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Mindset

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late: How to Avoid Being a Dreamer for the Rest of Your Life and Make Your Business Happen Today

Why do people who dream of being an entrepreneur wait so long to get started?

It’s because a lot of these people don’t know what business to start and even if they do land on an awesome idea, they get hung up on how to get started.

They keep thinking about it and dreaming about it but they never take that first step.

So how do you avoid the fate of being that person?

The one who dreams for the rest of their life but never makes those dreams come true?

Free Yourself from The Clarity Myth

The first thing you need to understand is something I like to call the clarity myth.

Most people think clarity is like a switch that instantly goes off inside your mind.

The clouds part and a bolt of lightning comes down and you know exactly who you are and what you’re meant to do in your business 🙂

But clarity doesn’t work like that.

It’s emergent and it’s something that comes with time.

The thing about clarity is that it gets stronger and more specific when you start to take action and do what I call “iterate your way to awesome” (it’s when you keep taking action and moving forward even if things are not 100% perfect and eventually you get to awesome).

So when there’s zero action, there’s zero clarity because you don’t have the valuable feedback to know whether you’re on the right track or the wrong track.

The truth is if you wait until you have 100% clarity around what you want to do in your business, you’ll wait until the cows come home because clarity only comes with action.

So don’t wait because you might end up waiting until it’s too late and building a business is no longer an option.

Getting to Know The Reality Potential Gap

So what happens if you happen to get past The Clarity Myth and start a business?

Well, you’re not out of the woods just yet because it’s going to feel like your hopes and dreams are SO big and where you’re starting from is SO small.

And you’ll start to see this significant gap between your ideal future and your present situation.

This is what I call the Reality Potential Gap.

Here’s the thing…

Getting used to being in this gap is a key aspect to becoming a successful entrepreneur because you’re always going to have The Reality Potential Gap to deal with.

You’re always going to want so much more than you currently have.

You’re always going to prefer the end state to your starting state.

And you’re always going to find it hard to be where you are when you’re so far away from where you want to be.

You Need to Drop that “How” 

So here’s what I recommend in terms of understanding and coming to terms with The Reality Potential Gap…

When you’re in The Gap, you’re deep in the reality of “right now” and you’re looking at the how:

How am I going to start and grow a business?

How am I going to get clients and customers?

How am I going to get to where I want to go?”

What you need to do is drop the “how” and zoom back out — chunk back up — and look at the potential and possibilities in front of you.

You’ve got to look at what you want and why you want it before you get into the how because you can’t figure out the how before you understand the potential and the vision of what you want and why you want it.

But when you’ve identified what you want and why you want it and you’ve embraced that, connected to that and committed to that…

It’s going to be so much easier to figure out how you’re going to get it.

There’s No Silver Bullet BUT…

So you’ve got to practice zooming out and zooming in, you’ve got to learn how to chunk up and chunk back down.

You’ve got to zoom in and look at the reality of how you’re going to get where you want to go and then zoom back out to what you’re trying to accomplish, and why it matters to you.

When you do that, you’ll feel less overwhelmed and you’ll understand that entrepreneurship isn’t an “instant gratification” thing.

It’s a process, a journey — for most people it takes about 3 years to gain real traction.

The truth is there’s no silver bullet, no magic solution, no overnight success and fame but here’s what I want you to know…

You’re worth it.

You’re worth the investment of time and you’re worth the investment of energy and you can realize so much more than you imagine.

Just take the first step right now — today — and then take the step after that and the step after that.

And if you’re serious about getting out of the start-stop cycle of trying and failing to get your dream business off the ground… then I’ve got the FREE Workshop for you!  

Because after teaching over 12,500 people how to launch businesses, I’ve seen all the roadblocks that keep people stuck. 

I’ve also discovered the one thing that separates my most successful students from those who never get the results they were hoping…

Taking consistent action.

Which is why I created my latest program — Live Your Message Lab — where you’ll get out the exact steps, coaching, support, community and tools you need to get out of dreaming mode and into doing mode… so you can start taking action and seeing real progress in your business. 

