Is Entrepreneurship the Best Way for You? The De Facto Behind to Be or Not to Be

Many people seek entrepreneurship as a way to achieve success and money, both professionally and personally. Some have the dream of undertaking from an early age; others discover it in times of need. However, what most entrepreneurs have in common is that they did not always know if this was really the best choice for their lives.

You may be going through this now. You may be wondering if entrepreneurship is the best way to realize your dreams or not. Fortunately, there are some signs that will help you find this answer.

3 Signs that your ideal path may be entrepreneurship

Successful entrepreneurs have some common behavioral traits. From this, you can identify signs in your own behavior that will help you recognize if this is the best way to lead you to professional and personal fulfillment. Here are some of them:

1. You bother with the traditional employment model

Have you ever worked in one or more companies and felt that it was not for you? Do you think this life is summed up in waiting anxiously for the weekend to be happy? Some people believe that they do not fit into the traditional employment model; Do not want to work at set times, receive the same salary at the end of the month, or have a boss. Many feel that they are killing themselves from working for the benefit of others, not themselves.

If it is so with you, it may be that your professional achievement is far from traditional employment. Having your own business, working for yourself, and receiving according to your results, seem like a better alternative? So maybe entrepreneurship is your way to success.

2. You have the desire to make an impact in the world

Engaging is a way to impact lives and make your mark on the world. Many successful entrepreneurs started their business to change the lives of at least one person. This change can be anything that brings a positive result and helps someone. If you are motivated to look for results above average and “not just another one,” entrepreneurship can be one way to accomplish this.

3. You like to take responsibility and fulfill

Are you happy when you reach the end of the day and see that you have done your homework, whether large or small? And when the days are unproductive, and you can not get anywhere, does that bother you?

If you feel that way, it is because you have a passion for accomplishing. You like to chase after your goals and fulfill your responsibilities. This is an essential characteristic for those who want to undertake entrepreneurship.

When you start a new business, you take on responsibility. Entrepreneurship is a daily quest to achieve the goals for which you are responsible. If that motivates you and makes you feel that life is going forward, the undertaking can be your way to success.

If you have identified with these signs, you are in the right place. A venture can really make sense for your life. Now, if you identify with any of the signs I’m going to talk about below, you better be careful because you may be making a hasty decision. Continue reading the post to understand.

3 Signs that entrepreneurship may not be for you

If any of these characteristics have to do with you, entrepreneurship may not be the best option, or at least not now. See below:

1. You want to follow the easy way

There’s nothing wrong with wanting things to be easy. So much so that we have a biological tendency to seek the least effort possible to spend less energy. However, if you search for business ideas by researching “what to sell to make money fast and easy,” entrepreneurship is definitely not for you. This path is difficult, tiring, and the results can take a long time to appear.

So if it is so difficult and time-consuming, what is the advantage of undertaking? What is easy to achieve generates common results. Already the difficult road can result in extraordinary things. If you have real motivation to choose entrepreneurship, keep in mind that it is they who will lead you forward. Your motives will make you not give up, however difficult the situation may be. It takes persistence.

2. You just want to create a job for yourself

Many people begin to undertake entreprenurship when they lose their jobs, and at first, there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is to think that entrepreneurship is a substitute for a traditional job. If you want to undertake to create a new job, do not do it. You will regret it because working in your own business requires different challenges, different efforts and brings results in a different way.

According to experts, 50% of micro and small business owners run their business for a good job. Do you think these people will become successful entrepreneurs? Because there is no motivation to undertake, they do not believe that entrepreneurship is the best way to achieve success. They undertake because they want to create jobs for themselves. These people do not feel fulfilled with their business.

If you think about entrepreneruship but would trade it for a job, quit this post and find a job. It is best for you because entrepreneurship would only bring you disappointment.

3. You only want to be an entrepreneur to be rich

If you seek entrepreneurship only as a way to get wealthy or rich, I need to tell you something. Most entrepreneurs are not rich. A study called Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, pointed out that in 2018, only around 15% of the entrepreneurs had a family income greater than minimum wages in the USA. If you consider this to be wealth, the other 85% of entrepreneurs are not wealthy.

Even worse, the eagerness to get rich is a big reason for bankruptcy in new businesses. Many entrepreneurs believe their business exists to give them money, so they take the company’s profits for personal use and do not reinvest enough. So your business breaks even before you can get established in the market.

So you mean entrepreneurs do not make a lot of money?

Just as most employees do not get rich, most entrepreneurs do not. It is only you to think that wealth only exists because it is an above-average result. If everyone were rich, no one would be. Money is the result of hard work and sound financial management. Successful entrepreneurs know they need to wait for their business to grow and establish themselves before earning a greater amount of money. And this is crucial for anyone who wants to undertake.

Entrepreneurship is not a magic formula to get rich, and if you start a business just thinking about money, you probably will not have enough motivation to continue. If you have not identified with any of these signs, you are on the right track. Entrepreneurship should really be for you. So, to follow the next steps and take action on the right time to form your own business.

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/is-entrepreneurship-the-best-way-for-you-the-de-facto-behind-to-be-or-not-to-be/

If You Want to Be Successful Stop These 3 Toxic Habits

Are you finding life more of a struggle? With more distractions, more bills, and more choices, it can feel as though we’re not making any progress. As technology disrupts multiple industries, many people are trying to build their own business or start the much talked about side hustle.

The struggle is real, and after a few years, we can start to wonder why our goals haven’t come to fruition. The networking, upskilling, and hustle might not have paid off. We can question and throw blame, but in truth, our failure to progress is often because we need to be someone new, in order to achieve something we haven’t achieved before.

If you are in this situation, feeling exhausted of the grind, and wondering why you’re not getting your break, then it might be time to change who you are being. What are you willing to sacrifice?

Here are the 3 things you need to stop doing immediately if you want to be successful:

1. The Clothes Maketh The Man: Stop owning so many clothes.

We understand the power of what we wear, and how it can impact the first impression that we make, but do we have too many choices? Over the years, our wardrobes have grown to the point that the idea of moving house fills us with dread.

We have lost count of just how many items we have, as each year they are added by the various holidays and celebrations that suggest clothing as a quick and easy present choice. Buying clothes can be fun too, and we all like to wear new items. The problem is that in our fast paced, multiple choice, lives, it’s all too easy to suffer from decision fatigue.

It takes energy to make decisions, and we can be assaulted by choices every moment of the day. We need to limit this by building habits such as the route to work we take, what we have for breakfast, and what clothing we wear. You probably have a style that suits you, and an outfit or two that makes you feel confident and attractive. So why not replicate that every day? 

You will not be alone. In fact, you will be in the company of Presidents and CEO’s. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Barack Obama, all had a small interchangeable wardrobes. Your aim is to limit the choice, know you will look good and be comfortable, and as an added bonus, you will be adding to your personal brand.

“I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” – Barack Obama

2. Body Eating Spirit or Water Of Life? Stop drinking alcohol.

Alcohol can be seen as a great way to relax, network, or deal with imposter syndrome. It can calm the nerves, feels like it boosts creativity, and help us de-stress. Sadly, it can also get out of hand, cause regret, waste time and money.

Alcohol does have an impact. If you’re not happy, or are struggling to achieve your goals, it may be time to quit drinking and see what happens. Recently, Justin Kan, the 35 year old that sold Twitch to Amazon for $1 Billion, has stated that he has given up alcohol as it was preventing him from being fully in touch with his emotions and his experience of life.

Other big names such as Warren Buffet, Tyra Banks, and Jennifer Lopez are also teetotal. It might be a struggle at first, but there will be many benefits that begin to appear over time. 

Even in the short term, you will have better quality sleep, more energy and focus, as well as a fighting fund of additional cash. Giving up alcohol may just give you that slight edge you need to win.

3. Your Life Is Not A Soap Opera, Stop with the drama. 

As human beings, we are natural storytellers. We can be happily productive and going about our day until we hear a colleague telling a story. It might be meaningless, and have nothing to do with our lives or our work, yet we need to know what happens!

As the characters fall into place and the drama unfolds, we begin to get involved in a narrative that has nothing to do with our own journey. We want to be part of the fairy tale, with the villain, the hero, the overcoming of obstacles. Sadly, what we often end up with is merely gossip. Gossip that often has nothing to do with reality.

