Don’t get carried away by your success(es)!

James Cook in his book entitled “The Startup Entrepreneur” explained that certain successful entrepreneurs feel very uncomfortable when things seem to be going (in their opinion) “too well”. They are rarely comfortable with the “good times” and when those times come their way, they work hard to stay alert for things that could go wrong.

In many cases, these people learn to be this way because of bitter and painful past experiences in which they suffered devastating setbacks because they were carried away by their successes to the point of avoidable failure.

If anyone should know what this feels like, it’s ME! However, the silver lining to all of this is that each time, in the process of recovering from EVERY setback, I have learned many useful lessons.

It was Fran Tarketon who said “A true entrepreneur never stays down“.

In previous writing I have used the example of some celebrities who achieve local fame and success, but immediately lose their focus, sense of restraint, and humility.

They begin to act out unhealthy fantasies through poor attempts to flaunt what they think suggests wealth, for example, buying or driving flashy cars, eating or dressing expensively, and even talking a lot. Many times this leads to their success being short-lived, as they eventually run into one problem or another, be it financial indiscipline, poor relationships, etc.

TOM Associates has a number of educational tapes that they routinely produce to meet the personal development needs of those who attend their training programs. In one such “Creating Wealth” tape, rich or highly successful people were described as having, among other qualities, a “habit” of “living far below their means,” believing that they do not need to prove they have wealth.

In addition, the tape explains that a person with a high income, who spends everything he earns as fast as it comes in, will not be rich. In other words, wealth comes from the careful accumulation and growth (through investment) of what has been earned.

I went into elaborate detail in my ten week email course explaining the importance of understanding the topic of “Money Management and Wealth Creation”. I quoted very successful people who have shared their knowledge in this area.

Now, with this understanding of how to manage the income stream resulting from your early successes, you may also want to ask yourself, what’s next? Many people have short-term visions for themselves/their business. However, it is much better to try to think ahead and imagine where you would like to be in the distant future in your business. This way, even when you achieve your small wins/short-term goals, you can focus on maintaining your performance to reach your long-term goals.

It is the lack of long-term planning that often leads many people to mistakenly conclude that they have arrived, when suddenly they achieve a small success. You should have determined from the beginning why you are doing what you are doing and how far you want to go with it. Then carefully plan what you need to make it happen, who can help you get there, what problems might arise, etc.

When you work this way, you’ll be much less likely to fall into the common trap of being carried away by your successes. Examples of people getting carried away include: An actor or actress/entertainer especially preferred for key roles because of her good looks/intelligence suddenly begins to “get very fat.”

A check reveals that he now eats indiscriminately and/or does not exercise. The result over time: your performance declines. For a while, the fame of past achievements might help raise “heads”/open doors, but after a while, it would become obsolete.

My observations and experiences show that as humans we are prone to mistakes and mistakes. What is crucial is that we learn from them. So the message I want to share in this article is that you constantly try to AVOID caring so much about your successes that you forget to CONTINUE to do the things that made you successful in the first place.

Failure, as Jim Rohn once wrote, does not happen suddenly, it is very OFTEN the result of a long series of bad decisions and wrong choices/actions you take over time. Keep this in mind and act on your understanding, and you will NOT have to endure avoidable setbacks in any endeavor you start!

When asked which of his works he would select as his masterpiece, architect Frank Lloyd Wright at the age of 83 replied, “My next.”