“Comparanoia” has created an easy trap for easy trap for aspiring entrepreneurs to step in. Some people might call it keeping up with the Joneses. There is more pressure than ever to portray a false sense of reality about your success or financial status, even if you haven’t arrived yet. You see people posting pictures of cars they can’t afford and buying clothes or fancy dinners to impress people in their lives. If you are over-leveraged, trying to portray a false reality, you may be a hillfaker.
You are not alone; I have been there before myself. I’ll never forget in my early days of business. I wanted to buy this Corvette. I had always wanted a Corvette, and my brother, who had already built his first successful business, had just purchased his own. He could comfortably afford it. I didn’t want to feel like I was falling behind, so I decided to go for it. The $680 per month payment wasn’t more than I could afford at the time, but it was more than I should have been paying. It was outside of my practical needs.
I never missed a payment on that car, but it held back the early progress of my business because I was trying to keep up with my brother. Buying that Corvette slowed down the progress of building my business because I was spending that money on a car instead of investing it into my growth. I had to take a hard look in the mirror and compare wants vs. needs. To this day, every few months, I do a full financial analysis to make sure I am not frivolously spending on things I no longer use or need. It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s about holding myself accountable regardless of my financial status. All of the small things add up, and it can become death by 1000 cuts for your financial future if you’re not aware.
It’s easy to fall into the same trap I did, and even easier to do it today with everyone sharing their highlight reels on Instagram. Social media has created an inflated reality about success and living the “good life.” In reality, we are all flawed, and progress starts by loving that part of yourself. Instead of feeling like you have to fake your reality, learn to love your reality, and embrace the climb of wanting a better life.
85% of small businesses fail, and it’s not because they didn’t have a great idea. Most of them fail because they were over-leveraged, over digitized, over hyped and they didn’t have a clear vision of their North star. They created some success and celebrated or purchased luxuries they didn’t need instead of investing back into their business. In the early stages, reinvest everything you can back into your business and build cash reserves in the event you need to pivot in a competitive marketplace. When you
invest back into your business, those dollars begin to compound your growth.
It is not worth hurting your future to buy things you don’t need, just to impress people. Don’t let yourself get overleveraged or behind on your taxes just because you want to buy a fancy watch. There is a reason Mark Zuckerberg wears the same shirt every day. He is focused on his mission, not his appearance. Reinvest that money back into your business early, and you will be able to buy ten of those watches in the future. Be willing to trade good for great.
Take a moment and be honest with yourself right now.
Are you a hillfaker?
If you said yes, I commend you. It is honorable and takes courage to admit that you are faking it, intentionally or unintentionally. The only way to change your situation is to be truthful with your current situation. Your current situation is not your end destination, and if you feel some guilt at this point, use it as fuel to start the hilltaker method from phase 1.
Take ownership of what is making you a fraud. Are you showing up in your business? Your relationships? Your health? Wherever it is, draw a line in the sand and say, “I’m finished avoiding my problems” Many entrepreneurs think that if they make a lot of money, it will fix their relationship. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Please acknowledge that we all make mistakes and that we are all flawed. Once you enter a place of vivid truth, you can take one step at a time in the right direction to change your situation.
Life is not about Lamborghinis or social media highlight reels. Keep your focus on your North star vision and take one step at a time. I promise you that while you are focusing on infinite progress, one step at a time, the hillfakers will be treading water in the same place they are now, getting no further than when they started.
Worry less about your image and ego and worry more about the impact and value you want to create in the world. This is your opportunity to create discipline and patience for your future. Do you want to buy a fancy dinner and a nice watch? Or would you rather provide for your kids or support a worthwhile charity that solves global problems? Don’t let your ego negatively impact your future by focusing on self-serving ideals. Here is how to realign with what is truly important in your life.
- Go back to your North Star: What do you really want out of life? Who do you want to become? Who is important in your life? What do you value most? Where are you coming up short?
- Assess your situation: Where are you spending your time and money? Track exactly where you are in alignment with your values and acknowledge the truth about your situation. How do you want to show up in life?
- Solidify your decision: Change only happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change. Solidify your decision by making progress. Set up an automated savings account, buy groceries instead of eating out, or take that first step on the treadmill. Make a decision and solidify that decision that you are a hilltaker.
- Clarify your vision: Patience and discipline is key. If you’ve got yourself in debt, you are overweight, or you’re living an unhealthy lifestyle, those habits didn’t develop overnight. You can’t expect to change your situation in a day, a week, or even one year. Take consistent daily action towards
your new North star and continue to enroll yourself. You will be tested every day with each decision
you make. - Understand your why: Part of enrolling the people around you, also includes knowing why you are doing what you are doing. Most people start a business because they want freedom to spend more time with their family. However, many eventually end up neglecting their family in the process of pursuing that North star. Understand exactly why you are working towards your goal and keep that in mind when times start to get hard or going through necessary growing pains.
- Remove sandbags/apply action: Again, take consistent action and remove obstacles. If comparing yourself to people on Instagram makes you feel unworthy, delete Instagram, or set more boundaries. If your cabinet is full of cookies and it’sruining your diet, throw away the cookies. You send a signal to yourself when you make a bold stance towards whom you want to be. Once you know what got you in this situation, you can take steps towards improving the situation and creating the best version of yourself.
Someone once asked me, “Peter, do you want to know how to become the man of your dreams?” Eager for the answer, I said, of course. He simply replied, “all you have to do to become the man of your dreams is to start making every decision like you are already him.”
It might be challenging to see yourself as the CEO of a national or multinational company or the physically fit, healthy version of yourself. When you wake up in the morning, decide to start making decisions like you are already that person. Would the CEO of a large company sleep in until 11 AM, or would you be up at 6 AM attacking the day? Would the fit version of yourself skip the gym today, or would your best self-commit to a planned time to exercise, regardless of how early or tired you might be?
This is a practice of discipline and accountability. Can you create the disciplines that will allow you to build the company and life of your dreams? There will be days that you don’t feel like showing up. Your accountability will push you to show up even on those difficult days. If you tell yourself, “one day is fine,” it can quickly compound in other areas of your life. If you have big dreams and aspirations, hold yourself more accountable for achieving those dreams. Your success will happen because of a series of small decisions, repeated each day. Those repeated events either continue your growth or become detrimental to your vision. Small choices add up to the sum of your life.