Better Business #1: 10 Powerful Principles For More Success

Read time - 7 minutes

Prefer to listen to the 32 minute podcast episode on the go?

Principle 1: You don't need permission

Setting a compelling future for yourself does not require anyone’s permission to want it. You can decide and are allowed to want the things you want, to live the life you want. Others might find it crazy. It may feel like you have to convince them or you have to defend yourself.

Just don’t.

This is your life. And others are just projecting their own fears and doubts on you. They may think it is possible or realistic, but it is not their choice. They don’t even have to do it, so yeah, they can have an opinion and good intentions behind it.

They can have an opinion, but ultimately, the choice is yours.

Don't let your future, your ideal life, be influenced by what other people think that you can or cannot do.

The only person that you need to have permission from is yourself. What is your ideal life and business?

Principle 2: Your past does not determine your future

When we set our goals, we take our previous experiences into account, and sometimes we let our own past decide for us.

Ok, maybe there's something that you tried in the past that didn't work out. And just maybe, because of that, you now think it is not for you and that you will get the same result. This is just a thought. Don't let it limit whatever you want to reach in life.

Plus, your past is in the past. In this moment, like right now, you can decide to learn from that outcome you marked as a failure. The past does not have to repeat itself because whatever happened in the past doesn't need to happen again.

You are prepared more, you know more, you know a way that didn’t work, and now you can anticipate.

Because you are now prepared more, you know what you can expect now, and you can anticipate.

So keep on going, evaluate, learn those skills, take a different approach, change and tweak for a new outcome.

Don't take your past as a measuring stick or an expectation for what is truly possible for you.

Principle 3: Be freaking honest with yourself

Being honest with yourself is always a good thing, if not one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Honesty brings clarity and helps you make better decisions.

There's always a lot of emphasis on goals and where you want to be. But honesty about where you’re currently at is oftentimes overlooked.

Whether that is your skill level, the resources you have or can get, how you feel mentally or emotionally, where you are financially, or what you did or didn’t do that was needed.

Honesty about both where you want to be as well as in what state you are right now is needed so that you can create the path to where you want to be.

There are two things. In crafting your roadmap or strategy, whether it's for your business or your life, you need two points because that determines what it is that you need to learn, what it is that you need to overcome before you can take the next steps.

Ask yourself, what is true? Is it true?

Principle 4: Take ownership

Principle number 4 is dear to me: Taking ownership. Don't expect anyone ever to do the things for you. Take ownership of your own life, your actions, and your own decisions, even in cases they had a result that you did not like, even when it was beyond your control.

If you did not get a result you wanted, ask yourself, honestly: did you do everything in your power to reach it? Was this something that you could have done differently?

It's too easy to point fingers at other people and to blame situations outside of your control. The only thing that you have control over are your own thoughts, your own actions, and your own decisions.

And so as long as you take ownership, there is no one else to blame. And you will always feel empowered because there's always something that you can do. If not an action, then it is a different perspective or different reaction that will ultimately lead to a new result too.

In a business setting, this can be as simple as analyzing what happened. If you did not get the clients you wanted. Did you do everything you could? Did you market yourself? Did you follow up? If your employees are not doing what you want them to. Did you enable them? Did you give them the right instructions and tools? Did you actually tell them your desired end result? Always start with yourself first. This will empower you and will give you control over any situation.

Principle 5: There is always another side

There is always another side, in every situation, and you get to decide which side you are going to choose. In every situation, there is. Where there is a problem, there is a solution. Yes, you might not like the solution, but there always is. So shift your focus to the solution rather than the problem.

Don't stay in the situation where you are victimizing yourself, asking yourself, why did it happen? Why is this happening to me? Why doesn't it work? Instead, focus on the solution.

If you're spending all your time, attention, and efforts on a problem, you're not going to find a solution. Focusing on the solution also makes you much more creative and resourceful in finding a solution to your problem.

There are always solutions, but you just need to be open to it.

Principle 6: Small steps have a big impact

Now let's move on to principle number six, which is small steps have a big impact.

It does not matter if you are launching a big new project, always remember that big activities can be broken down into really, really small steps. Some days you might not get to do what you wanted but realize that even taking small steps will make a big impact, especially when they are intentional and part of your big action.

If you keep on taking small steps, eventually you will make a big leap.

It applies in all areas of life, and not only to business of course, whether you want a different lifestyle or learn a new skill.

It even applies to how you spend your time. A time pocket of 2 minutes might not seem much, yet by using it rightly you can accomplish a lot in multiple 2-minute time pockets throughout the day, as long as you are focused on taking the right small step.

So small steps and small habits can have a big impact in the long run.

Principle 7: Take action right away

When you put your mind to something, like setting a goal, take a first action right away. It doesn’t matter if it is small.

You want a second house? Do a quick search online of property you’d like to own. Want to sign that new client? Look on Linkedin if you have a connection or research the website. Want to have more free time? Block some time off in your calendar (no, I did not say weeks, you can start with 30 minutes!)

Taking a very first step is going to help you to make it a reality. Now you don’t have to wait to get started on it when you are ready, as you already did.

Principle 8: Completion over perfection

This I learnt from Sylvester Stallone during one of the UPW events that I did.

Perfectionism is not helping you to achieve what you want. Focus on completion first and perfect it over time. Get through the motion, get the experience and learn from it. Then the next time you do it again, it feels familiar and you will have time and data to tweak and improve.

Maybe there's something that you've been putting off right now because you want to do it perfectly. Then shift your intended outcome to completion and ask yourself: what needs to happen for you to reach the goal of completing it?

Principle 9: Don’t sweat the small stuff

Focusing on small problems, small worries take up the same amount of time as big problems and big solutions.

If you want to have a meaningful life, if you want to do things that are valuable, you have to focus on the bigger problems.

The choice is yours.

You have to focus on the biggest solutions, and you have to focus on things that are higher in value and that also means that you should not spend too much of your energy on things you don't choose not to worry about. Be bigger than that.

Ask yourself if the tiny problems and worries are worth it. Or do you rather shift your focus on bigger problems to solve?

A lot of things in life are simply just not worth it to spend a lot of time or energy on. In the bigger scheme of things, some things just become minor inconveniences. And if the small stuff is your biggest worry of the day, then really, what is your life about?

I don’t want to put my attention or energy on it, as it simply is not worth my time and you shouldn’t either.

The good thing is that if you shift your focus to bigger problems your clients are facing, you will be more valuable and able to ask and make more money as a result too.

Principle 10: I will persist until I succeed

It can be hard to keep on going when things are getting in your way. But don’t take no for an answer, keep on going. Find another way. Because life is just too short to not go after the things you want. Don't give up on the things that are truly important to you.

___

Whenever you are ready, this is how I can help you

Book your FREE strategy session and give my advice and tips on the first steps you can take to elevate your business. Plan your free strategy session here.
Work with me 1 on 1. Curious about my services and want to know more about how I can help you? Have all your questions answered by booking a 15 min call with me here.
Subscribe to the Better Business Newsletter and get new editions straight to your inbox. Subscribe here.
Listen to the Bold Business Owners Podcast: In this podcast I am sharing tips, tricks and strategies to run and grow an aligned business with more ease. Listen to the podcast here.