Millennial Multi-Millionaires Share Their Best 6 Tips on Starting a Successful Company

It’s been known that millennials get a bad rep for being lazy and feeling as though they deserve success without putting in the work. This isn’t the case for Santiago Nestares Lampo and Benedict Dohmen. Both Santiago and Benedict are millennial multi-millionaires at the ripe age of 21.

The two friends had been coding until the late hours of the night while attending Dartmouth College. While working late into the night, they discovered a common problem, they both had aching backs.

Instead of brushing it off and pushing through the pain, the millennials decided to do something about it and ended up developing a pillow to help them sit with better posture and experience little to no back pain, thus the start of their million dollar brand.

Since expanding the back pain brand to 25 products and 8 figures in revenue, the two have applied these six tips to continue to expand their business:

1. Vision

Every great idea starts with a vision. For their company, Benedict and Santiago listened to what their customers said right from the start. They didn’t want to be another company churning out products for the heck of it.

Just because you think your customers will like a product doesn’t mean that they will. You need to make sure that when you’re creating a product or adding products to your current line that you ask your customers what they want. This is will help to create a product that people will actually want, saving you tons of headaches.

2. Engineer Profitability From The Beginning

While there are successful companies who got their start from venture capitalists, this doesn’t mean this is the case for all companies and certainly not the Benitago Group.

They wanted to know if they would be profitable from the beginning because it can be hard to measure when you’re using someone’s money. When you use someone else’s money, you may have to make a decision that brings in capital for the short term but isn’t beneficial for the long term growth of your company.

To grow their company, they also haven’t taken out a penny for themselves. They firmly believe in the concept of investing everything you make back into the company. This is paramount to fast growth as they’ve achieved it with Benitago Group.

“Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.” – John Wooden

3. Direct Impact

For Benedict and Santiago they wanted their company to have a direct impact right from the beginning. Money was a part of their success but it wasn’t what was driving the duo.

Combined with their vision, they wanted to start a company that would have a direct impact on millions of people. By creating products they’re constantly refining and going directly to the consumer, they can have a direct impact on people’s lives.

When you start your company, are you doing it to make money or are you doing it to help others? While the money is good, if you only start your company for the money and it gets rocky, you’re more apt to quit because you won’t care enough to stick with your company through the bad times. Money is bipartisan of any successful company.

If you build a product that can impact millions, the money will come.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making

It wouldn’t be a smart idea to make decisions for your company without backing it up with rational information. Benedict and Santiago run their company like a startup firm instead of Corporate America where ideas have to pass through the ranks and can take weeks or even months before being implemented.

When you decide to track the statistics on your company, you’re able to get a sense of what move you should make next. Your emotions won’t be attached to your decisions because they will be backed up with logic and economic rationale.

5. Focus

As you grow, many distractions come along in terms of other business areas to expand to, etc. Dohmen and Nestares have both received many requests for consulting from smaller private companies to big conglomerates such as P&G, even at consulting rates far higher than top consulting firms like McKinsey. However, they’ve turned all such requests down with a commitment to focus all their energy on building Benitago Group.

There comes a point in any successful business where there won’t be enough time in the day. You have to decide what your focus is going to be on. The decision on what to focus on will ultimately come down to, “Am I growing my business?” If you’re not growing your business, the task isn’t worth your time.

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar

6. Strong Work Ethic

Benedict and Santiago don’t believe in the typical 9-5 work ethic. They mostly work 7 days a week from morning until the late evening. They expect full commitment from anyone who works for them.

Within their company, people who perform also get rewarded accordingly. It’s the perfect environment for the driven individuals who want to place a bet on themselves and want to see what they’re able to accomplish. The goal is to make people feel more human by giving them all the freedom and trust to achieve their potential.

By working extra hours per week, it allows them to get a leg up on the competition. If you want to start a multi-eight figure and beyond company, you can’t expect to work the same hours as everyone else and become successful.

A strong work ethic will take you to wherever you desire. Nothing can stop the person who has a strong work ethic with the resilience to overcome failure. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re willing to work smarter and harder than your competition, you will become successful.

Starting multi-million dollar companies with these tips should be simpler. Nonetheless, it’s not easy and at times you’ll want to give up. If you continue at it and continue to grind day after day, year after year, you can accomplish amazing things. Age knows no boundaries. It doesn’t matter if you’re twenty-one or sixty-five!

What’s the best tip for success you’ve heard? Share it with us below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/millennial-multi-millionaires-share-their-best-6-tips-on-starting-a-successful-company/

25 of Aristotle’s Most Profound Quotes

Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher who studied under the famous scholar, Plato. He was an extremely curious individual writing works on poetry, science, and animals which has led to him being considered the “Father of Western Philosophy.”

Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great as a child, and taught him to admire and respect the Greeks. When Alexander the Great began conquering multiple regions, he spread Aristotle’s philosophies and ways of thinking.

Below are 25 of Aristotle’s most profound quotes to help enrich your life:

1. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is a habit.”- Aristotle

2. “We think in pictures. If you wish to change what you think, change the picture.”- Aristotle

3. “Love is composed of single soul inhabiting two bodies.”- Aristotle

4. “You will never do anything in the world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” – Aristotle

5. “The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.”- Aristotle

6. “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”- Aristotle

7. “Happiness depends upon ourselves.”- Aristotle

8. “A friend to all is a friend to none.”- Aristotle

9. “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.”- Aristotle

10. “Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.”- Aristotle

11. “He who is to be a good ruler must have first been ruled.”- Aristotle

12. “Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life.”- Aristotle

13. “Anyone can become angry — that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way — this is not easy.”- Aristotle

14. “It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions.”- Aristotle

15. “Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.”- Aristotle

16. “All human beings, by nature, desire to know.”- Aristotle

17. “Change in all things is sweet.”- Aristotle

18. “Comedy aims at representing men as worse, Tragedy as better than in actual life.”- Aristotle

19. “The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”- Aristotle

20. “Happiness is activity.”- Aristotle

21. “Nature does nothing uselessly.”- Aristotle

22.“What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” – Aristotle

23. “Education is the best provision for old age.”- Aristotle

24. “The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.”- Aristotle

25. “The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently; but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life — knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live.”- Aristotle

Which one of Aristotle’s quotes resonated most with you and why?

from
https://addicted2success.com/quotes/25-of-aristotles-most-profound-quotes/

Yes, You Can Still Burnout Even if Your Business Is Your Baby

“Follow your passion! Your work will feel like play! We promise!” is what we’ve heard from countless motivators, life coaches, best friends, and even parents. Their support of your dreams and passion is so necessary to help you get off the ground. Even when you feel like you did it all yourself, there is still a sense that there were countless people who needed to do just this one little thing to get you where you are.

It feels like a huge let down when your work doesn’t light you up the way you thought it might. I know exactly what that feels like to be successful but unhappy and overloaded with trying to keep up with the success I created.

