Success Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe

Why are some people wildly successful in business, while others just don’t seem to ever get anything going?  Sometimes the reasons are obvious.  Someone who’s lazy, unpleasant to be around, overly negative, or just plain dumb, for instance, doesn’t have much chance of being a business success.  They might win the lottery or something like that, but they won’t be able to successfully build a sustainable business.  It’s not always as clear why someone is successful though, and many people who haven’t yet seen success resort to believing and repeating common myths to explain it.

The danger in buying into these myths is that they rob power from those who believe them.  If you believe people are only successful if luck is on their side, for example, you’re saying success is out of your control.  So look over this list of myths and realities and endeavor to eliminate these beliefs from your mind.  Your business and your life will be better for it.

The Family History Myth: Some people are successful because they were born into a rich or entrepreneurial family.

Reality: As with most myths, there can be a piece of truth in this one.  If a person’s family has the resources to support their entrepreneurial dreams, or if they grew up learning about business, they can be said to have some degree of advantage.  Stories abound, however, of people who inherited the family business only to run it into the ground and end up broke.  There are also plenty of stories about people who were handed family fortunes and squandered them away.  The reality is that even though it can be helpful to have the advantage of a family history of success, a person with such a heritage still has to do what’s necessary to be successful with those advantages.  The reality is, even with an advantageous family history, you still have to work for your success.

The R.P.R.T. Myth: Successful people make it because they’re in the right place at the right time.

Reality: It does help to be in the right place at the right time.  Many successful entrepreneurs attribute their success to this.  But that’s not the whole story.  First, any successful entrepreneur who was in the right place at the right time, had to be the right person in the right place, at the right time.  In other words, just being clued in on a trend, discovering an innovation, or getting a hot tip isn’t enough.  In fact there are opportunities coming at us - all of us - all the time.  We’ve all been in the right place at the right time at some point, and we will be again and again.  It’s those who recognize those opportunities and act upon them who reap the rewards.  Have you ever had a brilliant idea that you didn’t act on and then saw the same idea come to fruition for someone else years later?  You were in the right place at the right time for the idea to come to you, and so was the person who made it happen.  The reality is that “R.P.R.T.” can’t make it happen.  Taking the opportunity given to you in the right place at the right time and making it successful takes work, dedication and focus, not luck.

The Who You Know Myth: People are only successful if they’re lucky enough to know the right people.

Reality: Many stories of success can be attributed to the saying, “It’s not what you know but who you know.”  In fact no true success story happens with someone doing it all on their own with no support from anyone else.  Knowing the “right” people can indeed contribute to your success in many ways.  What this myth fails to take into consideration is how successful people go about getting to know the right people.  Successful entrepreneurs are networkers.  They attend conferences, workshops, business fairs, and anything else they can find where they’ll have the chance to mix and mingle with like-minded business people.  It isn’t luck that they know the right people, it’s their dedication to learn and grow through those relationships that has led them to the right people.  Is it lucky that they happened to be at a conference with the one person who could help them take their business to new heights?  Maybe you could say that, but they had to meet that person, talk to them, and do whatever it took to get them involved.  No luck involved there.

The Timing Myth: Many successful people just so happen to launch their businesses at just the right time.

Reality: “The right time” is when there’s a need, and the most successful companies become successful because there is a need for their product or service.  That’s kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it?  But this rarely has to do with chance.  Entrepreneurs watch trends.  They stay tuned into the market and the needs of their customers and consumers in general.  Most importantly, they take that information and act on it.  Successful people don’t let fear stand in the way of their dreams.  They take risks, and often those risks pay off.  This myth doesn’t take into account that most entrepreneurs have started several businesses during their entrepreneurial life.  Some might have been successful, and many might have failed.  The key is that they keep going.  They keep trying until they make it happen.

The Background Myth: People who build successful businesses have the right education, training, work experience, friends, family, and mentors.

