“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t!”
I recently heard a great analogy of how entrepreneurship is like parenting. I am not a parent yet. However, I do have a lot of friends with kids and this seems about right:
– The first two years are not that easy.
– No one really cares as much as you do.
– It is very hard to outsource.
– If you knew what it entailed you might not get started. But you are glad you did.
– If you don’t make time for yourself it won’t happen.
– You get tested in ways you never thought possible.
– And it is harder than anyone expects but it is the best thing ever.
The list goes on but I am sure you get the picture.
You see, entrepreneurship is not easy. It may be simple, but it is not easy.
If it was that easy EVERYONE would be a successful entrepreneur!
There are levels to it. And along with these levels comes growth.
Here are the 5 things we live by as entrepreneurs and trust me, we hold on to these as they are needed on every level throughout this journey.
1. Personal Development
The first trait of any successful entrepreneur is that they grow their mind on a daily basis.
Investing in yourself is the best investment you can make. As a result, you will grow in order to push yourself to reach your highest potential.
For example, if I did not immerse myself in personal development I honestly would not be able to handle half of life’s lessons.
Personal development taught me how powerful words are, how thoughts become things, how important it is to find the positive in every situation and so much more. I could probably write a blog on that alone. (mmm, great idea)
The 3 ways I develop my mind every day is through reading, listening to audios and affirmations.
1.READING
I was never a big reader, however, I had to teach myself to like it.
I always heard people say that readers and leaders. And that is exactly what I wanted to be!
It wasn’t until I found books that completely blew me away and that I could not put down that I got into it and made it part of my daily routine.
There are so many books out there, but I would totally recommend Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Act Like A Success, Think Like a Success by Steve Harvey and Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
2.AUDIOS
Secondly, I grow my mind through audios. This is anything from Ted Talks to YouTube videos or podcasts.
I am not a big fan of listening to things, because I am more visual and can remember things better when I see it.
Some people find audios more helpful especially when it comes to listening to audio books instead of reading them. I usually listen to audios while I am cooking, cleaning or at the gym.
My top 5 Podcasts in no specific order:
- Brendon Burchard
- Lewis Howes – The School of Greatness
- Robin Sharma – The Mastery Sessions
- Impact Theory
- Tony Robbins
3.AFFIRMATIONS & VISUALIZATION
The Law of Attraction is a real thing!
Even in Proverbs 23:7 it says ‘As a man thinks, so is he.‘
What you think about, you bring about. In other words, thoughts become things.
Why is this SO powerful?
Well, too often people’s thoughts are on negative things, the things they can’t get or do. Negative self-talk!
Successful entrepreneurs practice positive affirmations daily. I personally like to do this in the morning.
Affirmations reinforce the success and results you want to create in your life.
They are positive statements and can easily be replaced when negative thoughts creep into your head!
For example, just like we exercise our body, we need to exercise our mind!
I love ‘I AM’ affirmations.
Here is a couple of examples:
- I am successful in everything that I do.
- I am having fun empowering others with my expertise and knowledge
- I am confident
- I am creative and think outside the box
In addition, let’s talk about VISUALIZATION for a second.
We are all actually experts at this already, however most of the time we visualize the wrong thing.
The worst outcomes, the things you don’t want and worries about what could happen in the future.
Visualization can be very powerful in your life when used for the right things.
Here are a couple of steps on how to visualize your dream life, your desires:
1. Sit in a quiet place and close your eyes.
2. See the things that you WANT in your life. Don’t hold back – be bold! It can be ANYTHING!
3. See you dream life from the moment you wake up till the moment you go to sleep.
4. See how you already accomplished that goal you are working on right now.
5. Feel it – how does this make you feel, see the expression on your face.
6. If you have materialistic goals like a specific house or car, see that house, see yourself driving in your car.
7. Visualize the people you have around you.
The picture of what you want in life has to be SO clear! And you have to believe that it is yours!
2. Be Persistent & Consistent
Ok, those are 2 different topics, so technically it is 6 things but I feel that these go hand in hand.
Success almost always takes longer than expected.
It is hard to not see success right away or that things are moving.
This can be really difficult and start to play tricks on your mind.