Just trying to keep up can weighed on me like a ton of bricks that were toting around an enormous student loan for the heck of it. I was getting praised from all sides but every time a new patient contacted me, I’d die a little inside knowing that I didn’t have the time or energy to commit to more work.

Admitting that this happened to you is the hardest part.

It’s like telling everyone you’re getting a divorce from your high school sweetheart even though you two have always been known as ‘the couple.’ It’s breaking up something that other people have learned to believe in and rely on.

It’s inspiring to watch someone build a business and it’s crushing to watch it being torn down, even from afar. How do you admit, even to yourself, that this just isn’t it, even though you thought it would be? Even though it matches other people’s view of success from the outside? You stop for a moment and congratulate yourself on building something successful. Seriously, no matter what it feels like, building a successful business deserves a pat on the back.

Take a moment to soak it up. You recognize the hard work that got you where you are and you say thank you graciously when someone compliments you. You pay attention to harmony. Then, you use the information that you’ve gleaned from building this business to make your next move.

“The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%.” – Rob Kalin

As an entrepreneur, forward movement is in your blood.

Instead of falling into a shame and blame cycle with yourself or anyone else involved in your business, you transform. You follow the breadcrumbs of what could come next and you take action to see what it will feel like.

You learn to follow your emotional reaction to your business building instead of the dollar signs. Your business transforms or is completely closed down and built back up as something different, and then you use your burnout story as inspiration.

You can share the process after it’s transformation, as a new part of your business practice and as a driving force for the good that you are now creating in the world. There is nothing more inspiring to people than a hero’s journey and every hero’s journey has a major challenge followed by a transformation. The thing that no one tells us about passion is that it grows and changes with us.

My focus went from medicine to Chinese medicine to burnout coaching – in my mind, all things on a continuum of the way that I like to talk to and help people. My passion of connecting with people and helping them heal is alive and well, but I don’t want to do it the way I used to nor the way I originally planned to.

Passion adjusts and grows as you learn and change.

I want it to grow with me, to transform alongside me as I mature and age. I realized when I don’t allow this, I burnout, over and over. Your commitment to one particular passion should last only as long as it lasts.

Everyone knows the longer you drag out a relationship, the worse the breakup is. Don’t propose to your business if she’s not the one you want to marry. Be honest with yourself about where you are and where you’d like to be. Make a list of the things that are working the way you like and the things that drain you.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein

It’s always time to take the next step.

Maintain your forward progress, and keep your passion alive. At those first signs of boredom, take some action. Get a coach or coach yourself – but stay on top of your emotional reaction to your work.

Keep the fire lit by tending to it, and be sure there is enough wood already prepped to be thrown in. Have the tools ready: a poker, a shovel, whatever you might need but keep this at the forefront of your mind: once you let it extinguish, you have no choice but to build it up again from scratch.

It’s easier to keep a fire going than it is to build one.

This process can happen no matter how much you originally love your work. It’s easy to put on horse blinders and ignore the signs. The effort to build a business is gargantuan.

Keep that fire going by allowing it to change when it needs to and making sure you’re taking care of your business as much as your people. You weren’t wrong about your passion, you simply can’t know ahead of time how you’ll feel about doing anything in life. Clarity comes from action, as Marie Forleo likes to say.

If you’re at that point where you’ve found yourself to be successful but unhappy, don’t fret. You aren’t alone. I don’t know any entrepreneur who hasn’t been through this. The good news is you can use this as fuel, your passion can be reignited, and you can go on to recreate your business or create something new that is better than you could have even imagined.

How do you manage stress and the possibility of burning out? Let us know some tips below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/yes-you-can-still-burnout-even-if-your-business-is-your-baby/

The 6 Step Process You Need to Use When You Fail to Reach Your Goals

Nobody wants to fail and everyone wants to succeed. Failure is a painful event and one that almost all of us work tirelessly to avoid. However, no matter who you are, failure is unavoidable. Not only that, as much as you hate to fail, failure is still necessary for your success. There can be no success without failure.

This is because when we fail, we tend to ponder, we search for the deeper meanings, and we grow in the process. Hence, do not shun failure. The key is not to avoid failure, but to learn how to manage it when it comes.

So when you fail to reach your goals, here is the 6-step process you can use to bounce back higher:

1. Failure is just your perception

The first thing you need to understand when you fail to achieve your goals is that failure is just your perception. Like what Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.” You have to understand that there is no good news or bad news, it is just news.

Hence, when you fail, don’t treat it as a failure, instead, choose to look at it as an opportunity to learn and a lesson for growth. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people look at things from a positive perspective while the unsuccessful people look at things from a negative point of view.

When you fail, it doesn’t mean that you are a failure. You are only a failure when you choose to quit and give up. Remember, failure is just an event, not a person. Change your perception of failure and things will start to change.

2. Focus on what you can learn

The next step you need to do is to find out what you can learn from your failure. It is not easy, but once you switch your perception and look at failure as something good, things can change. A lot of people look at failure as the opposite of success, which is not true at all. Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of it.

Tony Robbins said it wisely, “Success in life is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is usually the result of experience. Experience is usually the result of bad judgment.” Hence, when you fail to achieve your goals, ask yourself, “What does this mean and what can I learn from it?”

Focus on what you can learn and not the problem. When you treat failure as a lesson and you gained a new perspective from it, you become someone better and more worthy of the goal.

3. Remember your dream

The third step you can do is to remind yourself of your dream. When you see yourself achieving your goals and are living your ideal lifestyle, you feel motivated. This is important because one of the main reasons people fail to hit their goals is that they lose interest in what they want.

They started strong in the beginning, but as the days went by, their motivation started to fade and they were distracted by everything that is happening in their daily lives. As a result, they lose connection with their goals and eventually, they stop taking action and they give up.

Never let this happen to you. Make sure you think about your dreams and put your goals in your mind every moment.

4. Recall your purpose and rediscover your passion

The next step you should take is to recall your purpose and to reignite your passion. Remember, what gets you started is your purpose and what gets you going is your purpose. And you can’t go on without both. Your purpose is the lighthouse that guides you through the thick and thin. And your passion is the fuel that drives you to take action each day.

So rediscover your purpose. Why do you want to achieve the goals? Why do you want to reach your dreams? The stronger and the more emotional your purpose, the stronger the motivation.

5. Plan and recalibrate

Once you’ve reignited your passion, it is time to plan ahead once again and recalibrate your action steps. At this point, you should understand better why you fail in the first place. Maybe you are not taking enough action. Maybe your approach did not work. Or maybe you should just try again one more time.

Whatever you do, create a new plan and start over again. Never underestimate the power of planning. Like what Larry Winget said: “Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.” Your plan tells you what you need to do to reach your goals. And of course, the final step is about taking action.