Reality: This myth combines several of the other myths and says that the only way to be successful is to be “lucky” enough to have outside factors working in your favor.  The reality is that, almost without exception, successful entrepreneurs have realized their accomplishments because of what’s inside themselves, not because of their circumstances.  Indeed, many have realized success in spite of their circumstances.  We hear often about high achieving people with no formal training, little to no formal education, and very few if any advantages over “average” people.  The truth is, success comes not so much from where you’ve been as from where you know in your heart you’re headed.

Successful people define luck as when preparedness meets opportunity.  Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what happens to you but what you do with what happens to you that matters”?  Maybe we can consider the “what happens to you” part as luck.  Often we have little control over what happens, so maybe that’s called luck - good or bad.  But when it comes to success, the luck piece of the equation won’t take you far.  It’s what you do with your luck that determines your success.  So if you’re counting on luck to make you a successful entrepreneur, good luck with that!

5 Tips for Fueling the Entrepreneurial Flame

Whether it was yesterday or fifteen years ago, at some point, you’ve felt - perhaps many times - that spark of inspiration and the rush that goes with it: The feeling in your gut that you’re onto something big, and nothing can stop you.  No one ever said starting and running a business was easy though.  Even first-time entrepreneurs recognize that challenges and obstacles are part of the deal when you’re in business for yourself.  In fact challenges are exactly what many of us thrive on.  The ability to overcome barriers and persist when others would quit is what makes entrepreneurs a special breed.

But even the most die-hard entrepreneurial spirits aren’t completely immune to discouragement, so what happens when that initial spark starts to become a fading memory as the challenges mount?  Whether you’re trying to get on track or stay the course, we can all use a little help sometimes to make the magic happen.

Here are 5 useful tips to keep your entrepreneurial flame burning strong:

1. Plan your work - work your plan. Much of the discouragement that entrepreneurs face, especially while first starting their business, or during a period of sudden growth, can come from feelings of being overwhelmed.  With some businesses, this is seemingly constant.  For example, if you have a business where strict deadlines are the norm, you might feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done.  One way to avoid, or at least reduce, the pressures that might be dampening your entrepreneurial drive is to stick to a plan as much as possible.  This isn’t about your business plan.  It’s about a daily action plan that will keep you focused, not only on the details of your day, but on the big picture as well.  A great way to devise such a plan is to ask yourself, what you have to do on a daily basis to achieve your objectives.  Once you have the answer to that question, build your daily plan around those activities, and hire out or delegate as much of the other stuff as possible.

2. Guard against negativity - from others and from within. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to keep any spark alive while drowning in negativity and cynicism.  Unfortunately, it’s often our own friends, family and peers who are guilty of feeding us negative energy.  The answer is to think for yourself, stay focused on your dream, and get away when you need to.  It’s a matter of priorities.  No one’s suggesting you turn your back on a life-long friend and never speak to them again, but if they’re the type of person who only focuses on the negative, you have to decide if it’s worth spending less time with that person in order to stay in the frame of mind necessary to reach your goals.  If it’s in your own nature to look at the world through pessimistic eyes, go to the next tip…

3. Fortify your mind. The self improvement movement has been in full swing in our culture for over 35 years now.  Out of that has come enough material to keep you surrounded by positive words for the rest of your life.  A search for the term “self improvement” on Amazon yields over 60,000 books, not to mention DVDs and audio programs in MP3 and CD.  If books and audio aren’t enough, you can find countless seminars, retreats, workshops and camps, all designed to infuse your mind with positive energy and purpose.  The point is, you have an opportunity to control what goes into your mind, and if what you choose to focus on is positive, uplifting, and motivating, you’ll be able to overcome obstacles more easily, ignore the negativity of the world around you, and keep your spark alive.

4. Embrace change. The only thing that never changes is the fact that everything changes.  No matter how well thought out your business plan is, or how sure you are you’ve thought of every contingency, the unexpected will arise.  Whether it’s a turn in the economy or a new technology that changes the face of your industry, sooner or later something will happen that you didn’t plan for.  Often the difference between thriving or withering in these situations is an ability to embrace change and make it work for you.  So rather than feeling beaten when things don’t go as planned, think of how this new or different set of circumstances can work in your favor.  When you approach change this way, you’ll be surprised at what you can come up with.  It might even ignite a new spark you would never have recognized otherwise.

