allowed me to start a business without a fully formulated plan because it took a huge amount of pressure off how much I would need to earn in my early years. And it trained me to think more creatively to cover business expenses, in the same ways I did with my personal expenses when I paid off $72,000 of student loans a year after graduating from my master’s program.
I don’t suggest that you need to do this, but I even took the aggressive approach of paying off my mortgage prior to 2020. This helped me think, “even if my business fails, I’ll still have the roof over my head.” Having fewer living expenses was incredibly valuable in keeping me calm while others were asking for forgiveness or forbearance on their mortgage loans during the pandemic.