One of the biggest myths people have is that you need a lot of money to start, or that your passion has to be constant. From my experience in the nonprofit world, I started with something simple. I knew I wouldn’t get many donations at first and that I’d have to personally reach out to people I cared about to convince them to support my cause. But balance is key. While I’m deeply passionate about my mission, I can’t let it consume my entire life. It’s important to find a balance between growing your passion and taking care of yourself—self-care and overall wellness matter just as much.

In the world of business growth and entrepreneurial success, one of the most common myths is that entrepreneurs must work around the clock, hustling 24/7, putting in endless hours, and becoming a slave to their business for it to thrive. This belief is simply not true. It’s a classic example of working hard rather than working smart. The key to true success lies in working smarter, which actually reduces the time required. This is where strategies like leveraging systems, building effective teams, fostering a strong culture, and implementing performance tracking come into play. These tools allow entrepreneurs to focus on working on their business rather than being trapped in it, freeing up their time while still driving sustainable growth.

The common myth is that you must always follow the data, and while there’s some truth to that, I believe it’s important to first conduct a thorough audit of the data. You need to understand what the data is really telling you, how complete it is, how clean it is, and how well it connects to the broader picture before taking action. In the nonprofit sector, I often see decisions being made based on incomplete data because it’s all that can be tracked. For instance, I recently worked with a client who was about to make significant changes to their marketing strategy based solely on the data they pulled from their CRM, without considering the bigger picture.