How To Be Successful In Business

Well that’s a bit of a large promise!

But of course, plenty of people are successful in business, so what’s the big deal?

You are. That’s what it’s all about. You.

• Do you see yourself as a success or a failure?

This is a ‘decision’ question. Asking decision questions (of others) is a distinction of successful people.

It’s not that you need to answer it, it’s that you need to have asked it (of yourself).

Of being able to uncover the layers of belief you have about yourself.

At one point I had success defined as ‘being able to do what you want, with who you want, when you want’.

But I have come to realise (through experience) that (for me) it’s a lot simpler:

“Success means getting what you want”.

• If you want money, work.
• If you want to feel happy, smile.

So the way to success starts by asking yourself:

• what do you want?

And when you have answered that, follow up with:

• why do you want it?

And then ask:

• what am I going to do with it when I have got it?

And then ask:

• what am I going to do after I have got it?

At this point you will have a pretty good idea of whether you want it or not. Of how committed you are to getting it. So you can move on to the next stage:

1. how am I going to get it?
2. when am I going to get it by?
3. what are the exact steps I need to take to get it?
4. when do I start?

Something I often hear from my clients is their fear of making wrong decisions.

This is the most debilitating problem I know and leads to only one outcome: inaction.

There are four primary reasons for this as I see it:

1. Overwhelm
2. Procrastination
3. Time
4. Accountability

Here’s how to cope with them.

1. Remove overwhelm by choosing one thing to do. You get this by answering all the questions I have just covered.
2. Remove procrastination by taking action on that one thing (there’s no other way I know of).
3. Remove all time problems by knowing that taking action on that one thing will get you the success you want – and is therefore the ONLY thing that matters.
4. Be accountable to someone or some thing…

Who do you know you can trust that will make you feel morally obliged to get it done?

How can you make doing this task so accountable that it will cost you dearly if you fail?

Measure that cost in money, shame, guilt, whatever it takes to get you motivated and active.

Next time I guarantee it will be simpler.