“Anyone who will gossip to you, will gossip about you.” 

We know our goal and what we want to achieve. The drama is a distraction pulling us off target. It is another form of procrastination. We may even be attracting it by mind reading and creating fictional motivations for those around us to cause us stress. We need to remove the drama from our lives and focus on creating a calm and conflict free environment that prioritizes effective communication and the reality of the situation.

Try stopping these 3 things for a month and see what happens. Will the more streamlined and focused version of you be more successful? Let us know below!

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https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/if-you-want-to-be-successful-stop-these-3-toxic-habits/

6 Growth Hacking Tips That’ll Show You How to Grow Your Business as Fast as Possible

Growing and scaling a business has become a monumental task for entrepreneurs. Competing with established companies on a limited budget presents a host of challenges, however, embracing some growth hacking tips can significantly increase your chances of success. Unfortunately, many people are still unaware of what growth hacking is and how it works.

To help you understand the relatively new concept, we have compiled this post where we will share some strategies that can help businesses scale and move forward. Before we walk you through the process of growth hacking your business, it is important to define this concept and eliminate the confusion around it.

What is growth hacking?

The phrase ‘growth hacking’ was first coined by Sean Elis in his blog in 2010. It refers to experiment-driven techniques and the most effective ways of growing a business. Growth hacking involves a mix of marketing, design, innovation, engineering, and analytics. 

Growth hackers look for innovative and cost-effective methods to attain growth instead of resorting to traditional methods. Growth hackers use a combination of tools, including content marketing, SEO, A/B testing, and leverage their strategies to achieve the desired results.

Below are some of the most important growth hacking tips and strategies that you can follow to expand your horizons:

1. Focus on quality

Although growth hacking can maximize your revenue to a great extent, you would never succeed if your product or service does not add value to your customers’ lives. A great product or service helps businesses build trust, which is imperative for success in today’s competitive environment.

Quality also results in satisfied customers and retains their loyalty so that they get back to buy from you again and again. Customer satisfaction is quickly overtaking price as the key factor in customer’s decision making. Additionally, satisfied customers tend to stick around for the long term and contribute considerably to a company’s revenue and profitability.

2. Automate your tasks

One of the ways to maintain high levels of productivity is to automate all your manual and time-consuming processes. This is probably the most critical growth hacking practice both for small and large businesses. Assess your needs and implement software that will fulfill your business’ requirements. Two of the most widely used automation software are customer relationship management (CRM) software and marketing automation.

CRM automates manual tasks and allows the teams to access the same data. It also provides project management services, improves collaboration within teams, and saves time and money. Many all-in-one CRM software offers a built-in marketing automation solution; however, you can also acquire the service separately.

The marketing automation solution streamlines marketing processes, increase brand awareness, and makes it easy for brands to attract new leads. With built-in features like email marketing, lead generation, and metrics, the solution offers excellent growth hacking services for early-stage startups.

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates

3. Have a referral program in place

Dropbox jumped from 100,000 users to four million users in just over four months by implementing a simple referral program. That is a growth of 3900% or doubling its user base every three months. Similarly, Airbnb grew and tripled their daily bookings with their referral program, which brought in millions of dollars in revenue.

These two examples highlight the importance of referrals for the growth of a business. Dropbox offered more storage space to their users while Airbnb provided cash bonuses to referrers after they went on their first trip or hosted a guest for the first time.

4. Offer a freemium model

An effective way to hack your growth is to offer basic services for free. Users have the option to apply for a premium membership to access advanced features. This was the hack behind the success of Spotify. The company earned money from cash subscriptions and in-app ads. Users were offered free streaming services for which they had to listen to ads.

The freemium model also contributed a lot to Slack’s overall success. They offered a freemium option which allowed users to use the platform before deciding whether or not it was right for them. The users could upgrade to a feature-rich platform that offered more storage and deeper message archives. Today, the platform has over ten million daily active users.

5. Focus on content marketing

Content marketing is a long-term process that has the potential to grow your business over time. Research of “Kapost” revealed that companies that have a business blog generate 97 percent more leads as it enables them to reach billions of users that use the internet. Blog regularly and create content that solves the problems of your readers. Use content creation tools to produce content that drives engagement and social sharing.

Also, make sure that your blog includes a subscription form so that new users can sign up and receive your blog posts via emails. This not only increases your readers’ club but also provides an opportunity to maximize lead generation.

“We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be what people are interested in.” – Craig Davis

6. Influencer marketing

Influencers are industry experts who are considered as authorities in your space. They have already garnered huge followings, so if you have good connections with them, you can potentially increase the reach of your content exponentially. You can use tools like BuzzSumo to get a list of influencers who take an interest in content similar to what you produce. Collect the contact details of relevant influencers and try to contact them. You may send personalized emails explaining why your content will appeal to their followers.

These are some of the tried and tested growth hacking strategies that will set you apart from the competition. Follow these tips and see what your brand can really do in the highly competitive market. 

Which of the tips stated above was your favorite and why? Share your thoughts with us below!

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/6-growth-hacking-tips-thatll-show-you-how-to-grow-your-business-as-fast-as-possible/

How an Entrepreneur Can Create a Truly Balanced Life

It was late as we arrived home. I was exhausted from a twelve hour drive back from my parents’ house. The garage door got stuck, didn’t open, and I broke. I began beating on the door in every way possible. My mind was set on one thing and one thing only, I was going to prove to the door that I was smarter, stronger and more determined.

Between the punching, elbows, and kicking, a warning sound was signaling me from deep inside. I was doing something that I knew better than to do. Slowly, the realization of the fact that my wife and kids were all still sitting in the van watching me act like a raging animal, beating on an inanimate object and acting the part of the fool. This is the lesson of how to journey back from a break down.

Living Life with Balance

The challenge of understanding how to live your life in balance is a popular topic for those that have experienced any type of success. Many experts talk about how to spend time equally, or how to balance priorities or how to keep your life in line with your goals. All of this sounds like solid wisdom but often this wisdom doesn’t always come with practical application. The idea that you’ll be able to spend time equally on all fronts is physically impossible.

Every business has a busy quarter. The pressure and demands are intense and the stress seems to just pile on in endless truckloads. On top of that, add the multiple requests from family wanting more time and demanding well deserved attention. It was at this point I realized I needed to find out what real life balance looked like.

A balanced life is determined by a razor thin line. That razor thin line separates the path to success from the path to a nervous breakdown! How does this apply to living a life in balance? How do we keep our lives from breaking down both emotionally and physically?

Most of us look at keeping balance as two sides of a balance beam. On one side you have family and friends, while on the other side there’s business and networking. We get all the pieces arranged so that we can walk that beam, keeping everything perfectly balanced… But what happens when there is a disruption? When we encounter one of life’s storms? A sickness? A death? A business partner’s betrayal?

These are the impossible situations that will never allow you to keep your time and energy perfectly balanced. By attempting to keep them balanced, you sacrifice your own energy, eventually getting to empty, unable to serve or help any of those that surround you.

Instead of the balance beam illustration, think of keeping your life on a balanced scale. Think of those older scales, the ones that used a fulcrum to balance the weight of items on the scales. 

On each of the sides of the fulcrum, there will be loads of responsibility. As we walk on our adventure, we balance the scales of life. We know the events and the demands of time for each. So we create balance and live in that balance.

“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.” – Arianna Huffington

Life changes! Our journey has a switchback or storm that interrupts our steady pace. We experience an incredible amount of success in business. All of these create the disruption of our patterns, and increase demands on our time and energy.

It is at this time that we look at our balanced life, and move the fulcrum to adjust for the heavier load and greater demand. By moving the fulcrum, it allows us to keep our life in balance, and not feel guilty that we’re dedicating more time and energy to where the demand is greatest during that season of life.

Are you paying attention to the signs in your own life? If you do, you will find that there are times when you’re just about ready to breakdown. For all the success you’ve had, you’re still miserable because you know that something is missing. You don’t have the strength to handle some of the minor challenges, and so you ignore them. Those minor challenges add up into major life changing challenges. Take the time to analyze what you spend your time on, not just within your business, but in your personal and family life. 

