commirzaCom Mirza, also known as the $500 Million Man, started out small with a lemonade stand. Since then, he’s launched tons of businesses. After multiple failures and bankruptcies, Mirza hit his stride. Now, he lives the good life. Through Mirza Ventures, Com invests in more than 20 different companies–all while spending his time in countries all over the world. What can we learn from Mirza’s journey from humble lemonade stand to multi-million dollar sucess? Read on to find out.

1. Start now

Whether you’re young, old, broke, a student, or stuck in a job–now is the time to start working towards your goals. Com Mirza didn’t wait until he had a degree or until he had some “extra time.” He constantly searched for entrepreneurship opportunities.
Learn from Mirza and stop making excuses. Write down your goals and start doing at least one thing every day that moves you towards that goal. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing something big or small. Just doing somethingis enough to get you started.

2. Create a daily ritual

One of the best ways to stay on top of things and improve your productivity during the day is to create a daily ritual. Com Mirza isn’t the only person who does this–hundreds of CEOs and successful entrepreneurs swear by their rituals.
Need help making one? Here are daily routines of 7 entrepreneurs to help get you started.

3. Word hard (but more importantly, work smart)

The $500 Million Man believes in working hard. But, let’s be honest, anyone can work hard. Mirza knows this. That’s why he advocates not only working hard, but working smart. This means finding better ways to do things in less time. Your goal shouldn’t be to just get something done–it should be to get it done in a consistent, efficient, and intelligent manner. Here are 10 things highly productive people don’t do. Stop grinding. Start working smart instead.

4. Don’t let failure stop you

Com Mirza likes to say he failed more times than Thomas Edison did when he was inventing the lightbulb. Mirza went bankrupt and had numerous unsuccessful businesses during his journey. But he didn’t stop.
In a study among school children the best determiner of success in classes was not IQ, but rather grit. Someone who has grit thinks long-term. They don’t let failures get in their way. Their motivation allows them to endure hardship no matter what. Com Mirza has grit. It allowes him to push past his failures and drives him to success. Be someone with grit and don’t let failures stop you.

5. Give back

Com Mirza dedicates much of his time to philanthropy–to giving back to communities and helping others. He supports organizations that save lives. Don’t worry–you don’t need to do anything that grand. You could start by volunteering some time each week to helping others. This will help keep you grounded. It promotes gratefulness. Volunteering will keep you spiritually healthy too.

6. Always be learning

It’s important that one never stops learning. Wondering the best way to learn? Reading. Yes, books. They’re not too expensive and they are filled with more value than you’d believe. Some of the smartest people in history have poured their lessons into words set into the pages of books. Remember that daily ritual we talked about? Schedule at least 15 minutes a day to reading books that will contribute to your goals. Do this for at least a week. Try speed reading too. You’ll be amazed by how much you can learn from just a little bit of reading each day.
Need some books to read? Check out this list of life-changing autobiographies.

7. Make the right decisions

It can be hard to make the right decisions. Sometimes you’ll mess up. That’s okay. Remember number four: don’t let failures stop you. At the same time, it’s important that you don’t make your decisions blind. You should be confident in your decisions and try to make the best ones possible.
Here’s a little exercise from the $500 Million Man. You’ll need a pen and paper. Now write down all of the big decisions you need to make on your way towards your goal. For each decision, write down why you are making the decision. If you can’t come up with any good reasons, then don’t do it.
If you can come up with good reasons, shut off your device and act on it now.
Fortune values the quick.