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Are Your Habits Holding You Back Or Moving You Closer To Success? It is a good idea to take a good look at your habits. Your personal habits, your work habits and your business habits. What is a habit?
From online dictionary -
hab·it –noun
1. an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary: the habit of looking both ways before crossing the street.
2. customary practice or use: Daily bathing is an American habit.
3. a particular practice, custom, or usage: the habit of shaking hands.
4. a dominant or regular disposition or tendency; prevailing character or quality: She has a habit of looking at the bright side of things.
5. addiction, esp. to narcotics (often prec. by the ).
6. mental character or disposition: a habit of mind.
7. characteristic bodily or physical condition.
The reason for placing this list of descriptions is for us to conduct an exercise. Write down two personal habits you have which clearly fall into two of these categories from 1 to 7. Do you have a personal habit you know annoys others? Write that habit down. What category above is that habit in? Okay, now think about your business and how you work. Write down three specific habits you have about how you work? What category are each of these habits in? Are these three habits high quality habits which you would teach others to learn? Let’s stay on your business and how you work. Write down three habits you have about how you work which you know are non-productive and these habits hold you back. Look at each one of these habits for a few minutes. Why do you have this habit? What do you need to do to change this habit? Is there another habit or behavior you know you should replace this habit with. Write down the new habit underneath the one you must replace. Now follow this same conversation with each of the other two non-productive habits. This will permit you to manage your habits. It is a way to hold yourself accountable.
A more effective method of conducting this exercise is to work with a mentor, a coach who will laser focus into you, your habits and your personal definition of your path to success. Take your personal inventory on a regular basis of your habits if you work with a mentor or coach or not. Your habit structure will propel you forward with great speed or hold you back indefinitely. The choice is yours.
One thing is for certain, we as entrepreneurs thrive on having new ideas and considering new avenues, new businesses, new projects and more. The most successful entrepreneurs bring a laser focus to their business.
They know their strengths and hire in to cover their weaknesses. They act quickly and implement on their best thinking. They know where they are when they begin and they know where they are as they move along their path to success.
Let’s discuss this last topic. Checking in on where you are? This is not just about the financial aspects of your business. It is the course you have set for your business. You need to check in on a regular basis and see if you are on track financially, on your projects, on your plan and on your strategy.
Here is one example I think everyone may relate to. Do you sign up to attend an event, go to the event and then it happens. You get swept up at the event by great and compelling selling into purchasing a new marketing tool. You buy the package for a few thousand dollars. You return from the event all excited and begin to spend your time and the time of your team on the ‘new’ marketing tool.
Now I am not going to judge your purchase. Marketing is a critical and all important component to running a continually successful business. I want to ask you this question – are you losing your focus and taking your team off track? When do you realize what you have done? Do some current and previously important projects get sidetracked? Are there some urgent opportunities, conversations, customer issues, email campaigns that are now lost in this new found exciting marketing tool you are all working with?
Is it better to consider the time investment and the who, what, where and when of the new marketing tool you purchased?
The point here is this – create a regular method of checking in. Know clearly where you want to go and attach dates and timelines to everything. Roll this back into to smaller goals to be achieved. Carve these up to your staff and areas of responsibility. Now you will know where you are and where you are going! And your team will too!
You found the perfect frame for your photo. It was the frame you dreamed of finding. The plan was set as you already knew exactly where to hang this frame which would house the photos which you printed out from your digital camera. You bought a picture hook when you bought the frame. You have a hammer already to go. Up goes the picture hook in the exact place where you want your new frame hung up.
You place the frame up and onto the picture hook.
There it is as you step back and see…the crooked picture frame hanging there? Okay so you play around with the frame a bit and it always ends up crooked. Not a little crooked – a lot crooked.
Does this ever happen to you in your business?
Do you have examples which you might relate to – similar to this story so far?
Here is what I did when this happened to me recently.
I turned over the frame and placed a ruler on the top of the frame on the back. This was to take a measurement and see where things were right now before taking any action. The answer was not what I expected. The hanging piece was installed one full inch off center! Gathering in the facts of what would be necessary to effectively and efficiently correct this situation, I brought in a few tools which would be needed. With a pencil, I marked the exact location of where the hanging piece needed to be installed.
Unscrewed the piece, redrilled holes in locations which I neatly and specifically marked for the screws and then reinstalled the hanging piece. The picture frame was placed where my daughter needed it to be. This entire process took me less then five minutes.
How does this relate to your business?
What do you do when something is out of whack or just seems out of place?
What if the event announcements are placed in your blog by accident instead of on your events page?
Do you just go in and fix it?
Or do you take the opportunity to be a leader and a manager by finding out how this happened and make it a teaching and learning moment for your team?
