3 Things To Keep You From Throwing In The Towel As An Entrepreneur

I was listening to a podcast with one of my mentors, Joe Polish, & Dan Sullivan (another true Rockstar) the other day and they brought up a point that ran very true with me.

We all get stuck at times and things don’t seem to go right.

Dan & Joe’s conversation was about the thought that if you knew it was going to be this hard when you first started you’d not likely have ever become entrepreneurs.

This is true of so many of us. I know for me there have been days that I wonder why I even started.

Here’s 3 things that I do when I start to get stuck that helps me keep the drive going and reminds me of why being an entrepreneur is what I’m meant to do…

Stop and write out WHY you do what you do
Don’t just think about it. There’s something powerful about writing it out. It helps you not only remember why you started your business but rekindles the excitement you had.

I remember when I first was introduced to personal development. It was the first time I had been told to start a journal and to write “as if”. In other words. Write out your perfect day. What does your business look like? How much money is it making? What kinds of clients are you working with and helping? What results are they getting by you helping them?

When I started this journal, my business started growing at lightning speed. In fact, it tripled in under 6 months.

Think about the results you want. What does your perfect business look like? How are adding value?

By writing all this stuff out from the future mindset (what it will look like after you’ve already achieved it) you’re programming your mind to accept it like that. You’re also activating your Reticular Activating System (RAS).

RAS is the part of your brain that causes top of mind awareness.

Ever see a new car that you just love and then the int he next week you see a that model of car all over? The cars were there all the time but once you made it top of mind, your brain started keeping on the lookout for that type of car.

Same thing in for your business. Once you set your mind to look for your perfect clients, perfect location, perfect employee, etc, it’s like a radar searching for those things. It’s much easier to find something once you know what you’re looking for.

Go back and read testimonials from clients
The other day I was going through some Linked-In stuff and saw my recommendations on Linked-In These are the actual testimonials people have given me about my coaching, teaching, live presentations, courses, etc.

I’ll tell you that reading those testimonials really helped me appreciate all that I’ve done and who I’ve been able to help. It got me excited again about what I do and why I’m on this planet!

Read some of of the greats
Tony Robbins, Zig Zigler, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, etc. Pick your icon and you’ll see that they all have had huge setbacks, failures, frustrations and pitfalls.

And every one of them made it through to to result in greatness.
I try to keep this in mind every time I start to get down about my business. Just about the time I think it’s time to give up, something reminds me that no amount of greatness has ever been achieved without intense amounts of hard work and struggle. That’s just life!

With persistence and drive, we all come out on the other end creating massive results.

Watch documentaries of successful people.
Listen to audio programs by them and read their books.

I personally read at least one book about mindset and success per month. It reminds me that we all have struggle and run into pitfalls.

The people you look up to were where at one time where you are now.

These three things have helped me for years to keep in the positive and push me through when things start getting tough.

I believe we’re all here to for a purpose on this Earth. For those of us that become entrepreneurs, it’s to create something and add value to the world in some way.

The next time you get stuck, remember that you’re here for a reason and that you’re not alone. We’re all here for you!
🙂

Photo Credit: Michal Koralewski

How To Take Action In A World Of Indecision

Ok, So We’re in 2014 now. Congratulation for making it another year!

Every year we have new goals, new adventures and of course resolutions.
This year, I’m calling this the year of decision.

The last few months I’ve looked around at some of the things that have stood out over the last 12 months and I found that one thing that stood out more than anything out can be summed up into one word…

Indecision.

Think about the phrases you hear from people all around you (including yourself)

“I don’t know”
“Let me think about”
“I don’t care, you decide”
“It doesn’t matter to me”
And the list goes on.

Right now, I think we’re living in a world where people tend to not want to commit to anything. They spend more time thinking than doing.

If you’re in the corporate world, you see it in weekly meetings, boards, committees and the the like.

As entrepreneurs, we run it no it with employees not taking responsibility and just showing up to act like monkeys. No critical thinking.

And of course, we see it with prospects and clients. They need more time to think about things. They want to talk it over. What used to take one 30 minute conversation now takes 3-4 hour long meetings to get them to take action.

And of course, we see it in ourselves.

“Do we jump on that new marketing opportunity?”
“Do we hire the new person that we know we need?”
“Do we make a plan AND take action on the new joint venture opportunity sitting in front of up?”

