Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says that all entrepreneurs should have a personal board of directors. 4-5 people that you should be able to call and find your business north just in case if you are faced with a big decision or just feeling lost when faced with different roads to take.
I have a less elegant version - who is on your cell phone speed dial 2, 3 and 4 that you can call to toss what is going on in your business life and see what comes back?
Majority of the calls that come to me always make me think on why did they not call me BEFORE. They are crises prevention calls. Not calls that beget profitable choices. Very rarely does somebody call me and say that here are four choices of mine to make, here are my pros and cons for all of them, tell me honestly and frankly and don't worry about my feelings - which road should I take?
You dream alone. You make it real with the help, support and work of people around you.
The self-made man is a myth. Almost as bad a myth as an overnight success. That does not exist either but in the minds of reporters and business magazine writers, none of them have ever owned a business. They think that their readers will be happy, reading a rags-to-riches story if they can just delete the years of hard work and self-doubt and just go directly to the finish line. It sells magazines but it is not true.
I think a lot about what I do differently now compared to what I was doing 5 years ago, three years ago, and the one big thing that stands out is that I do things faster, much faster now. Part of it the ticking clock in my head and a large part of it are the 3 people who form the core of my own personal innermost inner circle, to whom I can call when I am faced with big decisions: to buy or not to buy, to launch or not to launch, to partner up or not to partner up, to pick this thing to pursue and drop that thing.
The really big things. The sharp turns. The crossroads that don't come with a detailed map but your gut knows before your head does that they are the ones.
You should also work hard to also have a inner-inner circle of your own. Real estate investing, entrepreneurial mindset, Internet strategy, mental toughness, contacts, staying focused on what needs to be done - business life unfortunately is not that simple as having a job where your duties are well defined, the clock does ends at 5:00pm, Monday to Friday and when you go home, you leave what you do at work. The tribe of the real estate entrepreneur that you belong wears a different color than the rest of them out there.
Checking your own ego at the door and calling three people and asking for their help is not exactly Viagra for your self-esteem but it is the right thing, the smart thing to do. It is also something that the majority of entrepreneurs never do. That alone is reason enough for me to do it. Lots of minutes come with your cell phone plan. Use them profitably.