Here is the lesson that I learned. Make sure that you are taking time to do the following activities:

1. Personal time

Each twenty-four hours has 1,440 minutes. Are you willing to spend .01% of that time on your personal life? Here is a plan for fifteen minutes you can take to help restore your energy. 

1. Five minutes reading something inspirational. 
2. Five minutes finding three things that you are grateful for. 
3. Five minutes reflecting on the previous day. The good, bad, and ugly along with the lessons you can learn from it.

2. Family

Make sure you prioritize spending time with your family and putting it on your schedule. Go on a date with your wife or significant other. Spend time with your kids.

“The most important thing in the world is family and love.” – John Wooden

3. Community

One of the most common points of frustration for every entrepreneur is the feeling that they are alone. One of my mentors encouraged me to look for tribes. What tribes am I developing to stay connected? The only way to break that lonely feeling is to purposely seek out those who are like minded and do this in two ways. 

1. Find a group of like-minded individuals. With social media and events, it is easier now than ever before to find and connect with these individuals. 
2. Look for a coach and mentor. While there is a difference in mentors and coaches, the point of this is to find someone that you respect, and allow them to speak into your life. If they are talented at coaching, they will be able to point out blind spots. Once you identify the blind spots, you now have the ability to adjust and correct.

Business will always be there for those that have this entrepreneurial spirit. There will always be more demands and time commitments. The principle of balance will give you the ability to walk the path of success, rather than the path to your nervous breakdown. 

How do you find balance in your life? Share your advice or thoughts below!

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/how-an-entrepreneur-can-create-a-truly-balanced-life/

51 Mistakes That Can Sabotage Your Dream Startup

So you’ve got an idea. You know it will work. And, it means the world to you.

You are an entrepreneur and you think you can rock the world with this one idea that matters to you the most. And, you set out to form the idea into a startup that you are going to nurture and develop into a blooming business in the upcoming years.

However, I don’t want to throw water over your dreams but, I do need to bring this “optimist” you into the hard and cold reality…….. the reality which says that 90% of all startups fail.

Of course, this can bring a great deal of uncertainty into your life and you got to be prepared to deal with it. You are also going to face a ton of challenges in your life which will force you to grow as an entrepreneur. But, the important thing is that you stick with it.

Of course, as Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett’s friend) once said, “All I Want to Know is Where I’m Going to Die So I’ll Never Go There”. No entrepreneurs want their startups to fail after putting in days and weeks of effort into it.

So, a lot of research has been put forward into knowing what does actually sabotage a startup?

Fortune reported that the single biggest reason startups fail was because they do not identify what the market wants before setting up their startup.

However, it isn’t as simple as that. An entrepreneur needs to perform a comprehensive business plan before he sets out with his business idea. Also, you have to know whether your business idea actually suits you or not. If it doesn’t then, you either you need to fine-tune yourself with your business idea or you need to change the business plan so that it suits you.

And, it is only after that, should you venture upon your startup.
Now, is that all? Of course not. The problem most entrepreneurs face when they first begin their entrepreneurial journey is that they don’t know what they don’t know.

That’s where they tend to make a series of mistakes that may cause great harm to their startup.

That’s why I scoured for successful entrepreneurs to provide me with information on what they think were the most common mistakes that startups do. Plus, I also got tips on how to avoid these mistakes.

You can check out the original article here: 70 Mistakes Startups Make And Tips On How You Can Avoid Them

Now, it’s your turn to do some work. Let me know what you thought of these mistakes and tips that entrepreneurs commit. Do you know of any other mistakes that entrepreneurs do? Comment below!

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https://addicted2success.com/startups/51-mistakes-that-can-sabotage-your-dream-startup/

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Transition Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Business

After selling your one-of-a-kind jewellery on Amazon or helping small business clients with their IT needs, there will come a time when an entrepreneur asks themselves whether their business has what it takes for them to leave their full-time job and operate their business on a full-time basis.

More often than not, the response to this question is met with a strong fear of leaving a consistent pay check, leaving them with unfulfilled dreams they will continue to obsess over for years to come. Instead of counting yourself out before the game even starts, let’s create a strategic plan of action and examine some key topics one should consider when you start to get that itch to become a full-time business owner.

Here are five questions you should ask yourself (and be willing to solve if you don’t have an answer) before you transition into the trenches of sole entrepreneurship:

1. Do You Have Repeat Customers?

Initially, after you go full-time, you will have to rely on repeat customers to fuel your business. Repeat customers are what help to maintain the vitality of your business from year to year; not the one-time users. Is your product or service on the tip of people’s mouths? Will they want to (and are they able to) utilize your business again and again? Review sales from past customers to determine how many repeat customers you have from month-to-month.

If you don’t have repeat customers often, work to assess the scale of your business. Can you acquire the interest of a new group or subgroup of customers? Can your business increase its exposure on social media sites, such as Instagram? Create more buzz about your products to drive attention to the business to increase your customer size before transitioning full time.

2. Do You Have a Focus Before Your Transition?

If you had more time to work on your business, would that automatically equate to you selling more of your product? Transitioning to full-time status with your business usually doesn’t mean you are going to make a million dollars within the next 6-9 months. What it should mean is you took the time before you became a full-time business owner, to assess what impact it would have on your business.

It’s not enough to be able to “work on your business more,” once you quit working at XYZ Corporation. Is your focus on doing more research, heavier marketing, offering a better quality product? Don’t just start working aimlessly on everything you couldn’t because you were juggling between two jobs. Use your time wisely before the move to assess what key issues need to be addressed as soon as you leave.

3. Do You Truly Have a Passion to Develop This Side Hustle Into a Full-time Business?  

Do you have a passion for talking about your product or service for hours at a time? Sharing cool content about your product or service on social media is necessary however, the offline talks you have with potential clients about the urgency they need to have with obtaining your product, needs to be a constant additive to your weekly routine. Initially, you are most likely the only representative of your brand. If you can’t sell yourself day in and day out to people outside of your friends or circle, you won’t be able to sell your brand.

4. Will Sales From My Side Hustle Be Able to Equip Me With Paying for My Expenses?

If your product or service is too unique that a substantial number of people would not benefit from it and/or very expensive, your hustle may be unable to handle the terrain of a full-time business launch or taking care of paying your electric bill each month.

Calculate how much money you will need to handle living expenses for a month (which should also include the cost of health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and your 501k), plus current business expenses. Use the total from these two figures to determine how much you will need to sell to keep your business afloat (or break-even).

5. Are You a Doer?

Once you head into full-time entrepreneur mode, there is no human resources department, supervisor doing performance reviews, or team meetings to strategize how to remedy certain business issues. You will need to perform the work, follow up with clients, discover new customers, promote your business, research and attend additional training programs, seek out key players to help your business succeed, etc.

For the business to thrive, you must be willing to do and do so with finesse, Monday through Sunday. Before you leave any well-paying full-time job, I highly suggest you assess your will and desire “to do” (regardless of the fact you will reap the benefits of doing); which will without a doubt impact how long you will be in business and how successful your business will be during that time.

Stepping into the unknown and transitioning any side hustle into a full-time business will always be a risky decision. To lessen the plunge into uncharted territory, one should always merge their fears with a well thought out strategy. By determining before the transition whether your business model is capable of providing an adequate need to consumers on a recurring basis, in addition to solely supporting you on a financial basis, you’ll be better prepared for those first six to twelve months of full-time entrepreneurship.

Lastly, you must gauge how well your personality will mesh with the passion, grit, and sense of urgency needed to cultivate and manage a successful business, from year-to-year. 

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https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/5-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-you-transition-your-side-hustle-into-a-full-time-business/

The Guide to Staying Motivated While Working Alone

Working alone at home might sound like a nightmare to some, but as a fully signed up introvert, working alone at home is an absolute dream. No energy-draining small talk, no noisy distractions, just peace and quiet to complete deep and focused work. Well not quite. Working alone at home has more challenges than you might expect. Boredom, lack of focus and lack of motivation to name a few.

When you start working for yourself, you quickly realise that one of the biggest problems you face isn’t the job itself. Maintaining your motivation poses a potentially huge difficulty. Much of that difficulty stems from working alone, rather than in a traditional office setting. There is also the challenge of staying focused on the task at hand. With no boss or supervisor looking over your shoulder, social media can distract or cat videos interrupt you.

