Richard Pierce Thomas

Leadership and Small Business Consultant

I met Alex a couple of years ago at an entrepreneur program for high school kids. He was a student from the Czech Republic, visiting as part of an exchange program for the summer.             

With an infectious smile, you couldn’t help but get excited when talking with him, even though you may have had no idea why. We soon became friends and maintained contact every few months or so, with him updating me on his latest ideas and schemes to launch his social media business. It was last September when he announced his biggest news to date.

“I’m moving to London,” he said, beaming with pride. “I’m going to launch my new social media business in the UK.”

“That is big news, indeed. How are you going to support yourself while launching your business?” I asked.

“I will work in a coffee shop,” he reasoned. “My friends in London have told me there are a lot of jobs available.”

The question of how he was going to pull this off on coffee shop wages immediately came to mind but I let it go, not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm. He signed-off promising to call in October after he made the move.

Alex emailed me a month later, anxious to talk. “I found a job,” he said, hardly able to contain himself. “I am staying with some friends while I look for a room to rent. London is awesome!” he gushed, carrying on another twenty minutes about the city and the abundance of business opportunities. Hurrying to get to his job, he promised to check in before the end of the year to share more. It was the week between Christmas and New Year’s when I heard from him again, but this time absent of the enthusiasm. 

“I’m moving out of London,” he said. “It is too difficult to get ahead here,” he said, continuing on with a litany of challenges he had encountered since landing—unreasonable supervisors, difficult to understand accents, and expensive rent and transportation costs. “Besides, I am just not feeling the right mood here to be successful. It’s too crazy in London. There are too many distractions for me to focus on my business.”

I let him carry on for a while, knowing already how I was going to respond. When he had finished talking, I asked his permission to give him feedback.

“I fear you are making a big mistake by moving,” I began. “Everything you have experienced are valid reasons to move except for one main reason not to—you haven’t learned anything yet! By moving now, you are reinforcing a bad habit—to cut and run when the going gets tough. 

“I hate to be the one to break this to you, but this is reality. Success rarely happens because you have a good idea and a lot of enthusiasm. To experience success, you have to learn first how much you are willing to endure and sacrifice before you experience success. Success is not something that happens to you. Success is a mindset. And right now, you don’t have it.”

I could tell my feedback hit him like a kick in the gut. Even though the video image was blurry from a poor Internet connection, the expression on his face was unmistakable—the comments had hit home. 

I received an email from Alex the next day, thanking me for the difficult conversation and indicating he was going to stick it out a few more months in London. He promised to check in by the end of winter to let me know how it was going. I look forward to that update and I am sure that whether he decides to stay in London or not, he will have learned something.

It was Thomas Edison that put it best when it comes to success. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” I’m hoping Alex doesn’t give up either, but whether he stays or leaves, what is more important is he learns the mindset of success, which is more about enduring hardship, and overcoming obstacles than crossing the finish line first.

 

Rick Thomas is a Principal and Director of Human Capital at Pilot Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor in Oregon state. Leading their focus on the human component of building wealth, he consults and speaks to organizations across the country, focusing on individual and organizational achievement.