As an entrepreneur and high-achieving person, it’s really easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that making money or growing a business is your biggest contribution you can make to your family, your community and your own ego.
Heck, I’ve been through those phases. In fact, most of us have to live through that phase if we started our journey in entrepreneurship with NO money.
Hey guys, Trevor Mauch here to tell you that money is empty. Success is empty. It’s vain.
Goals are these arbitrary waypoints in life and business on the way to things that, for the most part, most of the time, aren’t all that important in the whole scheme of things in life.
But what I’ve found over the past several years is that the most rewarding times for me… and likely the largest LASTING IMPACTS I’ve made as an entrepreneur have always been when I help inspire, motivate, energize and catalyze people to do great things in THEIR LIVES that they otherwise may not ever do.
Are You Stuck?
It’s amazing how many smart people out there are stuck in life… stuck in their careers and don’t know the way out.
Maybe even run their own business but are miserable… or just kinda “lost” in what their purpose for being here is.
But when you can be that positive guiding force for your community… whether your community is your family and friends… your workplace…. your city… your region… the whole damn world… people are waiting for someone like you and me to help make things happen.
And more often than not, just the simple act of being positive, optimistic and a catalyst of great things for others is one of the most important roles us entrepreneurs can do for our own fulfillment… and the happiness of our communities.
My Own Story as an Example
In a personal example, several years back I was growing an online company with a GREAT product we were proud of: great team; great business partner, and we made some great money in the process and helped lots of people.
But while we were ticking off all of those “success” boxes that other people place on entrepreneurs who make things happen… I wasn’t fulfilled and wasn’t really making much of a lasting impact on my community.
Once I stepped out from my bubble and started to get to know other people in my local community more… to get more involved… I kept seeing that the single largest problem most of those budding entrepreneurs or local initiatives had wasn’t a lack of funding… wasn’t a lack of ideas… not a lack of places to network or training on the “how” to do a certain business (the mechanics of it)...
What they were always lacking was the “soul” of the business or the effort.
These groups, these people, these initiatives (some of which had millions of dollars in funding but failed) all lacked that positive, optimistic, energetic and action-oriented force to push them through the tough times to the point of success.
Our local Young Entrepreneur Society group is a great example.
When we started the group in 2010, people showed up just because it sounded interesting – they were hoping to meet people and learn the “mechanics” of starting or growing a business.
But as we grew, I discovered that the people kept coming back not because of what they learned at our monthly meet-ups but because of what they felt and the connections they made.
They felt that seed of passion, positivity and excitement about the community, and that rubbed off on them and their own outlook on life. The group has grown a lot over the years and now gets 50-60 entrepreneurs (in a very small town) at our meet-ups every month when other groups in town struggle to keep their membership.
These organizations that have the funding to get stuff done but just can’t get stuff done... they’re now coming to us with money because they see the energy, passion and positivity that is surrounding our “movement.”
Here’s the Point
It’s simple, really.
If you want to be truly happy and make a huge impact in your community and the world… and profit more than you ever could just flipping some houses…
Be a constant beacon of positivity, passion and action in your community.
Don’t stop.
You’ll start to attract amazing people with the same energy and you’ll do amazing things. And the feeling you get when people want to be around you and associated with you because they feel better about their world today than they did yesterday… well, that’s amazing thing.
That’s your action item...
Think about what you are insanely optimistic and positive about in your life and why. Then preach that gospel to anyone who will listen. Find others who have a similar passion, help your family, friends and community crack through their crappy mindsets that look at everything with a glass half-full attitude.
Give them hope. That’s how you create change and a lasting legacy in life.
What Are Your Thoughts?
Am I on to something? What positive energy can you spread around? I’d love to hear from you!
Look at your life and determine what you’re super positive and optimistic about.
Use that positive force and share it with others around you to help them ‘see the light.’
Surround yourself with other people who live their lives with positivity.
Scrap the Negative Nancys from your life.
Trevor Mauch
is the Chief Entrepreneurial Officer (CEO of Mach One Media an online media and publishing company and Co-Founder of Automize, a software development venture focused on helping entrepreneurs automate, systemize, and optimize their businesses and lifestyles. Their clients include multiple New York Times best selling authors, and Inc. 500 companies.