But the greatest problem by far is a simple lack of motivation. There doesn’t seem to be a pressing need to finish this project right now, making it far too easy to put it off until later. Left unchecked, a lack of motivation can cripple the work you are trying to accomplish. Over the past few years I’ve developed a few go-to tactics to improve my lone working motivation.

Here are some of the tools I’ve used to stay motivated and on-task.

These first few tips focus on using different tweaks in your personal work schedule to provide some variety and maintain your focus.

1. Include short breaks

My eye doctor once told me that for every 20 minutes of staring at a computer screen, you should look away and focus on something across the room for 20 seconds. This gives your eyes a chance to reset. Do something similar with the rest of your body; don’t just look across the room, walk, jog, or run across the room. Give your body a break, and try to reset your thoughts. If you don’t have the discipline to take regular breaks, use an app to remind you.

2. Block out an afternoon for social activities and networking

Set aside one afternoon a week for your social life. Friday afternoon works best for me. If you feel guilty about not working, think of it as a chance to network. Either way, be sure to spend this section of time with other people. Socialise and network.

3. View your personal schedule as your work schedule

A 9-to-5 job requires getting up every morning, preparing for the day, leaving the house, and commuting to your workplace. In other words, it requires going to work. You want to recreate the same rhythm at home. You may not actually need to leave your house in order to work, but try to stick with the schedule. Filling the old job timeslot with your new work helps to keep you motivated – you can’t clock out early!

These next few tips are little things you can do to trick yourself into staying focused!

1. Music

This tip may sound cliché, but try listening to an upbeat song loudly whenever you feel unmotivated. It’s a simple trick, but a surprisingly effective one!

2. Have somewhere else to work for a change of scenery

When procrastination sets in, sometimes a quick change of scenery is all you need. If you work at home, going to your favourite café can be a huge help. Other freelancers I know have even gone so far as to hire office space outside the home, and rotate between the two to help stay on-task.

3. Love what you do

This is arguably the most critical point on the whole list. If you don’t love what you do, it will be hard to keep yourself motivated – particularly long-term. Sure, you may be able to push on through sheer force of will for a while, but sooner or later you’ll lose motivation entirely. Do something you genuinely enjoy, and you’ll find it much easier to stick with it for the long haul.

These last few tips are Industry-related!

1. Make sure you have fun projects

Not all of your work projects will be fun, but fight to make at least a couple of them fun. These might even be personal side projects, not particularly related to your main job. Or they might be in the same general field, but not your specific focus.

2. Attend industry events a couple of times a year

Nearly every imaginable industry has an organising body of some kind. Find the local branch, and use it to keep tabs on industry-related events. Attend some seminars, network, and maybe even glean some new tips and tricks from industry insiders.

3. Schedule at least one call a week to learn something within your industry

View this as an opportunity for personal development. At least once a week, try to learn something new about your industry. For me, this might mean calling a new tool provider to demonstrate their gadgets. Whatever your industry, try to expand your horizons a little bit every week. You’ll learn new methods and make new connections at the same time.

These tips worked for me, hopefully, some of them will help you out as well. Above all, strive to enjoy what you do, stick to a “work schedule,” and look for opportunities for constant self-improvement. With those ideas in mind, you’ll find staying motivated much easier to do alone or in a group!

from
https://addicted2success.com/motivation/the-guide-to-staying-motivated-while-working-alone/

3 Mindset Reframes Business Owners Can Use in 5 Minutes or Less for Greater Success

Mindset is key for success. Without supportive belief systems backing you up, it’s easy to run into challenges that can make your mind spiral fast. These three mindset reframes will help you create powerful and practical habits in your business that make success much easier to attain.

Reframe #1: You’re Not Alone

Success is a community effort. It’s not done solo. When you take on all of the responsibilities in your business, you inadvertently create roadblocks to your success that don’t need to be there. In the beginning, it’s easy to fill every role. You play accountant, marketer, project manager, salesperson, administrative assistant, service provider, and more, just to make it all work. 

The key is making sure you don’t stay there too long by avoiding this one mistake. In the world of bootstrapping your business, it’s easy to look at all of the money coming into the business as income. But there’s a better way to view it that will serve your business long term. Instead of viewing the revenue (all of the money from the sales you make) your business is generating as personal income, start seeing it as change-my-life cash.

Change-my-life cash is all about using the dollars you earn to create more dollars and more freedom in your business. Chances are that you’re not that great at a few of the hats you’ve been wearing, and someone else would do that job much better than you.

When you take some of the money you earn in your business and invest it in brilliant team members, you make your job easier because now you can focus on what you’re really good at and what makes you money (instead of wasting time on things that are a time suck).

“Outsourcing is inevitable, and I don’t think it’s necessarily treating people like things.” – Stephen Covey

Here’s what happens when business owners try to go at it alone for too long — you hit an income ceiling because you haven’t had the time to put the systems in place to create more automation. That leads to working 60+ hour weeks (if you’re lucky), hustling and grinding your life away (without enough left over to even rent a movie on Prime with a $2.79 Kroger frozen pizza), feeling trapped and isolated.

It sounds like an exaggeration, but it happens all the time because of two mindsets: All the money I make in my business is my income and I can do it all on my own until I make more money. To avoid this trap (or redirect it if you’ve fallen prey to it), replace those beliefs with these success driven mindset reframes: My business thrives faster when I have help and I invest the cash my business makes wisely to make it grow.

Reframe #2: Speak It Into Being

Words have power. That’s why famous quotes can last for thousands of years. So when it comes to your business, your clients, your team members, and yourself, you want to speak with positivity instead of negativity. The truth is, there’s few things more repelling than negativity. It repels people, opportunities, success, money, and more. Why? It’s the energy of constriction.

When things are constricted, they’re limited. But a positive outlook, mindset, and language pattern will prepare you for expansiveness because it’s the energy of magnetism—meaning more opportunities, money, success, and people in your corner. In cultures around the world, you’ll hear the wise crones give this advice, “Speak what you want into being.” 

This is how neuroplasticity works. If you want your business and success to stall (or crash and burn in a blaze of not-so-glory), keep telling yourself how terrible you are, what a failure this will turn out to be, and how you can’t get anything right no matter how hard you try.

If you want your business to thrive, do this exercise: Write down 5 to 10 positive mantras to speak each morning (or if you’re feeling the gratitude movement, write down the things you are thankful for). Put your positive feelings behind these mantras. Let it be a whole body experience. The results will be a direct correlation of the intention and intensity you put into this exercise.

“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” – Winston Churchill

Reframe #3: Accept, Adapt, & Adjust Your Way To Success

Plans are great! That is, when you realize a plan is like using Waze when you’re driving cross country. The GPS will give you the best route, but there are extenuating circumstances beyond your control that will likely and unexpectedly reroute you.

The purpose of a plan is to generate an idea of how to reach a goal. The information you have available to you when you create your plan is limited at best. Those first few steps you take get you in motion, but accomplishing your goals is rarely ever the perfect progression you laid out. It’s vital that you learn to accept, adapt, and adjust your way to success.

The first step is accepting that change is inevitable, with a side of understanding that when things veer off course, it’s nothing personal. There are things involved beyond your control that are influencing your journey.

For example, if you had a goal to follow up with five people to hit your sales for the month, and the first person you called was rude and hung up on you—don’t take that personally. You have no idea what happened right before that call. They could’ve just discovered their spouse was cheating, someone they cared about passed away, or that their child was being bullied in school. That doesn’t exactly put someone in a talking mood.

If you took that personally, you could end up in an emotional tale spin, afraid to reach out to the next person. But if you’re maintaining your awareness, you might be able to follow up with your leads via text first to see if they’re free for a chat instead of calling first.

The destination is the key. The journey is always up for negotiation. The faster you adapt and pivot when things don’t go according to plan, the faster you’ll resolve issues, overcome challenges, and surpass your goals.

