In recent talks about the value of showcasing lifestyle, a thought came into our heads about the actual downfall of displaying lifestyle without any story or words attached to it. While we agree that a movie is worth a thousand pictures, and a picture is worth a thousand words, we also believe that it can all translate into the biggest scam in the world.
When we founded Secret Entourage, we wanted to educate our readers on the value of each and every person we feature. We wanted to ensure that the measure of success was not how many possessions someone had but rather the power of their past actions and the mastery of a particular skill or function. Lifestyle, as illustrations, can be misleading and certainly can have a reverse impact on our newest generation of entrepreneurs as it may sometimes send a mixed message. The message we refer to in this case is instant gratification.
In the past, when other publications and other online sources discussed success, they often referenced the beginning and the finish line for those they interviewed and often left out the juicy middle parts which would have told a much different story than the Cinderella one portrayed. At Secret Entourage we felt that the middle part was ultimately the only true part of the story and perhaps it was time for someone to start talking about that. Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy and despite the media glorifying the success of the few, rather than discussing the struggles of others, it has made it hard to believe that it actually takes time for great projects and ventures to become what we believe they can. Instead, the media overhypes the success with headlines like from “$0 to a billion in 3 years (Instagram)” or “how Facebook was born from a dorm room”. Despite holding some factual information, it points out the shortness and ease of entrepreneurship, while opening the expectations of those trying to the fact that perhaps overnight success is possible.
Instant gratification is today’s biggest media scam, which unfortunately is starting to consume the minds of our generation quickly. Despite working in getting the media ratings, it is sending the wrong message to those out there and causing people who would have been successful to give up early as well. By people believing that massive companies like Facebook and Instagram were overnight successes, it makes them give up on their own projects quickly thinking that after 2-3 years, their outcome should have changed. The same can be said for those who honestly don’t have the previous experience and do not have full control over their habits and routines but yet jump into entrepreneurship knowing nothing about it. Despite the media helping encourage others to create and innovate, very little is done or shared on how to, but rather all is focused on the rewards of the chase.
Instant gratification is a scam which starts in one segment of your life and as a result consumes other segments too. Think about all the workout videos out there and how they keep selling you the idea of a better body in less time than the previous video. It is their way to appeal to the minds of those with those false expectations. If you actually ask the trainer when he started working out, he will tell you that it was 10+ years ago. The appeal is the short time it takes to accomplish your goals and even though unrealistic, the minds of generation Y are trained to want results faster and forces the market to sell them products in such a way that this delusion continues on and on. It becomes a never ending cycle.
Instead of having strong expectations of acquiring results overnight, you should consider the following when dealing with entrepreneurship and the journey ahead:
1. It is a 10 year plan: It doesn’t mean that it takes ten years, but it does mean you have to plan 10 years ahead and be ready to communicate a 10 year plan to your team and those around you.
2. It is VERY hard: If success was indeed attained overnight and most were successful, then everyone would quit their job and instead focus on building their own brands. It takes time, it takes more effort than you think, and it involves a significant level of sacrifice on behalf of all involved.
3. Most fail, few succeed: You have to embrace failure and its possibility because it is very likely that it will happen and it will hurt you. How quickly you recover and how quickly you learn enables you to start over.
4. There is no one to catch you: Unlike an actual job where someone could correct an error you make or simply coach you, entrepreneurship doesn’t allow you that luxury. You are alone and alone you must learn to rely on yourself and no one else. Everything is trial and error and very little is set for you to follow. No direction, no path, no nothing.
Once you have the correct expectations of yourself, your projects and your behaviors, your chances of winning increase significantly, but you must let go of the idea that success is created overnight. Many know that before those we worship as master entrepreneurs, they were working their minds and knowledge to accommodate their 10 year plan, which I promise you was fully tough enough even though they conquered them in 5-8 years.
