Stop Trying, You’ll Never Be Successful…
Yes, it’s a little harsh but someone needs to tell you that.
You’ve read all the posts on how “someone like you” made their millions using [INSERT WHATEVER METHOD]. Your mind is packed full of ways to make 10 grand in 1 month.
I’ve read hundreds of them. My bank account still has barely three figures, not seven.
If you feel like you’ve been grinding forever, perpetually an arm's length away from success, stuck in a never-ending treadmill, then this article is for you. This time, there will be no motivational speech. Let’s keep it real, this situation sucks.
So, why not quit…?
These 18-year-old acne-monsters started a month ago, now they’re flexing their new whips on Instagram. You’ve been at this for years and where are you…?
When you’re on the verge of quitting follow what Nike says…
Just. Quit.
Will You Be A Quitter If You Quit?
If you asked any guru-entrepreneur, every blogger, every marketer, they’d tell you to keep pushing forward.
Hell, David Goggins made a career out of yelling at people to keep moving forward despite obstacles.
Gary Vaynerchuk told you to — and I quote — “Eat shit” and you went to grab knife and fork. Yummmm!!!
And the big question here is, for what?
So you can compete with those acne-monsters on whose got the shiniest whip?
Don’t worry, Goggins won’t knock at your door to force you to keep going. Gary won’t send a stockpile of shit for you to dig into.
So just quit.
I know you want to.
There’s this strange stigma on people who quit but just think about it, if you wanted success so bad you wouldn’t spend hours scrolling on social media. You wouldn’t procrastinate at all.
Look, I’m not trying to be a douche here, I want to quit too.
I’ve been at this “business” thing for years and I’ve been paid more in disappointments than in money.
Because when you want something, and I mean, truly want something, you go at it 100% until it’s achieved.
There’s no “I’m a little tired… I’ll do that later, why not check what’s happening on Medium…”
If, by any chance, you have achieved those things and are here on Medium to relax and read great content, congrats!
Go buy mansions, hire teenage supermodels, transfer money offshore or whatever you successful people do.
“A Cog In A Machine”
That’s what I used to think of people with jobs.
In my arrogance, I looked down upon them believing they had chosen a life of misery, never doing things they dream of doing, never achieving success.
Funny…
I left school and my job to become a full time copywriter. A friend stole money from me. My bank acquired a MINUS sign. I was in debt for the first time in my life.
In my mind, “I was out of the Matrix”. What a fool… I had just become a cog in a different machine called hope.
This was a machine controlled by emotion. Hope didn’t have structure, plans, discipline, or any idea of success.
Hope was a purposeless machine.
Don’t get me wrong, the machine worked, pretty efficiently, but it produced no output.
I’m sorry to inform you, that you might in this machine too.
Constantly hoping to achieve something. Sometimes you achieve it, if you’re lucky and work hard.
But the overarching goal doesn’t mean anything to you.
Even the small goals lose all their excitement.
Fear builds up. You hope what you’re doing works.
But, as I said…
hope is a purposeless machine
In that phrase lie its problem and its solution.
Without a purpose, whatever you do gets you closer to A goal but no closer to THE goal.
Trust me, when you get to that 7-figure mark, you’re not going to be satisfied. You’ll probably want to make 8-figures. Then 9.
You hope, by getting those financial numbers, you’ll solve the problem. But the underlying problem isn’t the lack of money.
Maybe it’s your endless search for validation. Your anger against those who wronged you. Fear you’ll die without a legacy.
Let me get personal…
I chased money for 4 years, starting and stopping 10+ businesses before the age of 20. Some of them even made me money, but, as soon as I didn’t like the business anymore, I switched to something that sounded more profitable.
Why?
Every guru online told me the biggest entrepreneurs in the world failed a million times and that it was fine to fail.
“Use my system to get success! Here are my 2000 — probably fake — testimonials.”
They preached, I wagged my puppy-dog tail and executed.
All along what I wanted was to have good friends, a loving girlfriend, enough money to give my 10-year-old sister gifts for Christmas.
But my notebooks were filled with ideas and strategies to get me to 7 figures a year.
The Art Of Not Being A Cog
This article was written for you, dear reader.
You who scrolls down endlessly on social media hoping the next post with a flashy headline has the solution to your problems…
I’m sorry, success won’t come down your chimney this Christmas.
You see, success means something different for everyone. When you allow others to define what success means to you, you find yourself living a life that’s not yours.
In fact, don’t believe anything I just said in the post.
The point of this post is: don’t let others influence the meaning of success.
Still, by telling you that, I’m trying to change your meaning of success, which is against the point of this post.