5. Let history be your guide. Every successful person, from the Wright brothers and Walt Disney, to Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump have experienced setbacks, disappointments, and internal doubt.  While all of these great people accomplished amazing things, each of them had to overcome obstacles, just like you do.  What they had, more than anything else, was a belief in their dream, an ability to focus on their goals, and most importantly, a sense of perseverance that pulled them through when they needed it most.  The great thing is that none of those qualities are reserved for a select few.  We can all access them.

Once you’ve used these tips, if you’re still having trouble staying motivated, do whatever you need to do - whether it’s reading an inspirational book, staring in the mirror and giving yourself a pep talk, or sitting on a rock meditating - to get back to that original feeling you had when the spark first hit.  Remembering that moment and getting back into that frame of mind will keep you going through any challenge you face.  No matter what the world throws at you, you do have the power to push through.  Now, go do it!

Do You Have a Business Plan? What About a Life Plan?

We talk a lot about business plans.  What should they include?  Should they be 50 pages or just 1 page?  Should you pay someone to create it, use a template, or do it yourself?  One thing you don’t see as much discussion about is what you need to do before creating a business plan.  Unfortunately this is a step that’s skipped by a lot of entrepreneurs, and it’s one that can have a very positive effect on the success of your business.  Luckily even if you already have a business plan, it’s never too late for this step.  It’s a Life Plan - and before making another business or personal decision, you would be wise to have one in place.

A life plan is exactly what it sounds like.  It’s like a business plan in many ways, but far more important.  A well-developed life plan can apply context to all other decisions, and it can serve to guide you through the ups and downs of business and life.  We become entrepreneurs because of the quality of life we believe it will provide us, and a life plan helps us define exactly what that life will look like.  This is important because if you don’t even know the kind of life you want, it’s going to be hard to build it.  Also, let’s face it - you’re guaranteed to have difficulties and challenges as an entrepreneur, and a life plan can help you to not just make it through them, but to glide through them and come out better on the other end.  How?  When you take the time to build a life plan and then use that plan to guide your decisions about the work you will do, you end up doing what you love.  And when you’re doing what you love, challenges don’t seem as big.  You get through them easily and are even grateful for the learning they provided.  Ultimately, the more satisfied you are personally, the more success you will have.

Here are the 5 steps to building a Life Plan:

1. Define your current life. You have to know where you are to figure out where you’re going.  Evaluate and grade where you are in the important areas of your life - finances, relationships, health, business, etc. This can be a difficult step for many people, especially if you’re not anywhere near where you want to be.  It’s not a time to beat yourself up though.  Use this step to create a snapshot of your life and imagine looking at it years from now marveling at how far you’ve come.

2. Define your vision. This step can be a lot of fun.  Write a description of your perfect life.  Don’t hold back and don’t be afraid to be bold and daring.  Remember, it’s your perfect life.  This is no time for doubts or pessimism.  You have nothing to lose by dreaming big, so go for it.  Later, you’ll plot backwards in terms of finances, quality of life, and your business plan.  This will get you to a set of plans for achieving your ideal life.

3. Define your skills. You now have a picture of your ideal life, so what skills do you have that will help you get there?  What are you good at?  If you’re great at sales or management, you’ll put down how those skills will help you in your business.  If your talent is in design or writing, that might be your focus.  For now, simply list your abilities and experience.  While doing this, don’t overlook the value of the hundreds or thousands of hours you might have put in as an employee.  You’ve gained valuable life experience in and outside business, and this can all help you build your perfect life, so list everything.

4. Define your ideal work situation. If you could design the perfect business to work in, what would it look like? Would you work part time or full time; at home or in an office; close to home or traveling the world?  Would you spend time interacting with customers?  Would your perfect business involve you managing employees?  Would it stay small or grow to a large company?  Would you do it forever or retire in 5 years?  Describe your ideal work environment and conditions, and just like step 2 where you defined your perfect life, think about the possibilities - not why it won’t work.

