Hey Warrior,
When I was a little boy, we would go to the flea market whenever my Grandpa was in town.
We would pull up in a big blue gurgling diesel truck with a rusted-out yellow canopy trailer holding three goats, two sheep, and a few crates of baby chicks.
My Grandpa would jump out with his army green pants, held up with tied orange twine as a makeshift belt, straw sticking out his pant cuff, with the strong scent of peppermint candy.
We stopped at one vendor once, and I wanted an old TV. Remember that it was black and white with suitable old rabbit ear antennas?
It wasn't fancy, but I didn't care.
My parents were against having more than one TV in the house...but of course, I wanted my own ;)
Hello, independence!
At the same vendor, my grandfather had his eyes on a few items he wanted.
He pointed them out and asked the merchant, "how much?"
The back-and-forth negotiating and banter had me bouncing my head from side to side like a ping pong match, wondering who would win.
In the end, my grandfather struck a good bargain, and we walked away with all of our items and then some - plus money still leftover that I could hear rattling around in his pocket.
From coupon clipper and flea market negotiator to being a self-made millionaire, I've learned something since then!
It's easy to look at a thriving entrepreneur and think their success happened overnight. Expecting the same speed and results for yourself.
When it doesn't turn out that way and you fall short of your goal, it's easy to get stuck in a comparison bubble, questioning, "why isn't this happening fast enough for me?"
Struggling entrepreneurs overestimate what results they can accomplish in a few short weeks and underestimate what can be done in several years.
And when they don't hit their short-term goal, like filling their program or getting their following paying clients, they talk themselves out of what they truly want. They settle. Or worse yet, give up after floating around, staying busy with nothing to show.