Mistakes Matter

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When it comes to success, mistakes matter.

While it is very true that success is often built on top of a mountain of mistakes, the fact is, mistakes cost you a significant amount of time and money.

This is why I am such a big advocate of mentors.

Mentors, good ones, ones who have years of experience, can teach you what to do and, more importantly, what not to do.

Entrepreneurs who are able to survive their mistakes often become very successful. However, the key word here is SURVIVE. You generally only hear the stories about the entrepreneurs who were able to survive because those survivors go on to become self-made millionaires and that’s more newsworthy than say a story about an entrepreneur who failed.

Here’s the brutal truth – you can only survive mistakes if you have the money to weather those mistakes.

The #1 reason entrepreneurs and small business owners fail is – they do not have enough money to survive their mistakes. Experts call this under-capitalization.

This is precisely why my Rich Habits Study incorporated the habits of poor people. Poor people are poor because they are doing things wrong. Knowing what they are doing wrong empowers you. It is another tool in your tool belt.

Here’s another brutal truth – those who know what not to do, make fewer mistakes, saving them time and money, which improves their chances of surviving.

This is the main problem I have with pundits who only focus on the traits, habits, behaviors, thinking, etc. of successful people.

They are only telling half the story when it comes to success.

Focusing only on what to do will only get you half way down the field. When you know what not to do, that takes you the rest of the way down the field and across the goal line.

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Thomas C. Corley About Thomas C. Corley

Tom Corley is a bestselling author, speaker, and media contributor for Business Insider, CNBC and a few other national media outlets.

His Rich Habits research has been read, viewed or heard by over 50 million people in 25 countries around the world.

Besides being an author, Tom is also a CPA, CFP, holds a master’s degree in taxation and is President of Cerefice and Company, a CPA firm in New Jersey.
 
Phone Number: 732-382-3800 Ext. 103.
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Comments

  1. Lisa Schreiber says:

    Great point! Powerful perspective! Gives me some excellent ideas on how to move forward toward some of my top goals!

  2. Ghanim Kashwani says:

    My Dear Thomas,

    This is Kashwani, from Abu Dhabi, where I did read all your books and I am one of a big believer of the importance of the daily rich habits.
    I want to share one of my daily habits which I consider it as one of the rich habits.; shaving my beard everyday and looking sharp. I am not talking about wearing expensive clothes or brands, I am talking about having nice and neat outlook physically everyday. It dose give me a great feeling every early morning and the energy to accomplish my tasks.

    So, what do you think about it?

    Best regards
    Kashwani, PhD, NYU, Abu Dhabi

    • Good etiquette habits = Rich Habits. When you look good on the outside, you feel good on the inside. This is really more a confidence-boosting habit. High confidence is a trait of High Achievers. You can’t think your way to high confidence – it’s a byproduct of taking action. When you take action to look your best, you are engaging in a confidence-boosting habit. And others notice.

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