by
Brandon Pipkin
What can 21 Entrepreneurial Millionaires Teach You About Success? The Truth!
For seven years I devoured all I could get my hands on about success and wealth creation. I read blogs, books, and newsletters. I attended conferences, watched videos, listened to tapes and CDs, and worked with a mentor.
Then I eagerly implemented what I learned about goals, plans, the law of attraction, dreaming big, setting an intention, leadership, personal development, passion, determination, accountability, and smashing through obstacles.
After seven years, however, instead of mountains of money, all I had were mountains of debt. Instead of success untold, I was frustrated beyond belief at my inability to create the results that were guaranteed. I constantly questioned what I was doing wrong. Why wasn’t it working for me?
It wasn’t until I interviewed 21 self-made millionaires to find out how and why they did what they did that the answers became clear.
The Mistaken Role of Goals
I was surprised to learn that very few of these entrepreneurial millionaires had written goals, or even had goals at all. Most of them weren’t out to accomplish something specific, but rather were moving through life simply following each next step that seemed logical at the time. There was no overarching vision or destination in mind for most of them.
In fact, with the exception of a few, becoming a millionaire was almost accidental, an unintended side benefit of something else they were doing.
In addition to learning that despite not having solid goals and plans these people created amazing success, I learned that work â good, hard, honest work â is the most forgotten virtue in the success literature. None, I repeat none, of these millionaires expected immediate results, and none of them got where they got by being lazy and waiting for good things. They worked hard at whatever they were doing because it’s simply part of who they are.
What About Obstacles?
I also learned that instead of smashing through obstacles, there are other ways to move forward. When something didn’t work, the millionaires didn’t call a committee and do a post-mortem to figure out how to fix it, they didn’t have to âface their fears, or confront deep-seated anxieties that might be holding them back. They just tried something else.
To a person, these millionaires didn’t seem to be bothered by failure and just looked at it as one way not to do something. They kept trying different things until something worked.
You Can Go Your Own Way
And one of the most valuable things I learned: there is no one right way to create success. There are as many ways to skin a cat as there are cats, and the path that works is the right one for you.
Not one of these millionaires doggedly followed the experts’ advice concerning goals, passion, dreams, mentoring, accountability, and all of that. Ironically, some of the millionaires don’t even know who the success experts are!
These millionaires got where they are by working hard no matter what they were doing, taking life as it came without grand plans or visions, trying different things until something worked, and pursuing their unique path to success.
By interviewing 21 self-made entrepreneurial millionaires I learned that success isn’t as predictable as the books, tapes, and experts would have you believe. Instead, I learned the truth.
Brandon Pipkin is the author of 21 Questions for 21 Millionaires: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Success. After years of searching for success and not finding it, he interviewed 21 self-made millionaires to learn how and why they did what they did. He shares his findings and the real life stories of these 21 successful people in their own words in his book. Visit www.21for21.com to learn more. You can follow Brandon on Twitter as @21for21com.
Thank you, Brandon, We always need more success motivation!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
