It takes three years to build it right.
The short-term thinkers hate to hear it. The impatient don’t buy it. But time and time again, it’s proven true. It takes three years to build something from the ground up and make it great.
I say this to every new member of Membership Freedom. I don’t want them to get the illusion that what we teach them is a quick fix. Go somewhere else for the “build a six-figure business in 60 days” nonsense. Therefore, I know they know what it’s really going to take to make a solid, successful online business.
“But,” they might argue, “I saw these other guys saying how easy it is to do in just a few months.”
Here’s what I say… Go to them. Pay the big bucks for whatever they are selling. And in a few months, when you realize that 1) they were full of hot air just to get you to buy or 2) you realize that it’s actually a lot harder than they sold you on it, come back, and we’ll help you do it right. Just don’t tell me that you don’t have money to invest because you blew it all on them.
It takes three years to build it right.
With the framework, it’s actually pretty easy. Do you really think that if you spend three years consecutively connecting with your ideal clients and members, creating content, products and services that they need and want, and working consistently on improving all the important areas of that business that it wouldn’t be something that is successful and sustaining in three years?
The real problem is, very few have the patience and persistence to not only stick with one thing consistently for three years straight, they also don’t have the flexibility to learn and pivot along that path, so what they are creating is just as viable- and even more viable – in three years.
Mike Ditka, a hall of fame football player with the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears in 1982. The Bears had been an afterthought of a football team for a few decades, and Ditka was brought in to change that. You can bet that the ownership and management wanted success quickly.
Ditka, who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Bears in 1961 and then two more with the Dallas Cowboys, knew how it worked. He didn’t have any phony “quick success” guide to appease the owners and fan base. When he set up a meeting with the Bears players upon becoming the new coach, he was clear from the start. There were going to be tough times ahead. There was going to be turnover-of players and coaches. It was not going to be easy.
But Ditka made a clear declaration.
“Give me three years,” Ditka declared,“ and if you walk with me, we’ll get to the dance.”
The dance, meaning, the Super Bowl.
The ones who walked with him stuck it out and did the work. The ones who didn’t were given their walking papers. Ditka knew what it would take to reach the pinnacle.
In his first season as head coach, they won only three games. By their third year, they had reached the NFC Championship game. But they fell short of his initial prediction, being blown out by the 15-1 San Francisco 49ers and their hall of fame quarterback Joe Montana.
But in three years, he had turned the entire franchise around.
The following year, it was the Bears’ turn to make history. They matched the 49ers record from the previous year, going 15-1 while steamrolling into the playoffs. They shut out both of their playoff opponents by a combined score of 45-0, and trounced the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl, finishing off one of the greatest seasons in NFL history.
The Bears fell one game shy of Ditka’s initial promise, but they had become a powerhouse within three years and created one of the greatest teams ever in four years.
It’s going to take three years.
It doesn’t matter if it’s football or in business.
Three years is short enough that you can see the finish line, but long enough that you have to do all the hard work required to get there. Anyone can get lucky for a short time riding a hot hand or a lucky wave. But working for three years to make greatness requires a different type of commitment.
You need to learn what (and who) to eliminate. You must build foundational tools. You learn from your pain and losses. You develop patience while staying consistent and focused. And maybe most importantly, you get it out of your head quickly so that it should happen sooner.
I am convinced that too many quit too soon simply because they expected bigger results faster. Losing that expectation is a key aspect to the three-year vision.
Mike Ditka said it to his players. Stick with me for three years, and we’ll be at the dance. I say it to my members. Stick with me for three years, and you will have that business that gives you time and financial freedom.
I feel- and I’m sure Ditka did as well – that how they answer and respond to that one question will show if they really want it, or if they just say they do.
Have an AMAZING week!
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