5. Define yourself. In this step, you’re going to describe your personal mission, vision, values, and goals.  Write out who you are and what you stand for.  What you wrote for each of the previous steps was formed because of who you are, so look deep inside and figure out what you’re all about.

At this point, you’ve got all the elements of your life plan.  You’ve described where you are and where you want to be; you’ve examined your skills and your ideal business; and you know your personal vision.  Now it’s time to put it all together into a plan that will guide you in building your business and the life you want.  This isn’t something you do and then file it away.  Use your life plan and refer to it often.  You’ll find that writing your business plan and running your business become easier when your priorities match your life plan, so never stop reviewing your priorities and comparing them with your plan.  More than anything, following your plan will ensure you’re doing what you love, and isn’t that the point of being an entrepreneur?

How to be Successful at All You Do - 7 Crucial Personality Traits

Judging from the number of self-help and business books sold every year, millions of people want to know what it takes to be successful in business and in life.  Of course we do.  Especially if you define success as abundance in all areas - not just money - then being “successful” is what life’s all about.  The other thing you can guess from the millions of these books sold is that not everyone agrees about what it takes to be successful.  If they did, there would only be one book, right?  Well, not necessarily.  If you read all the books, you’ll mostly hear similar themes repeated in various ways.  This is good, because different people learn and absorb information in different ways.  Some will resonate more with books and programs that incorporate humor, while others prefer to take a more serious approach, for instance.  When it all comes down to it though, most of the books talk about at least one or several (or all) of the following personality traits as being necessary for success.   In fact you’ll find that few if any successful business people are lacking many of these traits.

Successful people are…

1. Optimistic. People who have achieved success in life tend to be optimistic.  They are far more likely to be heard talking about solutions than problems, whether in their business or personal lives, and they don’t dwell on past failures but focus on future opportunities.

2. Passionate. Successful people look forward to doing whatever it is that they do.  While they’re excited about weekends with the family or vacations away, they aren’t the ones dreading Monday morning.  They have passion for work and for life, and if they find themselves doing something they dread, they won’t do it for long.  Instead they’ll find an alternative that drives them and inspires them.

3. Persistent. Those who have found true success have done so through persistence and tenacity.  Successful people don’t have fewer obstacles than those who have not experienced success.  They just keep going even after the obstacles come up.  They deal with challenges and move on, learning as they go.  They feel sick at even the thought of giving up just before a successful breakthrough.  And because of their passion, persistence doesn’t feel like a chore - it’s fun!

4. Flexible. Being able to change course when necessary contributes to success in big ways.  While successful people follow plans, they know that the unexpected will arise, and when it does they’re willing and able to adapt as needed and turn change into opportunity.  They don’t wish for the good old days - they relish progress and go with the flow. (Or they change the flow they don’t like!)

5. Educated. This isn’t exactly a personality trait, and it doesn’t have anything to do with schooling.  The personality trait that relates to education is a thirst for learning.  Look at any success story, from Walmart founder Sam Walton, who didn’t even finish high school, to LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who has degrees from Stanford and Oxford, and you’ll find someone who is committed to lifelong learning and improving him or herself.  Successful people are educated in their areas of passion, even if they aren’t “book smart.”

6. Focused. People who have experienced success in their business and personal lives have done so in part because they’ve been focused on success.  But more importantly, they’re focused on the long-term.  From managing personal finances to running companies, these people know that sacrificing now can pay off big in the future.  Successful people understand that while short-term victories are critical, they are only so important because they contribute to long-term success.  So they are not easily distracted by the lure of making a quick buck - or by the pretty secretary in the next office.

7. Altruistic. Contrary to the stories of greed and gluttony you sometimes hear about in the corporate world, politics, and elsewhere, truly successful people tend to be unselfish and often philanthropic.  That doesn’t mean they’re pushovers, but they are concerned about people and about contributing to the greater good.  In fact many of the most successful people in the world, both financially and personally, have found their true passions in helping and giving, more than in selfish pursuits.

