I am sorry dear reader, but time has come for us to set some things straight and hope that you’ll understand at least now, that the myth of getting rich overnight is just this: a myth.

You’d tell me there have been many cases of people who turned from “zero to hero” because of a twist of fate. People who woke up one day to find themselves horribly rich, just because they had luck or made a genius decision.

We have the lotteries we flood weekly in the hope we’d be able to change our lives. People invest money so that they might win the “jackpot”. The luck one has is built up from all the money invested by him and the others who chase this dream. One might get rich, or one might invest money for many many years. Maybe a trust fund or just a good investment with all the money put into that lottery would be better. But people want overnight success.

Online there are such stories too. We have the “kids” behind Google who became rich after selling the business. We have more recently YouTube that’s been sold for some unholy price, we even have that inspired student who created the million dollar homepage. They weren’t that lucky (as in a lottery ticket), they were inspired. They had that moment of true inspiration when they decided to do this or that. They created something new, something totally off any given limits at that time and they succeed.

Copycats are now all over the place. But the true success is achieved with something unique …

Should we now just call our quits? Just because some of us are not that inspired nor that lucky? Should we really care about getting rich overnight and the fact it’s not that easy? That it’s impossible for most of us?

We could do this, or we could start seeing business as it is: a steady effort into getting somewhere. We could try earning more each day, by working hard and having a good plan, by being well organized and consistent in our work.

Most of the “getting rich overnight” schemes are scams. I’d say all, but I fear you’d accuse me of being too hard on this reality. Let’s say that a HUGE percentage (99,9%) are total scams, planned for people to get rich overnigh (the problem is that these people who’d earn a lot are not you and me, but the people who devised them).

Most of the “how to get rich overnight” books are just platitudes sold to stupid people who still believe in Alladin’s Magic Lamp … People buy them and think they’ll discover the secret.

The secret is here and still we fail to see it: you can be a successful businessman by having blind luck or a “strike” of genius or (most common for many) by working hard, being dedicated, focused and consistent.

That we can do.

Filed under: Painful business truths by ramona