Here's my top 10 list, pulled from others.
1. *Know where you are going and why.* Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers did not start with what they were doing or how they were going to get there. They knew their purpose first and the rest followed. Watch Simon Sinek at TED: How Great Leaders Inspire Action (http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action).
Internalize your mission daily so that everything you do will get you there.
2. *Have the perseverance to keep to your mission daily.* You'll have a ton of great ideas, eventually the right one will stick (assuming you take the time to listen to experts, to your followers, to the ones paying you to do great work). But you've got to go through a lot to get there... and keep pushing. Every failure, ask yourself if the mission is worth pursuing and if you are going about it the "right" way. If so, keep going. If not, adjust and keep going. Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success is Grit (http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit#t-226166)
3. *No excuses.* Apologize for mistakes you are at fault for. Nobody has a perfect life and all of us are faced with occasional injustice and variables. Man up and deal with it. Read this excerpt of Fear vs. Anxiety from Seth Godin (http://www.sethgodin.com/bigmoo/free/fearvsAnxiety.pdf)
4. *Have a balanced life.* Successful individuals do not bury themselves in work all of the time. They set apart time for their family and themselves. They learn that they are physical, emotional, and spiritual creatures and that by neglecting one, it kills the others.
The problem most have is they think their priorities are linear. Instead, think of them as circular. There are moments when you need to sacrifice time with your family to time spent on the business. Conversely, there are moments when you need to sacrifice time spent on your business for time spent building yourself up spiritually (more on this later). For the most part, this is just learning from those who've gone before you and figuring out when you need to put your efforts on the right things.
5. *Invest in yourself* - If you are burnt out, there's no way to be able to help anyone else. Spend time educating yourself, investing in relationships (business and personal), spiritually reflect on the things of life, and take care of your physical and mental health. Check out Dan Cathy's Leadership Toolkit (especially the Oxygen mask). http://www.cathyfamily.com/resources/leadership-toolkit.aspx
6. *Money and materials isn't everything.* Jim Collins stated, "Profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body. They are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life." The really successful people in life always get to the top because they made changes in the lives of others, not their own. But at the end of the day, when we die, what then?
I understand some may give me flak for this, but this is why religion isn't just a crutch for the weak. Rather those we may view as "poor and weak" may realize that there's got to be more to life than the things of life that only satisfy for a moment. Don't believe there is a God? Tim Keller challenges Google employees on why not only is believing in God reasonable, but believing in God is more reasonable than not believing in God (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ).
Figure out your true priorities and invest in them daily.
7. *Plan your day and your priorities.* Even if you are a one man show, you need to know what your values are and why (see points #1 and #2). Then you need to actually invest in those things with your time and your money. Aaron Ginn gives 6 great tips on how to focus your company values on growth (http://www.aginnt.com/post/49186721872/6-company-culture-attitudes-that-kill-growth#.VHekjTHF8ZM).
8. *Never stop asking questions.* The things I hold most dear to me are the things that I have tested and proved time and time again, whether that be my beliefs, my business strategy, or even my relationships. In order to do this, often it starts with asking probing questions to get at the answers. The prideful person assumes they have everything figured out and so they never dig deeper and they stop growing.
Quick word of caution: Not coming to conclusions about the questions you ask doesn't make you intellectually more "rational." It would be asinine to assume a wife is always cheating. Sure, ask the question from time-to-time. And when the evidence points out to her faithfulness, shelve the question. Same applies for the other areas mentioned above.
9. *Let go of past mistakes and move on.* Dwelling on past failures will restrict your openness to continue to think about future opportunities. The things in the past are great lessons with the tuition already paid. Get the most that you can and move on.
10. *Be a principled person.* We live in a society in which morals and principles are seemingly nonexistent. Part of the problem is we live in a culture that believes whatever is right in our eyes should be good (or, if it feels good, do it).
Back in the 1980's, Chuck Colson gave a speech to Harvard why they should not be teaching MBA's business ethics. The reason? They don't believe in absolutes. In order for there to be a coherent and consistent morals to live by, it cannot be something that changes. Read a transcript of Colson's speech here (http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/articles/entry/12/9649).
Identify which principles you have to guide your life by and keep to them daily. Your morals and principles should not change, no matter what.
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Now that you've got your pep talk, go out there and create something worth sharing!