6. Take action and bounce back

The final step is to bounce back by taking massive action. By now, you have only two options. One, you choose to sit and do nothing. This will never get you anywhere. If you are stuck in a rut, doing nothing is not going to help at all. You need to make progress, which leads you to option two: Take massive action.

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there. Do understand that people don’t drown by falling into the water. They drown because they stay there. This is why you need to keep moving. Therefore, take massive and consistent action according to the plan that you have created.

Conclusion

Failing to achieve your goals is something common. Even Thomas Edison was said to have failed over 10,000 times. However, the difference was that Edison did not give up. He knew how to manage his failures and he did not see his failures as failures.

Like all successful people, Edison chose to look at failures as an opportunity to learn and grow. If you want to turn the situation around and bounce back to reach your goals, incorporate these 6 steps into your life.

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/the-6-step-process-you-need-to-use-when-you-fail-to-reach-your-goals/

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Starting a Business in College

College is a time of opportunity. Students are given a chance to learn a variety of new skills and to put those skills to use. One way to do this is to start a business. Starting a business isn’t something you should jump into without careful consideration, though. You need to take a look at what you stand to gain from it and what negative aspects come from starting a business are.

Sole Proprietorship or Partnership

The first distinction that needs to be made when you start a business is what kind of business it’s going to be. Will you be the sole owner? Will someone else be co-owning with you? If it is the former, this is referred to as a sole proprietorship. The advantages of this type of business are the fact that they are easy to start up and close if need be as well as giving the owner the flexibility of being their boss. Owners of this type also retain all profits earned.

There are downsides to this type of ownership. The biggest one is that the owner has unlimited liability. In other words, if the business fails, struggles, or falls into debt, it’s entirely on the owner.

On the other hand, if a student wanted to start a business with a friend, they could go into it as a partnership where each person holds a certain level of responsibility for the company. For one, two students starting a business can pool their resources and knowledge. Unfortunately, the development of a partnership doesn’t take away the idea of unlimited responsibility for the owners if they are general – meaning equal – partners.

“Never start a business just to make money. Start a business to make a difference.” – Marie Forleo

A Chance to Do Something Important to You

When a student is in college, they might end up taking whatever job they can to make ends meet. After all, the price of college is high, and many college students work entry-level jobs. It means that the posts you work at the start of your career might not be the ones that you are passionate about.

Owning a business, on the other hand, gives you more freedom. This is because a student’s business can be revolved around anything they are knowledgeable about. It gives them a chance to find their passion and profit off of it while having a job that they love.

The opposing side to this is that college students do work on lower funds than someone who has settled into a career further down the road and has savings built up from that. It means that for a student, start-up costs can be a little more challenging to reach.

The silver lining to that train of thought is that college students are only starting their career. They don’t have to worry about leaving a job that they’ve been working on for decades to take a risk and start their own business.

It Takes Dedication

Starting a firm, as we’ve pointed out, isn’t something that you do on a whim. The owner has to be dedicated to the business to have a successful company. It can be difficult at first because many people start their own business with the idea that they will create their hours. The truth is that you will probably find yourself working overtime and doing every menial task that the company needs to be done at first

It is mainly because you will be starting out on your own. Even if you have a partner, you won’t have employees to start out so there won’t be many delegations of tasks. If you are genuinely passionate about a topic, you will be able to find the dedication it takes to get your business off the ground. Remember, as the company grows, you’ll be able to hire more help – if the industry is a success, all responsibilities won’t fall on the owner forever.

“Don’t wait for the right moment to start a business. It never arrives. Start whenever.” – Lauris Liberts

Leadership

We already looked at the fact that owning a business means that you are in charge of all the goings on within your business. As such, this is an excellent opportunity to show your skills as a leader. If you don’t have strong leadership skills, this is a great chance to develop them fast because, without them, you will be watching your business go under.

Leadership doesn’t just mean organizing teams and delegating tasks. You will also have to take responsibility for less desirable functions within your business. For instance, as the owner, it is your job to fire someone when it comes time to let them go. It isn’t a job that anyone wants, but it is a task that needs to be done to keep a business running smoothly.

It all boils down to risk and reward. Starting and owning a business in college is something that can bring you a lot of good as well as a lot of bad. If you want a company to succeed, you have to consider both sides of this and decide if starting a business in college is the right choice for you.

from
https://addicted2success.com/startups/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-starting-a-business-in-college/

Building an Empire Starts With Your Mindset

What does it mean to “make up your own mind”? For most of us, this means that you have to make a decision or a choice between several options based on the information you currently have access to. It seems like a simple enough task, but it can often prove to be incredibly challenging. This is because the human brain moves back and forth between various states of consciousness and tends to prioritize some things more than others.

The task of making up your own mind becomes complicated when we realise that our brain is not always in complete harmony with itself. There are certain parts of our brains which get activated at different points of our day and throughout different parts of our life. It is in these moments that it  becomes difficult to make up your own mind about even the littlest thing.

We typically think of our brain as one, united organism, but the truth of the matter is that we are constantly under the influence from various forces within the brain. While this may be a huge oversimplification for people in the field of neuroscience or brain science, I like the description of three brain types outlined by Dan Priestly in his book Entrepreneur Revolution.

1. Lizard Brain

What is the lizard brain? The lizard brain is the part of the brain that is responsible for protection and self-interest. It is looking to store up as much energy as possible while working as little as possible to avoid risk or punishment of any kind. When our minds are being too strongly influenced by the lizard brain, we are more likely to look for ways to avoid conflict and hide from our responsibilities.

We look for self validation for our own actions while shying away from negative feedback. Just as cold-blooded lizards gain energy by lying in the sun, so too do people under the influence of the lizard brain require regular attention and positive reinforcement to do their jobs. And in just the same way, those influenced by the lizard brain are much less likely to do well in “cooler” environments where feedback is negative.

“Your mind is your greatest power. Use it well.” – Aneta Cruz

To counter the threat posed by the lizard brain, focus your energy on strengthening your sense of security and protection around work. We slip into the lizard brain mindset when we are unsure about our future or we are encountering a period of change. When we fear for our job or our livelihood, we are much more likely to slip into the defensive, lizard brain like state. Safety and security are the name of the game when you want to keep the lizard brain away.

2. Monkey Brain

So what about the monkey brain? The monkey brain is interested in chasing positive feelings and living in the moment. It wants to spend time with friends and experiences positive things without being challenged. The monkey brain seeks out these positive experiences by looking for the easy work or the job that will bring them passive income while they can sit on the beach eating coconuts and bananas.

Those influenced heavily by the monkey brain spend much of their days looking for ways to escape the rat race to spend time with their friends, but they don’t put in the effort necessary to achieve real success because they lack lofty goals. To train the monkey brain, you must start to look beyond your day to day routine to build habits which allow you to plan for longer term goals.

Training the monkey brain can be a challenge, because the monkey mindset is playful and is always looking for a good time. Unfortunately, in order to train the monkey brain you need to be your own parent. I’ll say that again, you must be your own parent if you want to get out of the monkey mindset. Many of us leave the house at or before the age of 18 to go to university.

