In all things, I keep asking myself "why?"

Maybe it’s the engineer in me, but I need to know.

This drives my wife crazy.

It’s like dealing with a child who asks why so many times that you run out of answers.

Maybe I’m just a child, but I keep asking myself:

Why do so many entrepreneurs fail? Is that the price of being in this industry, or is it something that can be fixed?

Why do entrepreneurs spend all their time consuming content and never creating anything?

Why do they collect tips and tricks but never take action?

Why do they spend money online but never make any?

Aren’t entrepreneurs supposed to be problem-solvers? Why has nobody solved this problem?

Either it’s not a problem or it’s not worth solving.

My hunch is the latter.

Solving this problem means selling a lot less sh*tty info products about how to manifest your chakras.

A lot less headlines swipe files.

A lot less “paint by numbers" coaching products.

And it forces coaches and course creators to put skin in the game. Their stuff has to work.

As these questions are bouncing around in my head, I’ve been watching this show, the Wheel of Time.

It's a fantasy show about a group of young people, one of whom might be the reincarnation of the “chosen one” who is destined to save or destroy the world.

Pretty standard messianic archetype.

In it, the heroes are running from a powerful enemy and end up seeking refuge in an abandoned city.

There is an evil magic that lives in this place, killing anyone who trespasses against it.

While they are resting the night, one of the kids, Mat, finds an ornate knife. And he takes it with him.

The magic that infected the city has also infected this knife.

When he picks up the knife, the magic infects him, burdening everything he does over the weeks and months to come.

It changes his priorities, makes him short-tempered and angry.

And it almost kills him.

This is where a lot of entrepreneurs wind up:

A shadow of their former selves, wondering where the fun, laughter, and joyful aspects of their lives have gone.

Replaced by a sickly, anxious, and short-tempered person.

Entrepreneurship was supposed to be this amazing opportunity to sell your knowledge online. It was supposed to be fun!

But for most, it’s a pestilence that burdens them.

Even those who are “successful” are miserable.

Everybody thinks that everybody else is doing better than they actually are. Everybody thinks that the next sale will be the one that brings their happiness back.

But it never does.

So how do we solve this?

In the TV show, the darkness inside of Mat is eliminated by shedding light on it.

The same is true here.

Many of the problems in the online business world result from hiding these dark truths in the shadows where nobody will speak of them.

By shedding light on them, we can shatter their power and overcome them.

Check,

Andrew Ryder