The 36-Month Rule for Your Side Business

I recently got an email from a coaching client who was hitting a wall. He’d been putting in the work on his new venture for three months but wasn't seeing the progress he’d hoped for. Frustration was setting in, and he started to wonder if the whole thing was a mistake. He asked the one question every person with a side hustle eventually asks: "When is it time to quit?"

It reminds me of watching Kevin O’Leary on . He’s the brutally honest one, the "Mr. Wonderful" who doesn't sugarcoat his feedback. He has no problem telling entrepreneurs their business model is flawed, whether the market is too small, the costs are too high, or the competition is just too stiff. He doesn’t want to see people waste years on something that will never work.

So, what’s my answer to that crucial question? Thirty-six months.

Your Three-Year Commitment

Here’s the rule I follow: If you work on a focused for two hours a day for thirty-six months and it hasn't moved the needle in your life, it's time to move on. That venture, whether it's land investing or any other entrepreneurial pursuit, is probably not for you.

To succeed when , you need more than just a good idea; you need grit and patience. You also have to be kind to yourself through the process. If you feel uncomfortable, that’s actually a good sign. It means you’re stretching beyond your limits. As Tim Ferriss, author of , famously said, “A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.”

Getting knocked down and still finding the determination to get better each day—that’s grit. It’s what separates a fleeting idea from a business that can change your life. Turning a employment is a marathon, not a sprint.

Finding Passion in the Outcome

When you combine a powerful "Why" with the knowledge you're building a path away from economic dependency, you create an unstoppable drive. Honestly, I don’t have a deep passion for the raw land my business is built on. My passion is for what this has given me, my family, and my clients: financial security, freedom, and the flexibility to design my own days. It’s a form of that has created the time to focus on what truly matters—my relationships, helping others, and growing as a person. This is what you can achieve when you with a clear end goal in mind.

The hard truth is that most people never achieve their dream of complete financial and time freedom. They get sidetracked by obstacles, both real and imagined. They make excuses and jump to the next shiny object or money-making trend. If you don't want to be one of them, the first step is committing to those 36 months of consistent, daily effort. The goal is to figure out in a sustainable way.

You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

This journey can be a tough, exhilarating climb. My best advice is to not go it alone. While it’s possible to figure everything out yourself, it’s much more efficient to find a mentor. Find someone who has already built the kind of life you want to build and simply follow in their footsteps. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel and suffer unnecessarily. This is especially true if you are , where mistakes can be costly. Learning from others is key to transitioning your success.

Embarking on this journey requires a long-term perspective. As the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar put it, “If you’ll do for the next three to five years what other people won’t do, you’ll be able to do for the rest of your life what other people can’t do.”