I saw this awesome post from @SahilBloom on Twitter this past week that lays out some awesome advice and action steps to make this your best year ever.  I had to share it with you.  Check it out!

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.

And 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!

1. Be your authentic self.  The beauty of business ownership is that you get to decide what your business looks like and what it doesn’t.  
2. Get rid of your excuses.  Running your own company, you will meet yourself along the way because you will run out of excuses.  Take ownership.
3. Most things don’t matter.  There are a few things you truly need to do great to give you the best outcome.  Focus on those.
4. Look after your mind, body, and soul.
5. Do epic stuff with cool people.  Don’t leave anything on the table.
6. Purpose is the meaning of life.  Purpose can be anything as long as it is meaningful to you.  Find your purpose and see if it can be with people.
7. Build your network early and often.  Be someone who is known for helping other people and the rest will take care of itself.
8. Be present with people in their world so you don’t slip out into your world.
9. It is hard to read the label from the inside of the bottle.  You need an outsider’s perspective.  Get a mentor who has been down the road you want to travel.
10. Just go. Stop finding reasons not to do things and do them. Don’t be afraid to break stuff.
11.  You don’t need others’ approval to do what it is you want to do in business or investing.
12. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing poorly.  You get better as you go.  
13. Show up!
14. Comparison is the thief of joy.  Envy wastes emotion and drains you.
15. Don’t take yourself too seriously.  Enjoy the journey.
16. Take 100% responsibility for everything that happens to you and for you in your life.
17. What is the first thought you have that you design every day?  The first thing you say every day helps determine your day.
18. Don’t be emotionally attached to the outcome.  Be committed.
19. Don’t dream it.  Be it.  Don’t leave regrets.  Give it a shot.
20. You are not broken.  No one is.  You may be breaking through, but you are not broken.
21. Once you know what it is you want and why – get started as soon as possible.  Execution is more important than creating the plan.  
22. It is easy to live a hard life.  It is hard to live an easy life.
23. It is ok to be selfish to be selfless in helping others around you.
24. Save money.  Cash is king.  If you have cash you have a buffer or can weather a storm or take advantage of an opportunity.
25.  You become what you think about.  What you spend your time thinking about day to day is what becomes your life. 

The New Year is right around the corner.  Are you ready?  If you are honest, probably not.  More importantly, are you ready in your business?  Probably not there as well.  

While the holidays are time-consuming and there is a lot going on, we still need to stop and take some focused time to prepare ourselves to succeed in the New Year.  Over the years, I've put together a short, but important checklist to prepare for each New Year.  In a few simple steps, you can get yourself ready and think through the most important items to ensure you succeed. 
​ 
Here's your year end checklist!

1.)  Conduct an honest self-assessment

Take the time to conduct an honest self-assessement of where you are and where you want to be in all areas of your life from welath to health, relationships, etc.  This will help you understand the gaps and what you need to do to reach where you want to be.

2.)  Decide what to "keep, kill, or delgate"

Once you know what you need to do to reach where you want to be, then you must put yourself in the best position to succeed in doing so.  To do this, you will need to decide which things you need to keep doing and add into your life, which things you need to get rid of and/or stop doing and which things you should delegate to others. 

3.) Plan, Plan, Plan

Once you have determined what is needed to get you where you want to go and the things to focus on or delegate to get you there, you need to plan to make it happen.  This means putting in your daily, weekly, and monthly actions that you will need to do consistently to reach your goals.  Do no get overwhelmed by this.  Remember, people overestimate what they can do in a week and underestimate what they can do in a year.  Play the long game.  Planning gives you the actions needed to succeed, so you don't have to think or procrastinate.  You just get up every day and start executing.  

4.)  Resolve to constantly evaluate what is working and what is not

Just because you decided to "Keep, kill or delegate" once does not mean you are done.  You should evaluate, at least monthly, what is working and what is not so you can refine and get even better.

There you have it, a 4-step checklist to end the year successfully and start the New Year on right foot!

I was recently having a conversation with a family member and the topic of me racing Ironman came up and all the training I do.  After talking about the commitment needed to be successful in these races, they asked me "Why do you do it?"
 
It was a good question and my answer somewhat surprised them as it relates to business and entrepreneurship as well.

My response was the following....

First, I have found that in life, the more I challenge my limits and overcome them, the more I am capable of and higher levels of success I can reach.  It also opens my eyes to the possibilities I previously may have not thought possible.  The other side of it, is that I have done all this work to get into the shape I am in, over a number of years and it would be a shame to just let go.  As Walter Payton famously said, "It is a lot easier to stay in shape than it is to get in shape."  I prefer to stay in shape.

With that, they nodded their head and understood.

It is the same in business as well.  Every time we push through a barrier or big obstacle, we get better and find our business is capable of more than we thought.  And when we do reach high levels of success, we must work hard to keep them and not let them go.  This takes commitment, focus, and endurance.  

Remember, "It is a lot easier to stay in shape than it is to get in shape..."  Get yourself and your business in shape and keep it there!

I came across a great list of fatherly advice from @mbrandoph on Twitter this past week and had to share it.  Here it is!