After that, we rarely have direct contact with a parent or guardian figure. When we slip into the monkey brain state before that, our parents are often there to guide us in the right direction. Learn to be your own parent and you will be much better able to deal with the monkey in your head.

“Brain power improves by brain use, just as our bodily strength grows with exercise.” – A.N. Wilson

3. Empire Builder Brain

The empire builder brain is what many of us aspire to nurture and cultivate in our day-to-day lives. The empire builder brain looks outward and is interested in helping others as much as in helping itself. The mindset brought on by this part of the brain is one of growth and discovery, and it is integral to those who want to succeed in their personal, professional or spiritual lives. In the empire builder mindset, difficulties are not barriers to be slowed down by. Rather, they are challenges to overcome.

People that cultivate this train believe in lifelong learning and taking action on a daily basis. They also have a long term goal for their future that they keep coming back to day over day. And no, this goal doesn’t have to remain the same month after month, or year after year. Rather, that habit of thinking about your future goals must be formed, and those goals must be reviewed regularly and holistically.

Why brain type are you? Comment below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/building-an-empire-starts-with-your-mindset/

6 Things All EGOT Winners Have in Common

Today’s society cherishes the people who win Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tony Awards. Those individuals capture the headlines, as well as the hearts and minds of the fans who admire them. Dozens of people earn those accolades every year, but only a small group of people accomplish the incredible feat of winning all four in their career. Besides that remarkable accomplishment, EGOT winners have some other things in common with each other.

Here are the 6 things all EGOT winners have in common:

1. They’re Versatile

EGOT winners show they’re the best of the best in multiple kinds of art. In case you aren’t up to speed on the different types of awards by name, the Emmys are for excellence in TV, while the Grammys recognize outstanding musicians. The Oscars showcase fantastic individuals in the film industry, and the Tonys are for Broadway theater.

Keep in mind, not all the recipients are necessarily people you see on screen. Some earned recognition from their peers by composing music heard on TV or in movies, the theater, or within the music industry.

2. They’re Part of a Very Short List

John Legend became the latest person to win EGOT honors in September 2018. However, he made history in other ways. His age, 39, made him one of the youngest people to do so — composer Robert Lopez was another 39-year-old person on the EGOT list.

Legend also became the first African-American artist to reach this milestone. Beyond Legend, there are only 14 other people on the EGOT list. The composer Richard Rogers was the first to win the quartet of awards, and that feat happened in 1962. So, when you consider only 15 people have achieved EGOT status in the past 56 years, that element of exclusivity is extremely impressive.

“Soul is about authenticity. Soul is about finding the things in your life that are real and pure.” – John Legend

3. They Were Patient and Persistent

When some people think about the feats of famous people, they often unconsciously start only focusing on the outstanding achievements, not all the hard work it took to get them — and the inevitable failures along the way. To put things in perspective, consider every person who demonstrates excellence by becoming an EGOT winner had a long career.

It took each person at least 10 years to get their awards, and in most cases, the span of time was significantly longer than a decade. Robert Lopez was the only person to win all the necessary awards in a decade. However, Audrey Hepburn had the longest wait between earning all the awards. Her first was an Oscar in 1953. However, she didn’t win the last prize in the EGOT group — in her case, a Grammy — until 1994, over four decades later.

It’s extraordinarily rare for people to have “overnight” successes, and even more unlikely they’ll enjoy sustainable careers afterward. These people knew how important it was to work hard and stick with their careers for the long haul.

4. They Didn’t Let Shortcomings Stop Them

These people all had to get used to keeping proper perspectives, even when they didn’t win awards. After all, the list of “almost-EGOTs,” or the people who were on track to become such winners but ultimately didn’t receive the last awards they needed, is longer than you’d probably expect.

It’s crucial to remember that despite the ways these people get featured in headlines for all the fabulous things they do, they also go through things that are much more common, such as doubts and feelings of discouragement. When those struggles arose, they let the challenges shape them as people, instead of allowing the hardships to convince them to give up.

5. They Have An Amazing Work Ethic

Indeed, people who win EGOTs undoubtedly had teams of people supporting them along the way — parents, friends, teachers, coaches and mentors. But, the individuals themselves had to take what they received from their support systems and stay committed to working hard and staying focused on deliberate practice.

Some practice involves mindless repetition. Maybe you can relate by thinking back to the hours you spent learning major scales before piano lessons. In contrast, deliberate practice means paying attention to the task and having the perpetual goal of doing it to improve performance.

People from all walks of life take part in deliberate practice to master their careers, but something they have in common, like the people who won EGOTs, is they aren’t afraid to work hard. They know putting in the effort is a necessity for reaching the desired points in their careers.

“All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point.” – Eric Thomas

6. They Learned to Accept Criticism

Being in the public eye almost always requires people to learn how to take criticism in stride. Andrew Lloyd Weber is part of the EGOT list, and he’s a composer known for famous musicals including “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats.” Although you’ll find people who adore those productions, there are other individuals with scathing criticisms of the works.

Criticism is a part of life for all of us, but well-known individuals must be exceptionally resilient when dealing with it. People aren’t afraid to weigh in with their thoughts, especially in this age of social media and near-instant feedback. The people who receive EGOTs learned from feedback and used it to grow.

The people who can call themselves winners of EGOTs know the value of working hard and not giving up even when times are tough. They also have patience and realize it often takes time to fully achieve their aims. Consider keeping the characteristics on this list in mind as you explore self-improvement techniques.

What do you think is one of the biggest attributes in making someone successful? Let us know your thoughts below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/6-things-all-egot-winners-have-in-common/

The Difference With Being A Leader Vs An Everyday Employee.

5 Not-So-Popular but Effective Ways Success Works

There is a lot out there written about success. People tell you to try this out, use this hack or buy that course because it will make you successful. The truth is… well, the truth. And the truth is messy, unpopular, and something we often don’t want to hear. That’s exactly why we need to hear it – because the popular, sugarcoated examples aren’t leading us to success.

So here are the 5 not so popular, but effective, ways success works:

1. Consistency trumps everything

It’s not about hustling 24/7 and it never was, no matter what Gary Vaynerchuk says. Consistency trumps everything when it comes to success. By that, I mean that if you keep yourself long enough in the game, you will eventually succeed by the sheer probability of success.

If you keep doing the right things, eventually success will find you. But the “trick” or better yet the truth is that you have to keep doing it day in and day out. Nobody, succeeded overnight. It takes a lot of years of consistent work to achieve success and that is the truth.

2. Do less today to do more in a year

Cal Newport closes his laptop every single day at 5 pm, drives home to his wife and three kids and doesn’t open his laptop until the next morning at 9 am when he comes to the office. He doesn’t work weekends – ever.

