Envy Persistence, Not Success

When you think of entrepreneurs, what images immediately pop up in your mind?

Do you see bold, courageous, fearless individuals, confidently moving forward, with little to no doubt that success is just a matter of time?

Or, do you see someone swimming in a sea of doubts, uncertain if they will be able to make payroll, or up all night worried about an impending deadline that could make or break their company?

Consider Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

At the end of 2008, Musk and all of his companies were on the verge of bankruptcy.

His Falcon 1 rocket had failed to reach orbit for the third time in early August 2008.

He had to scramble to secure outside financing just to get him through 2008.

He was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, going through a divorce, and everything hinged on a fourth Falcon 1 rocket launch on September 28 2008.

If it too failed, SpaceX was done and Elon Musk would have lost all of the $100 million he had invested in SpaceX.

The rocket didn’t fail.

It reached orbit.

He succeeded.

But the intense emotional stress was almost unbearable and nearly broke him mentally.

Consider Steve Jobs.

By the end of 1994, things were looking bleak. He was five years removed as Apple’s CEO. 

His $10 million Pixar investment had run up another $50 million in debt.

Pixar was burning through $1 million a year.

His personal fortune was dropping like a rock from $107 million in 1985 to $24 million in 1994.

And, worse, between NeXT and Pixar, they would need an additional $60 million a year just to stay in business.

Everything seemed to come crashing down all in one year.

We all know the fairy tale ending, but, for Steve Jobs, 1994 was a make-or-break year.

The stress and pressure he faced, at the time, was crushing.

Consider billionaire President Donald Trump.

In October of 1989, three of his key senior executives, who ran his casino empire, died in a freak helicopter accident.

Within two years, three of his casinos would have to file for bankruptcy protection.

His entire financial empire was crashing down on him in 1992.

For Donald Trump, 1992 was a year not to remember.

Thirty-four per cent of the self-made millionaires in my Rich Habits Study failed at least once in a business venture.

The fact is, most entrepreneurs who pursue success, have either had to endure long periods where everything they worked so hard to create was on the line, near collapse or had collapsed.

Being an entrepreneur is often like a walk through hell – one hurdle after another, one letdown after another, one disappointment after another, one rejection after another or one cash flow crunch after another.

What keeps entrepreneurs in the game is their belief, faith or passion for what they are doing.

They simply love what they are doing and believe in their cause.

That belief, that passion, is the only shield they have, defending them against the trials and tribulations that is the journey most successful entrepreneurs must endure.

The next time you see a successful entrepreneur, pause and consider that that individual very likely spent much of their entrepreneurial life walking through hell.

Don’t envy their success.

Instead envy their ability to endure the journey.

Envy their persistence.

About Tom Corley Tom is a CPA, CFP and heads one of the top financial firms in New Jersey. For 5 years, Tom observed and documented the daily activities of wealthy people and people living in poverty and his research he identified over 200 daily activities that separated the “haves” from the “have nots” which culminated in his #1 bestselling book, Rich Habits – The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals. Visit the website: www.richhabits.net