You will feel like quitting or get all up on your feelings (like Kiki – just kidding) but you have to keep that goal in mind and persist.
NO MATTER WHAT!
Don’t give up too soon! Most people quit right before they achieve success. Literally one or two steps too soon.
97% of the people who quit too soon are employed by the 3% who never gave up
What about being CONSISTENT?
A successful entrepreneur shows up every day, no matter what.
You do that one thing over and over again no matter what obstacle will come your way.
And yes, I used the word WILL because there will be obstacles.
There will be failures.
You have to plan for those failures in order to know how you can get back on track when things do not quite go as planned.
This is NOT where you QUIT!
What often happens though is that people strive for perfection instead of being consistent. It is all or nothing with them and when the obstacles come they have no idea how to bounce back.
Let’s not confuse consistency with perfection. It’s not the same thing.
Consistency is DOING things.
Perfection will make you think and think some more and you never DO anything
3. Take Action
Let’s take a moment to acknowledge Pablo Picasso for his wisdom.
He said: ‘‘Action is the foundational key to all success”
How true is that!
Imagine Picasso thought about all the amazing paintings he could create.
He saw the brushes and paint he would use.
The size of the canvas and exactly what picture he would paint, he imagined, but he never dipped his brush in the paint.
As a result, he never started painting.
Now, he could have told everyone what he will paint but if he never took ACTION would that still make him Picasso? NOPE!
Just because you are THINKING about your business and all the action steps that need to be taken does not mean that you will be successful.
You need to take all out, massive action!
Remember: An inch of movement will bring you closer to your goal than a mile of intention.
Procrastination plays a big part in people not succeeding.
It was one of THE main things I struggled with every single day of my life. It was by far the biggest obstacle holding me back from success.
Well, my friend, you need to learn how to procrastinate on procrastination.
4. Surround yourself with the right people
Success is not all about having money, nice cars, and fancy clothes.
Those are all great and things you may strive for which is nothing wrong with.
And I believe if you have a specific money goal that you should be around people who inspire you to make more money and have what you want in order to get where you desire to be.
However, success is different for everyone.
In addition, I believe that people with integrity, honesty, positivity, who are goal-oriented, trustworthy, optimistic and lift others up are the kind of people you want to be around. Also, those who help others and give back!
That too represents success. And they are very important traits to have as a human being and successful entrepreneur.
You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time.
Take a look at your circle. It may be time for you to change your circle in order to level up!
5. Have fun
I saved the best for last.
You have heard the quote by Marc Anthony where he says: ‘If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.’
While I do agree with that, I also believe you can’t just love what you do. You have to put in the work and become really good at what you are doing. There are responsibilities and commitments that need to be met.
The first way to have fun is to make work part of your life.
The part where a lot of people do not have fun is “putting in the work” part.
A lot of times that is because they make work their life. Not PART of their life!
Separate work from your personal life!
The second way is to have the expectation that not every single day will be fun.
There will be obstacles. Because the road to success is not a straight line. It is pretty curvy, trust me.
But that is when you need to know WHY you started doing what you are doing in the first place.
Focus on the purpose, how you are helping people and contributing to make the world a better place. Also, how you are doing it for the freedom you deserve!
When you take a moment to reflect and focus on ALL the other days you’re having fun you will realize that this one day, where you’re not having fun, is really not so bad!
The third way and this is my absolute go-to for having fun, is to go on a vacation.
Travel is life (in my opinion at least). There is nothing like working hard, reaching your goals and taking a break.
Getting out of your daily routine and environment will help tremendously. As a result, you will be more creative, de-stress and see things from a different perspective. You will feel energized and enthusiastic about building your business.
Our personal goal is to go on vacation every month, even it is for only 4 days.
If we can’t do that then it is definitely every second month.
There is nothing like going to an all-inclusive, sitting back, not thinking about anything and just enjoying it!
SUMMARY
So, there you go. These are my 5 (or 6) things that I believe every entrepreneur must do to be successful.
Now keep in mind, I can not guarantee you success. But after learning from many very successful entrepreneurs they always recommend exactly this!
1. Do personal development daily.
2. Be persistent and consistent.
3. Take all out massive action.
4. Surround yourself with the right people.
5. Have fun while building your empire.
