This poor fellow calls into Dave Ramsey’s radio show yesterday.
He was making $175,000 as a corporate executive.
Three years ago he quit to start his own business.
It’s very common. You figure, “I’m successful, I’m smart. I should be able to make it on my own. And then I’ll have the money and the freedom to do things my way.”
Well, it’s now three years later and he’s been earning only about $60k. One third of his corporate salary.
Along the way, while he tried to ‘figure it out,’ he took out loans. Credit card, home equity and more just to live on.
His wife took out some student loans so she can finish a degree and go back to work.
Their mortgage payment is $3,100 a month – more than half of his annual income!
His options: Find another job paying $175k – fast. Or sell his house.
Neither very appealing to a free spirit with so much talent to offer the world.
Many of my readers are in similar situations, only not yet at the end of their rope.
For them, here are three possible ways for their story to end:
1. Instant, wild success. If that’s you, hats off to you. I commend you.
2. Stubborn blind optimism borne of desperation and fear. They’ll plow ahead intent on figuring it out.
Along the way they eat up their savings and go into debt.
By the time they realize they need help, like the guy who called Dave Ramsey, it’s usually too late.
3. Then there are those who start off optimistic. And then they hit a wall.
At first they try to scale the wall with the skills and smarts they gained from their corporate life. But when that doesn’t work, they realize there must be more to success as a solo consultant, coach or expert than they first thought.
Many of my best clients fit this third profile. Smart. Talented. Yearning for freedom to contribute on their terms.
This third guy is courageous where the second guy is scared.
And so once we put them on the right path, they make rapid progress.
What IS that path? It starts here.
It takes only a few minutes to read, but it will change the way you think about what you should be doing today – and in the coming week – to attract your ideal clients.
Any questions? Add a comment below.
Dov Gordon
PS – Speaking of “yearning for freedom to contribute on your own terms,” if you’re in the US, or US expat as I am, happy Independence Day!
