HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE ENTREPRENEURS - Success cannot happen with any consistency when approached in a lazy, haphazard, hit-or-miss fashion. Effectiveness is rooted in discipline and routine, not talent or genius. Successful entrepreneurs make sure to be detailed, organized and fully prepared before executing on any goal or plan. Successful entrepreneurs spend a significant amount of time thinking, creating and visioning. Being innovative comes naturally to all of us if we can discipline ourselves to enjoy the process of being in constant discovery. The use of imagination is a successful entrepreneur's most powerful asset. The most effective entrepreneurs dare to dream, take action and turn their dreams into a reality.

.............................................................................................................................................................

8 Habits of Highly Effective Entrepreneurs

How you live and work each day is the foundation of your success

Sherrie Campbell

CONTRIBUTOR

Psychologist, Author, Speaker

   

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Effectiveness comes down to producing desired results.

The most successful entrepreneurs have mastered being effective because it makes them work smarter, eliminating unnecessary effort and wasted time.

Success cannot happen with any consistency when approached in a lazy, haphazard, hit-or-miss fashion.

Effectiveness is rooted in discipline and routine, not talent or genius.

Successful entrepreneurs make sure to be detailed, organized and fully prepared before executing on any goal or plan.

Here are eight characteristics of effective entrepreneurs.

1. Visionary

Successful entrepreneurs spend a significant amount of time thinking, creating and visioning.

Being innovative comes naturally to all of us if we can discipline ourselves to enjoy the process of being in constant discovery.

The use of imagination is a successful entrepreneur's most powerful asset.

The most effective entrepreneurs dare to dream, take action and turn their dreams into a reality.

This visionary quality sets them apart from those who do not dare to dream as big.

Standout entrepreneurs do not see a limit to their creativity, success, ability to make money, have a positive and lasting impact on others, or to involve themselves in new ventures.

2. Early Risers

The most effective entrepreneurs are early risers. They support the belief that the early bird gets the worm.

They start their day visualizing what they want to achieve and speak affirmations of success over their mindset.

Many also start their day with some form of physical activity. It’s the method they use to wake themselves up, get their blood pumping and their mind alert and active.

Getting up early and getting a jump on their day allows them to get into the office before others arrive.

This gives them some time to set themselves, collect their thoughts and generate lists of priorities to most efficiently organize and tackle their day.  

3. Scheduled

One of the easiest ways successful entrepreneurs increase effectiveness is through being scheduled.

They live a schedule based on putting their responsibilities first and leisure activities second.

Socializing is important and life-giving and successful entrepreneurs recognize the value in getting out to be around people, not just for the human interaction and feelings of interconnectedness, but because being around others reduces stress and increases innovation.

The most effective entrepreneurs choose to schedule social time at the end of their day when work-pressures are off.

When responsibilities are put first, this type of discipline helps successful entrepreneurs enjoy their free time unencumbered by nagging responsibilities that we not met during the day.

4. Sleep

To be effective, successful entrepreneurs appreciate the importance of sleep.

The more sleep they get, the sharper, more emotionally available and mentally on-point they tend to be. Ariana Huffington in her book The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time shows the well documented body of evidence on the bi-directional relationship between sleep and stress; a lack of sleep creates an increase in emotional reactivity and a decrease in frustration tolerance, which contributes to another night of poor sleep.

It’s a horrible cycle. If poor sleeping patterns are left unmanaged, effectiveness and success become impossible.

5. Simplicity

Simplicity is the secret weapon successful entrepreneurs swear by to increase their effectiveness. They live nearly obsessively by simple yet practical routines.

Creating simple routines helps them avoid taking on workloads which are beyond what they can reasonably handle.

They are the most productive in achieving their desired results when not too overwhelmed with stress.

For this reason, they set protective and firm limits around themselves and their time, understanding even superhero’s need a day off.

In his book The Way of the Quiet Warrior Tom Dutta teaches there is no path to efficiency without self-care.

6. Journal

One the easiest ways to increase effectiveness is to develop the habit of journaling. The most effective entrepreneurs put pen-to-paper and write down what is important to them, the things that were both good and bad during their day and ideas on how they can improve.

