Don’t be Afraid to Switch Course

How to Change Trajectory

Once again, many of us have some pretty strange notions when it comes to what the ‘right thing’ to do here is. Because if they don’t find it really is everything they hoped… often they will be too prideful to admit it and will
stay committed to that new way of life anyway! In this scenario, you are literally trapping yourself out of nothing but pride.

So don’t be afraid then to admit your mistakes – and self-honesty is something that has come up a lot in this book. Admit your mistakes, address them as we have been doing elsewhere in this book and then decide how you will move forward without repeating those same errors. What is it you aren’t happy with? How are you going to make sure that you are happy next time?

Springboarding to Success in Multiple Areas

Another thing to consider is just how you can take one success and turn it into the catalyst for far bigger and more far reaching successes. Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, has been a rather successful online entrepreneur it is fair to say. However, while he has been incredibly successful, no one is perfect and there are perhaps ways in which he could be more successful still or more ambitious.

Facebook was a huge hit, and it genuinely changes the way we interact with our friends and family. However other than various updates to Facebook (not all well received) it seems that Zuckerberg has had little else to unleash upon us since. This is a shame when you consider the uniquely powerful position that Zuckerberg is in with Facebook. With millions of people all using his website he has one of the most powerful marketing platforms in the world
at his disposal.

If he were to unveil a new website, or a piece of software or perhaps something entirely different, then he could announce it through Facebook and if he did it right – he could have a guaranteed hit on his hands. Even if only 5% of Facebook’s population bothered to click the link that would be a huge start by anyone else’s standards. To be fair, he is starting to become a little more ambitious when it comes to his investment in VR etc.

Sidestepping for a moment let’s look at the rather different career of Sylvester Stallone. He wanted to be an actor and was turned down from countless screen roles, before he eventually wrote the outstanding screenplay for Rocky. This was such a big hit with producers that they offered him millions to take it off his hands – but Stallone wouldn’t back down. All he wanted was to play the lead role. In some ways, Zuckerberg could stand to be a little bit more like Stallone.

The point is – that once you’ve had success in one area, you then suddenly have the ability to chase almost any dream that you want to go after. Once you’ve changed one industry, one institution, then you can go on to bring about paradigm shifts in many others too. And this is particularly true on the web. So if you currently have a huge website and you are making lots of money from Google Adsense, if that is the goal you set out with and that is what
you achieved, don’t stop there or you will be the victim of a lack of vision.

If you have a big audience, then you can really do anything you want to. For instance you could open a shop on there, and you could very easily use the funds to make this into a real store if that should be your dream. Always wanted to be famous? Then how about you introduce YouTube videos to your website where you know countless viewers will see them and subscribe?

Want to build the next Facebook? Well now you have a background in SEO and website design you can hire the programmers and get to it. Got another side project? Well a link from your own sites with high PR will give your new seedlings the boost they need to get going. And likewise it works the other way too – and if you have a successful Twitter page then you can use this to build up a successful site.

In other words – pool your resources, be ambitious, and chase after your dreams. And once you’ve had one big success online, with your own business, or in some other arena don’t stop there – use it to fuel all of your others. That goes for you too Mark.