Evan Carmichael warns entrepreneurs against constantly jumping between ideas without finishing anything. He compares it to building a fire and abandoning it once it roars, and quotes Andrew Carnegie: concentrate all your energy, thought, and capital on a single line of business and master it.
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Focus. If you want to have success as an entrepreneur, you need to stay focused on your business and not jump from idea to idea to idea and never seeing anything through. Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. I believe that hungry entrepreneurs deserve help, and entrepreneurs have ADD. You jump from one idea to another idea to another idea, and we're addicted to the new. We like new things, but we don't see our ideas through, and that's a problem. If you're like that, then you're never going to build a successful business. As soon as a new idea gets boring, you jump to something new, and you don't see things through. You don't let momentum to build. You don't build a successful company. I'm reminded of a camping trip I took a couple weeks ago. And, uh, I haven't been camping for like 20 years, and I was in charge of the fire. So everybody had their role. My role was build fire. And so I got it all set up, the paper, the twigs, the kindling, the big log, set it up beautiful. It's finally time to light it. I strike one match, watch the whole thing burst into flames, awesome feeling. But once the fire was roaring, I didn't really care about maintaining it. I left that to the other people in the group. You know, they like doing that, so fine, whatever, I don't care. I just like seeing it take off. And that's a problem with a lot of entrepreneurs. We light little fires everywhere instead of focusing on one big fire and turn it into a huge bonfire. That's what you need to do with your business. Not just light tiny little businesses everywhere like a little arsonist. You've got to focus on one thing. Find your passion, find something that helps people, and focus on that business. See it through. Stay committed. Don't get distracted by all these other ideas around you. I know it's hard. I know, I know a lot of entrepreneurs have entrepreneur ADD, but you need to stay focused. You got to stay on task. I'm reminded of a quote. I want to read you a quote from Andrew Carnegie. Now, Andrew Carnegie was the richest man in the world, and somebody asked him what led to your success? What can I as an entrepreneur do to be successful? I want to be successful like you, Mr. Carnegie. You're the richest man in the world. What made you successful? Here was his number one tip for entrepreneurs, okay? Have I built it up enough? This is important. Here's what he said: Here is the prime condition for success, the great secret. Concentrate your energy, your thought, your capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, to adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it. The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it. I couldn't say it any better. Focus, guys. It's important. For those of you watching, if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up below. It makes me want to do more for you. And I want to hear what you have to think. Are you focused? Is this a problem for you? Do you have another question that I can answer for you? Please leave it in the comments below. I really read those every day. I love seeing them come in. Thank you so much, and I'll see you on the next episode.
