Top 10 Tips to Stay on Track

This journey you are on – one of unpredictable cash flow, limitless possibilities and controlling your own life – is priceless.  But you need to embrace the fact that you can’t do it alone. 

Think about it, many have forged this road before you.  Many have stumbled and failed or stumbled, then got up, kept moving forward and succeeded.  These are the people to have around you.  These are the people you want to meet, listen to and have in your life. 

Look at all the top athletes.  They don’t do it alone.  They have coaches and trainers that push them, keep them motivated, focused and challenged.  They have a team of people that keep them on task and moving forward to be the best that they can be.  So why not you? 

Network Build Grow IS THAT TEAM!  Leverage the wisdom in the group.  Reach out and reach up for help and guidance…and provide your help and guidance to others.

None of us can do it alone…but we need to continue to GROW!

Here are my top 10 best tips for staying focused, challenged, and moving forward.  Some you can do on your own, some you will need others by your side.  All of them take intentionality, perserverance and commitment.

1. Stay committed, not motivated.  Motivation follows true, unwavering commitment.  This requires you to have your strategy/focus/endgame clearly defined.  It needs to be challenging yet realistic.  (Not sure about your strategy?  Come to SOS in February)
2. Focus on each step in the journey not the final destination.  If you focus solely on the ultimate result, the final outcome, then the bumps in the road can easily knock you off course.  Perseverance is fueled through the smaller successes along the way.  Use any setbacks or detours as a learning curve to get back on track.
3. Rid your mind of thoughts and feelings that keep you “stuck”.  Stuck in a rut?  Change the view!  There are a million and one mindset podcasts, sayings, classes, etc. that can help you keep your head in the game.  They are YOUR thoughts, choose to focus on the ones that keep you excited.  Step out of your comfort zone, try something new, put away fear and doubt.
4. Keep your imagination and curiosity active.  If your mantra is “I hate my job” then the thoughts and feelings you are focusing on will send you down a dark tunnel.  If you switch gears and use your imagination to find what you can learn from the work, the people and each situation then you can reverse that black hole to a tunnel of exploration that ends on the other side with you as a more equipped and energetic entrepreneur.  Be Curious about how to make things better, easier, more efficient, stronger, how to make improvements.  Curiosity leads to success.
5. Remove distractions and time-wasters.  Make a list of how you spend your time over the next week.  Then see which activities are not moving you towards your destination.  STOP!  Hold yourself accountable and choose to do the activities that are meaningful and productive.
6. Schedule your When-What-How.  It is one thing to decide on a destination or your idea of success, even to break it down into a plan.  But you need to actually schedule it, put it on your calendar.  Each week list out WHEN you are going to do WHAT and HOW you will achieve it.  Without that, a plan is just a dream.
7. Hold yourself accountable.  Look, the easiest person to let down is the one looking back at you in the mirror.  Once you have set on your calendar the When, What & How, you need to stick to it.  Treat those times and tasks like appointments you have with someone else.  You wouldn’t just not show up to a Dr. appt or a business meeting – would you?  So why do you do that to yourself? (Be a part of the Accountability LAB)
8. Surround yourself with a support system, but don’t count on them to do it for you!  We all need help, but we need to understand that others can only help us to a certain point.  There are still things only we can do to move down the road of success – our path.  They can help and walk with us on the journey, but we still have to be in the driver’s seat.
9. Enjoy the Ride.  I know, cliché.  But true.  The adventure toward the destination is what brings value to it.  This is where life unfolds, meaning is found, and character is made.  Choose to enjoy the journey with those that are helping you along the way.
10. Take care of you – ALL of you.  Schedule in relaxation and fun-time.  It is easy to get burnt-out when striving towards any type of success.  Switch it up.  Go from the creative side of your business to the logical/operations side.  Change where and how you work.  STOP working and go do something else that you love.

But it doesn’t stop there. Create a Scorecard to track your progress. You need to know (1) what numbers to watch, (2) how to course correct when numbers are off, and (3) when and how to change the metrics if needed.

This journey will not always be a straight line….what fun would that be?  There will be curves, there will be hills and there may be detours.  But the road is worth traveling.