Everyone who is successful in any area of life has learned them and uses them. Another secret is that most anyone who has been down the road is more than willing to share with you.
After years of writing training materials for other organizations, I decided to bite the bullet and go out on my own. Here are a few of the secrets used to pry me away from a secure environment into a world of unknown possibilities.
You make your own success.
A job pays you what the job is worth; whereas being an entrepreneur you earn what you are worth. That can be a sobering statement. Never think of yourself as self-employed. Do not take your employee mentality with you and thereby create the same yet different job for you.
Make your own success by taking full responsibility for your life, your thoughts, your actions, and your attitudes. Learn to think like and to behave like an entrepreneur, albeit a hard-working one. There is a big difference in being a business owner verses being self-employed. The shift in thinking propels.
Let love replace fear and intimidation.
Become your own best friend by developing a healthy self-love – not an over-inflated ego, but a healthy esteem. Healthy self-love recognizes that you have infinite worth and value as a human being. You have unique talents to give that will contribute to making individual lives and the world a better place either through a service or a product.
You were formed with greatness in your bosom. Sure, someone one else may have a similar idea or product, but it is not from your special viewpoint. One’s gift makes room for her, but it must be implemented and put into action.Love recognizes that others have worth and value also. This truth produces humility and cooperation. Compete with yourself and your own potential.
It's okay toot your own horn. Be proud of yourself.
Go for excellence and give up perfection.
Perfection is a goal that cannot be met, or, if it were to be met, it would be the end of the line. Once something is perfect, the only way to go is downhill. Lower your expectations and experience a new found liberty. Going for excellence sets you free to take risks, to fail, and to try again. Going for excellence motivates for continual improvement. Going for excellence is rewarding, fulfilling, and contributes toward happiness. Give yourself and others room to grow.
“It is better to be green and growing, than ripe and rotting.”
Ray Krock, founder of McDonald’s
Let go of the past, both failures and successes.
Each day is a new day, and each opportunity is a new opportunity. Allow past failures to serve as a learning tool to motivate you to overcome, and past successes to be a motivator for repeat action.
Grow into the position and refuse to allow yourself to become discouraged. You do not have customers because you are in business; you are in business because you have customers. You will stay in business by thinking about ways to grow your company. Search for ways that you can add value to their lives.
And then put those ideas into action.
