As an entrepreneur, when you have successfully created five different $1 million businesses in four different industries in the span of 26 years, you paid your dues and earned the right to tell the story of how you did it. Each one was created differently but the one thing that was common among the first four was I was never a fan of missing work because of illness.
It was hammered into my head by my uncle that missing work when you’re the “product” isn’t an option. I can remember being trained in the funeral business that when the phone rings, you go to work, regardless of how you feel. And in Pennsylvania, those harsh winters made being sick much worse than the cushy weather here in Arizona.
I can clearly remember a time that the morning of a funeral I was so sick, I’d have to run to vomit every 30 minutes or so. But there was no way to find someone to do my job and I couldn’t simply cancel a funeral. So, what did I do? I am an entrepreneur. I went to work.
Today, my business has changed. No longer do I run funerals nor is my life commanded by middle of the night death calls. I live my life by appointment with clients and prospects alike and I have the luxury to reschedule if necessary. However, during my last illness, I didn’t do that. On day two of my illness I still stayed home because I was sick, but I kept my pre-determined commitments with clients. Every 20 minutes for 8 hours I was on a call. They never knew the difference and I collapsed after each session. Once again I longed for the escape that my bed offered and I was left with that same feeling of satisfaction and again, that feeling I was superior. Today, I am who I am because I was willing to do what others were not.
Dan Kennedy states this about a wealthy friend: “A very rich man I got to know 20 years ago, who made his money buying up cash-strapped companies at virtual gunpoint, told me: I have five secrets.
Five reasons I am rich while others are not:
One, I am willing to pick up turds with my bare hands when necessary.
Two, I am willing to trample the weak without qualm.
Three, I am a very tough sonofab****, I’m damn near impossible to knock out, but I’m still careful to pick fights with inferior opponents as much as possible.
Four, I don’t care about being liked.
Five, I only generously reward performance.”
There is little that is special about me but I am willing to do the things others are not. Which includes playing hurt. I’m confident this is the reason I win when others don’t.
If you want to succeed in your business, be prepared to do a bunch of stuff you don’t want to do. Then, once you’ve finished, you can sit back with a feeling of satisfaction and even mild superiority and take some time to enjoy your time doing all the things you do want to do.
Building a better practice one superiority complex at a time…
