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  • Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business

  • and a life that you love. And this is Q&A Tuesday, that means Qs and As. And today’s

  • Q comes from Miss Christina and she writes:

  • Hi Marie, I love your show. Youre my hero. My husband and I are newlyweds in our

  • early 30s working to pay off student loans, save for a house, and we want to have kids.

  • I’ve been out of work for a year due to health problems, so money is getting tight.

  • I have the option of starting a traditional tried and true business, my own law firm,

  • or my dream business involving my passion for the wedding industry. I think the law

  • firm would make money more quickly while my dream business involves more startup costs

  • and time. How do you balance the need for money to pay for a house, loans, kids, etcetera

  • with the desire to pursue a risky dream? How do you know when it’s the right time to

  • step off the safe path without jeopardizing your finances or unfairly burdening your spouse?

  • Thanks so much, Marie. Love, Christina.”

  • Christina, this is a big question and it’s a really tricky thing to tackle. And I would

  • never suggest that you get yourself into further financial hot water or risk not having kids.

  • So while I can’t tell you exactly what to do, I can tell you this.

  • Choosing a path because you think it’s safe and itll make you money will eventually

  • be deadly for your soul.

  • You know, when I started my business I was enormously in debt and I had to take on all

  • kinds of side jobs and I lived on the cheap in order to get on stable financial ground.

  • You know what? That actually took me 7 whole years. I made a lot of tough choices during

  • that time, I ate a ton of mac and cheese, and I deferred big things like buying a house.

  • And I’m so glad that I did that because here’s what I’ve learned about business

  • in 3 simple truths.

  • Truth number one, never start a business just to make money. Starting any business means

  • a ton of hard work, which I know that you know that fact. And if youre not 10 thousand

  • percent committed to it and have some degree of love towards it, it’s never gonna survive.

  • Now, yes, I know that there are people out there who start businesses just to make money

  • and some of them do succeed, but from what I’ve seen, theyre the rare exception.

  • Most people who start a business just to make money either fail or at some point end up

  • hating it and quitting. And if the business does make the kind of money that they hoped

  • for, they wind up feeling trapped and totally miserable, which does not sound like anything

  • that you want.

  • Truth number two, if you want guarantees in business you don't want a business. So starting

  • any venture does not guarantee that youre gonna be profitable. There is no such thing

  • really as a safe business, even if it’s in a traditional industry that tends to make

  • money like law. That’s why it is so important to choose one that youre going to want

  • to stick with over the long haul.

  • Truth number three, a business you don't love is bad for your health.

  • Now, obviously were just joking, but this is really serious. Weve all heard stories

  • about people that are so stressed out and they are working themselves to death. Their

  • adrenals get shot and they wind up with depression and sometimes even with heart disease and

  • worse. Now, youve mentioned that youve had health issues in the past. When it comes

  • to your wellbeing, starting a business that doesn't light you up, the one that you consider

  • the safe path, might actually be the most dangerous thing you could do.

  • So here is the bottom line, Christina. There is no such thing as a safe path. If youre

  • gonna build a business, please build a business you love. I know you want to be responsible

  • here, and yes, it is your responsibility to take care of yourself financially. And, yes,

  • you are an adult and you need to make adult choices. But it’s also your responsibility

  • to do what you were put on this earth to do. It is your responsibility to find a way to

  • express what only you came here to express. It won't be simple, it’s not going to be

  • easy, but one thing you can bet on by taking the inspiring path is that you will never,

  • ever live a day in your life saying, “what if?” And that is the safest bet that you

  • can make.

  • That was my A to your Q, Christina, I really hope it helps. And if you want my help to

  • create a business that you truly love, get yourself in B-School. It’s a world-class

  • education. We have the most extraordinary community and we have thousands of parents

  • and aspiring parents and even single parents in there. You will learn everything that you

  • need to know to get your dream business up and running the right way.

  • Now I would love to hear from you. Have you ever had to choose between thesafe

  • andinspiringpath? How did you think through that decision, and what steps did

  • you take to make it work? Now, as always, the best discussions happen after the episode

  • over at MarieForleo.com, so go there and leave a comment now. Did you like this video? If

  • so, subscribe to our wonderful channel and I would be so grateful if you shared this

  • with your friends. And if you want even more great resources to create a business and a

  • life that you love, plus some personal insights from me that I only talk about in email, come

  • on over to MarieForleo.com and make sure you sign up for email updates.

  • Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special

  • gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time

  • on MarieTV.

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business

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