10 things a business owner should do EVERYDAY to move their business forward are as follows:
1. Be Fearless: Want to know why becoming successful in a business venture is considered such a daunting feat by society? While there are obvious hurdles to face, one of the biggest challenges is in overcoming the fear of jumping into a business in the first place. Most people dream all day about launching a successful business while watching the clock tick at their mundane day jobs. The reason they never quit the security of a paycheck is because they are too scared by the unknown that comes with starting a business. If you want to separate yourself from that crowd, you need to learn how to manage your own fears. Do not worry, you are not alone.
2. Understand Finance: Now, people all the time will talk about how a well-known business brand started at one time in someone's basement or garage, so much that it's become a romantic notion of sorts that going from rags-to-riches is what really identifies a true entrepreneur. The reality of most successful businesses’ ventures could not be farther from the truth - if you want to make it, you are going to need money. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you need to have a lot of it when you're just getting started, but more importantly understanding how finance works and how to use your money to grow in the smartest way.
3. Grow as A Leader: Once you harness your fears and make the leap to starting a business, you have already begun the journey of becoming a leader. Many of us hold successful entrepreneurs on a pedestal much like football fans hold a star quarterback or wide receiver in high regard. However, there is always a team that these individuals lead that ultimately leads to their success. You must learn how to be a leader on some kind of level in order to motivate others to join you in your venture, believe in what you preach, or give you money for a product or service that you offer. Just because you need to possess leadership qualities does not mean that everybody successful in business must be the CEO, face of the company, or person “in charge”.
4. Use Your Leverage: One of the greatest challenges that will stand in the way of an entrepreneur from getting what they want is understanding what “to do” with the opportunities that fall in their laps along the way. This is where leverage becomes such an important concept that people going into business need to understand, and it takes a certain kind of mind to think “outside the box” in situations to find the value in a new relationship or circumstance. The same people who are too scared to quit their day jobs are also the same people who do not know how to leverage the assets and relationships in their life. A successful entrepreneur, on the other hand, is constantly finding ways to create profits and new opportunities each day.
5. Acquire Partners: To achieve greatness as a leader, one must then have a team of individuals who believe in the mission to move forward. That is where assembling a great team of partners plays such an important role in any profitable business. Many start out alone and the wearer of many hats, but a business can only scale so far if there is only one source of energy, of inspiration, and of the actual sweat equity it takes to keep the lights on. As we will see in understanding the meaning of success both in business and in life, a true business owner is one who does not need to be a part of the day-to-day operations in order for the business to run and stay profitable.
6. Having the Right Attitude: So far, we've discussed some of the most important concepts you need to understand in order to achieve success in business - but how do you exactly justify what is true success? Is it money, or sales, or the influence your actions have over the environment around you? Ultimately real success in business only matters if it also equates to success in life, and that all starts with having the right attitude towards it. Nobody cares about those who are rich but hate the world they live in. Everyone knows the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the jaded old man that had all the money in the world but did nothing but create misery for others.
7. Showing Gratitude: We live in a world that is changing each day, at a speed that any of us can deeply appreciate. Technology over the last 30-50 years has altered the way we communicate not only with our neighbour and loved ones but our business contacts around the world. The generations that have grown up with this technology often take it for granted, never once stopping to “smell the roses” and to realize that they live in an amazing time in history and that much of what they have in their lives - everything from the electricity powering their lights, the cars that help them get to their next meeting, to their smartphones in their pockets are all things they should very much be thankful for.
8. Staying Healthy: Your money and success are not going to do you any good if you're not around to use it - so why would you live your life so dangerously that you would sacrifice your health? What good is all the passion you have for your business dreams if you are not going to be around to see them come true? Too many of us get caught up in the game of life that we never think about the damage we all do to our bodies along the way. As entrepreneurs our days are so full of work and juggling projects that are lunch breaks become mere small breaks in the day where we shove fast food down our throats to get rid of our hunger.
9. Keeping the Right Friends: What's the point of doing anything if you do not have special people in your life to share it with. No one wants to be the Bruce Wayne of their city, the quack who owns the huge dining room table with no one to dine with. People are social by nature, and it is important to have a life outside of those you work with.
10. The Importance of Family: Most will begin the journey with dollar signs in their eyes or seeking some level of power. Many times, these things are personal and selfish, but one who is seeking true success in their lives will be doing so not just to share with their friends, but more importantly their families.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
