Adrian Nantchev's Blog, page 19

Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway - 97/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Fear and doubt will always be present in the human psyche. Learn to accept the fear and doubt, yet act anyway, and soon you'll not notice it. You'll soon to accept fear as normal- remember you have to get used to being uncomfortable.And besides, fear exists to be conquered.Who cares about fear? Everyone experiences it and you are doing more than the majority, if not the vast majority of the timid masses.As you expand your comfort zone you can tackle bigger and bigger things, yet you'll still experience fear, you but you can master it easier.Fear is mostly from the fear of the unknown, so the more you learn and discover; whether about business, marketing, finance or about others' lives, then the less fear you have. You go from fearing the unknown to controlling the known. You replace fear with control, meaning you know what you are doing and what you need to do because you got rid of that fear which clouded your thinking, actions and judgements.When you act, you slowly conquer fear and over time you begin to experience fear less and less. What would have scared you years ago, no long scare you now.I remember in primary school in ~2000, when I first had to write with a pen, I was worried about making mistakes. But over time the fear of making mistakes counts for nothing.When you conquer fear, you become unstoppable. Because fear exists to be conquered: so use it be become a better person.Question of the day: what are you frightened of?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

You don't need to be an early riser- 96/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

I used to think that you had to get up early in the morning and work all day and go to bed early. I used to think that you had to get up around 4am and work till 10am and get all your major tasks done then.It is not quite as simple as that, because we as humans are all different. We all require different things and have different needs.We are all different: some of us can get up early without a problem, others can stay up late. Other people prefer to stay up late and work till the early hours of the day.If you want to get more stuff done, then yes get up early. Because I've come to realize that if you are getting ahead in the morning, then during the day, when everyone else is generally awake and businesses are open, then you can get other things sorted that you could not do in the early hours or at night.What matters more is that you achieve what you set out to accomplish, no matter what time of the day it is. For the past few days I have been working around the clock to complete this book. And this is the biggest book I've written thus far.When you set yourself a goal, the goal does not care how you achieved it.Divide your day into 1/3. The first third of the day is where you get all your major tasks and daily objectives finished. The second is where you are working on automatic things: emails, house chores etc. And the final  third is you relaxing from a long day.Do what's best for you, because you know what's best for your body and what matters is that you are doing and succeeding. What works for some people, does not necessary mean it'll work for you. Everyone's body is different and have different requirements.Getting up in the early hours of the day is not necessary to success, it sure helps with the extra hours of productivity though.Focusing, getting things done, achieving and working towards your goals is what makes success.As long as these are done in your day, then you are progressing towards a worthy goal.Question of the day: Are you an early riser? If so, how are you organising it?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Divide Your Day into Different Times - 95/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Time management is very important and this is something I came across sometime in 2015, I really cannot remember when.One way to manage your time is to divide your days into 3 segments.The first segment is the most important part, because you've gotten out of bed and you have the most amount of energy throughout the day. So you need to complete the most brain intensive and critically important tasks. Because you have the attention and ability to do them now. You work on these for the first 4 hours of the day.The second part of the day is the automatic stage, which are things like house chores, checking emails, etc. You have passed peak energy and you yet you are not tired enough for bed. So a good chance to do the automatic stuff. This part too lasts around 4 hours.The final part of the day is the reward part. Where you go out socializing or indulge in something. Normally you do not have as much energy and concentration at this stage to do work.But, when you are enjoying yourself you are increasing the dopamine receptors in your brain to crave fun and pleasure, but when you train yourself to receive pleasure after doing work, then you only strengthen those receptors. Thus, you begin to crave more fun and the only way you can get more fun is from more success, so you are priming your brain to strive for success.You can of course break the rules and do work all the time. I've been getting up at 6am to finish this book as soon as possible! Remember, we are not all the same, but we do have some common patterns, trends and behaviors. It is not set in stone, but this is generally how our bodies work and function.You can start your day at any time, so these three segments can be any time of the day.I also find that around 12 hours later from when I woke up I have a renewed amount of energy to work on more things. So I often stay up late to work on more stuff.Question of the day: how are you going to optimise your time?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Don't Worry So Much - 94/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

