That’s the absolute bare minimum, but there are plenty of people out there who won’t take a single step towards what they want out of: life, their career, relationships, themselves, as they let days pass them by.
Take at least one step towards what you want every day – it’s that simple.
The trick is to enjoy the step.
It’s a good question. I’ll dodge the existential side and address the practical instead.
Measure it. Find out.
You will be unimpressed, but you can’t make tangible changes unless you confront hard truths.
If we put our flaws on the table and go to work on them there’s no shame and the only possibility is for growth.
Don’t hide from your own time.
All the best athletes in the world have coaches, it’s not a coincidence. Who is coaching you in your life to become a better version of yourself? If you want to become a successful entrepreneur you’re going to need help along the way. You’re also going to need to be a coach in your role to your employees.
Understanding that you can receive coaching while being a coach yourself is important to being a truly effective leader. Taking into consideration what your strengths and weaknesses are and working on developing whichever your coach says is important. Having another trusted perspective helps to keep you level in your business, but also in your life. So often the two become linked together.
Coaches don’t necessarily present themselves to you, but if you put the offer on the table you might be surprised by who says yes…and there’s not really anything to lose.
I’ve found that on some days I just don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything even after working 8 hours – how can this be?
It’s because I’m focusing on things I think I should be doing versus things I can get results from. I could save myself by asking “what can I get away with NOT doing so I can get some results today?”
What emails are unimportant to what I’m trying to do right now, because during a long day all the time you ever have is right now. Stop answering questions others can deal with. Don’t get caught up in tasks you’ve trained your managers to handle. Focus on something in your control and go after the results you want.
In fact, details can be all that matter. If you can’t have a step by step process that at least accommodates for some variation then you won’t be able to scale effectively.
Think in terms of the resources you have, be it people, computer processing power or vehicles (just to name three). If nobody on your team knows where these things are or what they have to be doing at any given time then you’re going to have a serious lack of accountability.
This can be hard when you’re trying to scale regionally, nationally and internationally.
But details go beyond pure logistics, it means have complete work that is ready to implement should you get the green light. It means instead of talking about “local social media influencers in your area” going out and building relationships with them. It means instead of suggesting Facebook and Instagram Stories, making them and having the posts show exactly what you mean.
Actions speak louder than words – don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through when the opportunity presents itself, just always make sure to keep your audience in mind.
And details matter…
This is the first post of 100 consecutive days of content – trying to take a lesson from the title I suppose.
An insightful professor* of mine once told an entrepreneurship class not to be afraid with sharing their ideas openly with others. I’ll admit at the time I doubted what she was saying. Looking back I couldn’t agree more with the point she was trying to make.
Everybody gets ideas…everybody. For an idea to be worth something you have to go out and turn it into something real, something tangible, and the truth is most people won’t – even when they claim their idea could make millions if not billions.
The manifesto of entrepreneurs is “do” because if you aren’t doing anything you aren’t getting anywhere. So talk openly about your ideas and work diligently towards where you want them to take you. You may even find others willing and worthy of joining your cause.
Just make sure to separate the “idea people” from the “doers”.
*(Kelley Packalen – Entrepreneurship 405, Smith School of Business)
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