How do you keep motivated every day so you can be successful as a small business owner? The challenges and time constrains every business owner faces daily are daunting, yet many small business are open yearly, and the dream of being your own boss, and having your own business is part of what makes the dream come to fruition. Read more by following the links below.
Forget Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.
We all have things that we want to achieve in our lives — getting into the better shape, building a successful business, raising a wonderful family, writing a best-selling book, winning a championship, and so on.
And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific and actionable goal. At least, this is how I approached my life until recently. I would set goals for classes I took, for weights that I wanted to lift in the gym, and for clients I wanted in my business.
What I’m starting to realize, however, is that when it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things.
It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems.
Let me explain.
The Difference Between Goals and Systems
What’s the difference between goals and systems?
- If you’re a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day.
- If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.
- If you’re a runner, your goal is to run a marathon. Your system is your training schedule for the month.
- If you’re an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a million dollar business. Your system is your sales and marketing process.
Abraham Lincoln’s Brilliant Method for Handling Setbacks
Today would’ve been Lincoln’s 215th birthday. Here’s what the legendary leader can teach you about keeping a reasonable temperament during hard times.
What was the secret of Abraham Lincoln’s success in dealing with people?
Incredibly, this is not just a question that a business journalist would ask. Dale Carnegie himself–the legendary author of How to Win Friends and Influence People–asked the exact same question on page 8 of that famous book.
Carnegie was in a unique position to know the answer. Four years before How to Win Friends came out, he authored a book called Lincoln the Unknown, which he spent three years working on.
How Lincoln Practiced Patience
The point is that Carnegie–America’s preeminent expert on networking, arguably the person who first codified networking as a skill–analyzed Lincoln’s life for his people skills.
As an example, Carnegie cites a letter Lincoln wrote to a general who disobeyed his orders during the Civil War. Here’s a snippet:
“I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee’s escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, have ended the war.
Distractions Killing Your Flow? Try This Method.
Are distractions getting in your way? Have you noticed that many times when you are focusing on your work and are approaching that momentum where things start to flow easily, you get interrupted?
Most entrepreneurs have created productivity habits that work for them, yet upon closer inspection, they realize that when they are trying to get something done, tasks often take more time than had been originally budgeted. This is caused by distractions: A co-worker who needs something from them, a phone call from a potential client, a team member with questions about a project.
Every time you are interrupted or distracted, the energy you were building from moving your project forward is halted, and you need to start over. Too many times, you need to gather new strength to pick up where you left off, and you may waste valuable minutes trying to figure out exactly where that was.
