Dec/0911
$10M in 2010
“Ten M in 2010″
That’s my new mantra.
$10,000,000. 10 Million Smackers. 8 Figure Business.
Now, I know my last few blog posts have been about me learning to trade in the foreign exchange currency market (forex) – but my financial goals for 2010 do not include Forex just yet. That’s still in ‘learning’ stage. Oh no — this goal is for building a business. Growing a company.
I’ve never had a goal this big before and as I write this, I realize that it’s been a long time since I’ve run a company that’s generated even 2 Million. Interesting. A million dollars? Sure. I’ve done that many many times over. I actually think that I may have developed some sort of negative mindset when it comes to “creating multi-million dollar businesses”. Definitely worth exploring.
Now, I’m not saying that I’m going to do this all alone. In fact, the company that’s being built has partners already. I’m not even the sole leader. The company has been over a year in the making – and honestly, it could have been a lot less had I not meandered about quite a bit in my business dealings. I’m not motivated in the ways that you might expect.
You see, for me – it’s not really “about the money”.
I’m not one of those people that can set a ‘money goal’ and then do everything in my power to reach that number. I have to do something that I believe in … something that I enjoy … something that matches my ethics … something that truly provides a great value in exchange for the income … something that I’m passionate about … or at least, something that will RESULT in me be able to do something I’m passionate about. (This explains the meandering by the way – this past year I re-explored my passion for the film industry and honestly found that the passion wasn’t nearly as strong as it was 10 years ago.)
My wife and I have recently agreed that if we can accomplish certain financial goals that we’ll take a trip around the world with the kids beginning in the summer of 2011. The are BIG financial goals. Believe that. (But they don’t require 10 Million Dollars either – even after expenses, splitting with partners, and the like.) The truth of the matter is, the company that’s on the table could become a $100M or more company. But, I’m pretty sure I’m not the person to get it there. I think that’s a different type of leader.
Not to mention, balancing family, fun, travel, and business is what I’m really about. I don’t think you can do that and grow a company to $100,000,000 or more. The actual goal for me is to create a recurring income that doesn’t require *me* to work my ass off to generate the income. I actually love the creative process though – which has led me to creating a business model that requires me to constantly CREATE. (new marketing, new products, LOL – new versions of myself even) – and in the end, I’ve created a series of incomes over the last several years… and not what I would consider a BUSINESS.
In 2010, that’s all about to change.
Now, I’m sure I’ll still create the occasional ‘new info product’ (in fact, I have an awesome one in the works for the beginning of 2010) – but at the same time, I’m going to be laser focused on building “Your Instant Site” into a multi-million venture.
Truthfully, the business plan that we have is easily good for between 2 to 5 million – but, “$10M in 2010″ sounded a lot better … and quite frankly, just putting the goal out there will keep us on task for the entire year – pushing towards a big hairy goal.
So, let me real quickly share with you what’s REALLY motivating me right now.
“Around the World with my Family”
I have designed my life in a way that I actually *could* do this right now. I really do work from my laptop; I really do derive all of my income from things I sell on the internet. However, if I’m going to take a trip around the world with my family – I can’t be worrying about where the next six figure launch is going to come from. I can’t be worrying about what sort of product to create. I need to have a relatively stable income in place while still being able to do my part via internet.
Plus, the business plan itself kicks ass. Through YIS, we’ll be creating similar opportunities for hundreds and perhaps thousands of people. An opportunity for people to earn a great income with total time and location flexibility. It’s very difficult for me to create a business opportunity that I can truly stand behind. I’ve become quite jaded — there’s a lot of bullshit out there that either doesn’t work – or if it does work, it’s not scalable to the thousands of people they sell it to.
Wow – I didn’t actually intend this post to be about YIS at all. But when I talk about what’s motivating me, it just came out naturally because I’m genuinely excited about the opportunity. More on that in a future post, I’m sure (oh, yes, I’m SURE!).
As for me — IT’S ABOUT TIME that I had a goal on the table like this again.
It’s about time.
How about you?
Usually I have to ethically bribe people to write a good comment on this site. I’m not going to do that right now (I’m not saying that I won’t at a later time – heh heh).
What motivates you?
What kind of goals do you have in mind for 2010?
I’ll be honest with ya – 2009 didn’t really turn out anywhere near how I’d hoped. It was a rough year for a lot of people. Feel free to share anything you want about 2009 as well.
What makes you tick?
What are you passionate enough about to set a goal so big that you have no idea how you’ll accomplish it?
I’d really like to hear from ya.
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7:22 am on December 19th, 2009
Excellent post, Harris. Have no doubt that $10M in 2010 is a possibility for you.
For myself, I’ve been back and forth about whether to go ‘comfortable’, big, or REALLY BIG for 2010. 1st option would be great in terms of lifestyle, the big option positively challenging, and the REALLY BIG positively all-consuming.
Have plans for all three, not easy to strike a balance… Maybe the holidays will bring clarity.
8:31 pm on December 19th, 2009
Great Post Harris!
