I feel like we need a reality check.
I am very concerned about the collective understanding of success in our country, especially within my generation.
Entrepreneurs are essentially the new rap stars. It used to be that building a business was a battle of competition and a means to strive for excellence. These days I worry that building a business is more about taking selfies with strangers and getting on the cover of Inc. magazine.
Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered to be published in magazines. But for me, business has always been about winning.
It is about winning the game against my competition but most of all, it has been about winning the battle of my own mind.
I'm trying to win over my insecurities, my demons and my 11th-grade math teacher who told me that I would never be anybody. Fuck all of them. That drive gets me up early, it keeps late, gets me to the gym when it's 9:30 PM and keeps me working when you are sleeping.
I want to win the battle within, and so should you.
So now let's get to some real shit. You're probably asking yourself what you can do to get ahead? "Yeah this sounds great Tim, but tell me exactly what I should be doing."
I got your back. Here is how you win the day.
Start With Your List
The other day, I wrote a blog post about planning your day and making your list.
I have been doing a nightly inventory and making a list for the day at hand for years. It's probably the single most important thing I do every day. That and exercise.
But the way you write this list is also very important. You need to be specific and you need to be quantifiable.
This means that you want to list off your actions. You need to list EXACTLY what you need to get done.
This could include...
Get to the gym. Do a chest workout with bench, dumb bells and pushups.
Call 15 new contacts. Set up coffee with at least two people.
Write a proposal for the new client.
It SHOULD NOT look like this...
Workout.
Call people.
Start the proposal.
You need to quantify your actions and in doing so, you are creating a personal contract with yourself to complete your tasks until they are finished.
Push Yourself Past Where You Are Comfortable
The biggest advantage I have over the rest of the world is that I am not afraid of pain.
I never have been. I had a very strenuous up bringing. My parents worked and worked and never gave excuses and I thank them so much for the grit and determination that they instilled in my sister and I. Pain doesn't scare me. I welcome that shit. I don't want an easy life. I don't want anything for free and I sure as fuck don't want a participation trophy.
If you're not willing to suffer, then you might as well skip this blog and go onto lifehack.org.
To really be successful, you need to write your list and challenge yourself to the point where you are actually uncertain if you can do what you committed to doing.
It is easy to write three easy tasks on your list. You can check them off and go to bed feeling like you did something.
Go further than you thought you could. Stay up all fucking night if you have to. Cross off every item on your list at all costs because when you do it once, you will know that you can do it again.
It gets easier. The goal isn't to become sleep deprived or become work obsessed. The goal is to build confidence in knowing that you can stand up to challenges and deliver on that shit. Most people can't.
Most people come home and watch The Voice.
The fact that you are reading this now tells me that you want more out of life then scrolling on Facebook and gossiping about celebrities. If you want something bad enough, you will do anything to get it.
So push yourself. Step by step, you will get stronger and you will become more confident in your abilities and winning the day won't feel like such a struggle.
Have the Discipline to Do It Every Day
Again, I'm concerned about the mental landscape.
So many young people see these unicorn companies and they think that if they got the right funding, or they met the right person then they would be able to reach that next level of achievement.
That is the biggest fucking lie there is.
Go find someone who has what you want. They don't have to be a billionaire. They might be a business man or a good mother or a good sales woman or even in good shape.
Every one of them will tell you that success is dependent on discipline. Doing the mundane shit every single day even when you don't want to.
That's what separates the winners and the losers.
So you can write all the lists in the world, but if you don't come to grips with the fact that you will have to sacrifice pleasure in exchange for pain, you will never get to where you want to go.
Day in, day out, one day at a time.
The days add up.
One day you will wake up, and all those days will be a distant memory and you will look back at the progress that you made and you will be instantly amazed at what you have been able to accomplish.
If you want money, freedom, the ability to travel, a nice family or even just the ability to make a living doing what you love. You can do all of this. It's 2016, the world is yours.
But you must start by winning the day. After this day is over, do the same thing tomorrow.
Days turn into years and years turn into decades.
Eventually, the day will come when your life is coming to its final days. When this day comes for you, I hope that you never have to look back with regret.