Cal has been doing this for the past 15 years and in that time he wrote 5 books, 3 becoming New York Times best sellers, has a wife and three kids, and is a tenured professor at Georgetown and got a degree from Caltech and MIT.

Cal Newport is just 35 and he does less today to do more in a year. He is consistent in his work, and he keeps doing the work day in and day out. There is no “hustle 24/7” mode. He just does his work in a regular 9-5 spread and that’s it. But he has been doing it for the past 15 years.

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King

3. Create a goal but work the process

Goals are easy to create. You sit down, think about your life and create a goal. But what happens after the goal is created is what counts. Everyone out there has dreams, and most people have goals but only a handful make their goals a reality.

That’s because goals by themselves are useless – they need to be followed by a process on which you work daily.

You want to be an entrepreneur? Start working on your business every single day for 1 hour. You want a six-pack? Hit the gym every single day. You want to author a book? Start writing 1 page a day. Every single goal has to be backed by process or else, it’s just daydreaming. When you work the process, the goal will take care of itself.

4. Track yourself like you’re a one-man company

We do what we track. We improve what we measure. So start treating yourself as a company. Do you have reports, trackers, and quarterly reviews? Because how else are you going to succeed?

Tracking yourself means taking yourself seriously and committing to doing that one thing.

When we commit, we double down on our decisions and make it work, one way or another. In order to know what we committed to, we need to track ourselves. The numbers don’t lie  so if you track them, you know exactly where you are on the path to success.

“Accountability breeds response-ability.” – Stephen R. Covey

5. The more successful you get, the harder you need to work

This is the one thing that perception misses out on when we see a rich and successful person. We think once they succeed, that life becomes this problem-free paradise of cocktails at the beaches.

In fact, life just gets harder. The more success we have, the bigger our responsibility, the bigger our problems, and the more we have to work.

People who succeed work harder now than they did before they became successful but their perception of “hard” changed. It’s like when you start going to the gym and you see a ripped guy over there pushing himself to the limits. He feels the same pain as you do since he is pushing his utmost limits but he simply got used to the pain. Now, it’s just a part of the process.

The truth about success is getting watered down over and over again. But if we truly want success and people who read Addicted2Success really do, then we need to know what it takes to become successful.

Which one of the 5 ways to be successful resonated most with you and why? Let us know in the comments below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-not-so-popular-but-effective-ways-success-works/

A Must-Read Guide for Avoiding Burnout

Burnout. We’ve all been there. It happens to all “workaholic” entrepreneurs like you and me. But please allow me to provide a reality check: You’re not a machine. And regardless of how much you think you’re like Gary Vaynerchuk, you need to take breaks in order to function at maximum capacity. Non-stop hustle without ever taking a break is dumb. That’s why it’s called a “break”. Because if you don’t eventually stop, that’s exactly what will happen. You will break!

Here are 5 simple steps to avoid burnout once and for all:

Step #1: Build A Sustainable Work Schedule

Scheduling your work around your breaks (not the other way around) is the most effective way to avoid burnout. Now to be clear, I’m not saying “don’t work hard”. I’d never tell you that. But rather, to work in a sustainable fashion.

In other words: Prioritize your breaks the same way you would prioritize your work. For example, LinkedIn’s CEO, Jeff Weiner, schedules two hours of breaks throughout each of his workdays (in 30 to 90-minute blocks). How many breaks are scheduled in your day?

“Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.” – Michael Gungor

Step #2: Practice Gratitude

If you’re reading this, you have eyes. Be grateful for them, some people don’t. Remembering what you already have is critical, because gratitude is a divine quality and awakens our sense of true abundance. Work hard and be mindful of every gift that you have in your life. An attitude of gratitude is the path to true happiness.

Step #3: Remember Your WHY Power

Why do you do what you do? Why do you go the extra mile, get up early, stay late, and work around the clock? Only once you’ve answered this question will you have isolated your “why power”.

For instance, do you want to retire your parents? Is your why power to become a billionaire so you can fund cures for diseases? My suggestion to you would be to prepare a pocket-sized list of your whys and re-read them whenever you’re feeling low on energy (you’ll know when the list is long enough when you read it and feel recharged).

Step #4: Meditate Twice (Daily)

If you only take away one thing from this article, please let it be this: Meditate, twice daily, 20 minutes (per session). Personally, I meditate once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Like exercise for the brain, meditation compounds and is truly a life-changing activity. You’ll experience unparalleled clarity by activating your brain’s “reset” button, which will allow you to focus on your work and get infinitely more done in a fraction of the time.

But like all worthwhile things in life, it requires consistency. To help with getting on a consistent schedule, I’d highly suggest purchasing a physical calendar and making a big red “X” on the days that you meditate. How many days in a row can you meditate without fail? If you’re new to meditation, I’d suggest starting with 10-minute sessions and using a guided video (I love this one on YouTube by the Chopra Center).

“Your mind is a powerful thing. When you filter it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change.” – Buddha

Step #5: Remember That You’re Going To Die

Newsflash: You’re dying. You’re not going to be here forever, so stop acting like it. I don’t know how old you are, but I’d please ask you to take a quick moment to teleport to age one-hundred. Feel free to close your eyes right now and do this.

As you’re on your deathbed, do you have regrets that you didn’t accomplish your goals, leave a legacy, and serve more people? Which of your dreams remain unfulfilled? Now, open your eyes and teleport back to the current moment. Alright, now go make it happen — and avoid that dark future from occurring!

I hope you found this article helpful. If you did, please feel free to share with a friend or co-worker!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/a-must-read-guide-for-avoiding-burnout/

5 Simple Mental Tricks to Help Leaders Deal With a Heavy Workload

Entrepreneurs and other business owners put in a lot of work. In fact, many entrepreneurs report spending over 60 hours a week (or more than 12 hours each day) working on their business. These hours are busy — no extended breaks for browsing Facebook or watching funny YouTube videos. Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires a lot of work, and a lot of learning. Of course, having such a heavy workload and so many responsibilities can quickly become overwhelming.

So how do successful business owners manage? A lot of it comes down to the right mental practices. By working smarter, not harder, leaders can effectively manage even the most seemingly insurmountable workloads and achieve their company goals.

Here’s a closer look at the mental practices you can apply to better manage your responsibilities:

1. Stop Multitasking

When you have a lot of work on your plate, it can be tempting to switch back and forth between projects so you can make progress on each one. But this is actually one of the worst things you can do for your productivity. Research has consistently found that multitasking actually slows down your work, rather than speeding it up.

According to the American Psychological Association, “Although switch costs may be relatively small, sometimes just a few tenths of a second per switch, they can add up to large amounts when people switch repeatedly back and forth between tasks. Thus, multitasking may seem efficient on the surface but may actually take more time in the end and involve more error … even brief mental blocks created by shifting between tasks can cost as much as 40 percent of someone’s productive time.”

