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Mind your own business.
Can I be honest with you? You don’t have to wait until a New Year to stop comparing your business to the wild and wonderful world of Joe Blow. There’s real power in minding your own business. What does this look like? Three things: First, appreciate other people’s gifts and celebrate your own. Don’t stalk competitors if there’s no business benefit. And get clear about your right to win in the market.
For all intents and purposes you’re like a race horse when starting and growing a business. This means when you’re out of that gate you’ll need your blinders. “Horses sometimes need to be made to focus and blinders keep the horse’s eye focused on what is ahead, rather than what is at the side or behind. That is why race horses are often given blinders – for the purpose of keeping them focused when racing round a racecourse.”
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Write a letter to yourself, from your future self.
Use a web app, like FutureMe, WhenSend, or Right Inbox, that lets you email people (in this case yourself) in the future. Recap one thing you are proud of accomplishing over the year, one thing will do differently, one thing you want to remember, and so on. If you’re really brave, congratulate yourself on a list of goals you were able to accomplish. Getting that email from yourself, down the road, can be a real eye-opener.
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Get radical about ‘simple’.
Every year, I make a commitment to get back to basics. Over the course of 12-months it’s easy to get out of focus. Life runs like a river and business reveals it share of ups and downs. Look at every operational area of your business and re-commit to the fundamentals. A large vision is essential but it’s the simple, daily actions that get you there. In other words, think big and act incrementally. Be relentless in your pursuit of simple.
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Change your mind.
We all, at times, can easily get duped into thinking we are perfectly fine as we are. Well… we aren’t. Now, if you are not interested in creating a radical and purpose-driven life and business, this doesn’t apply to you. But if you are, it’s time to retrain your brain. Logically speaking, if your current mindset is really working it would be producing desired results. To move from reality to a new, desired state you have to change your mind. Start by learning from the collective wisdom of others, and put yourself in situations where you can meet like-minded peers who strive for the same things as you.
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Permit yourself to fail forward.
Entrepreneurs fail, but it’s only failure when you decide to quit. When things go bust, don’t scrap your goal … instead, rework your plan. There are common “practices that lead to losses and suffering,” and Martin Zwilling does an excellent job of addressing them in this Forbes article. Know that some failed attempts are inevitable, but use them to march forward. Avoid the one’s you can and capitalize on the one’s you make. If it’s truly important to you never give up! Fail early, fail often.
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