Which one of the above 3 mindset reframes resonated with you the most and why? Share your thoughts below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/3-mindset-reframes-business-owners-can-use-in-5-minutes-or-less-for-greater-success/

3 Impactful Ways to Building a Successful Business in Your First Year as an Entrepreneur

I was only 21 when I started my entrepreneurial journey. As a freshman in university, I knew little about business, but I was pumped with energy and determination to make it work. 7 years later, I have built a remote team of highly sought after talents in Southeast Asia. We lead multi-million dollar marketing campaigns for some of the largest education and training companies in the world. During this time, we also landed once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to work with world-class brands like the Golden State Warriors and the Economist. Looking back, we made many mistakes, but there were also things that we did right.

Here are 3 things that I believe any entrepreneur can accomplish which will give them a leg up in their business early on:

1. Become Your Own Publisher

Getting published is probably one of the most valuable things you can do as an entrepreneur early on. It gives you instant credibility in the eyes of potential customers and partners. But it is easier said than done. Most publications will not consider featuring your work if you do not have verifiable proof of your expertise.

However, you can work around it by becoming your own publisher first. Pick a few interesting topics in your industry and write about them. Then publish them on your own blog as a start. I wrote about 100 blog posts in my first year as an entrepreneur. Those blog posts landed paid writing gigs with the likes of Agorapulse and Postplanner, two fast-growing SaaS companies at the time. I was also invited to write for Social Media Examiner, one of the largest social media marketing publications.

Eventually, people started seeking me out as a consultant and that was how my company started. Becoming your own publisher doesn’t mean that you will become an overnight success. It takes time and patience, but you will be duly rewarded when the time comes.

“Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” – H. Jackson Browne

2. Build Your Network

As the adage goes, “it’s not about who you know, it’s who knows you that matter.” Your network is extremely valuable as a founder. When you are starting a new business, hardly anyone knows about you and what you do. Your professional network serves as an extension of your business. They are like additional eyes and ears. People will look out for you and send business your way.

A few years ago, I was introduced to Noah Kagan. Noah Kagan founded several successful companies and he was employee #30 at Facebook and #4 at Mint. At the time, Noah was hiring a paid traffic director for one of his companies. A friend of mine thought of me and introduced us. Although I did not take up the job offer, this shows you just how powerful your network can be. I have landed several 5 and 6 figure deals through my network in the last few years and it remains as my top priority in business.

3. Lend Your Expertise To An Industry Superstar (Even If It’s For Free)

Have you ever considered reaching out to the most prominent people in your industry? Most people do not even think of doing so, because they feel inferior compared to the industry heavyweights. But this is nothing more than a self-limiting belief. There is a lot we can offer to anyone as an entrepreneur if we have developed an expertise.

A few years ago, my business hit a road bump, so I reached out to Dennis Yu, a renowned speaker and marketing agency owner. Coincidentally, Dennis was looking for a consultant to come into his firm and groom his team. They landed numerous deals with Forbes 500 and Inc 5000 brands but were not able to keep up operationally. So, we teamed up and I led his team to run multi-million dollar marketing campaigns for insurance carriers, education companies, and I even had the chance to consult for the marketing team of the Golden State Warriors.

If I had not reached out to him, the trajectory of my business would likely have looked very different today. So, if you are struggling to gain traction in your business as an entrepreneur, consider reaching out to those who are well-known in your industry. Share why you look up to them and ask if there are any opportunities to help them out. If one rejects you, go to another. 

“Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi

Don’t give up!

Building a business is not easy. There are many things you will try that will not work, but don’t let those failures discourage you. The difference between businesses that succeed and fail is only a matter of determination. If you are struggling in your first year of business, I hope these tips I’ve shared today will help you notch a few victories in your entrepreneurial journey.

Which one of the tips shared above resonated most with you and why? Share your thoughts below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/3-impactful-ways-to-building-a-successful-business-in-your-first-year-as-an-entrepreneur/

Meditation for Beginners: How It Works and Where to Start

Meditation was first developed in India many years ago (around 5000-3500 BCE). It took quite some time to become popular in the western world, but today, it is celebrated as a therapeutic tool to ease stress, anxiety, depression, and addictions. In the past years, it has also become recognized as helping to improve mental performance, and consequently became a multi-billion dollar business. If you’ve never tried it, you may be wondering how something so simple as sitting with your eyes closed could deliver such incredible benefits.

How meditation works

Meditation is about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective over one’s thoughts. Many think that meditating is about trying to achieve a zen state of mind, but that’s not the point. Observing one’s thoughts, and then letting go of them so that eventually you may start to better understand them, is the real goal of each meditation practice.

There are different techniques to go through this mental process. Some focus on the breath and bodily sensation, others make you visualize an object, and others help you to channel your thoughts towards acts of love and kindness.

A typical meditation session involves you sitting on a chair or cross-legged on the floor with your eyes closed. Once you assume a comfortable position and focus on your breath, you should start noticing your thoughts. At this point, according to what type of technique you’re using, you will try to let those thoughts go away by focusing on something else (this could be your breath or a mental image you created).

With time and practice, you may be able to reach a state of mind where very few thoughts (or none) are present. Despite the simplicity of this process, meditating for more than ten minutes is extremely tough for most. Many people that try meditation get discouraged by the fact that “they can’t stop thinking.” In fact, it has been proven that people spend most of their days being anything but mindful and peaceful.

In a 2010 study, Harvard researchers asked more than 2000 adults about their thoughts and actions at random moments throughout their day via an iPhone app. People’s minds wandered 47% of the time, and mind wandering often triggered unhappiness, the scientists reported.

They also observed that spending time observing our thoughts without getting stuck on them, may help to better understand oneself, and possibly being able to reduce the number of negative thoughts one experiences.

“The mind is definitely something that can be transformed, and meditation is a means to transform it.” – Dalai Lama

What science says about meditation

People have practiced meditation for thousands of years, but scientists have studied its effects for only a dozen. In the past few years, many studies have been published about the neurological benefits of meditation, proving it to improve brain function in many different ways.

Meditation’s benefits range from preserving the aging brain, to improving happiness by reducing the activity of the brain’s “me center” (monkey mind). A more recent study has even proven that meditation is as powerful as antidepressants in treating depression, anxiety, and pain. Many more studies are being conducted every day on meditation, and we can expect to gain a lot more insight in the near future.

Can anyone meditate?

Millions of people are practicing mindfulness meditation every day with great results, but there are also as many people that have tried meditating and didn’t like it or didn’t manage to be consistent with their practice. The most important part of developing a meditation practice is consistency. You don’t have to meditate every single day, but the benefits are tied to regular, consistent practice.

Some studies claim that some benefits of meditation such as improved mood, decreased stress and decreased blood pressure, can be felt after a single session. Some other benefits like increased focus and decreased anxiety may be experienced after a few weeks and others take longer to develop.

Some people claim that as little as five minutes of meditation per day can make miracles, but research shows that a regular practice associated with benefits involves 10-20 minutes of meditation at least three times per week.

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” – Mother Teresa

What’s the best way to begin a meditation practice?

A good place to start for aspiring mediators is Headspace. Andy Puddicombe, a former English student in sport science, dropped his studies to travel to Asia and trained as a Buddhist monk. He created Headspace with the goal of helping millions of people to live a more mindful life. Over 30 million people have downloaded and use headspace. This is due to his simplicity and its beautiful design and animations.

Do you meditate? If so, what’s your favorite aspect of it? Share your thoughts below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/meditation-for-beginners-how-it-works-and-where-to-start/

What The Lion King Can Teach You About Self-Esteem

Did you know that having high self-esteem can make the difference between being truly successful or a total loser? If you’re suffering from low self-esteem, your success probabilities are highly impaired because your confidence level will be reflected in all the areas of your life without discrimination.

You’re Not Alone

Maybe you think that you’re born insecure and that there’s no cure for that. Perhaps you believe you can change, but you don’t know how to make that transformation happen. The good news is you can change. Your self-esteem level is something that can be hacked, just like any other psychological factor.

However, what if your disbelief in improving your self-esteem is the real cause to why you’re still stuck? Keep reading because in this article I’ll give you 3 simple tips with which you can raise your self-esteem today.

What’s Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem, as the American psychologist Nathaniel Branden said, is the psychological condition when we feel effective in front life’s challenges and when we feel worthy of success and happiness. As I said before, everybody can increase their self-esteem levels naturally. The bad news is that authentic self-esteem never comes for free, and we need to work hard to grow our self-esteem through our thoughts and actions.