“The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

2. Start Your Day With the Hardest Tasks

Each task and responsibility you’re faced with will have varying degrees of difficulty and time commitment. It’s all too easy to save the hardest tasks for last, but if you wish to maximize your productivity and get through your workload, you should actually start with the tougher challenges.

Many of the most successful entrepreneurs take care of their toughest tasks first thing in the morning. For one thing, most of us have more energy when we first start the workday. The later in the day it gets, the harder it becomes to maintain that same drive and focus, making it all too easy to procrastinate. Knocking out a hard assignment early in the day also brings a sense of accomplishment, which can provide additional energy for powering through future tasks.

3. Know Your Limits

While hard work is essential for entrepreneurial success, you don’t want to run the risk of burnout. Continually pushing yourself beyond your boundaries can cause chronic exhaustion, anxiety, relationship problems and even heart disease.

“Everyone has different limits,” notes Jason Bliss, co-founder of Healthy Living Network. “As a serial entrepreneur myself, I’ve seen far too many people overwork themselves to the point of exhaustion, thinking it will help them succeed. In reality, overwork usually makes their results worse, not better. Learning the warning signs of burnout has helped me know when to step back — even for a short break — so I can come back later when I’m feeling refreshed.”

4. Plan Out Your Day

Knowing which task you want to start your day with isn’t enough — you also need to plan out the rest of the day. Catherine Adenle recommends “breaking your day into sessions, of maybe two or three hours. Take regular walk breaks after each session. First thing in the morning, when you get to the office, begin your day with a plan and assign tasks to each session.”

By dividing your day into more manageable chunks and planning corresponding activities, your workload won’t feel as overwhelming. You’ll be more likely to stay on track with everything that needs to get done. For best results, organize tasks based on urgency, deadline and the time they’ll take to complete.

“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.” – Margaret Thatcher

5. Understand Proper Delegation

As a business leader, you have a significant resource that few others enjoy: a support staff that can assist you with your responsibilities. Asking for help or delegating tasks can help you maintain focus on the activities that matter most for your business. Though you should be mindful of your employees’ pre-existing workloads and clearly communicate project expectations, delegation can significantly improve company productivity.

The problem, however, is that many leaders are reluctant to delegate. They worry about employees’ abilities to complete a task, or feel they could handle the work quicker and more effectively on their own. It is essential that you develop the humility needed to delegate to your staff.

Research from Gallup has found that employers who delegate, effectively experience significantly higher growth than their competition. By leveraging employee strengths to lessen your load, you can enjoy major improvements to your bottom line.

Adapting the way you approach your workload will require a fair amount of effort. There may even be some failures and setbacks as you change how you manage your work. But if you wish to obtain lasting success, few things will be more important than improving your mental approach. By implementing these tactics, you’ll be able to work more effectively and achieve higher-quality outcomes.

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-simple-mental-tricks-to-help-leaders-deal-with-a-heavy-workload/

19 of Galileo Galilei’s Most Influential Quotes

Galileo Galilei was an Italian renaissance man who made significant contributions to the sciences of motion, astronomy, and to the development of the scientific method. He is best known for improving the telescope to gain better knowledge of the planets and stars.

Galileo sought knowledge from a variety of disciplines, and his discoveries led him to believe the Earth and planets revolve around the sun. Although he championed for this belief, it was challenging because most people during his time believed the Earth was at the center of the Universe and all planets orbited Earth.

Because of Galileo’s views, he was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life. Nonetheless, he was a central figure in the scientific Renaissance, and contributed greatly to the scientific community.

Below are 19 of Galileo Galilei’s most influential sayings:

1. “We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.”- Galileo Galilei

2. “The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.”- Galileo Galilei

3. “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”- Galileo Galilei

4. “I give infinite thanks to God, who has been pleased to make me the first observer of marvelous things.”- Galileo Galilei

5. “The Milky Way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters.”- Galileo Galilei

6. “Where the senses fail us, reason must step in.”- Galileo Galilei

7. “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.”- Galileo Galilei

8. “Who would set a limit to the mind of man? Who would dare assert that we know all there is to be known?”- Galileo Galilei

9. “You can’t teach anybody anything, only make them realize the answers are already inside them.”- Galileo Galilei

10. “In the sciences, the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man.”- Galileo Galilei

11. “Knowing thyself, that is the greatest wisdom.”- Galileo Galilei

12. “To be humane, we must ever be ready to pronounce that wise, ingenious and modest statement ‘I do not know’.”- Galileo Galilei

13. “The greatest wisdom is to get to know oneself.” – Galileo Galilei

14. “Two truths cannot contradict one another.” – Galileo Galilei

15. “The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.”- Galileo Galilei

16. “I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” – Galileo Galilei

17. “With regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them.”- Galileo Galilei

18. “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.”- Galileo Galilei

19. “There are those who reason well, but they are greatly outnumbered by those who reason badly.”- Galileo Galilei

Which one of Galileo’s quotes resonated most with you and why? Let us know your thoughts below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/quotes/48959/

3 Simple Strategies to Fight Procrastination

Sometimes, all it takes to beat procrastination is a few simple tweaks. You woke up fresh and energized, got your coffee, and have your tasks meticulously listed. Afterwards, you got your “working music” playing through your noise-canceling headphones, and you turn on your computer ready to begin working.

And then…it happens. You glance back and forth at your list and your computer screen. The earliest deadline will not be until later at the end of your workday. You still got time. You want to try out that new restaurant around the corner. So, you go on the Internet to learn more about it.

The next thing you know, half the work day is done, and you have finished nothing! Sound familiar? You are not alone. In fact, the truth is that procrastination is normal. In fact, a study done by Piers Steel, shows that 95% of people procrastinate. The other 5% are probably still in denial.

The dangers of procrastinating

While there are cases when procrastination can do some good at work, it does have its adverse effects. Just take a look at these stats:

• People who procrastinate reported higher levels of stress and more prone to illness long-term.
• Chronic procrastinators exhibited poor work performance and made significantly more mistakes.
• 40% of people that procrastinate report a significant financial loss.

Below are 3 reasons why we procrastinate and how we can fight against procrastinating:

1. Lacking motivation

People crave comfort because it is less stressful and it makes us feel safe. That is why it is so easy to convince yourself to take a nap or go for a Netflix binge even if you got a looming deadline. On the other hand, it takes a whole lot more effort on your part to motivate yourself to get up from that couch and spend time finding your passion.

Why? Let’s be honest: making those sales calls, doing presentations, and writing up reports are hardly things that you would call “enjoyable.” In fact, it can be tiresome, overwhelming, and just plain difficult.

How to fight it: “Motivation has a lot to do with perspective,” says Jim Vernon, CEO of Rockher. “Instead of focusing on the actual task you need to do, shift your focus to what will you get when you accomplish it. Does it mean more time with your kids? Or perhaps a raise?”

One way to do this is by changing the way you write your to-do list. Instead of just listing down one task after another, try listing them down by using an action verb.

