I would like to share with you 10 principles of business success.
In order to understand these success principles, you need to first build the foundation for your success and potential, otherwise known as self-mastery.
I believe that self-mastery is the path to living an extraordinary life. It is the tool that gives you a competitive edge. If you want to be successful, you need to cultivate a mastery mindset.
The mind is a powerful instrument. It can either b your best friend or your worst enemy. The average person thinks around 70,000 thoughts a day. We become what we repeatedly think.
Start to pay attention to your thoughts. Are they bringing you closer or farther away from our goals? Anthony Robbins has applied the 80/20 rule to the study of success.
He states that in almost every circumstance, “80 percent of success is due to psychology—mindset, beliefs, and emotions—and only 20 percent is due to strategy—the specific steps needed to accomplish a result”. Developing a mastery mindset and following these 10 success principles will support your business success.
1. Be Open and Willing to Learn.
In today’s digital world, your ability to be open and willing to learn is critical to your success. In the words of Jeremy Stoppelman, the CEO of Yelp said, “You have to be nimble and open-minded. Your success is going to be very dependent on how you adapt”.
The three most dangerous words in the human vocabulary are, “I know that”. The most successful people in the world are always trying to learn and improve. As you become more successful, learn to put your ego aside. Your ego can become one of your biggest obstacles to personal development.
2. Set Realistic Goals and Expectations.
Whether you are building an online business, you need to make sure that you are setting realistic goals and expectations. If you adopt a get rich quick mentality, you will only experience short-term rewards.
You need to focus on the long-term. Learn how to master the process and don't worry so much about the results. In the words of Elbert Hubbard, “Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains, or even courage, but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal”.
3. Take Massive Action.
In order to achieve success in business and in life, you need to take massive action. Tony Robbins suggests that once you have clarity about the exact result you want in your life, you need to create a MAP (massive action plan) to get yourself there.
When you’re creating your MAP, ask yourself, “How much?”, “By when?” and “For what purpose?” Don’t overwhelm yourself. Take slow, calculated progress every day towards achieving your goals. Work hard, be consistent and apply what you learn. The payoff will be worth it.
4. Be Patient. Focus on the Process, Not the Outcome.
Building a business requires hard work, commitment, time, energy, and patience. With any goal, there is always a process to achieve it. You may not see the results of your efforts today or tomorrow. It may take months, or even years. Be patient, stay committed to your goals, and keep moving forward.
5. There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.
On your journey to success, you will experience failure. That is inevitable. The most successful entrepreneurs in history attribute their success to their failures. Why? Because they adopt the mindset that failure is only feedback.
Failure is an asset, if you choose to learn from it. It tells you what’s working and what isn’t, so that you don’t make the same mistakes in the future. I can't tell you how many times I have failed with my online businesses.
I still fail, however I view every mistake as an opportunity to grow and learn. In the words of Henry Ford, “Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently”.
6. Never give up. If something doesn’t work, change your approach.
Are you a master or a dabbler? A dabbler is someone that gives up at the first obstacle or challenge that shows up, instead of pushing past the plateaus. Alternatively, a master never gives up. Being a dabbler or a master is a choice. Choose wisely.
Your passion and perseverance towards your long-term goals helps you move through difficult times with strength. Don’t let a temporary setback knock you off of your path to success. Change your approach if you have to, but don’t stop moving forward.
7. Always focus on adding value first, profit second.
This is one of the most important principles that I live by in my business. If you want to be successful, you have to put other people’s needs above your own. Content is king. Focus on creating high quality, valuable content that helps solve people’s problems.
That is what I focused on when I created my online program, Affiliate Marketing Mastery. When you do this, people will trust you and buy your products/services. It’s a win-win for both parties. Your income is in direct proportion to the amount that you contribute, which means that you need to be of service to your customers. Add value first, and profit second. As the saying goes, “When you give, you get”.
8. Always be honest and maintain integrity.
The key to business success is being honest and sincere. Your business growth depends on your customers’ level of satisfaction. Never deceive or be greedy with your customers. If you are going to promote a product or share something, always make sure that you are being honest.
If you earn your customers' trust and happiness, not only will they continue to buy from you, they will also promote your product or service to others. Research shows that Word-of-Mouth (WOM) is the primary factor behind 20% to 50% of all purchasing decisions (Onghai, 2012).
9. Focus on the long-term, not the short-term.
Focus on the long-term and keep your eye on the prize. The sacrifices that you are making today are going to pay off in the long run. Dabblers focus on the short-term and get discouraged when they don’t see results right away.
They end up giving up because they don’t see progress fast enough. They get too emotionally attached to the result and fail to fall in love with the process. Alternatively, Masters focus on the long-term. They view a plateau as an opportunity to grow. Which one are you? In the words of Simon Sinek, “Focus on long-term success, but be willing to make short-term adjustments to get there”.
10. Focus on constant and never-ending improvement.
Self-development has been the #1 reason that I have achieved so much success in my business. Whenever I create something, I'm always trying to improve. Always be learning and improving yourself, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
One of the best investment you can ever make is in yourself. Every day ask yourself, “What did I learn? “What did I improve?” “Where did I fall short?” “How can I do better tomorrow?”
The road to success is through commitment. If you want to achieve extraordinary results in your business, commit to mastering these 10 success principles.
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