A Mastermind is the harmonious alliance of two or more minds that create a friendly environment to gather, classify and organize new information for fast and effective implementation. Napoleon Hill from Think And Grow Rich
Do you run and possibly participate in Mastermind meetings? Do you run meetings that meet this definition?
Do you feel you must know at least one or more people in your Mastermind for it to be effective and a learning experience?
These questions all arise as I have attended a twelve person Mastermind meeting today which ran all day long and I knew one person in an introductory and business transaction way. No one else in the room ever met me and this was the way it was for the majority of the room.
I found this meeting to be open, effective and a few AHA’s were there for me as well as others. For a Mastermind to be helpful must you have a relationship with everyone or a few of the members?
It was great to hear feedback from smart people who really knew absolutely zero about me. In some ways it may have permitted a true response from their experience without any pre-judgement of what I should be doing.
Here is the fun part – the advice, conclusions and tips were virtually the same as were received in a familiar Mastermind Group meeting in Los Angeles over a week ago where I am a member with a group of really brilliant people who are dedicated to each other and our success. This group meets on the phone each month and conducts in person meetings. We all feel like family. We support each other emotionally and in our business as each area does arise at different moments. Now these additional elements bring these meetings to a new height and depth of understanding for all of us. It is something special to be a participant and contributor to. The question is – is this what makes up a true Mastermind Meeting experience – the accountability, the support for you emotionally and in your business? Share your point of view and let’s discuss.
How many people are able to start their story with that line: “George Steinbrenner once stood before me and said…” He was called ‘The Boss’.
From a Great Lakes Shipping owner family and in the shipping business primarily before sports. Many have said George Steinbrenner was an entrepreneur. Here is one quote about him all entrepreneurs should take to heart: “He was very business-oriented, very direct, and very definite in what he wanted.” Think about that one for a moment – “…very definite in what he wanted…” You are able to read more about George Steinbrenner here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/sports/baseball/16partners.html
Another thought about the passing of ‘The Boss’ is maybe he represents the old way of conducting business. In the environment today and the shift in priorities and the way we think about work would a boss such as George Steinbrenner have the ability to run a business the way he ran his businesses?
Even a sports team like the New York Yankees?
The other day a client spoke with me about an incident witnessed at a retail establishment. An upscale salon where she was having her hair cut had an incident with a woman nearby who was having her hair cut by an always fully booked expert. The patron was apparently a little bit abusive and it was continuous. All of a sudden the expert cutting her hair stopped cutting and loudly stated “I will not be able to continue to cut your hair, I apologize”. And then walked away with scissors and comb in hand.
In the next few minutes there was shuffling, some rearranging and apologizes and another person completed the haircut for the patron. Think about the various aspects – these appointments are booked four weeks or more in advance, other customers witnessed the activity, the hair expert is one of the most sought after experts and other patrons had to wait a bit while this incident was handled. I know George Steinbrenner never owned an exclusive salon but I think I know how he would have handled it. What do you think?
In many ways the passing of George Steinbrenner represents the passing of an old way of conducting business. Is this true?
The World Cup 2010 in South Africa is, for the majority of the world, the sports event of their lives, until the next one.
You have to listen in for at least a few minutes of one of the broadcasts. Take a minute right now if you have not listened to a game or part of a game yet. http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/video/index.html Do you hear that humming? It almost sounds like you are in the hive.
These are the vuvuzela being blown into to make this noise. The games go on and on for at least 90 minutes plus injury time. All the time the vuvuzela are blowing.
Sports story ends onto the analogy – this humming noise is similar to buzz going on in the inner mind of the entrepreneur. When you are starting out on your new business venture you have so many ideas spinning around in your head. Which is the right one? If you are established in your business, how do you grow it?
Next you are thinking about the marketing and the sales. Look at these products or methods of marketing maybe I should buy some of these?
Did you even set up your business properly you wonder as you fall asleep at 2 AM? Maybe your business needs to be online? Isn’t that where everyone is taking their business now. How do I do that? You start to call a webmaster.
You don’t even know what you want in a web site and you are considering plunking down $5 grand for a webmaster.
If you are established in your online business already possibly you are considering hiring an online business manager.
Mmmm? What exactly is that person going to cost me? You spend more time thinking about what restaurant for going out to dinner and yet you might make these decisions without considering how they fit into your plan and strategy for your business. Humming and buzzing sounds going on in the inner mind of the entrepreneur.
The point here is this – do yourself a favor. Quiet the noise in your head and work with a coach, a mentor someone who knows the options and will guide you through the process. Someone who will ask you questions, get you to think and plan a strategy first before you start to hire people and spend money without a clear plan and a strategy. A great indication if your coach or mentor is the right person is who do they work with? Who are their coaches and mentors? You will benefit greatly from the knowledge they gain from their continued growth.
Let me ask you my fellow entrepreneurs – what questions are buzzing around in your head?
