Belief, Action, and Momentum

Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on March 10th. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.

These three words represent, to me, the essence of all the successful people I encounter.

They form the basis of their thinking and DNA. For some of us, success comes naturally, much like those who can win at sports without breaking a sweat; others need to practice more.

The same principle applies to our minds: we can improve our thinking to gain a little more belief, action, and momentum.

Where you find yourself and who you associate with matters immensely - more than you will ever know.

The strength to change is truly remarkable, if you can achieve it.

However, change is hard. Many forces work tirelessly against you to prevent change from happening.

This is why life events that are out of your control can often turn out to be blessings in disguise.

Problems, pain, angst, disappointment, hurt, and challenges contribute to how successful people flourish.

They become adept at embracing adversity, developing a remarkable quality that seems to follow them like cream on strawberries.

I have noticed that "cream" born of struggle means successful individuals are blind to age, race, and gender when building their teams.

So much so that these aspects are not even a 'thing' to them - they are oblivious to society's discussions about male domination or the practice of only employing graduates.

They rise above petty squabbles that do not even register in their minds; they see people for who they are and do not understand the fuss.

Most entrepreneurs are inherently good people and do not perceive the corporate world as overly challenging.

They become almost ignorant of others' petty gosip and small minded thinking because their laser focus is on their vision and the end goal they have set.

The skill of blocking out noise, issues, and time vampires is quite the feat.

If you’re invited to be part of their journey, successful people envelop you in their superhero - like abilities and instil this culture in you.

Small-mindedness, gossip, and politics can take a long holiday - one-way ticket only.

True entrepreneurs recognise greatness in others' abilities, willingness, and determination and are drawn to those who possess hunger, regardless of whether they come from humble beginnings or royal heritage.

As Rudyard Kipling so beautifully articulated in his poem "If".

'If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch."

Whether they be friends, employees, colleagues, or partners, the mindset of winners is refreshingly different.

Entrepreneurial wisdom lies in recognising talent and fostering it in friendships and work.

Moodiness and toxicity are kept at bay like the strongest antibiotics do for pesky infections.

In our organisation, I take pride in prioritising attitude over skill sets when hiring colleagues, giving opportunities, and promoting from within wherever we can.

This letter is not only a window into my hiring philosophy and the commonality of the successful people I have come to know who do the same - although I am immensely thankful for the wonderful people I have by my side at work. (Witnessing our part-time weekend workers from years ago now leading departments and entire divisions fills me with pride)

What I truly wish to convey relates more to my circle of friends and peers.

Regular listeners will be familiar with my absolute favourite quote in life:

"We become the average of the five people we spend most of our time with."

In this spirit, I wanted to share a parable about those who moved my heart this weekend.

Our charity’s big annual ball was in full swing as we celebrated the "Magic Makers" fourth annual event, raising over £50,000, thanks to the fantastic efforts of my team and friends in business.

Because of their support, we sold tickets in minutes and raised thousands in less time than it takes to watch the 10 o'clock nightly news bulletin.

It’s truly remarkable when you take a moment to appreciate this.

I want to publicly thank everyone for their generosity.

I will ensure your contributions are meticulously managed to help the children who desperately need our support.

I started this charity with an entrepreneurial mindset, bootstrapping costs like a start-up and using my resources to control runaway expenses that many charities incur.

I refuse to let funds raised from people's stretched incomes be squandered on administration and fancy offices. I say to that - not on my watch, Captain!

I look forward to utilising my wealth and our company’s resources to support Magic Makers as it grows over the decades, helping even more children.

I recognised when I started this charity ten years ago that I wouldn’t be able to make substantial financial contributions until I was older.

My focus was rather to utilise every spare penny in our enterprises.

However, that was just an excuse. As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago; the second best time is today.

With that philosophy in mind, I pressed on. In the early years, we raised a few thousand here and there, now we clock up six figures annually.

I can’t wait for the day we transform that into seven figures!

Had I begun this venture at sixty, I wouldn’t have three decades of establishment behind me.

When I am finally able to give substantial support, I will have an orchard of money trees and connections to assist many more that need our help.

We will be able to do that because we had belief, action and now momentum.

Plant the seeds, take action now, and they will soon grow.

One thing I have learned about charity is that it isn’t just about money, far from it.

What you truly need is people’s most precious resource: time.

Money is abundant; they print more each year and governments conjure it up like David Copperfield when needed, even after claiming the day before that they do not have any.

Any good venture capitalist or investor knows that if the story being told is powerful, securing funds is easy.

The same applies to charity. Writing cheques is simple when the cause is compelling. We demonstrated this in just thirty minutes this week.

What’s challenging is finding those who are unsung heroes in life.

Those working tirelessly in the background, organising and dedicating unpaid hours of care and love.

Take my PA, Tracey, for example, who worked tirelessly for this ball's success while still managing my sprawling empire.

I am incredibly grateful. The outcomes we achieved - turning frowns into smiles - are due to these unsung heroes.

Similarly, any venture capitalist knows that writing the cheque is the easy part.

The real magic lies in identifying the management team, the action takers, and the talent that transforms ideas into reality.

We have built our organisation into a behemoth, and we’re just getting started.

In both our charity and business, while you may see me enjoying the limelight on YouTube and speaking at seminars, I recognise that I receive accolades for taking risks and making a start.

Society looks up to me for achieving the seemingly impossible.

However, I admire those in management who accomplish what is possible, allowing me to strive for the impossible.

I wish to express my gratitude to Tracey, Chudds, and Stevie, who stood by me this weekend - unpaid and fully aware of the task at hand.

While I paraded around like a peacock, holding a microphone to raise funds through auctions and humour in front of a room full of business owners, it was the behind-the-scenes work of these unsung heroes that enabled me to flourish and raise significant funds for charity.

The same holds true for my entrepreneurial efforts.

I believe in our vision, instil that belief in my team, and together we take action.

What follows is momentum. Once momentum is on your side, you can’t stop.

Lastly, I was saddened to hear about my grandad's business failure - Grandad had a long-distance lorry driving service on the Isle of Wight…

Apparently there's not a lot of call for that.

To your continued success,

James

PS. Talking of buying businesses, I’m hosting a 1 day workshop in March sharing everything I know about merges and acquisitions so you’re prepared to do the same. Tickets are selling fast, very limited spaces. Find out more here.