This is something that I need to master and work on.Do not worry too much in your life. It does not benefit to worry and only has adverse effects on our health.You can only have one thought on your mind at a time, so it might as well be a positive one.If the problem that you are faced with now will not affect you or you'll not remember it 5 years from now, then do not worry about it. It is not really a problem.It is also worth noting that 9/10 things that you worry and think about never happens.Because of the way we work, we will not remember the majority of our lives - we will simply forget them. So the chances are in the future you'll not remember saying silly things or making mistakes. And if you do remember it, then chances are your are the only one that does remember it.When you put your mind to something, such as solving a problem, you'll eventually figure something out. When you are continually mentally attacking a problem, eventually you will figure out a way to solve it and then you can move on.Check out this story a about the affects a glass of water has on your life:How much does a glass of water weight? A few ounces or kilograms?The glass of water weighs the same as you are holding it: it does not change. And if you hold the glass for 10 seconds, you'll not be affected by it.If you hold the glass for 5 minutes, your arm might start to ache. And if you hold the glass for 1 hour your arm will be numb and paralyzed.Just like with our worries, if we hold onto them for too long we'll become paralyzed and unable to act. Every now and then you need to put the glass down, and just like your worries: you need to put them aside and move on.Question of the day: what are you worrying about?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Invest in Yourself - 93/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

The greatest investment you can make is yourself. This is why I say to you keep learning, remind yourself about the fundamentals and be curious.As you read earlier: jobs don't have futures, people do. That means that because of automation, robots and AI, jobs will come and go, but you need to be wise enough to make your own way in the world. When you learn new things, discover new places, try new experiences you become a more rounded person.When you become a jack of all trades and a master of one, then you become a much more wiser person that can create opportunity from nowhere, because you have knowledge of different fields and expertise.This is why I recommended to you to learn about the stock exchange, FOREX and capitalism. Because when you understand them you can begin to understand the world and the system we live in.Take 100 people that are the same age, from the same town, school, gender and religion. By the age of 60, a few things will happen:Most of them will have passed away.A handful will still be retired.A few of them will be still working.And most of them will be struggling.Yet only 1 will be financially free and well off.When you invest in yourself, you are creating a better life for yourself. This is why I reiterate that entrepreneurs are living the life others will not, so in the future we can live the life others cannot.Investing in yourself is the number one investment you can make. Keep learning, keep growing. It pays the best kind of wage and income. As you grow you'll naturally become better, and a way to get ahead and leave the competition in the dust is to read, explore and learn.One way to measure how much you've grown is to look at yourself 1, 2 and 3 years ago to the very day.I'm writing this on the 8th February 2017 and I've changed a lot in the past 365 days, and in the next 365 days I know will have changed a lot by then too.Question of the day: what are you investing in yourself? Marketing, business, finance, communication?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Ask Yourself: Have I hit my Goal Today? - 92/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

As you progress you've got to keep yourself accountable.One good question worth asking yourself every day: Have I met my goals today? If not, why not? If so, how so?This question forces you to reevaluate your time and what you are currently working on.As you begin to achieve things you need to learn and understand how it is you are achieving them. Because you'll realize that certain behaviors and patterns are making you successful and others are distracting you from success.I realized that from having girlfriends I was being distracted and lost weeks if not the equivalent of a whole month of time that I could have  been working on my stuff. There is nothing wrong with having relationships, but the fact that I was losing time and momentum was a downside to the relationship.I set some remainders on my phone every few hours to prompt and ask myself "". I recommend you add just these kinds of reminders on your phone, in order to prompt you to ask yourself whether what you are doing is productive or not.It is nice to get a reminder throughout the day from my phone asking me whether what I am doing is worthwhile or not and thinking to myself: 'yes, what I am doing is worthwhile and I'm working towards my goals and my vision'.There is not much greater pleasure in life apart from when you are striving towards a goal and making progress.Question of the day: what are your goals and how are you working towards them?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Great People Talk About Ideas - 91/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

Over time you'll notice a difference between people like yourself and people whom are not like you. There are noticeable differences between people that are entrepreneurs and people that are not.There is a saying by Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about events and simple people talk about other people". What you spend your time talking about determines your life and determines your income. If you spend too much time talking about dribble, then you'll get dribble.What is it you spend your time on? I prefer to talk about ideas, plans and visions. I spend my time talking about business, ideas, books, how to make money, how to solve problems, what other problems can I solve, and the like.It is the same with who you spend your time with, as you are the average of the 5 people you associate with.When you've raised your standards you begin to feel that the people you hand around with are not contributing to your growth or are dragging you down.You feel better than them and you feel you can get a better conversation by talking to and spending your time with different people.This is why networking with others is important and that over time you alienate the people you used to know and associate with.By raising your standard you are don't want to waste your time and energy or you want to work and talk about bigger and better things.Question of the day: are you a great person that talks about ideas, yet recognises when you are wrong and improving yourself constantly?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Raise Your Standards - 90/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

