CHAPTER 1 The Problem
As an entrepreneur, I've had the privilege of pioneering several businesses throughout my life, and I'm sure I'll pioneer many more. You must count the cost before you build a house, have a child, or start a business. Unfortunately, too many people never stop to figure out what it will cost to do either, or anything for that matter. At the writing of this book, there are roughly 400,000 children in foster care in the United States, and the biggest reason why children are given up for adoption is, you guessed it, parents with low incomes not being able to afford to raise a child. In marriages, there are many statistics concerning how many end up in divorce; it varies by race, nationality, country, state, etc... However, the reasons why they fail won't differ very much; the top three reasons are incompatibility, infidelity, and, you guessed it, finances. But it doesn't end there, so let's proceed to business. Why does one agent toil away without much success while another enjoys a thriving business? Is it just luck? We talk about luck as though it is a kind of living force that chooses some people and ignores others. When you think about it, it's kind of silly to believe some force we can't even define decides who gets to be successful. Is success based on talent, then? That's another word we use a lot without really understanding it. Is talent some mysterious quality people are "just born with?" And how does it affect success? We all know artists and performers who seem to have talent — whatever that is — but aren't successful. 1
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