I know business owners that have been “working” on their website for 6 months but still don’t have something live for prospects to look at.

I know entrepreneurs that take 3-4 months just to plan out how their new business will look. Meanwhile, the opportunities sitting right in front of them slip by.

It’s everywhere. Some times I wonder how we ever get anything done in today’s society. Most of the time, we just “think” about things instead of making a decision and moving forward.

There is something different that I see with the most successful people though. They make decisions fast.

You’ve heard the phrase “Fail Forward Fast” right?
It’s about taking action and readjusting as needed. Not thinking about it,

Most of the most successful people you find out in almost every industry will all tell you to make a decision and run with it as fast as possible. You will make mistakes. You will fall.

What matters most is that you get back up and learn from those mistakes. Don’t live in a world of indecision and never actually do anything.

So, stop and look at the last 12 months. Have you suffered from not being able to make a decision? If so, I have a simple and EASY solution for you.

There’s nothing scientific about it.
It doesn’t require more than about 30 seconds to help you make that decision immediately.
It doesn’t require talking to a board of advisers.
It’s about taking action and not getting paralyzed by indecision.

Ready…

Here it is…
Get a Magic 8 Ball!

Seriously. I told you it’s not anything hard.

You’ve seen them before as a kid you might have had one. In fact, you can even get an app for your phone.

It’s simple, ask a question and let the magic 8 Ball answer it for you. No “Thinking about it”. Just make the decision and do it!

“But what about all the information I need to know to make a good decision?”

You don’t need it! Plain and simple, you know the answer. You know what you should be doing and most of the time, your gut is already telling you the right choice. You’re just not listening to it.

We need to make more decisions and run with them. Learn from them and take action.

I’ve made it a rule that if I need to make a decision and I can’t decide within 5 seconds, I pull out the Magic 8 Ball and let it decide for me.

Think about it, what would you do with all that extra time you have by not thinking so much on if you should or if you shouldn’t. Imagine all the extra time you could spend on actually doing the thing instead of thinking about the thing.

You’d see more results. (some bad but most will be good)
You’d learn more.
You’d get more productive.
You’d see more growth in yourself and your business.
You’d get more done in your day.

In a world if indecision, the person taking action and deciding is the one that will stand out, be seen as a leader and reap the rewards of their actions.

So, make 2014 the year of decision for yourself. Stop spending so much time thinking about it and just do the things you need to do.

If in doubt, the Magic 8 Ball can be your guide.
🙂

Are you Juggling Way To Much Stuff?

As I just had my 40th birthday and we’re heading into the holiday season, I keep being reminded of how complicated we all tend to make things in life.

In the last 6 months, I’ve been looking at how I run my business and taking inventory of what actions I take each day. After doing this for a bit, I’ve come to one conclusion…

That’s a lot of crap!

Yup, I’m doing a lot of stuff every day, from writing, recording lessons, commenting and replying on social media, going to meetings, speaking, having calls with potential clients, etc.

I’ve come to realize that it’s time to really streamline what I do and quit juggling so many things.

I’ve vowed to stop creating new programs and focus more energy on getting my programs in front of more people.

I’m also looking at my daily activities and have found that one thing that I actually really enjoy doing it writing.

So, one of my major 2014 goals is to write more. I have a few books in my brain (one of which got put on the back burner over a year ago) and I think it’s time for me to get those out to the the world.

As we’re ending out the year, I think it’s a great time to reflect on what you want out of 2014. But not just what you want more of (like we usually do) but also what you are going to give up on as well. What are the things you are going to eliminate from your activities.

One of the best ways I’ve heard to to take this on is from Larry Winget. He’s one of my favorite people and has been a huge influence in the way I look at things around me.

As he puts it, you have to not just figure out what you want, but also what you’re going to give up in order to get it.

For me, I want more income and less stress with growing my business. In order to do that, I’m focusing on getting rid of many of the activities that aren’t giving me the most return (financially and emotionally). I’m giving up on creating more products. (I already have a bunch of courses and programs, no need for more).

What I’m going to do is focus on the things that I enjoy more and that will get my name out there. (Books, speaking, guest interviews, guest writing, etc)

Once I stopped and thought about it, I love doing those things and they will bring much better results than creating another shiny new course.

This isn’t hard or complicated stuff. But that’s exactly why I believe it will work. It’s actually quite simple and will streamline what I do to what I enjoy more while creating better results.

