Mark Cuban is iconic in the world of business. He has successfully built and sold multiple businesses since his early 20s and is estimated to be worth $3 billion dollars to this day. Now as much as we can relish about his accomplishments with various projects such as “broadcast.com,” the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theaters, and even Shark Tank, what we love about him is his philosophy of being a well-minded entrepreneur. Many Americans try to live the dream of creating, operating, and managing their own business. But what they run into is the lack of drive and willingness-to-sacrifice everything to achieve their goal. For Mark Cuban, he believes in sacrifice, education, and long-term planning. It is these three simple concepts that have allowed him to become the self-made billionaire that he is today.

“Work like there is someone working twenty four hours a day to take it all away from you.”

The one thing you can see from Mark Cuban is his control and focus with his work ethics. Mark Cuban has said countless times that, “you don’t start a company unless it is an obsession and something you love. If you have an exit strategy, it is not an obsession.” This sacrifice of obsessing over your business is what he embodies every single day. He believes in this idea whole-heartedly and knows what it takes to eat, sleep, and work for success. In his early 90s, Mark moved back to Pittsburg and took a job with Mellon Bank. Having seen the growth that technology had over the past few years, Mark immersed himself in computers and networking. After leaving Pittsburg and moving to Dallas, Texas, Mark decided to form his own consulting business, MicrosScolutions, which eventually lead to the start of success within the tech industry.

Now the moral of the story is not simply to the idea of leaving a job, packing up to Dallas, and hoping for the best. Rather, it is about investing every ounce of your energy into something that you believe in. Just like Mark Cuban, successful entrepreneurs do not simply go into their business half-minded with an exit strategy already lined up. Instead, they invest as much as possible. Whether it is their time, money, or life to the business, Mark Cuban would simply see this as the real commitment to your work.

In addition to commitment, education played a large role for Mark’s success. For Mark, it wasn’t simply the concept of being paid for doing a good job, but learning and gaining the necessary knowledge from every job that he worked at. Many people find themselves in positions that they see as stepping-stones for the future. For Mark, every moment was an opportunity to learn and grow professionally. His interest of computers developed way before the $6 billion buy out with Yahoo. It began in Dallas when he was selling software. Deciding that it was time to move, Mark took those necessary sales tactics and knowledge of computers to invest him in the field. It eventually led to not just a success in the early 90s, but also a path to the tech world. Learning from every job is key to ones success. As much as risk and luck plays a role in finding the winning jackpot, the drive to learn, create, and grow will allow you to shape your business in the most positive way.

Now the last thing we learn from Mark in the entrepreneur world is to simply have a long-term plan. Yes, the idea of creating an online sports platform in the early days of the Internet would of course be a hit, but it wouldn’t have happened if Mark and his partners didn’t foresee the potential their idea had for their future. Having an initial end-goal to your business will be key to any success. It will spark the drive when times are tough. It will inspire the masses to hold everyone grounded. Last but not least, it will wake you up and push you to the best version of yourself.