Many of my followers are not really sports fans per se. Some proudly state “I don’t watch sports!” Hey, that’s cool with me! I am not here to change you.
What I would like to discuss with your permission is share a few recent stories you may enjoy reading about from the sports arena. The main reason is there are lessons to be learned by entrepreneurs from the wide world of sports. It just so happens a few of these stories are taking place right now.
This is the time of year called “March Madness”. The best college basketball teams from the men’s and women’s college programs compete in bracketed tournaments all across the country to determine which teams are the best in the country from the women and from the men in the NCAA.
Geno Auriemma is the head coach for the University of Connecticut, UCONN – Huskies, NCAA Division One Women’s Basketball Team. He has been their head coach since 1985. His coaching record is amazing. UConn has won 6 National Championships under Auriemma (1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2009) and made the Final Four 11 times[ (1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010). Auriemma has also guided UConn to 15 Big East regular season titles and 14 Big East Tournament titles. The current team has been undefeated since a game in the season before last season ( 2008-2009 ). In a recent interview, Geno was asked what keeps him going. Here is what the six time Coach of the Year said: “The fear of Failure. I always think, if we don’t do this or we don’t do that, I will be found out and I will be considered a failure.” This statement as his UCONN Huskies prepare to play for the NCAA Women’s Championship on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 in San Antonio, Texas.
As an entrepreneur, do you ever think about failure? Here is one of the games best coaches ever, saying he is driven by his fear of failure! How do you motivate yourself and not get caught up in the fear of failure?
Coach Krzyzewski is the head coach for the Duke University – Blue Devils NCAA Division One Men’s Basketball team. He has been their head coach since 1980. He is another coach with a phenomenal record.
Nicknamed “Coach K“, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to 3 NCAA Championships, 11 Final Fours (tied for second most in history), 12 ACC Regular Season Titles, and 12 ACC championships over 30 seasons at Duke. Krzyzewski has amassed an NCAA-record 76 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging more than 25 wins per season. On March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski became the sixth men’s basketball coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win plateau. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season.
In a recent interview by ESPN, Coach K was asked about the Butler Team he was about to face in the NCAA Championship Game at Indianapolis on Monday, April 5, 2010 on CBS Sports. Coach K said what was special about Butler, a school with a total enrollment of less than 4, 000 compared to Duke with almost 4 times that number, was the fact that every single player believes that they are going to win. The media and everyone else thinks they, Butler, are underdogs, except no one told the Butler players or coaches that. They just believe, in fact, know in their hearts, that they are going to win every single time they step on that court.
Do you believe, as an entrepreneur, that you will be a success? Do you know you are going to fulfill your dreams and goals no matter what anyone else has to say? How do you turn off the noise from the naysayers and follow your dreams?
Brad Stevens has been the head men’s basketball coach at Butler University – Butler Bulldogs – NCAA Division One since 2007. His record places him near the top of the list in the history of NCAA men’s basketball coaches in terms of his record in his first three years as a head coach. The real inspirational story about Coach Stevens is how he became the head coach at Butler. He held a well paying position as a marketing associate at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis. Stevens felt that something was missing. This job just was not what he was meant to do. In June of 2000 he left Eli Lilly to pursue a career in basketball coaching, joined the Bulldogs’ staff in 2000-01 as coordinator of basketball operations under head coach Thad Matta. He was offered a full-time assistant coaching position by Lickliter one year later. He did not become the head coach until April 2007.
Are you following your calling as an entrepreneur? Do you know this is what you are meant to do? How have you ‘cut the cord’ so you would be able to really commit and focus on your entrepreneurial dream?
I hope these stories provide inspiration to you. They do for me.
Pioneering Women are those who have done something to lay the ground for others to be able to follow their lead and excel where others have not gone before. This story has not been widely distributed so I thought I should share with you this inspiring story if you had not read it before.
In World War II time frame, as in numerous wars through history, most women were planting victory gardens, working in a factory, putting together care packages and of course many served as nurses staffing hospitals. Some other unique women had a different agenda.
Women Airforce Service Pilots, called WASPS, during World War II, ferried aircraft from factories to military bases and additionally tested planes. The concept was to free up male pilots to fight overseas. Early this March, the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress was awarded to over 300 women for their service.
When the program started over 25,000 women applied for a spot in the military flight training school. There were 1,800 accepted. After an intense six months of training they were sent to fly. An example of an exercise was to fly 6,000 feet in the air with a target attached to the plane streaming behind it. One by one other pilots would swoop in and take aim and shoot at the target being towed. The were numerous stories of the active flying plane being hit by live ammo in these training exercises. After training, women in the program were given the rank of Second Lieutenant.
Do you have a story about an amazing woman you know from your family or friends who has done something groundbreaking? Who has gone somewhere no woman has gone before so doors would open for women in later years to follow and exceed their wildest dreams?
