This was one of THE MOST ENJOYABLE yet costly lessons I ever learned in my drive to become an entrepreneur.

I wrote this back in 2011 and spent the next eight years honing my ability to use what I’d learned, so as to protect myself from myself.

Took a minute. But the lesson finally stuck.

To succeed at anything, but especially large things, you’re gonna need drive, determination, excitement, enthusiasm, and a stubborn refusal to quit.

You’re going to need help, guidance, advice, opinions, and direction from others who’ve gone where you wish to be next.

Trust will play a huge part in these events as you step out into new territory.

And here’s where you must be careful

Earlier in my entrepreneurial upbringing, I inadvertently found a mentor; someone whose excitement and drive piqued my own sense of adventure. This person sensed where I was headed and he wanted in. He wanted to help. And he needed help with his projects as well.

It seemed to be a natural fit, us working together. And to be honest, much of it was. And I learned a lot. I mean tons of information came my way in the form of varied, multiple, and ever morphing experiences. We were in the flow.

But I began to notice a change

We had a team. We worked hard. We slept little. We were partners in other people’s projects. We said “no” to nothing.

And it was all falling apart.

I felt forced to separate myself from this situation and it was hard. It was like a mini-divorce but I could not take what my life had become inside this partnership. I had to put my foot down but there had been such a loyalty built up that it was hard to take.

But part I did, and as soon as I did, and the initial adrenaline wore off, I felt FREE!

It felt just like every other job I ever quit before it. I have always told people that the only relief I felt that was stronger than finally getting a job and paying my bills, was the relief from quitting that same job a short time later and being free once again!

But this experience, of which I could never do justice to its scope and intensity, was rewarding in a direct manner and an indirect one.

I learned skills that were meant to be taught the way they were and I learned skills from surviving what the teacher put me through that was contradictory to our supposed reality.

I learned a lot of hard lessons but I am grateful

This one partnership probably brought me ten years of valuable lessons condensed down to two. Any successful entrepreneur will tell you – fail fast. The quicker you get through your mistakes, the quicker you reach your victories.

But as I said, I learned a lot of good too, and it came from a good place. And I learned to keep my eyes open and to be careful. This is what I learned:

• Explain yourself to no one
• Figure out if you’re selling a product or selling a brand
• Dig deep within yourself to discover what the world needs you to achieve
• Rein in your enthusiasm. Avoid “shiny object” syndrome
• Don’t build the other guy’s dream for him
• Conversely: don’t expect him to build your dream for you
• Don’t let others take advantage of you
• Never build a company without a written plan
• Don’t overextend yourself
• Don’t make promises you can’t keep
• Don’t lie in order to get what you need
• Be in a business for the right reason
• Pick your partners very carefully
• Don’t let someone else decide your fate
• Don’t depend on someone else to tell you your vision
• Don’t go into an arrangement with desperation as your main driver
• Don’t be conned
• FOCUS! Keep your projects down to a minimum, preferably one
• Fight hard for your dream
• Don’t be an opportunity seeker
• Family is more important than business
• Help the helpless but don’t become one while doing so. Avoid martyrdom
• Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight
• Be of service to your community
• Develop your own vocabulary for your business. This brands you
• Posture matters – how are you perceived by the other side?
• Don’t come to the table with nothing to offer the other guy
• Be specific
• There is no altruistic act
• Bartering can cover a lot of ground as you grow
• Don’t become the very thing you’re trying to beat, in order to best it at its own game
• Use the system to its maximum extent wherever and whenever possible

I know that was long and I thank you for reading this far but that one man really did teach me worlds of info.

This is another blog post from Outsiders Journey. I wrote this describing what I learned from the co owner of Truehope after we’d shared the stage at a mental health conference some years back.

Now here’s an odd problem to have. When you repair your life on every level through the rebuilding of your entire being, you are now a newcomer to wellness.

You are seeing the world in a way you never have before

And it is hard to take, believe it or not.

I had a chat once with the co-owner of the supplement company that turned my life around. He told me that many of the people they helped are so used to being medicated, thinking like victims, and having an authority figure tell them what to do, that once they become well, they can’t handle it.

They willingly return to using meds, even though they know that their health would suffer, their illness would return or get stronger, and they’d have to once again deal with all the side effects of that poisonous medication.

But it was easier than being in charge of their own lives and facing their true feelings!

• Most people would rather be led than lead themselves to their own achievements.
• They’d rather take the easy way out of every situation, rather than face the responsibility of taking charge of their lives.
• They live in fear of facing their own selves, not wanting to see what really lies just beneath the surface.
• They are scared to confront their deepest desires because they’ve already convinced themselves that they’ll never have what it takes to attain them. So they stay numb in some fashion, instead.
• And for many, their version of reality has been formed with a mind that’s been continually under the influence of mind-altering substances. They literally have no foundation for thinking in regards to living a healthy life! It’s an alien concept.

OK. I wanted to be meds-free and I wanted to be healthy, but I knew what this man was saying.

I experienced everything on that list above, at one time or another

When I became well, the journey had changed more in me than just the face of the illness. Every part of me had been responsible for the illness even being present. So, to beat it I’d had to change every part of me!

The world got weird as I got well. I had to teach myself how to be this new person. And I was scared and despondent at times, too. It can be a nightmare restarting your life, even when that’s what you wanted. Change is the hardest thing for a person to accept.

But accept it I did. And even though the road’s been awfully hard at times, I would never think to go back to where I was.

I want more and I had to become more to get it

I want to help you do the same if you’re willing to take on such a challenge. Because believe me, for you to pull off whatever got you looking my way in the first place, is going to require you to become something different to some degree, than what you are now.

It’s going to require an increase in your level of responsibility and a stretching of your comfort level.

What are you about to become a newcomer to? What about that scares or confuses you? Stymies your efforts to move forward? Tell us below and let’s work it out as a crew.