Entrepreneur Marie Forleo calls this process as verbalizing your to-do list. Sounds simple, but it is beneficial because as she explains, the presence of these action verbs at the start of each of the tasks on your to-do list serve as a trigger to motivate you to take action.

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” – George Herbert

2. Fear

Fear can be very crippling. For many people, it is just enough for them to validate why they procrastinate. The fear of failure is the most common reason why people procrastinate, especially among perfectionists.

Perfectionists have the urge that everything should be perfect the first time around. There is always that little voice ringing in their head that keeps telling them, ‘what if you mess up?’ Eventually, they give in to that voice and end up setting projects aside.

How to fight it: Baddeley said that the way he overcame this was by accepting failure. A friend of mine gave me John Maxwell’s book, Failing Forward. In it, one of the principles that he taught was that it is perfectly okay to make mistakes. It is part of being normal. The moment I learned to accept this was when I slowly started beating the procrastination habit.

3. Rebellion

In some cases, procrastinating is one way for a person to show one’s disapproval about something. For students, it can be their way of getting back at a teacher who offended or hurt them. With employees, it can be their way of showing that their resentment after being passed for a promotion or frustration balancing their life at work and home.

How to fix it: The best way to help someone deal with this kind of procrastination is to talk with them.

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt

People who procrastinate as a way to rebel feel that they have been wronged, devalued, and short-changed, Having a heart-to-heart talk with them about their concern, I found, helps them let off steam and the shake off that resentment.

Give them some advice and even a challenge on how to reach their goal will help them break away from their procrastinating habit. In some cases, it can even transform them into becoming some of your most productive employees.

How do you fight procrastination? Let us know your tips and suggestions below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/3-simple-strategies-to-fight-procrastination/

Positivity & Self-Ownership: Your #1 Factor for Success

Leaving a reliable 9-5 job and risking a steady, biweekly paycheck to live out a dream and pursue a totally different lifestyle can be terrifying. However, there is no reason to fear, aspiring entrepreneur!

All successful entrepreneurs understand a few simple principles that enable them to achieve their goals, including how positivity along with taking ownership and accountability for your attitude, actions, and outcomes play a major role in your success.

The Power of Positivity

Never underestimate the power of positivity. Thinking positive thoughts, embodying a positive and healthy lifestyle, and reciting positive affirmations everyday enable you to tap into a higher level of your subconscious.

This is in line with the law of attraction, which says we attract into our lives what we manifest and put our energy into. You attract the energy that you put out into the universe, so the more positivity you put out, the more positivity comes back.

Here are some examples of positive affirmations that are meant to promote success:

• I have the power to create change.
• I refuse to give up because I will succeed.
• I deserve the best and I accept everything that has happened up until now.
• I am unstoppable and I will achieve all of my goals.

Replace your “I can’t”s with “I can.” Replace your “I won’t”s with “I will.” Speak positive things into existence, and watch your life turn around and have those positive thoughts come about. When you make the effort to make a positive change, the universe will conspire to help you succeed.

What Does It Mean to Be Accountable?

Accountability means to take responsibility and accept ownership for your actions and decisions. This means that you are responsible for the fate of your business. Do you feel that things aren’t taking off as quickly as you originally hoped? Work harder. Not selling thousands of products? Sell harder. Don’t have enough clients? Conduct more cold outreach. Keep your word.

Set goals and intentions and follow through with them. Be responsible and hold accountability for your actions. When you accept responsibility for your actions, you’ll feel rewarded when things work out, and you’ll close more deals, sell more products, and your dreams will come true.

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” –  Winston Churchill

What It Means to Take Control of Your Life & Business

In order to take control of your life and the fate of your business, you must understand your purpose in life and be willing to fulfill that purpose. It’s not enough to only desire a certain lifestyle.

You must stay true to what you really want to do in life. This means that you are mentally prepared to take on everything you need to in order to succeed. You follow strict self-set rules and guidelines that will help to keep you on track toward those dreams and goals. You don’t give up.

You keep going when things get tough, and you never see failure as an obstacle. You aren’t discouraged. You accept minor bumps in the road on the way to your destination, because you know you will ultimately reach your goal, and you won’t stop until you get there.

Here are three factors that personally helped me succeed:

1. Becoming more organized

Prior to organizing my tasks and goals, I was just flying by the seat of my pants and wondering why I wasn’t progressing at all. That’s because I didn’t have a set direction.

Becoming more organized helped me to prioritize what needed to get done in order to grow my business to the place where it’s at today.

2. Starting my off my day with positive affirmations

Positive affirmations are more powerful than you may believe. I started each day reading and reciting a quote that was positive and inspiring in nature, which exponentially increased my motivation and mentally prepared me to take on each day.

“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

3. I developed long-term goals and stuck to them

Instead of working every day toward the unknown, I decided to set long-term goals. The kicker in helping me stick to these goals was creating smaller milestones that kept me on track and focused which gradually led me up to the ultimate goal.

Although I recognized that the ultimate achievement (of growing my business) was still at hand, my behavior was reinforced by a consistent sense of accomplishment upon completing these smaller goals.

If you are willing to stay focused, motivated, commit the time, effort, and energy toward reaching your goals, and you truly believe that you can and WILL achieve them, then there is nothing that will stop you in your path toward success.

As William Earnest Henley’s famous poem “Invictus” states, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” You are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul. Once you wholeheartedly believe this, then you will harness your true power, unlock your full potential, and begin to live out your truth and reach the level of success you’ve always dreamed of.

What is success to you? Let us know in the comments below!

Image credit courtesy of Twenty20.com

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/positivity-self-ownership-your-1-factor-for-success/

5 Bulletproof Ways Leaders Can Motivate Their Teams

We all dream of a perfect, self-motivated team that is constantly putting their best foot forward and embracing each challenge they are given. In reality, as much as you’d like to encourage and motivate even more active contribution from your team members, it is often easier said than done.

Using external motivators, such as promotions or raises, is rarely a permanent solution for motivating your employees to do the very best for the company. Motivation simply cannot be forced on anyone but has to come from within, which is why it’s extremely important to understand the unique sources of employee motivation. There are, however, some solid ways for leaders to self-motivate and encourage active participation in a team.

Here are five bulletproof ways to help your employees find motivation and stay motivated:

1. Communicate purpose

Communicating purpose is the first step towards enhancing motivation and engagement within a team. Like Simon Sinek advises in his best-selling book, if you want your team to act with purpose, you should start with why. If your team isn’t aware of why they are doing what they’re supposed to do, they’re less likely to find their work meaningful and less likely to care.

This, however, doesn’t mean that you’re forced to have a motivational speech. In my opinion, motivational rants are like throwing boiled spaghetti on the wall – it’s not going to stick for long. Instead, to create a fulfilling and motivating work-environment, engage and encourage your team members to participate in clarifying your vision. Be open about where you’re heading and what’s your driving force.

