When I was starting Crisp back in 2012, I had a colleague who was starting his own business at the same time. We had the same desires for success, but we went about attaining it in completely different ways.
Every time we’d meet up, he always told me a sob story of some sort:
“I can’t get any clients.”
“I can’t make any money.”
“My girlfriend broke up with me.”
“Someone rear-ended me.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to afford my rent.”
Whatever the story was, it always ended up as a complaint and frankly, an excuse.
Ironically, I had many of those same things going on in my life. I was struggling to acquire customers. I was struggling with my relationships. I was struggling financially. I really did get into a car accident at the same time as he did.
But there was one major difference between our outlooks on life.
He believed that things were happening to him, and I believed that these things were happening for me.
I chose to see all of these incidents as stories, lessons, and opportunities for growth.
I’ve held onto that mindset to this day. I refuse to be a victim, and that colleague at the time chose to always be the victim.
That’s what separates winners from losers.
Life is unfair. Very few people have everything they need to be successful and happy right off the bat. We all must find a way to succeed. We’ve got to take ownership of the things that happen to us and set us back, and use those as fuel to our fire.
Every opportunity I thought I didn’t have ended up shaping me into the person I am today. It’s made me more successful and stronger than I would have ever been without them.
Today, if I see someone who has all of the advantages I wish I’d had back in the day, I know they’re going to struggle later in life because they won’t have to grind early on.
Build yourself into a warrior. It’s what will make you a winner.
