I hope you pictured some cheesy scene out of a movie from the title. An awkward college graduate sitting at the dinner table for Christmas with his family. Standing up he says, “I have an announcement to make. I’ve decided that I’m going to [enter strange life changing decision]”
That’s my announcement. The ‘strange life changing decision’ variety.
This will be my second strange life changing decision. I used to look at people that changed careers and think that they were doing it because of failure. Like they went to be a lawyer, then they left to go be a writer. They failed at law, so they went to write a book.
The other side of that is that maybe once you get that career as a lawyer you think to yourself, “Wait… I don’t like this work or this life I’m making. I’m going to change and look for another challenge. Being a lawyer is boring and I know I can do bigger things.”
Unfortunately, most people just stick it out. They go to school, get a job, maybe have a family, and then just kinda tough it out. Is it miserable? Not always. Sometimes that routine works out just fine.
But how often does that school-job-family-routine lead to massive success? Success in business, family, and for your personal feelings? Very, very rarely.
It’s complicated. Spending quality of time with your family while at the same time pushing the limits in your professional career is pretty much impossible. You really need to pick one or the other. Otherwise you’ll be missing out on one side.
Most people pick their family over their professional career. That’s probably a good choice, when you look back at 80 years old. I can’t see a scenario where you miss being at work instead of with family.
However, I think we’d all agree that having success in your professional life – as in more money – can be pretty important. Like it or not, money buys you time, which gives you freedom. When you can pay people to do the things you don’t want to do, that gives you more time to spend with your family.
Incredibly difficult to accomplish, but definitely obtainable. I’ve tasted it.
What’s the secret? There really is no secret. I mean, I can tell you the exact formula, but it isn’t sexy and there isn’t some cheat code to type in. The basic process is work harder than anyone else. Work longer days, work more days, and work anytime others aren’t.
Now, if you can work smarter, you won’t have to put in as much time. If you can work harder and smarter, then you’re almost guaranteed to get to that next, seemingly unobtainable level. Almost guaranteed. Almost.
There actually is a secret cheat code that you can use. It’s still a lot of work, but this one thing can give you returns like you’ve never seen before.
You’ve got to take risks. Big risks.
That’s not the socially acceptable thing to say. We’re all pressured by the people around us to do the right thing – to play things safe. Taking big risks is a foolish practice that only people who fail pursue.
‘Tall poppy syndrome’ is a cool saying that the Aussies and Kiwis have. The tall poppy gets cut down because it sticks out from all the other normal sized poppies. Just like those who excel beyond their peers rarely receive any kind of pat on the back.
Taking a risk, for the chance of enormous reward is terrifying. Obviously if you succeed, the upside is totally worth the risk. However, if you fail, not only do you have to deal with the immediate consequences, but you also get labeled as a failure.
Being a failure is one of the worst reputations you can have as a human. Failure seeps into your soul and can effect the insides of your deepest thoughts.
That’s why most people don’t take risks. That’s why most people stick to the daily routine – the daily grind. Staying in that groove provides safety and moments of satisfaction.
So what’s the announcement?
Well, I’ve been writing about investing for the past several years. Different investment ideas, weird opportunities and all kinds of strange adventures around the world. I’ve also been investing in all kinds of interesting companies and many of you have joined me in these deals.
We’ve made over a dozen investments in just the past couple of years. Cannabis brands, Colombian real estate, biotech, and various other unique opportunities. Although investing in early stage companies is very risky, we’re actually doing pretty well. The next couple of years could prove to be very profitable for us.
But I’ve learned a lot through this process. Finding deals to invest in, raising money, making an investment, and following up on portfolio companies is a lot of work. More than I would have ever predicted.
If you expect to be successful investing in the private market, you have to bring a lot more value to your portfolio companies beyond a simple pile of money. Hours and hours of doing work in the background to pull together solutions, make introductions, and provide real support to founders is what needs to happen.
It’s almost like you’re a part of each of your portfolio company’s team. And if you have twenty portfolio companies, that’s a full time job. Every day there is some new fire to put out or some new unforeseen challenge to overcome.
Through this process you become very close to the teams of a company. You get to see, and live, all of the ups and downs. Most importantly, you get to learn about what to do and what not to do in the future.
You also get to thinking… “Wait… if this team can do it, so can I!”
So, that’s what I’m going to do. Launch some companies myself. And I’m going to take you on that journey. I’ll share the original idea, then the launch, and then see where it goes. I currently have two companies in the works that I hope I can share within the next month.
The hope is that I can share with you the process of taking an idea to fruition. There will definitely be some mistakes along the way, so you can learn at my expense. But, if I do succeed, you’ll get to see how I do it and also get inspired to pursue your own ideas.