Think about your goals for 2014. What do you want to accomplish by this time next year?

And… what are you going to get rid of in order to make it happen?

It’s time to stop the juggling act.

Why I Think Retirement Is Overrated

Just last night I was attending a Young Professionals group and a couple of us got into the conversation of retirement. It’s come up a lot lately with a few people all over the board and I think I shock most of them with my response.

I don’t ever want to retire!

But that’s because I love what I do. I know what I was put on this earth to do and I have a blast doing it.

Have you ever had someone ask this question: “What would you do if money wasn’t an issue?”

Well, I’m happy to say that this is it. I love teaching. I love learning. I love writing and I REALLY love speaking & inspiring others.

I don’t remember who originally said this but once of my favorite quotes is “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

I totally agree with that. That doesn’t mean it will be easy of you won’t have to work for it. But, when you love what you do, you’re more motivated to get up in the morning. You’re more willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. You’re also more happy and have a smile on your face.

Though I don’t really do it any more, in the past it’s not been uncommon for me to work 12-15 hours a day for a month straight. Yes, it was exhausting but I knew what had to be done and I really loved doing it so it helped me push through and get it done.

If you’re an entrepreneur (and I think we all are to some degree anymore) you have to spend more time in your job. Whatever that may be. You have to try harder, work longer and add more value if you want to get ahead.

See, so many people feel that retirement is their reward for being miserable of 40 years and then they get to sit around and do nothing important. I look at it different. I want to contribute each and every day. I want to see what I can do to change the world.

And… I don’t want to ever lose that drive. I talk about Infectious Drive a lot. It’s what gets you going, keeps you energized, draws in clients and builds partnerships.

What if you looked at life as an adventure that you always want to be on? That’s how I’m looking at things right now and I can tell you it’s very liberating. I have a mission. I know what I want and there is no end. I’m not looking for the endgame. I’m looking for the next piece of the adventure.

I’d challenge you to try looking at your life like that for a day and see how things happen. What can you do differently that will get you to love the adventure of each and every day.

Think Win-Win-Win

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been on a huge push to move back to one of my favorite ways to grow my business. It’s through collaboration.

I know, that’s nothing new and exciting.

It’s not the next “How to make millions on Facebook” type of thing. It’s a simple thing that we all know about. The question is how to make it effective and really use it. Many times I think people forget the actual meaning of it and that it’s not all about how them.

You can talk about referral partners, joint ventures, etc. They all mean the same basic thing… Like minded people working together for a common goal. But, there are a few principles that I think get lost a lot in the translation of building these kinds of relationships.

Any time I go into a relationship with someone I look at the 30,000 foot view. Of course, I want to get something out of it. Even the great feeling I get from helping someone else out is a win. But you’ve got to look at it from a “Win-Win-Win” scenario.

When I’m looking to work with someone, I want to look at what’s in it for them? What do they get out of the relationship?

Just yesterday, I had a joint workshop with another great business owner here in the area. We know each other from our local Chamber and we talked about doing a workshop together that we could cross promote with.

When I think of things like this, here’s my thought process:

He wins, because he gets to share his knowledge with people in the room that don’t know him already.

He wins because he has an opportunity to get new clients

I win because I’m helping share new information to the people on my list. They see the value I add by working with him.

I win because I also get in front of new people to share great information and potentially get new clients.

Then… The most important part:
The attendees win. They get additional knowledge from both of us. They now learn something new that they likely didn’t know yesterday.

Everyone walks away with some kind of value added to their lives. This is always the most important part of any collaborative project you do.

Some times we tend to forget that it’s not just about us.

I get people all the time that want me to promote them. I know a couple of guys that are consistently pushing to get me to promote them. They think that the whole reason I’d promote them is that I’d make a lot of money from affiliate commissions.

Problem is that money isn’t my only motivational factor. I’m looking at if it’s a good fit for my audience. Is it something that they will see value in? That’s more important to me than anything else.

Remember that collaboration is an amazing way to grow your business. It’s one of my favorites but you have to look at the big picture and see how it’s going to be a fit for everyone involved.

Stop and think of how you are approaching people to collaborate with them. Is it a win for everyone? What do they really want? It’s not always about the money. Sometimes, it’s about more than that.

You’ve got to create value for everyone involved.

If it’s not a win-win-win, it’s a no deal.