Leaders who aim for providing direction and clarity, are the ones who are really able to take their businesses to the next level as well as to help their team members to pursue both their professional and personal hopes and dreams.

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” – Reverend Theodore Hesburgh

2. Set clear goals

One of the most common de-motivating factors in a workplace is lack of focus. If you find your team constantly busy, but don’t quite know with what, it might be a sign of confusion due to unclear goals. Also, if your team is constantly underperforming, you might want to revisit your goals.

Without specific and transparent goals, your team may have a difficult time to know what to prioritize. This easily results in uncertainty, decreased motivation and a constant debate of whether they’re working enough or not.

Clear goals can help your team avoid unnecessary stress and make smarter decisions. To retrieve motivation, start by revisiting your goals to make sure they are ambitious enough to be meaningful. However, don’t make the mistake of stretching your workers too much outside of their comfort zone but aim for finding a good balance between these two.

A solid starting point is to define your “common grand goal” towards which you work as a team. When you have defined that, it’s much easier to start planning your journey there by setting smaller individual goals.

3. Encourage ownership

Sometimes, employees may feel they don’t have enough power to make decisions. This might be a sign of too strict processes or the fact that you’re micromanaging your employees.

To encourage your team to take ownership, set clear expectations and standards but give them enough freedom to come up with their own ideas. Enhance trust by asking for feedback to show that you really value their opinion.

Also, make sure your team members are aware of how their contribution links to the big picture. When your team feels that what they’re doing is important and they’re contributing to something with real value, they’re more likely to take ownership and be proud of their work.

4. Hold your team accountable

Accountability is one of the most overlooked aspects by leaders who want to create an effective and motivated team environment. In general, people are motivated by positive feedback and exceeding expectations. According to a study, nearly 78% of employees are highly engaged when they experience strong recognition, which is why positive feedback is encouraged.

However, there should also be consequences when things don’t go as planned. Accountability becomes sustainable with constant reinforcement, which is why continuity is the key. Holding your team accountable shows that you care and helps your team to maintain quality.

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the result.” – Bob Proctor

5. Support self-development and provide opportunities for growth

One of the best ways to motivate your team is to encourage each individual to become better by finding ways to support their professional growth and encouraging personal leadership. In practice, this can mean for example training sessions, book clubs, mentoring or other tactics that support personal leadership.

Take a few self-development tactics as a part of your goal-setting process by aligning individual KPIs with your company goals. To get the best possible outcome, this should be done systematically.  

Another way to provide opportunities for growth while linking this with work is to launch a Growth Model, where you first define different areas of improvement. Start by evaluating where your team stands at the moment in each of the areas and plan the following steps according to your findings.

Choose one focus area at a time as well as clear action points and a timeline to improve that specific area. Make it tangible by keeping track of the progress – this helps motivating your employees as they can instantly see their level of improvement. If you want to take motivating your team to the next level, find out what their personal and career-related goals are and try to think of ways you can help them to pursue these goals.

How do you keep your team motivated? Comment below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/motivation/5-bulletproof-ways-leaders-can-motivate-their-teams/

The 3 P’s of Irresistible Leadership: Passion, Persistence, and Panache

If any of you reading this have ever studied the theoretical underpinnings of leadership, you will have come across several theories such as the great man theory and charismatic leadership theory. Over the decades, leadership has evolved more from an art of telling people what to do to that of subtle influence, suggestion, and rendering by example.

In my new e-book “High-Octane Leadership: Pole Position Performance,” I mentioned that the goal of the manager is to create followers, but the goal of a leader is to create new leaders! This is a relatively new concept in leadership! There are many new and emerging micro theories of leadership that can be expounded upon and useful to individuals looking to assimilate a leadership style.

Here are the 3 P’s of irresistible leadership:

1. Passion

No great achievements, no illustrious undertakings, and no works of genius have ever occurred without the infusion of passion. Passion creates connections where none existed before.

Passion heightens the desire in the individuals who have opted to follow, and it has moved individuals forward toward a common vision. Leaders such as Steve Jobs, have to demonstrate a sense of passion in everything. Although his passion could be somewhat subdued, there is no doubt that when it came to any Apple products, he was the number one salesperson, champion, and evangelist.

“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.” – Howard Schultz

2. Persistence

For years when I was in direct sales, I had an 8.5 x 11 sheet with a cartoon on it hanging over my desk. It was a crane (that’s the bird, not the machine) who had a frog in his rather ample bill. However, the frog’s arms came out of the side of the crane’s mouth and were clutching the crane by the throat so that he (the crane) couldn’t swallow the frog. Underneath this caption where the words, “never, ever give up!”

Leaders persist! They understand that there is always a way to solve the problem. Following this understanding, there must be subsequent action that follows, and this can lead to enthusiasm and optimism!

3. Panache

Leaders are self-confident people. They have systematically developed confidence over the years. In situations where they don’t feel confident, they make themselves feel confident. Confidence is learned. It’s a mental model and a cognitive mindset of how we approach problems.

Leaders understand and know that they will solve the problem before them; it’s not a matter of guessing, it’s a matter of knowing.

“Positivity, confidence, and persistence are key in life, so never give up on yourself.” – Khalid

If you buy the notion of passion, persistence, and panache as attributes of irresistible leadership, the question before us now turns on how do we develop those skills?

Here are a few behaviors that leaders use on a consistent basis to develop new skills:

• Awareness – Great leaders and irresistible leaders always have their antennae up. They are always looking for ways to improve. They understand that self-improvement is a never-ending process to be embraced, even if the execution of the new behavior is difficult!
• Repetition – Irresistible leaders practice their new skills. They will practice them in front of their subordinates, their family, and in front of themselves while staring at their face in a bathroom mirror! They understand the way to install a new habit of behavior is like with any habit, repeating it over and over again.
• Feedback – Irresistible leaders are not afraid to ask how they are doing. And, they are not afraid to hear the answer. They understand that the best answer is that they are doing well but the next best answer is that they are not doing well, instead of not being told about their potential flaw. They understand that input in terms of behavioral awareness is one of the singular most important things one can attribute to leadership performance and style.

Try this: take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and draw three columns. Atop each column write passion, persistence, and panache. On the left-hand side in the margin of the page, write awareness and 1/3 of the page down, write repetition, and then at the bottom one third the word feedback.

Writing solidifies thought, and it is that solid thought that motivates us into action. You will find yourself becoming more aware of opportunities to develop in each of the 3 P’s of irresistible leadership. Document them! Then jot down ideas down about how you can repeat those new behaviors. Finally solicit feedback and document what you’ve heard.

In the span of several weeks you will have developed new and exciting leadership attributes. Continue this new and exciting habit for other leadership development opportunities.

Which one of the 3 P’s do you need to work on most and why? Let us know in the comments below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/the-3-ps-of-irresistible-leadership-passion-persistence-and-panache/