Ask yourself how many of these seven personality traits you have.  If you’re seriously lacking in any of them, what can you do to change that?  And what other traits do you think a person needs to be a true success?  We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

Avoid Burnout - 5 Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs

We entrepreneurs are a hard working lot.  If we want success, we have to be.  And a lot of times that means long hours, deadlines, and pressures that can add up over time.  Studies have shown that if you don’t take steps to care for yourself while you’re working to build your dreams, you can do some real damage.  In fact, some estimates say that up to 90% of visits to doctors’ offices stem from stress-related issues.  And what good does it do to build a successful business if you’re not around to enjoy it or have to deal with health concerns because of it?  To avoid burnout and enjoy the journey - and the rewards - more, follow these tips:

1. Exercise more than just your brain. As an entrepreneur, you’re continuously giving your brain a workout, but don’t forget about your body.  One of the best ways to reduce stress, and condition yourself to handle more stress, and handle it better, is to stay in good physical shape.  If you’re going to take time out of your busy day to participate in any activity, few will have a more positive, lasting effect than exercise.  And if you think you don’t have time for it, you might have some misperceptions about what it takes to stay in shape.  You don’t need to spend hours a day working out to reduce stress and feel better.  Just a few minutes a day, a few days a week will help a lot, and you’ll feel a difference quickly.

2. Watch what you’re putting in your gullet. Along the same lines as exercise, watching your diet is important for feeling your best and will help you deal with stress and burnout.  Busy entrepreneurs are often on the move, and need to grab a quick bite on the go.  Unfortunately, if you’re not careful, what you’re stuffing your mouth with isn’t always the stuff that will keep you feeling your best.  Something as simple as cutting down on high-sugar snacks and drinks can make a big difference in how you feel, and you’ll be far less likely to experience that common afternoon burnout, much less long-term burnout.

3. Don’t go it alone. Trying to do everything yourself is a one-way ticket to entrepreneurial burnout.  Unfortunately, it’s also very common among people building their own businesses.  Whether it’s our independent nature or the need to save money, we entrepreneurs are often reluctant to hire anything out, and it can end up hurting us in the long-run.  The good news is that we can maintain control of our businesses and actually end up saving money if we approach this problem properly.  Consider finding one or more virtual assistants or freelancers to help you out.  You’ll not only pay less than you would for employees, but the time you’ll free up will allow you to concentrate more on the things that are making you income.  And the best part is that you’ll avoid burnout by delegating those tasks that you’d rather not do anyway, which will make you feel better and will free up time to follow some of the other advice on this list.

4. Get social. A necessary ingredient in a truly fulfilled life, and a key to preventing burnout, is to set aside time to participate in activities that you enjoy and are completely unrelated to your work.  Going out with friends, attending a sporting event, seeing a movie, or hitting the beach with the family can all help to get your mind off your pressures for a little while.  The key is to have some fun while focusing on something other than your business.  That’s not to say you won’t think about work at all, but your concentration will be on your friends, family, and the activity you’re participating in.  When you do return to your work, you just might be surprised at how refreshed you feel, and the ideas and inspiration that come to you!

5. Manage the clock. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, but we definitely don’t all make the most of that time.  A lack of time management skills can seriously contribute to burnout.  If you’re not managing your time well, deadlines creep up faster, you find yourself rushing everywhere, and you might end up dealing with the added stress of letting people down by not being able to follow through as you promise.  There are a lot of online tools to help you manage your time, and technology can make a big difference in this area.  Another way to improve in this area is to compartmentalize your tasks.  In other words, group all similar tasks so you aren’t hopping all over the place and can focus on one area until you’re ready to move to the next.  For example, set aside a specific time each day to focus on social media and a time for email, rather than checking them throughout the day.  This will increase your focus and ultimately save you a lot of time.

What other tips do you have for managing stress and avoiding burnout?  Or, what’s your biggest challenge with managing your business and avoiding burnout?  Share in the comments!

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