10 Habits of Already KILLING It Entrepreneurs
One of the things we most tend to get ‘wrong’, when thinking about our goals and dreams, is focusing on what we think we need to do to get from where we are NOW to where we want to be. Makes sense, right? If I’m here, and my goal is over there, which step(s) should I take to move myself closer to that goal, so that eventually – one day! – I hit it?
Well it might make sense at first glance, but actually it’s an extraordinarily foolish way to try and create success. The key word of course being try – your focus is constantly on the fact that you’re not happy with where you currently are and you want to get someplace else, or ‘further’. The ‘catch’ is that because you’re always focused on where you are now, that’s where you’ll likely stay! And any progress you make will be hard fought for, and slow going. Hence, try.
Sound familiar at all?
I know for me personally I DID have levels of success when following this method. It’s certainly better than not setting goals or thinking about progress at all, that’s for sure! But the progress I had over maybe 10 years of setting and seeking my goals in this ‘old’ way was maybe 10% of the progress I had in a single year when I learned how to set goals the new way.
It’s really simple:
[pq]Start operating FROM the place you want to be. [/pq]
So if your goal is to run a 7-figure business, then ask yourself –
Who would I already be, if I had that business?
What would my day look like?
What would I be known for?
What would I no longer be doing?
And so on.
And of course you can apply these sorts of questions to any ‘one day’ goal or dream you have, not just the money ones. But it sure does work for the money ones! In fact, I’d credit the fact that I finally crossed the 7-figure income line this year to the fact that I did start thinking and also ACTING ‘as if’ rather than focusing on what I should do to GET me there.
If what I’m sharing is gelling with you, and you want to know more about how you can apply it to any and ALL of YOUR big dreams and plans, here are 10 of the habits I’ve found most essential in operating from a place of already achieved success. Most of these are habits I first learned from or observed in other successful entrepreneurs, such as my mentors and my friends, many of whom run multi-million dollar passion businesses! A great crowd to learn from for sure 🙂
1. They have a daily plan, and stick to it.
The random approach to business (or life) is not one conducive to explosive growth and nor is it conducive to sanity and enjoyment of life. Truly successful people get so much done because they know what matters, and then they do it. If you’re going to get all of your important goal-related tasks each day done and still have time leftover for family, for fun, for YOU, then you better believe you need to know your priorities and stick to ’em.
Action: stop right now (after you read this article!) and get honest with yourself about what actually matters today. No more than 3 truly IMPORTANT tasks for the day. And then do those first.
2. They have plenty of support
You’d be hard pressed to find a seriously successful entrepreneur who doesn’t have an integral support team around them. It is often a SMALL team, but it’s a team that allows them to focus on what THEY do best and have other people do the rest. A side note on this: talk to any successful entrepreneur and you’ll learn they hired support before they could ‘afford it’. I know I did, and thank God for that. You can’t GROW by waiting until you can afford to grow, have time to grow, know how to grow, and so on.
Action: hire help! Do it this week. Start small if you need to but DO IT.
3. They hang around other successful people.
This year I’ve actively removed myself or stopped really participating in several forums where the level of conversation was, I felt, below what I really wanted to feed my mind with. If you want to think like the best and BECOME the best, you need to feed your mind and thoughts with the best and you need to also PROTECT your mind from toxic and small-playing thoughts of people whose businesses and lives you don’t aspire to. You WILL either rise or fall to the level of those who you associate with, so do whatever it takes to align yourself with others who are equally or ideally MORE successful than you.
Action: buy, beg or bribe your way into the masterminds, circles, seminars, programs you know you need to be in to think and operate at a higher level!
4. They regularly invest in themselves
Part of hanging around other successful people – especially if you want up close time with people who are MORE successful than you – is paying for it. Truly great entrepreneurs pour a considerable amount of their takings back into personal growth through coaching, mentoring, attending seminars or courses, and of course doing a ton of reading for growth purposes. If you speak to those who are making 7 or 8 figures a year, or beyond, they pretty much always invested this money in themselves before they were MAKING any money. For me, I invested several hundred thousand dollars in learning before my business was making any ‘real’ money or even any money. This meant that I pretty much worked to fund my education, and racked up a 100k+ credit card and tax debt before things turned around. And I’d do it all again if I had to, as well.
Action: ask yourself what would the already ‘there’ version of you be doing when it comes to investing in education and growth?
5. They believe in themselves.
They’re not focused on whether THIS thing works, or THAT thing pays off, or how much they make or achieve by ‘x’ point, or whether working with a particular coach or doing a particular program is going to ‘turn it all around’ for them. Their focus is always on their big picture vision, and they know that it doesn’t matter what the results of any particular step along the way might be – they’re committed to BEING that successful person regardless, and they’ll take whatever steps deemed necessary along the way, regardless of the cost, time, or other investment necessary.
