Last week, Dr. William F. Pickard, Ph.D., a business mogul with more than 45 years of demonstrated business leadership and success, kicked off the #MillionaireMovesMonday series by sharing an excerpt from his new book talking about the power that vision and attitude hold in manifesting your dreams.
In week two of the series, Pickard shares another excerpt from his book, Millionaire Moves: Seven Proven Principles of Entrepreneurship, which stresses the importance of practicing humility and taking advantage of opportunities on the road to success. Read an excerpt below:
Principle Two: Opportunity
Be willing to start at the bottom. Sure, you have big plans. But along the way, you might have to mop a few floors or flip a few burgers. I did both. In the end, it all paid off. Yet, I know of more than one instance of people who turned down business offers because they didn’t want to start on the low rung of the ladder. They kept their sights on executive positions within leading corporations. Sadly, their attempts to start at the top didn’t go too well, and their dreams never materialized. The lesson here is simple–a little humility never hurt anyone. In Detroit, there was a 56-year-old man who walked eight hours covering 21 miles to and from work every day because he couldn’t afford a car. He did this even in blizzard conditions and below-zero-degree weather. Somehow, the local newspaper discovered his situation and sent a reporter out to interview him. The story went viral. Eventually, three GoFundMe pages were started. They raised more than $350,000 and he ended up with a nice, suburban apartment that was closer to his job and a brand-new 2015 Ford Taurus.
I see it like this: There are always opportunities being born and opportunities yet to be made. But you have to push yourself and get involved in making them happen. Lolly Daskal, President and CEO of Lead From Within, explains it this way: “Opportunities are in front of you every day but to see them you need to look at the world as a place of hope and possibility, not limits, obstacles, and problems.â€
It’s so easy to think: I don’t have any money. I don’t have any resources. I don’t have any of these things I see in The Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, Vanity Fair, Black Enterprise, Essence, or on TV. How am I ever going to build a business? But while you’re drowning yourself in self-doubt and busily listing all the reasons why you can’t do it, there is someone else, worse off than you, who is doing it, even as you read these words.
Pickard currently serves as CEO and chairman for six different enterprises, owns several McDonald’s franchises, and co-owns five black-owned newspapers. He also sits on the board of the National Urban League and is a member of the Detroit Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Next Monday, he will share another excerpt from his book, Millionaire Moves: Seven Proven Principles of Entrepreneurship, which you can purchase online or wherever books are sold.
Selena Hill is the Associate Digital Editor at Black Enterprise and the founder of Let Your Voice Be Heard! Radio. You can hear Hill and her team talk millennial politics and social issues every Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.
Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @MsSelenaHill.