Each year, our Misfit Entrepreneur guests ends each episode by giving their Misfit 3, the 3 most important pieces of wisdom they want you to take and put into your life and your business.
An each year, at the end of the year, I go through and pick the 25 "best of the best" to share with you. My hope if that you can use this incredible wisdom and advice to help you get off to a great start in the New Year. Here are the Misfit Entrepreneur Misfit 3 Top 25!
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Each year brings tremendous opportunity. Unfortunately, most people miss out on a lot of the opportunity available to them.
This happens for a few reasons. First, one of our biggest problems we have as a society is that we have been conditioned to be an "instant society" and expect everything immediately. I often say "we stop the microwave with 3 seconds left - we cannot even wait 3 seconds." This poses a problem when striving for success and for capitalizing on opportunities, because much of the time success is not an instant thing. The most important thing I do from a mindset approach when planning for a new year is to understand and take to heart this simple wisdom, "We overestimate what we can accomplish in a week and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year." I am as guilty as anyone of getting wrapped up in the instantness of life and I have to diligently work to keep perspective and keep going, knowing that if I do, a year from now, I will look back and have accomplished many great things. Second, I take time each year between Christmas and New Year's (usually a full day) to think hard on the successes and failures of the last year. I write down my big takeaways and how I can use what I learned to help me in the next year. I also take that time to review my principles and core values to make sure everything still aligns. I then review each of my businesses and pick the 2 most important things I want to accomplish in them for the year. My goal is to accomplish those early on in the year, then pick 2 more and go after those and so on. I have found that working on just 2 at a time helps me to reach success faster because I am focused. Third, I take time to look at my personal and family life and do the same exercise looking at my mistakes/failures, principles/values, and deciding on the 2 most important things I want to focus on to start the year. If things are not aligned in your personal/family life, it makes it very hard to succeed in anything. I then share all of this with my wife and daughter, to get feedback and make sure we are on the same page together. Once, I've done this, I then put it into a 1 page document that I can refer back to throughout the year. It is always amazing how at the end of the year when I refer back to it, how much I have been able to accomplish and what I've added as the year goes on. Remember, "most overestimate what they can do in a week and underestimate what they can do in a year." Be the latter. Here's to your success! My wife has this canvas in her office that says, "Today is a good day...to have a good day."
I've never given too much thought about it, except that it was an inspirational phrase....until recently. I happened to be helping her with some work in her office and re-read for the first time in a while. I began to think about it a little deep and found that I absolutely love it. I wish I had thought of the phrase! Why? Because it is not just a motivational phrase but a reminder that we have a choice. Every day we have a choice when we get out of bed of what kind of day we are going to have. We get to choose how we will approach things. We get to choose our attitude. We get to choose everything and how we respond to what happens in our lives. People forget that. Many people go about just letting "life happen to them" and then reacting to it. They don't seem to have control over anything and cede this personal power to whatever outside influences are acting on their life at the moment. Don't let this happen to you. You choose. Don't let outside influences control you or your destiny. The simplest place to start with your attitude. This is something you can choose. You can choose to have a good attitude, a positive, grateful one every day or a poor, negative one. And your attitude will manifest on the outside. It is truly a reflection of your inner game. So, if you choose to have a good attitude, it will manifest good things in your life. If you choose a poor attitude, it will do the opposite. Remember, you get to wake up every day and say "Today is a good day...to have a good day." Now, go out and make it so! If you are sport fan like me, you've no doubt gotten pretty excited when you favorite team is "on a roll." You know what I mean. They seem to have it all going well for them. They are scoring at will. Everything the other team tries doesn't seem work. In short, your team has all the momentum.
This is very easy to see in sports and it's also amazing to watch the changes in momentum in the course of a single game. Entrepreneurship is the same. We go through and ebb and flow of momentum on a daily, weekly, or even annual basis. Many entrepreneurs fail to notice these momentum swings as they are so mired in the business and day to day. Because of this, they are missing out on one of their biggest secret weapons - taking advantage of and fostering momentum throughout their organization to help them be more successful. Momentum is contagious. Even watching a sports game on television, you can feel it. You can feel it happening, the energy around it, the good feelings, the excitement, and so on. Think about how you feel when your team is on a roll. Think about how strong and powerful they seem and how you tap into that. They are like a soaring eagle. It's the same thing in your business. When you business gets on a roll and has momentum, it's up to you as the leader tap into it and foster the energy and excitement throughout the organization. Momentum is contagious, as long as people are aware and have the ability to tap into it. It's your job as a leader to help spread momentum throughout your organization and make it known. The more engaged people are into momentum to longer last and more successful it will be. Conversely, when you feel momentum slowing down, you need to do everything in your power as a leader to regain or find the next opportunity for momentum. You should always be on the lookout for your next momentum driver or inspiration. If you make it a point to foster momentum in your organization on a consistent basis, you'll tap into a secret weapon that many entrepreneurs miss and find yourself and your business more successful. Get out there and get momentum! The other day it snowed a lot overnight. Aside from waking up to a cold morning and taking in the sight of the fresh fallen snow on the trees and all around, I didn't think too much of it. I had to get to work.
About mid-day, my daughter came into my office and ask if she could go play outside in the snow. I said, "Of course" and we got her all bundled up to go outside. My office has a big window that faces out onto the front of our acreage and I could see my daughter playing and having a blast with her sled and other things in the snow - by herself. She was having a great time. I was in the middle of wrapping up some things for the day and could have done more. There is always more to do, right? But, instead, I decided to play. I threw my winter clothes on and surprised her outside. For the next hour, we did sled races, built snowmen, ran around with the dog - basically, all the fun you could have. I forgot about any work, but towards the end watching her and the dog run around, a was struck by inspiration. I had been working on solving a business problem earlier in the day and couldn't quite get it right. But, by just taking some time to play and get away from things for a bit, the answer became very clear. It was almost too easy. We often forget how important it is for us to take time away, even during the day, and give our minds a break. More importantly, we often forget how important it is for us to play and have fun in our lives - and how that can translate to even more success. Make sure you take time to play and give yourself and your mind a break - daily if you can do it. You'll have less stress, give your mind a break, and most importantly, find that playing will help you be more successful and prosperous in all areas of your life. I wouldn't trade those moments with my kiddo for anything! |
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