2009 Was an exciting year for me because I launched my first 2 info-products and grew more than I ever have in my online business but I was hoping for a bit more still.
I think we can grow and learn from everything so that’s what i’m doing… It’s a process and if you keep learning and growing nothing can stop you from achieving your goals.
2009 was good and bad for me too… some business excitement and success and at the same time some other disappointment that could have turned out better!
I believe in what your doing and your presence online shows you are genuine and actually care about people.
A lot of these guys are all about the money and you are about people first, profits second and in the long run it will benefit you more than them.
Keep rockin and stay positive!
David King
10:42 am on December 22nd, 2009
Hi Harris,
I like that you have an ambitious goal and you really sound jazzed about making it happen. I only got started online in September so my main goal is to build my list to the point where it starts making me some money. I joined your Twinja Ninja last week and have set up my accounts on Twitter. I have not had time to get on to the rtest of the disciplines yet…sorry Sensei! But once the holidays have ended and I can reclaim my office space from the relatives, I will be a dedicated pupil. And I’d love all the help you can afford to lend.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and your family
Kevin
5:33 pm on December 22nd, 2009
Ha ha — no worries, Kevin.
You’ve got my contact info – just ask for help whenever you need it.
Harris
5:35 pm on December 22nd, 2009
or maybe it’s just a different kind of benefit.
Honestly, all the guys I know really do care about people’s success. Maybe I’m naive .. maybe it’s just the way I see things. But it really is all rooted in helping people succeed. Nobody I deal with sets out to ’scam people out of their money’, ya know.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words — make 2010 awesome. I know I will.
5:37 pm on December 22nd, 2009
Mmm .. I hear ya.
Lifestyle is really important to me. No matter what I do, I have no choice but to juggle in some family time (and some snowboarding time as well!) I’ve noticed that some of my best years financially came when I was able to party or have fun on the weekends, too — every weekend. Like, literally CHECK OUT for 2 days and come back to it hard every week.
It all grows from a vision you’re excited about and believe in though.
Harris
11:32 pm on January 3rd, 2010
Dude, you should check out disqus comments plugin for WordPress because it threads the conversations. Lot easier to read… http://www.disqus.com
Plus, when you reply to a blog post, it’ll post to your twitter, facebook, and something else. Plus all your *retweets* of your messages get put at the bottom of the post for people to check out.
Lastly, finally happy you got aboard some sort of business model rather than the former which leads to a life of never-ending misery.
Seems you’ve got the “WHY” and that is half the battle to get to where you wanna go.
And now you’ve gone ahead and put yourself out there, even more anchor for the subconscious mind.
Good luck!
4:13 am on January 6th, 2010
Harris,
I gotta say… I loved this post – just found it from your skype sig (dont use skype much so thats why I am late to the party!)
Anyways… I have been planning for 2010 and I was all concerned about how I was gonna do 1 million, and you want to do 10 milliion with just ONE product. Thats awesome. You rarely see that kind of passion for one service in this industry, and I wish you the BEST of success. I will be watching how YIS grows over the next few months.
Have fun on your trip around the world too.
Finally, I like how you said your passion for film isn’t as strong as it used to be, and rings true for me too. I have a passion for skateboarding, and I am going to start skating again, but I am not so sure I am as passionate as I once was… “Do I really want to throw myself down this set of 18 stairs?”
Anywhoo – Rock on man!
- Dylan
From Harris: Well, one BUSINESS — not one PRODUCT per se.
4:24 am on January 6th, 2010
G,day Harris – great post, and you’ve posed questions here that really take going inside oneself to find some answers to.
Being at the sharp end, facing huge challenges and dealing with them seems to motivate me – and it’s ultimately what I end up creating for myself.
But, to take on a challenge I have to feel deeply passionate and excited about whatever it is the challenge is all about – and it can’t be about making money, otherwise I can’t get honestly motivated for it – it has to be truly something special that I feel deeply about.
This can make things seemingly difficult, but the journey is always worth it when I follow my heart rather than pure logic. 2009 was a challenging year, in that we had a huge (self imposed) transition from client based website work to just doing internet marketing for my own websites where I can help others succeed that way.
Letting go of clients insn’t easy but it’s what I wanted to do, and the transition is not over yet. What makes me tick is going to the edge of it – staying the course on a huge challenge that I really believe in – and facing down the fears that come with the journey.
What am I passionate enough about to set a goal so big that I have no idea how I’ll accomplish it? I would have to say that for 2010 it would be to have more balanced family time with some nice big holidays – thinking of skiing in Canada (coming from Australia) next winter!!
1:29 pm on January 9th, 2010
Thanks for the tip. And, I dunno – it’s not been never-ending misery. But definitely a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.
6:32 pm on January 28th, 2010
Harris,
That’s an awesome goal to shot for… I know you’ll reach it too!
While my goal for 2010 isn’t as big as yours, I’m looking to make significant improvement; which is what counts.
I’ll check in with you here and there to make sure you stay on target
Brian