Trite bullshit below. Feel free to ignore it.
1. Everything is possible if you want it.
Before I got into this industry, it had seemed impossible to me that someone could make a living pretty much watching porn all day. A few years later, I was making a living doing just that.
Whatever it is you enjoy doing, you can probably make a good living doing just that. Just be careful, because...
2. The things you want rarely turn out to be what you imagine them to be.
Before I entered this industry, spending hours a day watching porn seemed awesome to me. A few years in, it got boring. A few years after that, awful. Now, I've mostly moved out of it, and I'm planning to be completely out of this industry in a year or two.
The best way to ruin something that you occasionally enjoy is to make it your job.
3. In business, focus matters more than anything.
Over the years, I've made thousands of sites. Some hugely successful, quite a few reasonably successful, and the vast majority complete failures. Virtually everything that failed, failed because of a lack of focus. On the other hand, the things that succeeded were all things that succeeded because I went after them with drive and energy - even if the idea behind them was mediocre.
Success is built, not born.
4. The most profitable ideas are often the most boring ones.
There's more money in low-level marketing for big pharma than there is in the entire porn industry. A content-driven blog that reaches 200 industrial decision-makers a day is more valuable than a tube that reaches 200k porn surfers a day.
5. Connections matter.
A single dinner with a friend in a position to make decisions in a large company is more valuable than a thousand cold calls. A single recommendation from someone who is trusted and well-respected in a specific industry will get you more job opportunities than a decade of experience.
6. Panta rhei.
Everything changes constantly. Ignore that fact and you'll end up trying to sell typewriters to IBM.
7. 1% of people make 99% of all things happen.
You don't have to be among that 1% to be successful, but knowing them certainly helps. Leading is best, but if you can't, following the right people will still get you to the right place. Following the wrong ones will get you nowhere.
And finally...
Imagine winning $100 million. What would you do with your life? Once you were done buying toys, sitting on the beach and drinking cocktails, what are the challenges you would want to take up in life? Are they the same things you're doing now? If not - why?
Like I said, trite bullshit. It's worked for me, though
