A broke genius is simply someone who has great ideas all the time yet is always broke.  The most common way one becomes a broke genious is by not implementing the ideas they have.  Simply being lazy, thinking it will be too much work, or doubting one’s self will leave them a broke genius.

Whenever I’m around people I always hear them coming up with business ideas yet very rarely do I ever see them implement the ideas or at least try them out.  Is it because the ideas are stupid?  No in fact many are great.  I think is because ideas are one thing and doing the actual work is a whole other thing.  Many people look at a successful business owner and say he’s a genious, that was a great business idea blah blah blah.  Often they say that because they never started a business themselves.  If they did they’d know that even if you have a great idea you have to work your butt off to make it work.  So what idea are you going to implement?  Please share in the comments.

Starting a company can be a challenge.  In fact most startup companies fail or go bankrupt within the first year or two.  I’ve always been fascinated with startups.  In fact at one point I even had a blog where I focused specifically on web startups.  Since then I’ve gotten interested in how to start a successful business in general.  Through all of my research, experience, and talks with successful startup creators, I came down to the same conclusion.

The secret to startup success is hard work.  I know it’s obvious yet it’s easier said than done.  Web startups are a good example.  Many entrepreneurs who start a successful web startup often work 16 hour days for the first year or two.  Of course when their startup takes off it easily turns into the next google, youtube, or facebook and is worth millions if not billions.  At that point if the entrepreneur wants to retire for the rest of their life and live on an island somewhere they can afford it.  Of course many do take time off but they ofter go on to starting their next company.  Why?  Because vacationing is only fun for a month, two or six after that it gets boring.

So how can you work hard on growing your business?  Remember you wont have to work hard for the rest of your life, but you need to work hard to get your startup company off the ground.

Throughout my life, and every little step of progress I’ve made I’ve always came back to the same conclusion hard work is a prerequisite to success. The more I’ve accepted that I need to work hard, the more progress I made toward my goals.

Often we look for the shortcuts. Now there are great tips and tricks that can help in one’s journey towards success. However to even use such tips and tricks requires work, learning, effort and I think you see where I’m going. Even learning tricks and using them requires hard work.

I always found it humorous how movies make the criminal lifestyle seem easy. Some movies don’t a good example is Scarface, where towards the end of the movie he was so stressed out and paranoid that even if he didn’t get killed he was basically killing himself from the inside out. Even being a criminal, a thug or a con man is hard work.

Before I get to losing weight or making more money I must first discuss blinds spots. A blind spot is usually a limiting belief, an excuse or a line of reasoning that’s ingrained deeply into a person’s belief system. As you might assume, since it’s a “blind” spot, usually the person isn’t conscious of it’s existence.

While each person has a unique set of blind spots, there are still many common ones. A very common one that I’ve discovered and started working on myself is associating happiness with a higher income. Many people have this blind spot. A really easy and quick way to destroy this blind spot was for me to simply start spending more time with wealthier individuals. I found out quickly that they aren’t any happier with their lives than your average Joe. It goes back to that saying “once you own something it loses it’s value”. I think there is so much truth to that saying. The saying obviously applies to materialistic wealth including a nice house, a blazing fast sports car, and even stylish clothing. Usually a new toy or gadget looks nice and shiny in the store, however after you have it for a little while, it becomes just another possession. So how does one go about creating a happier life? Well one factor is lifestyle improvement. If your life experience isn’t improving, whether your financially rich or poor, you will quickly start getting bored. Life will seem very routine like and mundane. You will not be very excited about a new day when you wake up in the morning. Lifestyle improvement means different things to different people, for some it might mean traveling more, interacting with different kinds of people, or doing new exciting activities. For others it might mean getting out of their comfort zone. It’s easy to see how associating financial wealth with happiness can be an excuse to avoid building a happier lifestyle starting today. A lot of people, myself included, make the mistake of focusing all their energy on building a financially successful future and never stop to enjoy the present. Focusing all your energy on the future leaves you blind to your level of life satisfaction in the present, in other words it’s a blind spot. Sometimes when a person achieves financial success they realize that on the inside they still feel the same, they are still the same person just have more money now. There is a great book titled “The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It“, it’s a short quick read full of ways to build and develop a happier life starting today. I highly recommend it.

Another common blind spot that I’ve also had to work on is associating weight loss or having a great body shape with happiness. I realized this was a blind spot when I started spending more time with very fitness conscious individuals. I found out that even being in great body shape comes with it’s own set of problems. This is especially true for those with exceptional body shape. One of my friends really takes care of himself and is in great shape. When I started hanging out with him more, I realized that most strangers make all kinds of negative assumptions about him. They usually assume he’s conceited, or a jerk, or a player and the list goes on. Many women even feel self conscious around him, and become very insecure about their looks. This is very obvious because often times those same strangers will act friendlier towards me. I used to think that losing a few pounds or being in exception body shape will make me happy, and solve all my problems. Since this was always a futuristic goal, it left me blind to my unhappy present at the time. Now I realize that happiness is only possible in the present moment. I also realize that happiness has nothing to do with being in a great body shape or any other other external factors.

Does this mean you should not try to achieve financial wealth or a great body shape? Absolutely NOT. Making more money or being in a great body shape will certainly increase the quality of your life. It will certainly give you more options and possibilities. However don’t make the mistake of thinking that either one or even both will solve most of your problems. Even if a genie was to pop out right now and give you both instantly, you’ll still be the same person on the inside. You must start developing an exciting happy lifestyle today. Of course work on future goals but at the same time make sure your enjoying the present moment.