Unrealistic Expectations Knock Most People Out of Business

The headlines are sooooooooooo seductive:

“Everyone Will Want This!”

“See How I’m Raking in Thousands of Dollars Every Week with No List!”

“There Has Never Been A Program As Powerful That Generates Endless Leads for Your Business!”

And on and on the parade of promises marches across our computer screens, enticing and amazing us with their spectacular splendor.

And on and on we fall for them, parting with our precious cash because we WANT to believe that this gadget-gizmo-software program of the month will solve our problems, once and for all.

Anyone in marketing knows the game is about seduction, an art form that brilliantly leads people en masse toward impulsive purchases. All of us fall for it at some point, even if we believe we are “above” such foolish things.

The truth is, people make millions of dollars every single day playing to the hopes, dreams, and desires of others looking for the magic key that will unlock the income kingdom forever and ever, amen.

After all, lots of others appear to hold that holy key — why not us?

There is no mystery about why some people have made it big, online or off. Ask any of them and they will tell you they worked their tails off, oftentimes for YEARS with no return on the hours invested. Yet the promise of fast money and instant wealth continue to ensnare dreamers online every single day.

What I wonder is, how many of those dreamers, once they discover how much work is REALLY involved, stick it out to a point where their efforts become profitable?

Studies suggest, not very many. Unrealistic expectations knock most people out of business, whether they have invested in a franchise or written a book or started their own little knitting co-op from their living rooms. Somewhere along the way in our cultural history, they have gotten the idea that getting rich is as easy as “following your dreams” and “doing what you love.” Or that you can rake in cash while you sleep because some software program does all the work for you on autopilot.

This is downright laughable! Yet people continue to fall under the spell of these mis-perceptions like Homer Simpson falls for donuts. And when that cash doesn’t start to materialize, splash.

Add one more person to the wake of dashed dreams, one that extends for MILES behind the boat of unrealistic expectations.

The ONLY way to stay out of that wake is to develop expectations that reflect your strengths and are, well, realistic.

I know, I know. That isn’t exactly profound or revolutionary. Facing reality isn’t much fun, which is why we love to splash around in the marketing promises pool, holding on to the hope that our break WILL come from the shiniest newest object tossed to us. But if you are serious — I mean, really, truly serious about carving out the entrepreneurial livelihood you dream about, you had better have realistic expectations about what that is going to take, which is:

• Time.
• Money.
• A Plan.
• Fortitude.

If you don’t, the first bloody nose you get from someone who challenges what you are doing will take you out for good, the way it has for so many millions of others who never even get through the first round.

Those who master realistic expectations, however, and fight past the inevitable adversity that will come along, are the ones who are glorified from the stage, or the television talk show, the New York Times best seller list, or the YouTube video. None of them got there by accident, and none of them got there solely because they have the latest version of the iPad.

If there was a magic formula, then everyone would use it and everyone would be Rich-Skinny-Beautiful-Popular-All-Knowing-and-Powerful. It’s hard to break free from the myths about success and making money in business that pervade our culture, but the answers to our challenges more often lie within than in the latest product launch.

Once we grasp hold of those powers, game on.