“I never want to be a millionaire, I ain't pay'n all them taxes!”

WTF?

How crazy is that logic? I really was told exactly that by a gentleman once. An ignoramus but still a gentleman as he scratched of lottery tickets next to me in the checkout line. He was commenting about the big jackpot and why he doesn't waste his money on the Lottery drawing.

Of course I never imagined being a hot dog vendor either, it was never a life long passion nor on my bucket list. However, the bitch that is life, flung me headlong into the hot dog vending world and I haven't looked back.

You may have never considered it either.

Either way, I'm happy, happier than I've ever been. My biggest mistake in the beginning was not taking it serious enough though.

I kind of always knew that eventually, I would part ways and reclaim my position atop a furniture empire. After all, it had brought me a tremendous income and afforded me with a plane, vehicles, a farm, homes and toys.

It didn't allow for much in the way of family and freedom though. My personal relationships suffered those years due to my incessant “gotta be at work 14 hours a day” attitude. I was always attempting to grow and become bigger and better.

My eyes were clouded during the first year of vending, although I'd grown the business tremendously I had still not considered it a permanent position. Obviously I can't give a 100% to anything if I've not got a long term plan.

At some point it hit me. I was fishing, I was getting to know my children better, I attended school functions and games, I was watching tv with the family and I was happy. Happier than a pig in shit, happier than that camel on hump day.

I'd reached it. My goal, without even realizing it. I'd achieved success. Not great wealth, a plane, a farm, homes and toys, I had happiness. Content is putting it mildly and not even an appropriate term. It wasn't as if I'd resolved the fact that I was doomed to live in poverty.

NO! Far from it. I had transportation, we had added on to our 2 bedroom trailer, we added 3 more bedrooms and 2 more bathrooms. I had my carts, I had locations, I was making a great living and I was HAPPY!

Years of conditioning were imbedded into my subconscious and I'd always thought I was built for greatness. Not royalty, but certainly the mansion on the hill and a plane.

In a moment of calm, I sat outside stoking the coals for yet another cookout with my children and wife and it hit me. ———————– I'm happy. —————- This is SUCCESS!

That night I slept like a baby. I wasn't worried anymore about having even more carts on the road. In fact the next day I gave a few of my long time leases their carts and locations and bid them farewell.

Eventually I was down to only a few and I was making about the same money. I hadn't yet discovered all the tricks in managing that many carts and was a sucker for a bad luck story and so I gave more than I received.

I rehashed my numbers and moved locations to take advantage of more profitable times and days and found I had even more time with my family and friends.

I had reached success and almost ran right past it.

Have your reached success yet? Could it be that with great record keeping and little tweaks here and there, maybe a second cart and location, that you could be there too?

Side note from Ron: ‘You can't manage what you don't measure.' Sums up nicely that record keeping thing I've been harping on.

Are you giving 100%? I bet you are.

So what is success for you? How will you know when you've achieved it?

Are you one location away from living exactly the kind of life you desire?

>I can tell you, that if you're not looking you won't know. I know you though and I know you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't have a burning desire to be your own boss, to support your family, to never have to decide between fixing the water heater or eating tomorrow; I know you and I know you'll succeed.

You may just end up with the largest hot dog restaurant franchise, or you may become one of the most sought after and requested vendors in 3 states or you may own 1 cart and enjoy a couple very lucrative locations all the while enjoying life and your freedom.

I know for a fact though, that if you weren't you and you didn't have it in you, then you wouldn't be here. Even here is a kick ass place to be. Bad days and good days behind you and you're in the drivers seat from here on out.

You're the boss and you're a success.

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Homework: Grab that yeller pad and write down what your goals are and what your idea of success is. Then write down at least 4 things that you are going to do to reach your goal. Then write down one thing you are going to do tomorrow that is different from today, something new and something positive. No matter how small. Maybe clean one panel on your cart to a showroom shine or hang a smiley face somewhere on your cart, just something.