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” – Mark Twain

What ‘The Lion King’ Can Teach You About Self-Esteem

To help you better grasp this concept, I will refer to my favorite Disney classic, the Lion King. When Simba’s father (Mufasa) died after having been hit by the herd of wildebeests, he was advised by Scar (his uncle) to leave his father’s kingdom and never to come back since Scar made Simba believe that Mufasa’s death was his fault.

Simba left the kingdom with a heavy feeling of guilt, consequently losing his own identity and self-confidence. He had also lost his primary reference point in life, his father, who taught him everything about life on the savannah, and the natural order of the “Circle of Life” that had to be respected to make everything function harmoniously.

Simba was supposed to be the next king of the savannah, but he didn’t feel confident to come back and reign over the animal kingdom. He also didn’t feel worthy of the king role he was destined to have because his true identity had been taken away.

Only when he meets Rafiki (that holds the position of wise mentor), he goes through a forest (his subconscious mind) and arrives at a small pool (his subconscious self-image) where Mufasa appears again in the form of a reflection. Then, Simba gets into a trance-like state where he has the vision of his father taking the nebulous form of a cloud that tells him, “remember who you are.”

The trance state is so deep that Simba is shocked by his vision and realizes who he really is along with his role in the circle of life. He thus gets back his self-worth and self-confidence, along with the drive to come back to the animal kingdom to bring the order back again.

As you can see, this cartoon that is destined to children, holds so many truths that we adults can benefit from as well.

My Struggle With Low Self-Esteem

In my personal experience, I also had periods of time where I lost my identity and struggled with my own self-worth. An example was after I had been bullied during my teenage years,

I didn’t feel worthy anymore to succeed, and I sabotaged myself many times on various occasions, especially with women as I didn’t feel enough for their attention and love. Then, I realized that I had let those bullies take control of my self-worth that was indeed intact before being insulted. 

I had allowed the bullies to transfer their problems onto me, just like Scar influenced Simba because of how much he hated himself and his life. As soon as I got this awareness, I started to gain my power back because I knew that deep within me, I had so much potential to express. That was my story, but this post is for you, so it’s time to talk about how you can raise your self-esteem.

Here are the 3 steps you can apply from today to build your self esteem:

1. Remember Who You Are

Remember who you are. Remember your true identity that might have been stolen from you from somebody else as it happened to Simba in The Lion King or to me after having been bullied. 

To understand this, you can ask yourself the following questions: Who are you at your best moments? Who are you when nobody’s watching? Which kind of person are you deep within?

2. Acknowledge Your Strengths

Only by knowing what your strengths are, you can leverage them to reach the goals you really care about faster and more effectively. Everybody has some strengths; we just need to have enough self-awareness to understand what those strengths are and use them to our advantage.

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

3. Acknowledge Your Weaknesses

You also need to know what your weaknesses are because we all have vulnerabilities and unless we spot, acknowledge, and accept them, we can’t really unleash our full self-acceptance. 

That’s true because our weaknesses are what make us imperfect and thus humans. Moreover, the acceptance of your weaknesses is another way to raise your self-esteem and to get help from other people that can complement your shortcomings with their strengths.

To conclude, your self-esteem levels will highly determine how successful you’ll become in any area of your life. Everybody has to find his or her worth and confidence within, and unless you see it for yourself, nobody will ever be able to give it to you as that’s something that even the richest man in the world can’t buy with his billions.

Self-esteem must be cultivated consistently and, if you do this, then a tremendous amount of self-confidence and self-respect will be naturally brought to you.

How do you cultivate your own self-esteem so you remain strong and level-headed? Share your thoughts with us below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/life/what-the-lion-king-can-teach-you-about-self-esteem/

9 Support Networks All Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed in Business

Entrepreneurship is a lonely, but rewarding venture but you don’t have to go at it alone. While new business owners are advised to have an accountant and lawyer on their team, there’s rarely mention about the support networks you need as you start and grow your business. The people in these networks keep you focused, motivated and accountable. They are sources of encouragement, ideas, referrals and resources. Additionally, they give you feedback, constructive criticism and guidance.

Regardless of which stage your business is in, you’re going to need support. It’s best to establish your support systems as soon as you consider starting your own business. Then, cultivate those relationships as your business grows. Following, are the 9 support networks entrepreneurs need to succeed.

1. Mentors

A mentor is someone who has experience in the area in which you need help and is willing to help you. They provide direction and guidance, and shorten your learning curve by months, even years. Mentoring relationships can be formal or informal, in-person or virtual. Generally speaking, the mentor gives more than the mentee. However, the mentee can reciprocate by checking in periodically and asking if he or she needs anything. When contacting your mentor for advice or check-ins, be respectful of his or her time.

2. Accountability Partners (AP)

Accountability partners are the most important support person in your network. They hold you accountable for completing short-term projects. This is either a free or paid virtual relationship that requires commitment from both parties.

Here’s how this relationship works: You tell your AP the project you’re working on, the estimated completion date and desired result. Send a tentative outline of the steps required to complete the project. You both set a mutually convenient check-in schedule.

During check-ins, you will give an update on your progress, discuss challenges and next steps and ask for advice, if needed. You could also brainstorm ideas. Your partner can be a mentor, coach, friend or colleague. Essentially, it is anyone committed and invested in your success.

3. Coaches

Coaches help you develop personally or professionally. You hire and pay them for a set amount of time, although the time could be extended upon agreement by both parties. You can work with multiple coaches simultaneously. Be sure the people you’re considering hiring are qualified to help you before investing in their services. Also remember that you can fire them if they don’t provide the service and support you need.

4. Mastermind Groups

Mastermind groups are small groups that help you move forward professionally and keep you accountable in your endeavor. The group meets on a regular basis and each team member has a turn to discuss his or her successes and challenges, brainstorm ideas and consider possible solutions based on suggestions from team members. They meet in-person or virtually over a long or short-term period. These groups can be formal or informal and with paid or unpaid memberships.

5. Online Groups

Online groups are very convenient when you need help, especially when you spend most of your time online. Most groups are either on Facebook or LinkedIn. The most effective groups have active moderators that post frequently and hold members accountable.

The benefits of these online groups include, but are not limited to, meeting new and cool people, giving and receiving help and accountability. In addition, you’ll develop relationships that may grow offline.

In order to benefit from these groups, though, you have to be active. Don’t just appear with the expectation of getting help or drop in periodically. Be prepared to share your knowledge and experiences consistently. Memberships to online groups are typically free.

6. Meetups

Check out Meetup.com to connect in-person with people with similar interests in business, hobbies or fitness. In addition to meeting people and learning new things, there may opportunities to conduct presentations and workshops. You may also connect with potential partners for business projects. Most meetups are free to attend however, some events require a small fee.

7. Professional Organizations

These member-based organizations cater to professionals in specific professions and industries. Continuing education, updates on industry news and laws, and networking opportunities are just a few benefits they offer. You have to pay annual dues, as well as registration fees for monthly meetings and other events.

8. Friends

Friends are your foundation. They will listen to you, encourage you, and be honest with you, even if you don’t like it. When they may not know what you’re talking about. They may even ask clarifying questions and offer suggestions. Most importantly, they will comfort you during challenging times.

9. Business Development Centers

Your business growth is their priority. They have counselors and partners to help you at all levels of business. They hold workshops, seminars, conferences and networking events, sometimes in partnership with organizations who want to reach business owners. They offer opportunities to pitch and present your business to investors and banks for funding. And they connect you with other business owners who can become clients or partners. Counseling services are free, but you do have to pay for workshops, conferences and other special events and services.

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/9-support-networks-all-entrepreneurs-need-to-succeed-in-business/

How to Overcome Stage Fright in 5 Simple Steps

Fear of public speaking, also known as glossophobia (which literally means fear of the tongue) is the apprehension that one experiences when speaking in public. It’s reported that 1 in every 4 individuals reports some sort of anxiety when presenting ideas in front of an audience. Regardless of one’s personal or professional background, being able to communicate ideas confidently and eloquently is of utmost importance. So, how can you overcome stage fright?

