It All Comes Down to Making Choices
It All Comes Down to Making Choices
The business world, just like life, is full of choices. Everything we experience in life comes with choices. Of course, some choices are very simple, like what shirt to wear on a given day, and others are extremely difficult, like where to invest your hard-earned money. So what makes some choices more difficult than others? There are many reasons, but essentially it all comes down to the fact that with every choice there is some level of pain that comes with it. In fact, according to Jeff Hayzlett – CEO of Hayzlett Group, with whom I spoke recently, there is some pain in everything. “There always is. Pain of learning, pain of love, pain of everything.”
Don’t Succumb to Excuses
Jeff talked about choices and pain and the fact that success all comes down to overcoming excuses and making tough choices. Jeff talked about an experience he had when he was writing his book: Think Big Act Bigger. “I listed pages of excuses. I went out and crowed sourced amongst my friends and said give me the list of excuses. ‘Well we can’t activate that on Thursday because the best day to activate content is on Tuesday,’ or ‘we tried it before,’ or ‘it’s not in the budget,’ which is a common one. You know, it’s all about making choices.” In fact, according to Jeff, that’s what you have to do in life. You have to decide, if that’s what you want to do then you go out and do it. It may not go how you want, but it’s ok to fail. Then you pick up the pieces and try something different. There is always the possibility of pain, but pain exists on both sides of the equation.
Give up Something to Get Something
That is what makes some choices so difficult. It’s usually easy to choose between something good and something bad, but when you have to choose between two unknowns or two options that are both good, the pain level can feel too high to move forward. However, that is what making choices are all about. Jeff said, “You have to learn that you have to give up something to get something. That’s the first step of being on that journey is to figure out what that pain is going to be and to understand that no one is going to die in the process.” Jeff expressed the importance of making those decisions early on that you want to go to a certain place or accomplish a certain goal. Then you’re going to have to make choices and sacrifices along the way.
Don’t Let the Pain Stop You
No one wants to fail, but in order to succeed we all have to make choices. The other option is to do nothing, which brings the same result as a failure, because you accomplish nothing. In fact, even if you make a bad choice you still get the benefit of learning from that choice. On the other hand, if you cower from the possible pain and avoid making a choice, then you end up gaining nothing. There will be pain with choices, but there will also be reward.
We hope you found this article about “It All Comes Down to Making Choices” helpful. If you have questions or need expert tax or family office advice that’s refreshingly objective (we never sell investments), please contact us or visit our Family office page or our website at www.GROCO.com. Unfortunately, we no longer give advice to other tax professionals gratis.
To receive our free newsletter, contact us here.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more updates.
Alan Olsen, is the Host of the American Dreams Show and the Managing Partner of GROCO.com. GROCO is a premier family office and tax advisory firm located in the San Francisco Bay area serving clients all over the world.
Alan L. Olsen, CPA, Wikipedia Bio
GROCO.com is a proud sponsor of The American Dreams Show.
The American Dreams show was the brainchild of Alan Olsen, CPA, MBA. It was originally created to fill a specific need; often inexperienced entrepreneurs lacked basic information about raising capital and how to successfully start a business.
Alan sincerely wanted to respond to the many requests from aspiring entrepreneurs asking for the information and introductions they needed. But he had to find a way to help in which his venture capital clients and friends would not mind.
The American Dreams show became the solution, first as a radio show and now with YouTube videos as well. Always respectful of interview guest’s time, he’s able to give access to individuals information and inspiration previously inaccessible to the first-time entrepreneurs who need it most.
They can listen to venture capitalists and successful business people explain first-hand, how they got to where they are, how to start a company, how to overcome challenges, how they see the future evolving, opportunities, work-life balance and so much more..
American Dreams discusses many topics from some of the world’s most successful individuals about their secrets to life’s success. Topics from guest have included:
Creating purpose in life / Building a foundation for their life / Solving problems / Finding fulfillment through philanthropy and service / Becoming self-reliant / Enhancing effective leadership / Balancing family and work…
MyPaths.com (Also sponsored by GROCO) provides free access to content and world-class entrepreneurs, influencers and thought leaders’ personal success stories. To help you find your path in life to true, sustainable success & happiness. It’s mission statement:
In an increasingly complex and difficult world, we hope to help you find your personal path in life and build a strong foundation by learning how others found success and happiness. True and sustainable success and happiness are different for each one of us but possible, often despite significant challenges.
Our mission at MyPaths.com is to provide resources and firsthand accounts of how others found their paths in life, so you can do the same.
Tax Topics Business Owners Need to Know
Being the owner of a small business can be very rewarding, but very challenging at the same time. One of the biggest challenges small business owners face is dealing with taxes. There are countless items to keep track of and monitor with small business taxes, but these are some of the most important issues to…
Top Tax-Saving Moves Used By High Net Worth Individuals
One of the biggest complaints certain groups or individuals have against the wealthy is that they can take advantage of too many tax breaks and loopholes to lower their tax bill. So what are some of the top tax strategies that high net worth individuals use to keep their tax rates down, and could anyone…
Should University Donations Trigger Tax Breaks for the Wealthy?
Universities big and small receive donations from many different sources, including wealthy alumni. However, not all donations are created equal and because the wealthy donors get a huge tax break for their significant donations, some wonder if that is really fair. For example, Nike co-founder, Phil Knight, recently donated $400 million to Stanford, where he…
Money-Saving Tips for Freelancers
When you hear the term freelancer, you might think of someone working a small business out of his or her home and just doing things on the fly. However, freelancers come in all forms and many owners of small businesses or startups are also freelancers. Being a freelancer means you are self-employed and being self-employed…