Written by: Maggie Perotin, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise
Success is non-negotiable for you as an entrepreneur. And you have plenty of good habits that are leading you there right now: your drive and creativity being two examples.
However, since building an empire is exciting and daunting, you might have accumulated a few bad habits.
The main few that I encounter most often with my clients, and help them shed altogether, are:
being always "busy" without really producing the results they want
getting regularly distracted by many "shiny objects" at home or online
not being able to focus and achieve the state of flow
procrastinating over the actions that they know deep down would move the needle in their business.
Does any of these sound familiar?
If yes, you can read on because today I’m sharing with you five powerful tips to help you become a high-achieving entrepreneur.
1. Stay connected to your Vision
The high achievers not only have a Vision for themselves and their business but are also deeply connected with it.
Once you have a Vision, align any critical decisions about your business with it. This will help you choose the most effective strategies (marketing, offering, structure, growth opportunities) and tactics for your business.
Such alignment will create laser focus and the ability to overcome the "shiny object syndrome."
2. Challenge yourself with setting ambitious goals
Ambitious can mean different things to different people, and there are many theories on how far your goals should go.
My take on it is that your long-term goals should be VERY ambitious, something that makes you quite uncomfortable.
However, as you break down your goals into smaller chunks: this year, this quarter, this month – each one should be stretching past your current abilities but at the same time not paralyzing you through its magnitude.
The "Goldilocks Rule" proposed by James Clear is to set the most immediate goals 10% over what we are comfortable with accomplishing.
If you're ambitious enough to go beyond that rue, then get a coach. Just like top-performing athletes would not achieve top results alone, you need a "trainer" to push you well past your comfort zones and give you tools from their expertise to get there.
3. Create routines and habits that make the execution of goals easier
What helps me with ensuring that I write this blog every week? Grow my coaching business while working a demanding corporate leadership job? Or raise my kids and excel at an online executive MBA?
It's all possible because of good habits and routines that support my goals. And my clients achieve amazing results when they start implementing my high-performance portion of coaching (they go as far as doubling or tripling their monthly income just by that!)
Structuring your days so that you don't need to waste time and energy, making decisions about every little thing makes it easier to maximize the time you have for your business. We all have 24/7/365. We all need to sleep, eat, and have time for loved ones and ourselves.
There is only so much time each of us has to pursue our business goals. High achieving athletes, CEO's or artists ensure to maximize this time with only value-added activities, work that is not a distraction but a vessel bringing them closer to their Vision.
If you're wondering how to go about creating such habits for yourself, check my new High-Performance Kickstart program here
4. Have fun
Marc Anthony said it best: "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life."
I'm assuming you became an entrepreneur to do what you love. But I also know that it's very easy to get tangled up in day-to-day busyness and fire fighting. If you lose the fun, passion, and joy from what you do every day, you'll also lose creativity, ideas for improvement, and innovation that keep your business competitive.
So don't forget about FUN. As you create structure, routines, and habits, fun needs to have a place alongside other things in your business.
5. Invest in Your Personal Development
I'm passionate about self-development, so maybe I'm biased. But I've seen the positive changes investment and dedication to it make on me, my clients, and all the high-successful people.
If you study Olympic athletes, all successful entrepreneurs - CEOs or artists, you'll realize they all invest in themselves enormously.
Why? Here are three critical reasons from your business perspective:
If you grow, your business grows. For one thing, it's impossible to move your business to the next level if you don't move to the next level first. It's like planting all your seeds in the garden and then expecting them to grow without watering them. The water for your business is your creativity, innovative ideas, relationships, organization, and leadership. You need a tap to take if from, and that tap is self-development.
When you improve as a person, your relationships improve as well. Here I'm talking not only business relationships with your clients or suppliers but also your partners, employees, and the loved ones around you. In other words, as you develop your leadership skills, such as listening, communication, conflict resolution, self-management, team development, etc. they will, by all means, have a tremendous positive impact on your personal life as well.
Personal development is a huge time saver. The better you become at any given skill, the less time it takes you to do things. It's how you save tons of time so that you move on to the next thing and grow even more.
So here are my final thoughts.
The trick to success in your business is not just knowledge and skills or mindset but also doing. The fact that you read my blog and know more now than you did 5 minutes ago isn't going to bring any benefits if you just leave it at that. That's why I developed a High-Performance Kickstart 4-week program that will focus on getting you into consistent and super effective action mode—interested in learning more about how you can benefit? Click here.
Maggie Perotin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Maggie Perotin is a business and leadership coach, helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses without the overwhelm so they can live the life they want. Through her DREAM-PLAN-DO coaching model, she helps her clients reach their potential and get results while maintaining balance in life. Maggie has over 13 years of coaching and leadership experience in the corporate world in various domains. She holds a Masters Degree in International Relations, Facility Management Administration designation, and currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Jack Welch Management Institute. Maggie uses all her knowledge and experience to help entrepreneurs be strategic and creative in building a successful business and brand that attract their ideal clients. She is passionate about spending quality time with her blended family with four kids in the Canadian nature, traveling, self-development, and healthy cuisine of the world.
