Success at a Young Age

A few months ago I got an email from someone asking me how I became "successful at a young age." Nothing feels better than getting an email like that. It's the ultimate compliment. And while my "success" in my own eyes is certainly debatable (I think everyone defines success just a little bit differently), my reply sort of sums up my thoughts on the topic so I figured I'd share it:

Thanks for the email. I think that one of the keys to being successful at any age is finding something you love to do and figuring out how to make money doing it. In this day and age, there really isn't anything out there that people love to do that they can't find a way to make money doing. It's important to do something you love because to become successful it will likely consume your life. You will be miserable if you decide to go into business doing something that doesn't interest you. If you are going to pour your heart and soul into something, it should be something that you truly believe in and enjoy doing. In my instance, I love online business and I love sports collectible so growing my business is what I am passionate about, it's what I do for fun.

As far as being young, I actually think that it's an advantage. At a young age you don't have a wife/husband and kids, don't have a mortgage, are used to living on little income, and are used to change. All of these things can help a business succeed. I realize that there is also a downside, namely lack of experience and income, but I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

I would encourage anyone, no matter what age, to pursue what they want to do. Every few months I'll read a story in Entrepreneur magazine or somewhere online about a 15 or 16 year old who has a successful business. The Internet is the great equalizer - people don't know and don't care how old you are, how many employees you have, or how much experience you have. If you meet their needs better than anyone else, you will have customers and your business will be successful.