Here are 5 simple steps to help you overcome the fear of speaking publicly or in a group:

1. Success Visualization

A great deal of the fear we experience stems from the negative self-talk that goes on in our minds. Thoughts such as “I don’t think I can do it; I’m going to forget my notes; what makes me think people want to listen to me?” The first step in trying to counter the negative self-talk is through what I call Success Visualization. It’s a well-known scientifically-proven fact that the best way to counter negative mental chatters is with positivity.

Find a quiet place where you can be undisturbed for at least 15 minutes, create a mental image of the speech being a complete success. See the audience cheering and learning. See the equipment working properly. See yourself sharing your ideas with confidence. After all, no one goes to a speech to see a speaker embarrass themselves. Visualize what you want (success), not what you dread.

2. Purposeful Practice

How many times have you heard this well-intentioned advice: “Practice makes perfect”? You might wonder, “I’ve practiced over and over again, why am I not improving?” We’ve been told to practice, but no one ever told us how. In his bestselling book Peak, Anders Ericsson introduces the concept of purposeful practice that he defines as a focused process toward a well-defined and specific goal.

What we’re all engaged in is called naive practice, which is repeating a particular task and expecting to get better. That kind of practice as it relates to public speaking is highly ineffective. There is a myriad of skills that need to be mastered in order to become an effective public speaker. As such, purposeful practice is the right way to go since it allows you to focus on one skill at a time with timely feedback on what is and what isn’t working. Always practice with a goal in mind!

3. Energy Reversal

Science claims that we experience the same physiological changes whether excited or stressed. Our adrenal glands release epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol which are the flight or fight chemicals. From a physiological perspective, being ready to fight, or afraid, ready to run away, are two sides of the same coin. Henceforth, we can channel that same energy resulting from stage fright to psyche ourselves up for the speech.

Positive affirmations such as “I am excited! I rock”, can help trick your subconscious mind into believing that you’re excited. Our subconscious mind is impersonal. It doesn’t discriminate or rationalize, it accepts as true and brings to us whatever we suggest. Positive powerful autosuggestions sink deep into our subconscious mind, and manifest themselves in the way you feel, think, and act. Never tell yourself not to be afraid! Well, I mean always tell yourself you are excited and ready to rock.

4. Action

No great results are to be obtained without consistent and persistent actions. Many of us attend speeches, workshops, and seminars expecting to get the desired outcomes right away. It doesn’t work that way, it never did, and it never will. The three previous steps mean nothing if you don’t have a structure that you can use to help reach your goal.

Knowledge alone won’t bring any result. Knowledge coupled with deliberate, systematic actions, will. What are you going to do? Are you going to join a local Toastmasters Club? How many times a week are you willing to practice? Do you have a support group? You reading this article is vibrant proof that you’ve had enough of stage fright. So, why not grab a pen and paper, and write your next action?

5. Know your purpose, audience, and materials

Three things must be absolutely clear in your mind before giving a speech: Your purpose, the audience, and your materials. First, on a blank sheet of paper, at the very top; make sure you have this question answered: Why am I doing this? Or in the form of a similar statement: By the end of my speech, the audience will have learned. Without a purpose to give you direction and bring value to your audience, you don’t have a speech.

Next, Who am I talking to? Before getting on stage, basic information about the audience’s age group, cultural background, and level of knowledge is essential. Those insights empower you to appropriately frame your message, so you can engage the audience and get your message across more effectively. Speaking isn’t about you, it’s all about the audience.

Finally, make sure you’ve mastered your materials. Specifically, the introduction, main ideas, and the conclusion. Part of why we are afraid results from doubts of not being fully prepared. Never get in front of an audience without having fully mastered your materials. Complete mastery of your materials will boost your self-confidence which will, in turn, reduce your public speaking apprehension.

I hope these techniques serve you well as they have me and the many others who’ve attended my workshops. Your willingness to try, fail, and improve is what makes magic happens. As you may have realized by now, all you have to do to transform your fear from a foe to a friend is to S-P-E-A-K despite your fears.

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/how-to-overcome-stage-fright-in-5-simple-steps/

5 DIY Skills That Will Take Your Entrepreneurial Journey to New Levels

An entrepreneur can be any person who builds and operates their own business. Entrepreneurs take on a greater risk than that of people who are employees of a business. Because of risks such as financial uncertainty, business oppositions and career stability, entrepreneurs possess unique skills not everyone has.

Make no mistake, entrepreneurs aren’t always born with these skills. Many obtain their business expertise by learning and growing in their industry. Whether you are struggling with your startup plan or wish to make your startup standout, you’ll need a specific set of skills to thrive.

You may already know some of these skills but you simply need to improve them. Take a look at these 5 DIY skills every entrepreneur needs:

1. The Ability to Communicate Eloquently

Every entrepreneur needs to be an effective communicator whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or you run a company with over 600 employees. You need to understand how to communicate effectively with business partners, customers and employees you deal with on a daily basis.

If you have underdeveloped communication skills, the growth of your business will suffer. Your success at getting your point across clearly can be the difference between sealing a deal and missing out on a potential opportunity.

When you’re an entrepreneur you should be able to express yourself concisely in the following scenarios:

• Clearly explain policies and procedures to customers and clients
• Answer any questions about your products and services
• Public speaking during conferences or presentations
• Friendly but fair demeanor towards your employees

Effective communication can foster excellent relationships with customers, employees and business partners. In turn, your relationships with everyone involved in the business will improve morale and efficiency.

Here are a few ways you can improve your communication skills: Active listening, understanding non-verbal signs, maintaining eye contact, assertiveness and dealing with different points of views.

2. A Talent for Sales

Having a talent for sales is a skill that will help you go far as an entrepreneur. This is especially true if you’re a merchant. If you’re selling goods you need to be able to sell anything and be knowledgeable about your product. As an entrepreneur, you’ll also need to know how to sell your business ideas to potential investors

Sales representatives are known for their tenacity. They’re extremely persistent in their pursuit to sell. Persistence is important in a business because a sale rarely happens on the first contact. Such resilience is vital to entrepreneurs who have to experience failure before succeeding.

Having a talent in sales will make you a successful entrepreneur because you’ll excel in these areas:

• Share ample knowledge about products and services
• Strategic prospecting
• Building rapport with clients
• Sourcing new business effectively
• Gaining customer loyalty

Sales reps care about results but the way they achieve this is by being relentless and never giving up on their target.

3. Excellent Problem Solving Skills

In any business, there will be a few obstacles you’ll need to overcome in order for your business to grow. The good news is there will always be a solution to every problem; you simply have to think outside the box.

In order to solve problems effectively, you need to be extremely decisive. Sometimes this will require you to make decisions on the spot when a problem arises. As a novice entrepreneur, know that it’s acceptable to make mistakes; sometimes your decisions won’t be the best but they will help you grow your problem-solving skills.

Not everyone will agree with your products and services but this is a good way to test your problem-solving skills. For example, you’ve started up a food business but people may not be happy that there are no animal-free options. The way you can solve this problem is by implementing vegetarian and vegan dishes to your menu.

4. An Aptitude for Negotiations

Entrepreneurs face many challenges, especially when presenting innovative ideas to help expand the business. One skill needed which can guarantee the success of any entrepreneur is the ability to negotiate. Excellent negotiation skills can help you close deals and gain a positive reputation. While not all entrepreneurs have negotiation skills you can learn if you apply yourself.

An effective negotiation skill is to always be prepared. Have all your documents in place when you’re having a meeting and be equipped to answer any questions or inquiries effectively. When negotiating, always keep your emotions under control. Know that everyone has different opinions and you must be responsive in a professional manner when dealing with these views.

Make sensible compromises when negotiating. This means you shouldn’t give away anything unless you’re receiving something in return. Both parties need to understand this concept and need to accept any changes going forward.

If you’re negotiating because a problem arose with your products or services, try to write up policies and procedures for your company. Make them visible to all people connected to the business so you’re always covered legally.

5. Be Knowledgeable in your Field

No one will do business with someone who doesn’t know their own products and services. That’s why it’s imperative to have ample knowledge of the products and services you sell. You can then answer questions on the spot and give your clients in depth detail about what you can offer them.

A successful entrepreneur knows all the ins and outs of his or her business. This includes how products work, the materials used to manufacture them and if they’re safe to use. Make sure you know the process of your business and how you conduct your services. This will build excellent rapport with your clients.

