7 Things I Learned in my 1st Month of Chasing a Dream Full Time

About a month ago, I resigned from a full time Vice President role to pursue my dream of building a Sponsorship and Strategic Alliance business. (I wrote about this a bit in this post)

For full disclosure … this isn’t the first time i’ve done this. In fact, this is the third time I’ve resigned from a  job to build my own business!

Time 1: I left a massive corporate to sell Real Estate with my wife. It went well … until the 2007 Real Estate bubble burst. We had 13 listings that wouldn’t sell. it was by all account an epic failure and likely the most humbling experience of my life.

Time 2: I left a small but rapidly growing business (Infusionsoft) to try my hand at consulting and later into Sponsorship. It went amazingly well! After a few years, one of my clients hired me on for a to help build their company. Now that I’ve wrapped up that project, it’s on to ….

Time 3: I was the right hand man to the CEO of the company I just completed my work with. I’m now working to rebuild my Sponsorship and Strategic Alliance business. So far so good, and I’ll keep you posted on the progress through this blog.

Anyway, I’ve taken some time to reflect on the things I’ve learned over this past month. Here are a few:

1) Start with your mission and purpose.
You need direction. Your mission and purpose will always by your guide. Why are you chasing this dream? What is it’s purpose? Where are you going? These are key points to clearly understand. All of your decisions should come through the lens of your mission and purpose.

I’ll use my mission and purpose as examples for you.

PURPOSE: My purpose is to inspire people be happy, achieve their dreams, and to live an abundant life.

MISSION: My professional mission (I have a personal mission too!) is to create a marketplace that generates $10M of partner & sponsor revenue by the end of 2017.

2) Take 100% responsibility for your life
This month, I’ve been reminded a ton about the first principle of Jack Canfield’s book The Success Principles. That is to take 100% responsibility for your life! As Jack put it, “If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life.” You sure learn how this is true while building a business!

3) Having a plan helps, but expect your plan not to go the way you thought it would
You need to plan. This helps you with guidance and direction. But you also need to be adaptable. Sometimes you’ll expect life to take you down a certain path and you’ll find yourself going down a completely different one. The best advice I can offer is to have a plan, but allow like to take you through what feels right.

4) Working from home is awesome … most of the time
I work from home every day. I’m not stranger to this. I’ve done so for a good chunk of my career. It’s great for all of the reasons you’d imagine; short commute, see the family more, and flexibility. But it’s also a challenge. For example, I was interrupted in the middle of writing this post to help the 2 year who we’re in the middle of potty training.

Working from home takes a good deal of focus, determination and work ethic. If you need to be around others to be successful, then don’t try working from home!

5) Don’t do it by yourself
Perhaps like me you don’t have a partner in the ownership of the business. Yes, I have individuals who assist me, but this is my company. That being said, I’ve recognized the need for mentors, coaches and guides who can help. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find someone who you can be accountable to to assist you.

6) It’s fun!
I don’t know what else to say other than I find that pursing your dreams is a LOT more fun than pursuing someone else’s!

7) Remember to find balance
When in business building mode, it’s easy to work all of the time. Chances are if you’re building a company you are a workaholic. Be sure to find some sort of balance. During the day, take time away from your office. Carve out time in your calendar to be with your family or do something just for fun. I find that if I have lunch with my wife or do something with her in the middle of the day, it makes me MORE productive.

Everyone I know who is building their own business working more than the standard 40 hours each week. But, a benefit is you get to choose which 40 hours in the week you’d like to work!

Question:

What’s the one thing you’ve learned about your job or your dream?

7 Things I Learned in my 1st Month of Chasing a Dream Full Time