The Inside Man

Opportunity Costs

Everything is a trade off. Watching Netflix or finishing that screenplay. Staying in bed an extra hour or going for that 5 mile run. 

Spending time on social media or spending quality time with friends and family. In all that we do we are trading one thing for another by using time as our currency. 

Remember, an opportunity is nothing more than a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. The key word is possible. Humans have proven themselves capable of accomplishing many seemingly impossible feats. If a man/woman can run a 100 mile race in the desert or scale Mount Everest, surely you can find a way to accomplish your goals, no matter how impossible they may seem. 

Do not settle for less because the opportunity cost seems too high, requires too much and involves unwanted pain. Rather move towards pain and tension as it will make you a stronger individual capable of tackling any obstacle that may stand in your way.

Your time is your currency. But unlike currency you can not make more of it. You have a limited and finite amount of time. Spend it wisely. 

The Moving Train

Most upstarts struggle with finding support in the early stages (support from friends, family, media, influencers, investors, customers, partners). This is because the train has not left the station “yet”. Your job as the entrepreneur is to put steam in the engine to get those gears pumping. As soon as the whistle sounds, you will…

Deliver At All Costs

Do what you say you’re gonna do. It’s all anyone expects and it’s really not that much to ask for. Deliver on time and with quality and you will be amazed at the results. Deliver before schedule while exceeding results and you’ll reap rewards. Woe to those that commit and never deliver. It could be…

Train

Here’s a basic principle that is easily overlooked… If you wanted to be a world class pianist or professional athlete, you would need to train like one. If you wanted to be a success in business, you would need to train like a successful business owner. But what does that look like? How does one…

Obscurity

Marketing 101: If people don’t know you they can’t transact with you. People can only benefit from the value you provide if they know of you and if they are given an opportunity to work with you. There are approximately 7.3 billion people on the planet and 330 million people in America. How many of…

The Pebble Exercise

Yesterday I went through a quick exercise with my kids. This was in response to one of my boys saying he wanted to become a famous Youtuber (yes, this is a thing). I asked what’s famous? He said a lot of people watching his videos. I asked – what’s a lot of people? He didn’t…

Ask With Precision

There’s a verse in the bible that gets half quoted all the time. It’s Matthew 7:7 where Jesus says “Ask and you shall receive”. The whole passage is actually – “ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you”. Which is much more profound than…

The Thing About Advice

The thing about advice is… “seemingly” everyone has some. Most people seem to give it in abundance. Special note: there is a difference between advice and opinion. If someone has real experience in the subject/topic they are advising on then they have some credibility/merit (assuming you’re checking references). Keep in mind we humans gain our…

Commit

Your level of commitment to your project(s)/business will determine your level of success. There is a direct correlation. This is why most business owners show up before the employees and stay after, especially in the first few years. It would be hard for anyone to imagine Andrew Carnegie or Steve Jobs showing up simply to…

Enough

Recently I had the chance to reconnect with an old friend who has done very well for himself in the world of real estate investing. It had been close to a decade since I had last seen him. I asked him if he was still aggressively growing his business. To my surprise he said he…