Becoming an entrepreneur is something many people wish they could achieve but not everyone is brave enough to take the risk. What people don’t realize is that the skills are within reach if you’re only willing to learn. Simply tap into them by expanding your knowledge and build skills through experience.

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/5-diy-skills-that-will-take-your-entrepreneurial-journey-to-new-levels/

3 Steps to Overcome Your Brain Biases and Become a Better Leader

If I asked you what time it was, you would likely look at your watch or a clock and read the time out to me. And if I were to ask you where you were, you would likely tell me the exact place, city, or state. If I were to then ask you who you were, you would likely identify yourself by your name, demographics, and perhaps a work description. On the surface, answering these questions correctly would indicate that you were not delirious. But are these answers technically correct?

Biological research indicates that superficial orientation to time, place, or person is actually far from accurate. Rather, leaders might benefit from tending toward a non-dual awareness of the world, or at least offer themselves the opportunity to see the world this way. For time, place, and person, the biological realities differ from what we might initially think.

1. Don’t let the past dictate the future

We are not ever-present in the moment, nor should we be. In the human brain, the past, present, and future are all represented at the same time. Although we consciously organize our experiences using this segmentation of time, each of these networks can intrude upon the other. In fact, what you remember can influence what you can imagine for yourself in the future as well.

As a leader, ensure that you frequently examine your memory for positive reminders and biases, take advantage of your presence circuits by incorporating mindfulness practices into your day, and use your “possibility” circuits to imagine or simulate future scenarios. In fact, in the brain, imagination is a lot like reality.

Using all three components at all times will help you to become aware of biases and could also help you escape traps or an impasse. For instance, when a possible solution for product development is vague, thinking in terms of what you want and then reverse-engineering this process to make what you imagine could be helpful.

Walt Disney saw great success after building Disneyland in Anaheim, California, but outside interests began crowding his theme park. When he decided to build another park in Florida, Disney didn’t let the experience of California dissuade him. He expanded his vision to something greater — a city of tomorrow. He created fake companies to secretly purchase acres upon acres of land near where Interstate 4 intersected with the Florida turnpike so his company could develop the area around the theme park.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

2. Think beyond your reach

We are not where we think we are. The notion of “place” has become increasingly irrelevant in a globalized world. With the increasing interconnectedness of societies, cultures, and economies, leaders need to be careful not to think of themselves too locally. When leaders are global in their thinking, they are likely to elicit more widespread cooperation from international markets.

Ask yourself, “What communities beyond my local community do I want to impact?” and “What communities am I impacting?” When you take this approach, it can help your advertising strategies, for example, become more congruous with specific or global markets. Also, leaders who think globally will be more aware of competition from afar and opportunities for collaboration, too.

Jack Ma can be credited with being a global thinker for founding Alibaba, allowing Chinese consumers to access domestic and international markets that they could not previously access. By moving into e-commerce, online banking, and cloud computing, Alibaba has expanded into India and Southeast Asia. Alibaba’s Electronic World Trade Platform has even enabled farmers in Rwanda to sell coffee in China. This is a perfect example of thinking beyond your reach.

3. Connect the body and mind

We are not what we think we are. We are made up of 50% human and 50% bacterial cells. And water comprises 60% of our body weight. So we are basically bags of water and bacteria — with a dash of human cells thrown in for good measure.

Also, though we might think of ourselves as being separate from other people and things, many people or things you encounter in your life are stored in your brain’s memory centers. Our brain tissue contains images, voices, and other attributes of people and things, too. We are not actually as separate as we think.

Take care of your bacteria, and they will take care of you. Having the right balance of bacteria is of paramount importance to effective functioning because the wrong balance can make you depressed or anxious. Taking a probiotic can help restore this balance. Understanding that you are part human, part bacteria can change the way you take care of your moods by essentially reminding you to take care of your gut.

Mindy Grossman, the CEO of WW International — formerly Weight Watchers — is a good example of someone who understands the mind-body connection. Grossman has led the company’s focus from strictly weight loss to wellness through healthy habits. Part of the transformation includes a partnership with meditation app Headspace to help members maintain a positive mindset.

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” – Mahatma Gandhi

When you engage in non-dual awareness by recognizing that your brain fuses and connects time, places, and people, your leadership capacities might also be enhanced. As Warren Bennis, founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, suggests, “Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself.” And your “self” is more intriguing and mysterious than you might first imagine.

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/3-steps-to-overcome-your-brain-biases-and-become-a-better-leader/

3 Ways to Optimize Your Life for Success

Welcome to the 21^st Century! The era of the Internet and computers, lack of focus and superficiality. I know it sounds scary, maybe a little more exaggerated, but it’s true. We live in a world of short posts and 3-minute videos. We barely engage in deep learning, deep thinking, and deep focus to produce iPhone-level products or services. So, the majority of us are actually a failure, thousands of miles away from achieving our life goals and business visions. How do we turn things around? We need to optimize our lives.

Here are 3 tried and tested tips that will help optimize your life for success:

1. Upgrade your sleep

When I started my freelance writing career—about seven years ago—I was passionate and excited at the beginning. I’d fill my To-Do list with 6-10 items, worked until 12 am, set my alarm to go off at 3 am, and had my running shoes close to my bed before I went to sleep. However, I barely accomplished anything. I usually became weak and bored before noon.

I noticed that I was putting a huge strain on myself. I was sleep deprived, which is the primary reason why I didn’t have the energy and the drive to accomplish my tasks. Many studies have shown that sleep-deprivation affects productivity.

As soon as I began increasing my sleeping time from 4 hours to 7 hours, my whole life changed. I started producing a lot and earning a lot more than before while also improving my health. With more sleep, I get the emotional energy and willpower I need to read, learn, and optimize my career.

“By helping us keep the world in perspective, sleep gives us a chance to refocus on the essence of who we are. And in that place of connection, it is easier for the fears and concerns of the world to drop away.” – Arianna Huffington

2. Read every day

I get it. You’re in the middle-class struggling to survive. You simply have enough to deal with. Reading? That’s not included on your to-do list. Well, if that’s you, then you’re not alone. The global literacy rates are at an all-time high at 84 percent, which means people don’t read as much anymore.

We already have enough on our plates. In fact, a study by the National Endowment for the Arts has found that the reading culture among American adults has drastically declined. That’s a big issue in our world.

Nothing can prevent you from reading, not even your plate that’s chock-full of other life’s priorities. If you want to produce more and impact the world around you, you’ve got to read more and learn more.

Take a look at the visionaries and business titans in our world. All of them are avid readers and avid learners. Bill Gates is a bibliophile and Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, reveres books. In fact, Knight customized his library to the extent that, before you enter into his library, you have to take off your shoes and bow.

So, what would you do next? Take Roald Dahl’s advice, captured in this beautiful line of the poem: “So please, oh please, we beg, we pray / go throw your TV set away / and in its place, you can install / a lovely bookshelf on the wall.”

3. Use Pomodoro to time yourself

You can’t go far in life if you can’t stay totally focused on a task. If you want to achieve your goals, you have got to stay laser-focused on a single task before jumping on to another. Why? Because goals are not achieved in one session, they’re achieved in a series of tasks, one after the other.

To install the focus habit in your system; therefore, you need to use a time-management kind of “system” that will keep you firm and attentive on a specific project. Pomodoro is that time-management tool that will help you stay focused.

It’s an excellent app that lets you set a timer for a particular task. You can set it for 30, 60, or 90 minutes and stop working when it goes off. I use it all the time, and I can’t imagine my work life without it.

“I know when I stay focused, good things will undoubtedly happen.” – Marc Trestman

Optimizing your life for more power, passion, and productivity is not about working hard late at night or running multiple projects at a time. It’s about maintaining your health and recharging your energy (having a deep, quality sleep), updating your knowledge (by reading every day), and staying focused on a project—until you accomplished it (by using Pomodoro technique to boost your concentration).

Of course, developing these sets of habits is not easy. You’ll fail and get frustrated, but as the productivity guru Robin Sharma beautifully puts it, “all changes are hard at first, messy at the middle, and beautiful at the end.”

Which one of these three ways to optimize your life resonated most with you and why? Share your thoughts below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/3-ways-to-optimize-your-life-for-success/