Action: make your decisions from a place of already KNOWING your success is a sure thing rather than fearfully wondering if those decisions are right.
6. They take care of their health and fitness, and themselves
How many TRULY successful entrepreneurs do you know who seem like a mess in terms of their self care or personal health and fitness? Sure, we all go through bouts of being ‘too busy’, but you look around at the top and those guys and girls know that a successful business takes a clear, focused and HEALTHY mind. This means eating well, moving regularly, meditating, getting enough rest, taking time out, practicing good self care and so on.
Action: stop telling yourself you don’t have time for you, and get your priorities straight sister! Start as you mean to go on!
7. They keep their mind on the vision not on the detail
It’s all very well to have a daily plan as we discussed in Step 1, but what is it based on? The very best way to live FROM a place of already being that successful entrepreneur is to start stepping into a place of ALREADY BEING THAT SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR. Ask yourself, now that you ‘are’ that person –
What do I spend my time on today?
What do I never again do (or pay someone else to do!)
What am I known for?
What kind of clients do I work with?
What time do I get up each day?
What do I do to take care of ME?
What kinds of projects am I working on right now?
What SYSTEMS do I have in place in my business to ensure things run smoothly, and money keeps coming in, with or without me running on the wheel each day?
Who are my entrepreneurial friends?
Who is my coach?
What sort of things do I now sell?
What systems or actions do I have in place to continue growing my list and my reach?
From here you can work out what the big things are you need to create or do in the next 6 and 12 months, and then determine your must-do monthly and weekly tasks. That way when you create your daily plan it is based on you being the person you now choose to be, rather than based on trying to keep your head above water in the here and now.
Action: ask the questions, and answer ’em! You MUST know your priority or power tasks each month, each week, each day, or how can you truly be effective? But also: take time each and every day to see yourself in that place of already being the you who you are now choosing to be. Write regularly about what your life now looks like, how you think and act and who you are. In my mind this is the most powerful work you can do to bring your goals to life!
8. They speak their truth.
Isn’t it true that so many of the entrepreneurs and leaders we admire are known for their reserved, shy, cautious and eager to please nature? Well yeah, in OPPOSITE WORLD! Truly successful entrepreneurs have no qualms in speaking out loud and proud about what they believe, what matters, and what it takes. They’re not worried about ‘haters’ or what other people think. They’re more likely than anything to find it amusing, and they know it’s just part of the process.
Action: start freaking well saying what you actually think! My business EXPLODED when I took the filter off on my daily and weekly messages, and better still – I easily attracted my ‘perfect’ customers, as it became pretty damn clear what I stood for and against and therefore pretty darn easy to see whether or not you align with me!
9. They’re interested in what others are doing, but their focus and energy is on themselves
Those at the top aren’t competing with anyone else at the top, and nor did they do so in order to get where they are. Oh sure, there might be some friendly ribbing or the occasional JV competition but in terms of what they’re known for and what their business is about? It’s all them. There IS no competition when you’re truly being you, because nobody else can be you nor you them!
Action: either: ignore what everybody else is doing and just focus on doing you, OR (and/or): observe what everybody else is doing and ask yourself how you can ‘do your best you’ by being different. Either way: competition does not exist, and trying to compare yourself with others is a great way to accomplish very little that actually matters or moves people!
10. They’re in it because they care, and their actions each day are based on that care
If you truly want to go BIG, your vision right down to your daily actions needs to be based on the deep passion and meaning you have within yourself rather than on ANYTHING you think you need to do in order to get ahead and make money. Those who have gone all the way with business, with money, indeed with life, have a far higher purpose than ‘success’. For them the money and the fame is nice to have for sure, but the reason they do what they do every day, the reason the’ve picked themselves up 50, 100, 1000 times to get to where they are, the reason they’ve spent so much time taking action when they can’t afford to, don’t have time, don’t know how, are worried what others might think, is because of that higher purpose. They have something that burns deep within them, and they are intent on getting it out into the world NO MATTER THE COST.
Action: get re-connected – daily – to your higher purpose. When you consciously operate from THAT place, and only THEN add in the structure, the systems, the strategy, you internally BECOME that wildly successful entrepreneur already. And all you have to do? Is let your practical reality catch up with you.
Over to you beautiful –
You can keep on keeping on, frantically busy trying to get shit done by doing what you think has to be done right now in order to push just that little bit further along today, or you can choose to step into a place of already knowing and already being.
If you WERE already that person you’re striving to be, who would you be today?
What would you be doing?
How would it all look?
Time to step forward like you mean it beautiful.
I’ve been reading your site for a while and loved everything you’ve written but this is definitely my favourite. I’m going to print this out and work towards implementing all of this this week. Thank you
Point 6 is kicking my arse right now….. Its been a really hard 12 months, the last 6 in particular.. Its easy to say who gives a shit, and have a glass or 2 of wine..
It really shows in the results… ouch….