This program is designed so you can bypass some of the trial and error of growing a business and get to success much faster than I did. 

Go ahead and join us in Lab and then share this with a friend who could use the support, too 🙂

Love it? Hate it? Let me know...

  1. Frits Bos Avatar
    Frits Bos

    Why people who dream of being an entrepreneur wait so long to get started is that most focus on the wrong end of the candle trying to see the light. As you have noted before, one should start with an awesome idea of WHAT the vision should be and then explore HOW the mission to turn that into a business opportunity. Instead of looking for a crystal ball, they should explore basics like the viability of a business based on that awesome idea.
    Clarity comes from matching reality to ideals without giving up on potential, so your first attempt at finding viability should not be your last. It should be evolving into a formal business plan that identifies HOW each challenge will be met. Choice of WHY to proceed with the plan is contingent on whether it is financially attractive – a threshold that is personal to the entrepreneur who aspires to a certain lifestyle.
    Your “iterating to awesome” is right on the money because it takes effort and objectivity to build the business plan, first to prepare for launch, and later to continually improve on strengthening business operations. Here is your next challenge: the “reality potential gap” should be forever expanding – it is fixed potential that might signal a problem of a limited business opportunity, which in many cases is due to the law of diminishing returns. There is a reality gap between wanting more and the potential your business can deliver.
    Instead of dropping “HOW” from the entrepreneur vocabulary, look at “HOW” challenges can be overcome to improve the business potential. Where there is a will there is a way, and there is nothing wrong with preparing yourself if you start early enough to have the runway for a safe take-off rather than that you run out of funds. The business plan evolves to provide that foundation, to remain in design mode until you are ready for take-off knowing in general terms HOW you will deal with inevitable challenges when you are operational.
    There are many definitions for success. Some aspire to a lifetime of operating a business, others simply want to get it operational so they can sell it rather than to manage it, and perhaps even negotiate a residual income from it, as another way to solving a HOW problem of managing a growing business. As usual, your post is right on the mark, and a great inspiration, and even if the business plan bursts the bubble of an idea it is good knowing that you save your money for another day that produces a much better idea.

    1. Marisa Murgatroyd Avatar
      Marisa Murgatroyd

      Another insightful and profound share Frits! You have a lot of wisdom to offer and I agree with SO much of this. 🙂

      1. Amy Frazier Avatar
        Amy Frazier

        This is exactly where I’m at! I’m manifesting everything I’ve been saying I wanted to create for the past 5 or so years, and now people are ready to sign up for my services, and I’m crapping my pants trying to figure out how I’m actually now going to provide it?!!!

        1. Marisa Murgatroyd Avatar
          Marisa Murgatroyd

          Congrats Amy. Isn’t it funny how getting what we want can be so scary? Just remember: you’re as ready as you’ll ever be. 🙂

  2. Carmen Avatar
    Carmen

    Wow Marissa! That was an amazing, inspirational video. Thank you so much for what you do and how you do it. Seriously. So much gratitude

    1. Marisa Murgatroyd Avatar
      Marisa Murgatroyd

      Thanks Carmen! So glad this was supportive… <3

  3. David Avatar
    David

    In my opinion,dreams are for appointed times and l know time will tell.

    1. Marisa Murgatroyd Avatar
      Marisa Murgatroyd

      Hmm. I’m not sure I agree with that. I think you can choose when to follow a dream and when to wait. 🙂

  4. joe wilkinson Avatar
    joe wilkinson

    Another “Proof” that supports “WHY” I interact with your content, & You. You bring the $imple; concise while comprehensive.
    Rock on,
    -joe

    1. Marisa Murgatroyd Avatar
      Marisa Murgatroyd

      Aww thank you Joe! I believe that if I’m going to say/share something, it should be better than silence. And that’s a tall order! 🙂

      1. Susan Hagan Avatar
        Susan Hagan

        What an incredible comment, Right on!!

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