If I were to give anyone starting
out their entrepreneurial journey some advice, I will first tell them that they
can do hard things. If they haven't had any significant challenges in their
life and overcame them, then they are lacking valuable experience to help them
on their journey. When they face challenges, face them head on. It is easy to
say now, but when we first experience a trial, our first instinct may be to
avoid it at all costs. We have to train ourselves to welcome the challenge.
That is the only way we can truly gain valuable experience that we can use and
build on.
I will also suggest that they do
not set their sights on money, fame, or power. It may seem common sense when we
are at the bottom of the ladder, but as we climb, they become even more
alluring. Set worthy goals early on, and figure out what is important right
now. It is important to set priorities now, and hold to them. Schedule other,
less important items around your priorities, so you can keep a good balance.
You don't want to look back on your life and regret not learning a new skill or
spending more time with family.
Money is not evil, it just depends
on how it is used. Money can provide a good living, fight hunger, help give
service, donated to a good cause, etc. Or it has the power to ruin nations,
tear families apart, fund evil practices, etc. I heard a saying that money can
turn a great man greater, a good man bad, or a bad man worse. Consider what you
might do with the wealth you may attain, and prepare yourself to be able to
handle it responsibly.
Also consider the impact you can
have on the world, to improve conditions, to change people’s lives for the
better. What is your true motivation? Will you stick to your morals when the
time comes that they are tested? There is much success to be had at the end of
the journey, but it requires effort. Persistent effort. If you can attain one
trait, it should be persistence. That is what will drive you to keep trying
even when others would have normally given up. There is no better reward than
to succeed after you have tried over and over again only to fail.
Keep your head up, and remember
that there are those around you that will be there to support you along the
way. I believe in you. I know you can do it. It is up to you to take the first
step.