They write lists, goals, gratitude and sometime write simply to vent their frustrations.

Journaling calms the emotions caused by stress or conflict by providing a much needed disconnect from the daily grind of consistent talking, emailing, taking calls, and other distractions which come along with electronic devices that never allow us to fully unplug.

Successful entrepreneurs value participating in an active inner dialogue with their inner critic as it helps them to transmute this negative voice into a positive coaching voice that is all about overcoming odds.

Entrepreneurs are the most effective when they’re strategizing ways to beat a challenge.

7. Flexible

As important as routine is, successful entrepreneurs also understand how imperative it is they be flexible enough to pivot on demand in response to unforeseen or changing circumstances.

Being flexible enough to change direction greatly increases their chances at success and it also enhances their own learning, growth, and education.

The routines they live by are simple by design because this simplicity makes it easy for them to maintain their life and career no matter their circumstances.

Effective entrepreneurs make it a habit to only need the bare essentials.

This increases their productivity because their set-up to work and communicate doesn’t require anything special from them to be effective whether they are at the beach or in the office. 

8. Curious

The most effective entrepreneurs view boredom as the great killer of success, which is why they make sure never to be bored. 

They happily spend endless hours working and doing what they love to do. They have made it a habit to be open and curious about everything in life and in their field of work.

This curiosity keeps them asking questions and generating ideas for what their next steps are going to be. Because they choose to remain open and curious, it is impossible to drain their creative reservoirs.

Curiosity is just another aspect that contributes to effectiveness for them. It is my belief that curiosity is the key difference separating an average success from a great successes. 

In my book Success Equations: A Path to Living an Emotionally Wealthy Life I teach that people tend to stop working when they run out of creative energy, while effective entrepreneurs have a radically different approach in that they never stop generating new ideas or paths to follow.

Sherrie Campbell is a psychologist in Yorba Linda, Calif., with two decades of clinical training and experience in providing counseling and psychotherapy services. She is the author of Loving Yourself: The Mastery of Being Your Own Person. Her new book, Success Equations: A Path to an Emotionally Wealthy Life, is available for pre-order.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/327113

MAKING FAILURE YOUR FRIEND - When you’re a leader, failure is your friend. In leadership, it’s not a question of if you fail, it’s a question of when — and how you respond. No successful person becomes a success without failure. It’s impossible. There’s no such thing as a life without setbacks, mess-ups, and flat-out face plants. If everything worthwhile is uphill (and it is), it’s inevitable that somewhere along the way your foot is going slip, or the ground is going to shift beneath you, no matter how careful you are with your steps. Failure is part of the leader’s process and being intentional with that process helps ensure a good return.

.................................................................................................................................................

How Leaders Make Failure Their Friend

By John Maxwell

What’s your definition of the word “failure”?

For some people, failure is a mistake of any kind.

For others, failure is missing a set goal.

For still others, failure is a constant state of being, a way of thinking about themselves and the world.

For leaders, failure is different.

J. Wallace Hamilton wrote, “The increase in [self-sabotaging behaviors] is evidence that many people are training for success when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common that success; poverty is more prevalent than wealth; and disappointment more normal than arrival.”

What’s Hamilton saying there?

It’s simple: when you’re a leader, failure is your friend. In leadership, it’s not a question of if you fail, it’s a question of when — and how you respond.

No successful person becomes a success without failure. It’s impossible.

There’s no such thing as a life without setbacks, mess-ups, and flat-out face plants.

If everything worthwhile is uphill (and it is), it’s inevitable that somewhere along the way your foot is going slip, or the ground is going to shift beneath you, no matter how careful you are with your steps.

So how do you make failure your friend?

It’s like any other friendship: you develop the relationship over time and with intentionality.

Failure is part of the leader’s process and being intentional with that process helps ensure a good return.

Here are three quick thoughts on this idea.

First, you get comfortable with failure.

I grew up on the opposite end of this spectrum. I feared failure.

I remember vividly my first class in college, when the professor stood up and said, “Half of you in this room will not pass this class.”

I was immediately seized with fear!

I’d never failed a class before, and I certainly didn’t want to start with my very first college course, so I began asking myself: what does the professor want? 

