The Truth About Why Some Founders Thrive While Others Just Survive
Have you ever wondered why some entrepreneurs seem to generate unstoppable momentum while others stay stuck in endless cycles of hard work with little progress?
I’ve spent years working with founders and discovered something remarkable: success isn’t about working harder or even smarter. It’s about momentum – that magical force that makes progress feel almost effortless once you have it.
But here’s the painful truth many founders face: You can work incredibly hard and still have zero momentum.
You know the feeling. You’re putting in the hours. You’re making the calls. You’re building the product. Yet somehow, success still feels just out of reach – like you’re pushing a boulder uphill that never quite reaches the top.
If that sounds familiar, you’re likely making one (or all) of the three critical momentum-killing mistakes that plague even the smartest entrepreneurs – including me.
Let me walk you through them – and show you exactly how to start fixing them.
Momentum-Killing Mistake #1: Your Dreams Are Too Safe
“Most people don’t set goals based on what they truly desire. Instead, they set goals based on what feels achievable.”
Here’s a question that changed everything for one of my clients: Who decides what’s possible for you?
Is it:
- Your current circumstances?
- What you think you can achieve?
- Your available resources?
- Your past experiences?
- What others have told you is “realistic”?
If you answered yes to any of these, you’ve found your first momentum-killer.
The Painful Reality:
When you set “reasonable” goals based on what feels achievable right now, you’re actually programming yourself for mediocrity. Your brain and your team will only generate enough energy to reach that “reasonable” target.
I worked with a founder who kept setting “ambitious but realistic” revenue goals of 15% growth year-over-year. His team always hit those targets… and never exceeded them.
When I pushed him to set a goal that actually scared him (tripling revenue in 18 months), something remarkable happened. His team immediately began thinking differently. They stopped tweaking their existing approach and started completely reimagining their business model.
The result? They hit that “unrealistic” goal in 24 months.
The Quick Fix:
Ask yourself this question: “If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I actually want to create?”
Write down that answer without filtering it through the lens of your current resources, skills, or circumstances.
Then ask: “What would need to be true for this to become reality?”
This simple shift puts you back in the driver’s seat. Instead of letting current limitations dictate your future, you’re declaring what you want and then figuring out how to get there.
Remember: Elon Musk didn’t wait until he had all the resources to revolutionize space travel. He declared his vision first, then figured out how to make it happen.
Momentum-Killing Mistake #2: You’ve Become a Spectator in Your Own Story
“Why does a pen fall? You could say, ‘Because of gravity.’ And you’d be right, but that answer leaves you as a spectator in your own life.”
Let me ask you something uncomfortable: When things don’t go as planned in your business, what’s your first explanation?
- “The market conditions changed.”
- “The economy is tough right now.”
- “Our competitors undercut us.”
- “The team just isn’t executing.”
These explanations might be technically true. But they’re also the exact reason you’re stuck.
The Painful Reality:
Every time you explain results using factors outside your control, you mentally position yourself as a powerless spectator rather than an active creator of your circumstances.
I worked with a founder who constantly blamed “slow decision-making processes in enterprise clients” for missed sales targets. His explanation was perfectly reasonable – and completely useless for creating change.
When we shifted his perspective to “I haven’t created enough urgency in our sales process,” everything transformed. He developed a new approach that compressed the sales cycle by 64% and achieved their MRR goal in just 6 weeks – which initially he wanted to achieve in 1 year.
The circumstances hadn’t changed. His relationship to them had.
The Quick Fix:
Next time something doesn’t go as planned, ask yourself:
“How am I creating or allowing this result?”
This isn’t about blaming yourself. It’s about reclaiming your power.
For every challenge you’re facing, find the part you own:
- Revenue down? “I haven’t found the right message for the current market.”
- Team not performing? “I haven’t created clear enough promises they have given freely to me.”
- Product not selling? “I haven’t truly connected with what customers need right now.”
This simple reframing transforms you from spectator to player – from someone watching life happen to someone making it happen.
Momentum-Killing Mistake #3: Your Communication Lacks Crisp Clarity
“Imagine walking into a restaurant and telling the waiter, ‘I want healthy food.’ What are they supposed to do with that?”
Here’s a brutal truth many founders miss: Vague communication kills momentum faster than almost anything else.
If you regularly use phrases like:
- “As soon as possible”
- “Best quality”
- “Good results”
- “More growth”
- “Better performance”
…then you’ve identified your third momentum-killer.
The Painful Reality:
When you communicate in fuzzy, imprecise language, you create three devastating problems:
- Team misalignment: Everyone interprets your words differently, creating confusion and conflicting efforts.
- Wasted energy: Your team spends precious time trying to figure out what success actually looks like.
- Frustration cycles: Work gets redone multiple times because the target keeps shifting.
I worked with a founder who kept telling his product team to make their app “more user-friendly.” After three months and countless revisions, everyone was frustrated.
When we got specific – “Reduce the steps to complete a purchase from 7 to 3 by April 15th” – the team delivered in just two weeks.
The difference? Crystal clear communication that left no room for interpretation.
The Quick Fix:
Imagine every word costs you $100. How would that change what you say?
For every goal or request, apply this three-part test:
- Specific outcome: What exactly should be different when complete?
- Clear timeline: By when precisely?
- Success measure: How will we know we’ve succeeded?
Instead of “increase engagement,” say “increase daily active users from 3,000 to 5,000 by March 31st.”
Instead of “improve quality,” say “reduce customer-reported bugs by 75% by the end of Q2.”
This level of clarity creates immediate momentum because everyone knows exactly where they’re going and when they need to arrive.
The Momentum Transformation
When you fix these three mistakes, something remarkable happens. Instead of pushing harder for incremental gains, you create a momentum engine that pulls you forward.
One founder I worked with implemented these three shifts and saw more progress in 90 days than in the previous two years. His words: “It feels like we finally have the wind at our backs instead of in our faces.”
Ready to create unstoppable momentum in your business? Here’s your 7-day plan:
Day 1: Write down your boldest, most exciting vision without filtering it through current limitations.
Day 2: For your biggest current challenge, identify how you’re creating or allowing it.
Day 3: Rewrite your top three business goals using the specific outcome/timeline/measure format.
Days 4-6: Share these with your team and refine them together.
Day 7: Commit to one “unreasonable” action that could create a breakthrough.
What Happens Next?
Founders who complete this 7-day process typically experience:
- Greater team alignment and energy
- Faster decision-making
- Clearer priorities
- And most importantly – momentum that makes each week more productive than the last
Will it be easy? No. Will it be worth it? Absolutely.
Remember, the difference between thriving and merely surviving isn’t how hard you work – it’s whether you have momentum working for you or against you.
Which will you choose?
Ready to create unstoppable momentum in your business? This is just the beginning. For a deeper dive into creating momentum, join our 5-day Immediate Momentum Challenge where we’ll work through these principles in detail. Sign up now and get immediate access to simple and immediately actionable bonuses and goodies even before the Challenge starts.