“If people knew how hard I worked to gain my mastery, it would not seem wonderful at all” – Michelangelo

Be Willing to Pay The Price

We all know an overnight success right? Wrong! Even the successful people or companies that seem to show up out of nowhere, have built what they have and have been exactly where you are at right now. What they did differently is they paid the price, lived through the pain of failures, took big risks and made it. The harder they worked, the more they risked, the faster they got there, but they still had to get there. So, you have to be willing to pay the price. You have to put in the hours when you don’t feel like it. You have to have hard conversations with people holding you back. You have to make that big investment that deep down you know is going to help, but it makes you sick to your stomach to think about. You have to be willing to pay the price and accept possible failures as nothing more than a learning experience.

But before you pay the price…

you have to know what price you have to pay. This is where you have to let go of your preconceived notions and be willing to look at all of the options and do the research. What equipment are you going to need to be able to create the things you are dreaming of creating? What people are you going to have to hire or partner with to achieve your goal? What education are you going to have to get to learn the things you need to master? What do you need to be successful? Most often, we don’t even look deep enough because we have already told ourselves, “I can only afford the cheap import heat press.” “I don’t work well with others and can’t afford to hire someone anyway.” “I’m not going to pay for any training and will rely on YouTube as my teacher.” All could possibly be valid but most likely, it’s just a crutch that is holding you back from doing the real work and research. It will stop you before you ever get going.

Let’s look at these real quickly; “I can only afford the cheap import heat press.” You might only have $300 liquid cash available to you at the moment, and you decide to buy the heat press, but is that really the best investment? Have you ever looked at financing? What about using a contract /wholesale provider while you save up for the press you really need? What creative whys did your limiting belief of only being able to afford a cheap press stop you from finding?

“I don’t work well with others and can’t afford to hire someone anyway.” Having employees is not for everyone. I have had employees for years and it is still one of the hardest parts of my business life. But that doesn’t mean that I have to do everything myself, even the stuff I’m not passionate about. Today, the internet can provide a whole staff of people available in an instant and in some case pay them about $5. Check out services like Fiverr.com.

“I’m not going to pay for any training and will rely on YouTube as my teacher” This one I hear over and over in Facebook Groups. I watch those same people come back and complain in those groups how nothing seems to work for them and they struggle daily. For some reason, there is a thought that any training outside of paying a small fortune to go to a university should be provided free of charge. But how does the saying go? “You get what you pay for.” This is especially true of training. If someone is offering free training (me included) it is to build their brand, add you to a list and get you hooked for more so they can continue providing a service they are passionate about. There is nothing wrong with this approach and just like you want to make a living as an engraver, decorator, educators need to make a living too. So, if you are not willing to look at what training classes have to offer and only look to see if it is free, then you might miss out on that bit of wisdom that takes you to success.

None of this is to say that you need to go out and buy the most expensive heat-press, hire a bunch of people and pay for every training class that you see. I just want you to be willing to do the work, be willing to do the research and be willing to invest in your success. What’s right will feel right and what you are not ready for will pass until you are ready. Just don’t go into the research already shut off to what well could be your key to success.