I spent the rest of that semester not learning anything because I was too busy memorizing everything because that’s what the professor valued.

Had I been comfortable with the idea of failing, I would’ve approached that class differently and likely learned something beneficial as a result.

Second, you get clear about failure.

I’ve touched on this in the introduction, so I won’t drag the point out here, but having a healthy definition of what failure is strengthens your attitude toward failing.

My friend, Paul Martinelli, says that failure is an essential part of the Cycle of Success: test, fail, learn, improve, re-enter.

In Paul’s book, failure is the second step to success! What a great — and clear — perspective about failure.

Third, you get prepared for failure.

Like I’ve said, failure is inevitable, so preparing your response is essential.

I love the Cycle of Success because it tells you that the response to failure is to learn, so what will you do to learn from your failure?

Make preparations to glean the lessons from your experience — set aside time to reflect, bring materials to help you collect your thoughts, and bring some people alongside you to help you with your thinking.

The only thing worse than going through failure alone is reflecting on that failure alone; it sets you up for a trip into dark places that will not serve you well.

Bring people around you, give them your positive goal, and let others help you discover new heights.

I’m over 70 years old, so failure has not only become my friend, it’s become a good friend.

We’re well acquainted and will spend a lot of time together in the future. I’m no longer afraid of failure, but I don’t let the specter of failure keep me from doing my best.

I’ve developed the right attitude toward failure and that helps me fail forward.

My team has actually put together a small audio collection called the Quick Start Guide to Failing Forward that features nine specific teachings of mine that help you dive deeper into this idea.

I love the idea, which is why I wanted to share it with you just as it’s getting ready to launch.

Among other things, you’ll hear about mistakes I’ve made and lessons I’ve learned, guaranteed ways to fail, and how exactly to fail forward.

If you’re leading, you need to make failure your friend because if you make it your enemy, you won’t get very far. 

If you’ve failed recently, take some time to learn from the experience, and find a way forward.

If you’ve not failed recently, take some time to prepare your response for when it shows up!

No matter what, though, keep leading. We need you because we need leaders who know how to take failure and turn it into something positive.

John Maxwell. Do you have an unstoppable desire to make a difference in the lives of people? Unsure of where to start? That’s a snapshot of where I was 50 years ago. My journey began as a pastor of a small church in Ohio where I learned that leadership started with developing myself and connecting with others. It wasn’t an easy road and I’ve worn a lot of hats since those simpler days.

I’ve always dreamed of impacting the world and changing lives one at a time. I’ve stayed a student of personal growth and development. Why? Because I believe it has the power to change us individually, connect communities, be a catalyst to corporations, and transform countries around the world.

You see, my passion in life is growing and equipping others to do remarkable things and lead significant and fulfilled lives.

There’s no greater mission for me. There’s no higher goal than to help others realize their significance and potential. That’s why I’ve dedicated my life to what I believe I do best: teach. I’ve written more than 100 books that have been translated into fifty languages. I’ve authored several New York Times bestselling books and was named #1 leadership expert in the world by Inc. Magazine in 2014.

I also travel around the world meeting with people of all backgrounds to help them discover significance. I’ve taught what I know to Fortune 500 company leaders, university staff and students, church members and community leaders.

https://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/how-leaders-make-failure-their-friend/

REFRAMING YOUR FAILURES - Many of life’s failures are people who gave up too soon. If you study history, you will find that the best success stories have also been stories of pressing on through failure. They were not born with some superhuman-like resilience that shielded them from disappointment, self-doubt or misgivings. They each had to wage their own inner battles with fear of failure as they worked hard to overcome the external obstacles that lined their path to success.

....................................................................................................................................

How to Reframe Your Failures

Margie Warrell

Once upon a time, a partially deaf 4-year-old boy arrived home from school with a note from his teacher.

It read, “Your son Tommy is too stupid to learn. We cannot have him at our school.”

His mother decided she would teach him herself.

Young Tommy might have been hard of hearing, but he was a good student and grew up to be Thomas. Thomas Edison.

Yes, the man who forever changed how people lived and communicated, and whose childhood bolstered his resilience to press on through the thousands of failures that preceded the success of the electric light bulb.