The higher your standards, in people, places, ideas and projects: the more you can receive.I want to introduce to you a concept about punch cards. Imagine in your life that you have a punch card with 20 stamp holes in it and you can only start 20 businesses throughout your life. Every time you start something new it punches a hole into the card.Because you have only a limited number of holes to start businesses with, you want to think very carefully and thoroughly before you start a business. And because you only have 20 opportunities, you'd then think about every choice and weigh up the pros and cons of every business.When you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything, as Winston Churchill one said.You've got to have a high standard to what you do in business, otherwise you'd be distracted by what is called "shiny object syndrome".Do not settle for less than you know what you are worth and what you know what you can achieve.The moment you settle for less, is the moment you wish you had not.When you have a high standard for people, places, business and marketing, etc, then you know what you want and you know what you are looking for in people.Without standards you'll be taken away by the trends and fads, and be unable to focus on one thing.Question of the day: what standards do you need to raise?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Prepare to Alienate People - 89/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

As you become an entrepreneur the people that used to know you will respond in their own way to your successes and your development.Some maybe puzzled, as they knew you from school and you never seem the sort to go into business. Others may feel betrayed that you are on your way up and doing your own things and they'll complain because they want the situation, and they want you, to be like how it was in the good old days.Some people will be amazed, because they know that they cannot compete with you, especially when they consider you not to have the capability of doing the things you are doing now. I was not the best at English in my year, a rather average student, yet here I am writing a book, and I am the first in my year to do so too. I often encourage others to write a book, but it falls on deaf ears.Your success may intimidate some other people. Your new attitudes may annoy others. Your new priorities may enrage most people. This is because when you expand your comfort zone, you do not return to the previous person you once were.Once you know a better life and an better alternative, why would you ever go back? Given the choice of working for yourself, or for someone else: I'd prefer to work for myself.Some of them may congratulate you on your successes, but they may never ask how you did it.This is one thing that few people, if anyone, will ever ask you when you are successful: How did you do it? How can I do it too?Recently I was with a family and they were talking about how a relative of theirs has a business that is worth ~£2,000,000. They talked about how they could get him to help them, I instantly though in my mind "I'd like to ask him how he did it".Maybe it never occurs to people to ask, but it is a rather simple question. I think it is indicative of their mindset or personality, and they may resort to scorning you behind your back.You'll end up alienating people because of the new you. But you cannot allow that you bring you down, you'll meet new people that'll share your priorities and who'll be even better friends than the ones you had before.Question of the day: what are you doing that others' will not do?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.

Be Prepared to Become a Better Person - 88/101 Entrepreneur Mistakes & Lessons

You will not be the same person you are one year from now - such is the way of the entrepreneur.You'll have higher standards, thus you'll not be interested in certain conversations, topics or people. You'll be interested in the latest book, a video talking about success or  podcast with an entrepreneur you look up to.You'll want to talk about specific topics and not just any topic. With your standard raised, you'll want to talk about big world issues, politics, business ideas you've got.You'll want to work on your own goals and do your own thing, now that you have a clearly define plan and path. You'll see your endgame and want to work on it.The way of the entrepreneur is not an easy route, but simple and full of opportunity that will change your life.As a result of the things that  I'm doing: I'm going to appear in a documentary about entrepreneurship and retiring young. This kind of stuff would never happen if I was in a job. As I said: there is so much opportunity out there in the world, so few people really are taking advantage of it.It's worth remembering that the bigger the success that you strive to achieve and what you want, the bigger the person you'll need to be. Success does not give itself to those who are not ready. This is why people that win the lottery often go broke and are better off as they were before the won it.It is not in their comfort zone and they were not used to dealing with, and being responsible, for such large amount of money. Thus, they lose it all.The reason why Bill Gates has been the richest man in the world for around 17 years in a row, among other reasons, is that he is able to handle and work with $84.3billion.When you become a different person, you'll want to achieve more in your life. You'll want to make your family proud. You'll want to create a legacy for your children and you'll want to leave a dent in the world.You can do it. You just have to start.Question of the day: what differences are you seeing in your life?There are another 100 mistakes that I made here.