Sometimes, when I talk to people who are just getting started in this space, or people who haven't had things go their way, they ask me questions like: “What do I have to do to get where you are?”, “Am I really that far away from that life?” or simply “Any useful advice?”
And honestly, I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. In fact, that's what I try to do with these articles. Not just talk about crypto or business, but also about the things I've learned along the way and how I think you should approach all of this.
And another thing came to mind that I think most people get wrong:
EXPECTATIONS.
People first imagine the life they want. Then they look at where they are today and draw this imaginary line from where they currently stand to where they want to be a few years from now.
And honestly, I don't think that's the right way to look at it.
You have to go through each step while keeping your eyes on a much closer horizon. You can't be taking your first steps while dreaming about flying around in a private jet.
And that's not because there's anything wrong with wanting that. Quite the opposite. Having a vision of what you want to achieve can be one of the most important things when it comes to moving forward.
The problem starts when that vision becomes your expectation for the present.
Because when your expectations are too high, you end up losing perspective.
You take a step forward and instead of seeing it as progress, you look at everything that's still missing before you can reach that life. You feel like you're not moving forward because you're still so far away from the goal.
And when you fail, it hits even harder. It's not just that you lost money or made a bad decision. You also feel like you're falling behind on a path that, in your head, was supposed to be taking you closer and closer to that life.
That's why I think having realistic expectations is so important.
It doesn't mean thinking small. It means understanding where you are, what's in front of you, and what the next step you can realistically take is.
If you're just getting started, your goal shouldn't be to live like someone who has spent ten years building wealth. Your goal should be to become someone who's a little more prepared than they were yesterday.
First, learn how to survive. Then learn how to win. Then learn how to keep what you made.
And eventually, maybe you'll get the private jet.
But if you're staring at the jet while you're still learning how to walk, you're probably going to miss all the steps that actually get you there.
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DON'T LISTEN TO THEM.
You're going to hear or see things every day, both in real life and on social media, about people who just bought a nice car, a house, went on some crazy trip, started a business, or whatever else.
IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU DON'T LISTEN TO THEM.
You don't know their story. You don't know the connections they had, the support they received, the process they went through, or everything that happened behind the scenes for them to get where they are or accomplish what they did.
*And that's assuming they're being completely honest.*
We all know the amount of lies and psyops surrounding money. There are countless people pretending to be rich just to sell you something, flexing a lifestyle that doesn't actually exist, or showing you one small piece of their life while hiding everything else.
But even if we're talking about someone who's being completely honest, you still shouldn't compare yourself to them.
Because you don't know where they started.
You don't know what advantages they had.
You don't know what they sacrificed.
And most importantly, their journey has absolutely nothing to do with yours.
The only person you should really be comparing yourself to is yourself.
Your benchmark is who you were yesterday.
If you're learning more, making better decisions, becoming more disciplined, or simply getting a little closer to where you want to be, you're moving forward.
You don't need to be ahead of everyone else.
You just need to make sure you're not standing in the same place forever.
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THE DUALITY OF DOING IT WITH YOUR PEOPLE.
A lot of the time, we end up comparing ourselves to people who are more or less in the same position as us. People who started around the same time, work in the same field, have similar goals, and have a lot of other things in common.
And I want to clarify something about this.
Comparing yourself to people close to you can actually be useful in certain situations, especially when it comes to practical things.
For example:
“Okay, my friend is in a very similar situation to mine, but he's making more money than me and he's putting in four more hours every day.”
So then you can ask yourself: Do I actually have the ability to put in those extra four hours?
If you do, then maybe that's a sign that you're simply not putting in enough effort, and that could be part of the reason why you're not getting the results you want.
But there could also be a million other reasons why your friend is getting better results than you.
Maybe he started with more money.
Maybe he doesn't have the same responsibilities.
Maybe he has more support.
Maybe he has more time.
Maybe he's simply hungrier than you are.
Who knows?
I bring this up because this actually happened to me when I was starting out.
I used to compare myself to a friend who was doing pretty much the same things I was doing, and I couldn't understand why he was so much more successful than me.
Then I found out his father had given him $50,000 to get started.
Suddenly, the comparison made a lot less sense.
And that's really the point.
Comparisons with people close to you can be useful when you're looking at small habits, specific decisions, or something practical that you like about the way they do things.
Maybe your friend manages his time better.
Maybe he has a better system for learning.
Maybe there's a habit he has that you could adopt.
That's useful.
But your overall path, your pace, your priorities, and the way you build your life have to be personal.
You can learn from the people around you without turning their results into a measurement of your own worth.
Your journey is still yours.
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INCREASE YOUR SACRIFICE.
If you want your results to start changing, sooner or later you have to change yourself.
You have to become the best version of yourself that you can possibly be. But step by step, dear friend.
*Better than yesterday, but worse than tomorrow.*
You don't need to completely transform your life overnight. In fact, trying to do so is probably one of the fastest ways to burn yourself out. Start small and build from there.
Some tips on this:
Wake up earlier: If you normally wake up at 9, try waking up at 8. Don't suddenly decide that you're going to wake up at 5 AM every morning because you watched a motivational video. Give yourself an extra hour to think, work, train, study, or simply get ahead before the rest of the day begins.
Work a little harder: If you normally give eight hours, try giving a little more when the situation calls for it. Put in the extra effort when you know it matters. There will be days when you are tired, and that's completely normal. But if you constantly give the bare minimum, you shouldn't be surprised when your results look exactly like the bare minimum.
Be the first to arrive and the last to leave: If you work with a team, this can be one of the simplest ways to separate yourself. You don't have to make a show out of it or tell everyone how hard you work. Just be there. Be reliable. Be the person who can always be counted on when something needs to get done.
Make Time for Self-Reflection: Take some time to stop and honestly analyze yourself. What are you doing well? Where are you falling short? What could you be doing better? Self-criticism isn't about beating yourself up. It's about being honest enough to recognize your mistakes and make adjustments.
Stay Adaptable: Don't get too comfortable with the way you currently do things. Methods, technologies, tools, and even the people around you can change. What works today might not work tomorrow, so always be willing to learn, adapt, and change your approach when necessary.
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To wrap this up, I want to recommend a few books that genuinely helped me throughout my own learning process and that I believe are worth reading.
*And please, for the love of God, don't be allergic to reading. You'd be surprised how much a good book can teach you.*
ATOMIC HABITS:
Atomic Habits by James Clear explains how small, consistent improvements can create major results over time. Instead of focusing only on goals, Clear emphasizes building systems and developing an identity around the habits we want to maintain. He introduces four simple principles for building better habits: make them obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. The book highlights how consistency, repetition, and our environment shape our behavior and can ultimately transform our lives.
THE LEAN STARTUP:
Explains how entrepreneurs can build businesses by testing ideas quickly, learning from customers, and adapting based on real data. Instead of spending years developing a perfect product, Ries recommends creating a minimum viable product, measuring its results, and using that information to decide whether to improve the idea or change direction. The book emphasizes experimentation, efficiency, and continuous learning, showing that successful entrepreneurship is less about having the perfect idea and more about building, testing, learning, and adapting consistently.
ESSENTIALISM:
This book is about focusing on what truly matters and eliminating everything else. The book encourages us to stop trying to do everything and instead invest our time and energy in the few things that have the greatest impact. It emphasizes learning to say no, setting clear priorities, and creating space for what is genuinely important. The main idea is simple: less, but better.
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Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the article.
I’ll leave some of my other articles below in case you want to check them out.
