Pills spelling the word help over white background

We live in a world that desires instant gratification. Food. Weight loss. Money. Love. The problem is two fold. First, and one I will not address today, is that the one time things are not the answer to long term fulfillment. Second, there is no magic pill to bring instant results for something that takes most everyone else in the world a long time to accomplish.

Mark Cuban, serial entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, wasn’t always worth $2.3 billion (crazy number right?). At 12, he sold garbage bags to pay for basketball shoes. At 24, he was fired from a sales job for trying to procure business for himself with one of his clients. At 32, he sold a company for $6 million that he had started a few years earlier, netting him over $2 million. At 41, he sold a 4 year old company for $5.7 billion. From there, his business reach and net worth has continued to grow. He now spends time investing back into businesses that are looking for the long term, and not a one-hitter quiter.

So what is my point in the above? Mark Cuban has spent his whole life working towards a large goal, while accomplishing small goals along the way. At 12, he couldn’t have sold a company for $5.7 billion. He needed other steps (and resources) along the way. We must look at our business careers the same way. We can all have big goals, but those should be supported by smaller ones along the way.

One big push back in reading this story is that most of my readers are not 12 (ok, none of them are). So as older professionals, we get hasty because we feel like we are out of time to wait and need to accomplish now. But that’s not true. You can still take some time, but because you are versed in an industry or have a good contact sphere, you may be ahead of the curve that Mark Cuban was on at 12. So what now?

Evaluate your goals.

  • What is your one, long term goal in business?
  • Is that a realistic goal based upon the path you are currently on? If not, what must change?
  • What smaller goals do you have to support that?
  • What smaller goals are you missing to support that?
  • Who can help you (or who do you need to help you) to achieve those goals?

 

The solution to every problem is not a magic pill, or instant gratification, but excellent vision and solid execution.

 

If you are having trouble answering any one those questions above, email me. I would love to sit down with you and evaluate your business goals. Who knows, one day you may be worth $2.3 billion, and I can say I knew you :)!