I really believe that it took me two failed businesses to unlearn all that I learned in MBA school. Back in the 70’s business school taught me how to run General Motors and not run a little business out of my bedroom. It taught me how to spend a lot of money and waste a lot of time in starting a business. It taught me how to hire the high priced lawyers and accountants and to make sure I have the right tax structure. It taught me how to buy the “power” office space, the “power” drapes and the “power” business cards.

When my first two businesses failed, I looked around and began thinking, who won? The accountants, the lawyers, and the people I purchased the furniture and drapes from. They were the winners and I was out on the street. Then when I started my third business I forgot about everything I learned in MBA school and concentrated on just those things that were critical to the success of my business.

I decided that tax structure, drapes, or furniture were not critical to the success of my business. The only thing that my business could not live without was customers. If I didn’t have customers, I was out of business. I could always survive with a less than perfect business card or organizational structure, but could not survive without customers.

For my third business I didn’t even file paperwork with the government. I figured that the way the government works, it would take them 3 years to find me. And by that time I would either be out of business or I would be able to afford the $50 fine they would charge for not filing.

When starting a small business, the most important resource you have is your time. You can’t be wasting it on things like meetings with lawyers, picking out drapes or other activities that are not critical to your success, You should be spending your time figuring out how to get customers, as that is the only thing that is critical to your success; the rest is detail.

Your loved ones can be your worst enemies in achieving the greatness you deserve in life. They believe that it’s their job to project you from failure, so they will constantly keep telling you that you should not do something because you can fail. But by keeping you from failure they are keeping you from success because the only way anyone can achieve success is through failure. So ignore your loved ones and get out there and fail.

I grew up in an environment where I thought everyone loved each other. But they showed love by trying to control each other. “I want you do what I say because I love you.” “You will be happy in life if you do what I say.” I thought this was how everyone showed love, but it never felt good. It felt more like criticism. It made me feel that I could only get love if I did what other people told me to do.

Now, I have an entirely different definition of love. If I love you, I will never tell you what I think you should do in life. My job is to help YOU, find out what YOU want to do in life and then I have to do everything in my power to help you achieve it. And if you love me, I want the same.

What gives me the audacity to think I can ever tell anyone one else how to live their life. Someone’s life is the most important possession they have, and only they, alone, have the right to decide what to do with it. And, anyway, I certainly don’t have the answers in life for everyone else. The older I get the more I realize I’ve been guessing every day.

Mathew Lesko's thoughts on Life.

Page 2 |Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7