Does this scenario sound familiar to those of us that have children?
"OK," I asked my son. "Where is the homework you are supposed to turn in today?"
"That is due today? Really?" he responded offhandedly.
"Yes, you knew it was due today. I have reminded you several times this week, remember?” I replied.
I could see he was trying to figure out how to get around the fact that he had forgotten to get his homework done on the due date. Some excuse was coming and sure enough…
"Oh yeah, I remember," he answered, "but I had hockey practice for two nights and we went out to dinner with family that one night, remember that?"
My response, "But what about all the extra time you seemed to have to play video games and surf Facebook?"
He replied with a sheepish grin "Oh, yeah, I guess I could have done it then."
How many times have you done this with your business? I read a book not long ago entitled “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson and the common theme of the book revolves around the small decisions we make every day and the impact those decisions have on our lives. For example, if you choose your food unwisely, will it kill you today? Obviously, the answer is no. And the same is true in the reverse, if you choose wisely will you feel like you are going to live to be 100 on that particular day? No. But if you choose your food wisely every day for an extended period of time, it will impact your health LONG TERM.
The same is true within your business. If you take small, positive steps every day to grow your business, it will have a long term impact on the growth of your business. Using a quote from Jim Rohn, “when giving the choice of "easy to" and "easy not to" make sure that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, "easy"; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.”
Success is easy to achieve but it also easy not to achieve when you choose to not take action within your business. So many times we simply talk ourselves out of doing what is necessary that day. You may blame personal issues, lack of time, household chores, etc. You are just laying the blame somewhere else instead of taking responsibility for your success. On the other hand, if you choose wisely instead of looking for excuses as to why you can’t do something, you will see a marked difference in your level of success.
So, what are some core values that all successful entrepreneurs have?
1. Action Oriented
Bottom line, those that take action and those that do not is the biggest difference in those who are successful and those who either claim success or they are seeking it. I see so many people searching for information daily, they absorb it and believe they are taking action. They are constantly being taken in by the next best thing in a vast sea of information on the Internet and they never apply what they learned to their business.
Let’s contrast that with a successful entrepreneur. They learn something useful and they immediately apply it to their business.
If you sound like the first example, don’t despair. Take a deep breath and ask yourself “what can I do TODAY for my business?” Write it down and maybe even share it with someone so that you are held accountable to your plan. But if you put it off until tomorrow or next week, you will forever be delaying your “success”. STAY FOCUSED and apply a set of small, specific tasks to your daily routine.
2. Kicking Fears and Doubts in the Keister
You cannot allow your fears of failure or lack of knowledge to paralyze you from taking action. If you wait for everything to be “perfect”, trust me it won’t happen. Over the years, I have heard a lot of young couples say they aren’t going to have a child or buy a home until they have saved “enough money”. Waiting for that perfect time is simply wasting time. That is time you could have spent building your business and generating income for you and your family. There is no such thing as the “perfect time”. The perfect time is EVERY DAY! Time is one of those things we cannot recover so do not waste it.
Don’t be afraid to fail. The only time you really fail is when you give up so if you keep that thought in the forefront of your mind when you encounter those bumps in the road, it will be much easier to take the lesson learned from the mistake and move forward. Focus on what works and not on what doesn’t.
3. Keeping It Simple
This one feeds back into what I said earlier about information overload. There is so much information available to us and the many so-called gurus who claim to have the “answer” to our success, that you can quickly find yourself trying to master a ton of business strategies simultaneously. STOP! Deep breath again. FOCUS on one thing at a time. Learn one thing at a time. Implement that one strategy in your business before you start on another.
When you are pursuing multiple directions at the same time you will find it is very hard to master any ONE thing and reap the benefits from it. Isolate the activity that you feel you have sufficient knowledge to do and start taking action every day with that strategy. You will discover that you will not waste nearly as much time chasing the next best marketing trick for sure-fire success and will simply start creating your own success because you are taking ACTION steps for your business.
So now you know why some people achieve success while others struggle to achieve it. It isn’t that they are smarter than you. Their secret is that they have the will to take actionable steps every day. Are you going to keep plodding along, making the same mistakes day after day or are you going to make the change and decide to achieve the success that is within your grasp?
About Author
Kim Garst is a renowned marketing strategist and speaker who is trailblazing the use of artificial intelligence in digital marketing. With over 30 years of experience as an online entrepreneur, Kim helps entrepreneurs grow their business and authority online by using AI technology. She is leading the way with proven AI frameworks that help entrepreneurs build authority in their space.
She is keynote speaker and an international best-selling author of Will The Real You Please Stand Up, Show Up, Be Authentic and Prosper in Social Media.
Named by Forbes as a Top 10 Social Media Power Influencer, Kim is well-known for her skill to simplify complex technology and make the use of AI understandable for business growth. Her relatable, actionable advice helps guide new entrepreneurs to harness the power of AI to succeed in digital marketing. Kim is leading the way in combining human and technological skills to create a new model for AI-powered marketing.
Thank you so much for this article. I am working on building my business. This is really helpful and encouraging to me!!
So true Lee!