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Pay Attention: Success Leaves Clues

It is better to study and emulate the behavior of successful people, instead of merely listening to what they have to say.


Jeremy Ong, serial entrepreneur | Credit: Courtesy Photo
Jeremy Ong, serial entrepreneur | Credit: Courtesy Photo

Everyone is on social media these days. It’s fun, exciting, and addictive. But most importantly, it’s incredibly powerful for growing a business.

There’s no doubt you’ve heard about “the next big thing” to grow your business. There are people (not everyone, but some) who will prey on your naivety. Many of us tend to get carried away by all these marketing messages pumped out into social media every single day. Unfortunately, social media and smartphones have conditioned us to chase the shiniest objects in the room.

These supposed secrets, systems, and formulas are distractions for any seasoned entrepreneur. Seasoned entrepreneurs know there is no silver bullet to business success. If entrepreneurship success was so easily attained, everyone would attain it.

As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve subscribed to many of these systems and formulas as I sought to grow my businesses. Some of them work while some are designed to take your hard earned money and deliver little to no results.

“Seasoned entrepreneurs know there is no silver bullet to business success.”

The ones that are easy to put in place are usually accompanied by high competition–which makes them worthless. The gems are difficult to put in place, have little competition but require a ton of execution.

I’ve discovered the most important factor for success is the hustle. Million dollar ideas are a dime a dozen, it all boils down to execution and grit.

If you look up to someone, and you want to emulate their successes, don’t do what they tell you to do.

 

Do as they do, not as they say

Entrepreneurs are a breed of unique humans, born to solve problems no matter how hard or seemingly impossible. When it comes to success, the most significant work is usually done subconsciously. If you’re an entrepreneur, you know what I’m talking about.

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So, it is better to study and emulate the behavior of successful people, instead of merely listening to what they have to say.

Let me prove it to you. In this article, MLB researcher and enthusiast, Chris O’Leary suggests that the best baseball hitters are the worst instructors. Entrepreneurship, like sports, is an intuitive endeavor.

Luckily for us mere mortals, success leaves clues. Thanks to the rise of social media, the lives of hugely successful entrepreneurs are well-documented.

 

Success leaves clues

Start with a simple Google search for your favorite entrepreneur. Read up on them, stalk their personal or company blog if they have one, and definitely follow them on social media.

The objective here is a bit different than you may assume. The goal is to use these channels to gain insight on what their day to day lives look like.

If you notice your favorite entrepreneur wakes up at 5 am in the morning to exercise, there’s a good reason for it. If you see them share a post of their work at the office at 2 am, you bet they have a good reason for it. You’ll find that most of the people on your list practice similar lifestyle habits.

For example, “The difference between self-made billionaires and the rest of the pack is that they don’t leave their achievements up to chance. Instead of waiting for success or wealth to fall in their lap, they take actionable steps every single day to inch closer to the finish line.”

They are frugal lifelong learners who rise early, do things differently, and they don’t take no for an answer (among other things). You will rarely hear billionaires talk about this list.

 

Pay close attention

I hope that this article inspires you to be more self-aware about the content you consume and the impact it can make on your life and business. Hustle on!

 

Jeremy Ong is a serial entrepreneur. Over the past 5 years, he has built multiple automated eCommerce websites including Vape Club and Zenna Gems. Right now, he teaches people to do the same with HUSTLR.

 

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