The paradox of entrepreneurship: “As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it”

It used to really annoy me when I started with my first boot-strapped start-up and people with money said “It’s not about the money”. I would think “It’s easy for you to say that, because you’ve already got the money.”

It was only later in life I understood what they really meant. It’s like a footballer saying “It’s not about the ball.” The footballer who is always chasing the ball isn’t welcome on the team – and rarely gets the ball because it moves too fast.

The footballer who thinks “It’s not about the ball”, and knows it’s about positioning himself to be of greatest value to the team, is the one who constantly gets the ball passed to him.

If you’re in business chasing the money, you will rarely get it. If you’re positioning yourself to be of value to your customers, they’ll happily pass you their money.

If you’re constantly needing help, you will rarely get it. If you’re positioning yourself to be of value to team members and partners, they’ll happily pass you their time and skills.

So whenever you want something, whether it is support, resources, connections, or money, don’t chase what you want but position yourself to be the natural choice for those who have these things to pass them to you.

Once you receive, pass it on.

“Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.” ~ Jim Rohn

incoming.. .....

So what’s the lesson from a billionaire?

To me, it was that he doesn’t see income. He sees incoming.

Many of us are so busy at the outcome, we miss the income. Many of us are so busy with our output, we miss the input. Richard Branson is a master of flow, and as long as the flow feels positive, he can focus on the important things in life.

What could you do today to grow your incoming? Incoming connections, incoming relations, incoming talent. Attract the best people, with the best input, and the rest will take care of itself.

When we focus on the inside instead of outside, input instead of output, income instead of outcome, we’re more likely to inspire instead of expire…

 

“If you can’t fly, then run,
if you can’t run, then walk,
if you can’t walk, then crawl,
but whatever you do,
you have to keep moving forward.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.