He would later say, “Many of life’s failures are people who gave up too soon.”

If you study history, you will find that the best success stories have also been stories of pressing on through failure.

Too often though, we overlook the setbacks and only see the end success.

We think the person got lucky. That they were in the right place at the right time. That they were born with a genius we lack. That they were destined for greatness.

But that’s all garbage. Although it might have included a little bit of each, what ultimately led to their success was a refusal to allow setbacks and failures to define them.

Take Walt Disney. As a budding cartoonist, young Walt faced countless rejections from newspaper editors.

He “lacked natural talent,” they said.

One day a minister from a local church took pity on him and hired him to draw some cartoons in a small rodent-infested shed behind the church.

After seeing a mouse, he became inspired to draw it. Mickey Mouse was born.

Even Oprah Winfrey, my very own hero, had her fair share of setbacks, including being fired from one of her first jobs as a television reporter, being told she was “unfit for TV.”

Had she let the opinion of others define her or taken her setbacks as a sign she could never break out from her humble beginnings, she would not be one of the most influential women in the world today.

Of course, you might feel like you have little in common with people who’ve risen to the heights of Oprah, Disney or Edison.

But that isn’t true. You do.

They were not born with some superhuman-like resilience that shielded them from disappointment, self-doubt or misgivings.

They each had to wage their own inner battles with fear of failure as they worked hard to overcome the external obstacles that lined their path to success.

As Bill Marriott, chairman of Marriott hotels, shared with me in a recent conversation, “You don’t succeed by avoiding failure. You succeed by trying and making mistakes and learning and starting over.”

What distinguishes these people is that they did not become a victim to their failures.

When their efforts fell short, they pressed on.

When they fell down, they got back up. When people told them they didn’t have what it takes, they found new doors to knock on.

They each intuitively knew that failure was an event, not a person.

There are things that you and only you can do. Things that will never be done if you do not do them.

But any worthwhile accomplishment is going to call on you to trust in yourself more fully, to risk mistakes and reframe your failures as par the course of what it takes you to succeed.

Most of all, it will take stepping out of your comfort zone again and again, no matter how loud that little voice of doubt is screaming in your head to play it safe, turn back or give up.

How you choose to interpret your failures will either move you forward in life or hold you back.

Every failure can be turned into a steppingstone to success.

Every mistake is a lesson in what not to do. Every setback is an opportunity to dig deeper into yourself, to access resources you didn’t know you had and to acquire wisdom you could gain no other way.

As Richard Branson shared with me during my visit to Necker Island, we mustn’t be embarrassed by our failures.

Instead, we need to learn from them and use them to “fail forward” and succeed faster than we would had we risked nothing.

As I wrote in Brave, “The things we want most lie on the other side of what scares us most.”

Unless we are willing to risk failure, we will never come to know what we are capable of achieving.

It’s why the most successful people risk failure again and again and again but never allow themselves to be defined by it.

So if your story of past failures hasn’t been moving you forward, then it’s time you rewrite one that will.

Margie Warrell

Find Your Courage, Stop Playing Safe, Train the Brave and Make Your Mark — Margie’s four best-selling books speak to her passion for emboldening people to take braver actions and make their biggest mark in work, leadership and life. A sought after keynote speaker and media commentator, Margie Warrell draws on her diverse international background in business, psychology and coaching. Host of the Live Brave podcast, Margie has worked with global leaders such as Richard Branson and sits on the advisory board of Forbes Business School. An intrepid Aussie with a special passion for empowering women change makers, she’s also the mother of four brave hearted children. More on Margie at www.margiewarrell.com.

https://www.success.com/how-to-reframe-your-failures/

You might also like:

Don't Quit no matter 

what!

CLICK HERE . . . to view  . . . 

http://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/05/dont-quit-when-things-go-wrong-as-they.html

...............................................

Break Through the Wall

CLICK HERE . . . to view  . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2019/05/breaking-through-wall-once-you-hit-wall.html

.......................................................

If We Hold On Together

CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . . . 

http://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/05/if-we-hold-on-together-diana-ross-dont.html