believes their time is worth $200 an hour and they need to balance their books, mop their floors, or make 35 sales calls, why not find someone else to do it for less? Why not hire someone to keep track of their expenses for $30 an hour? They’d be saving $170 every hour they work! Its really that simple.

So look at your current job and your hourly rate. If you’re working for a profitable company, they are making money every hour you work. You are working at a WHOLESALE RATE! Why not make retail??

The great thing is, you can define your hourly worth. It really takes some time to put your mind around it but its true. It personally took me a long time to understand this. Growing up in a middle class family and having the belief that 100K a year was a lot of money, really made it difficult to change my self worth. Its not really as easy as it sounds.  I constantly thought I may be overcharging people, or that other people dont charge as much as I do, and things of that nature. You have to truly believe you are worth whatever you set your price at and own it. Of course you have to have some justification to back it up, but if you truly believe it, your find the reasoning.  Just remember, you have something nobody else does.

YOU. You are a rare commodity, and worth it.

Are you worth $20? $50? $100? $1000 and hour?? Set your price. Find your justification, beleive it, own it, and don’t settle for less. It will be a process, you may have to work your way up, but the journey is well worth it.

I’m sure that most of you have heard the saying, “Your friends define who you are”. Let’s take a look how this applies to your SUCCESS. There is a rule of thumb that says if you take your five closest friends and average their income, you will find a number very close to your own. I find this to be very true. Of course there are anomalies, and the rule is a little skewed because success is not only defined by how much you make, but how happy you are, and how content you are with what you do for a living. So for now, lets just focus on the money making side of it.

The reason this rule generally works, is because most people feel comfortable surrounding themselves with others that resemble themselves.  Usually these are co-workers, fiends from school, friends from the same neighborhood, etc. The sad thing is that many people feel intimidated and too uncomfortable to socialize with individuals that are much more successful or make a lot more money. Sometimes they feel “belittled” by a person who makes 10 – 20 times more money than them.

Many times, the people around you may try and bring you down to their level, just so they feel a little better about themselves. Remember, people tend to want to keep a comfort zone. They might ridicule your ambition to be a millionaire or think that you have almost no chance to make it, because you weren’t “born rich”.

The fact is, very successful people think differently than the average folk, and the easiest way to change your own mindset is to surround yourself with people more successful than yourself. 

The trick is: Surround yourself with people you WANT to be like, not people you ARE like. 

An example in my own life:

Years ago when I was working a 9-5 job, I played a lot of golf. I was really good at it (scratch golfer). I played at high end golf clubs where many of the other members were successful entrepreneurs, business owners, and even Fortune 500 execs. In this setting, there was no intimidation factor because a lot of these guys WANTED to play golf with me, so they can learn a thing or two to improve their own games.

I became pretty close with a few of them, and when I would talk business with them, about my ambitions, and goals, they would offer advice. Some would even give me access to their lawyers and one actually had his marketing advisor give me a call to help me with my own brand. I had opportunities and ideas that where placed in front of me that I didn’t even know existed!

Now let’s be honest. At the time, my friends basically lived for playing video games and watching the big game on the weekend. None of them had lawyers or marketing experts, let alone even the ambition to ever want any. Exposing yourself to very successful people really opens your eyes. You must study them like a hawk. Their mannerisms, the way they talk, they way they think. It will literally change your life. It will give you a different perspective on what real “wealth” is and how success is really made. I always thought having a 6 figure a year job with benefits really meant that you made it in the world. The first time you talk with a multi millionaire entrepreneur about business, is the last time you would every think that.

So golf is just one way you can network with people more successful than yourself. There are countless ways like business events, mixers, church functions, fundraisers, other sports and clubs, the internet, etc. Try and get yourself out there and find the people you want to be like and let them know that. You may find the occasional jerk, but most of the time, people are happy to share their experiences and insights.

So if you take anything from this article, take this:

• Don’t feel intimidated by successful people. Learn from them.
• Get out there and network.
• Surround yourself with people that are an example of what you want to be like.
• Very Successful people think very differently than the average folk. Try and forget what you have learned in the past and have a open mind.
• There is something to say about friendship so don’t just go out and dump all of your minimum wage friends! Just be cautious if you think there are trying to bring you down.