After I built my third 7-figure business, one of my employees asked me if I could share with him what I believed to be the key habits that allow me to constantly push forward to create one successful business after another. There are many aspects to building a business, and while good habits are not all it takes, it is a significant necessity if you are going to create massive change in both your business and your life. Being an entrepreneur or small business owner is hard enough as it is, and these 4 habits have always been the ones that get me through all the craziness.
- Remove Your Emotions From the Equation. Too many entrepreneurs focus on how they feel about their business or what they want to see happen rather than focus on the job at hand. We all face failures when starting a business, regardless if it’s a small mistake in a marketing campaign or hiring the wrong team member, it’s always someone’s fault (even your own). However, that hardly matters because blaming, feeling bad, or losing confidence as a result of mistakes doesn’t lead anyone anywhere, and as a matter of fact slows you down significantly during a time when the strongest and most capable version of you is needed. Business doesn’t care about you or me, and therefore must be handled with that same level of logic and fact that it gives you, especially if you plan to win the long fight ahead of you. I always focus on the task, not how I feel about it. Less reaction time means more time to focus on the work.
- Schedule Tasks, Even Sleep. One my greatest habits is buying myself more free time. I am a big believer that people waste a lot of time in between activities and by sleeping too much. While I know the body needs sleep, I also know that by scheduling everything you rarely fall behind. That includes scheduling your sleep. Set a time to sleep and a time to wake up every single day, and lower the amount to the bare minimum you need to function. If you have tasks for the day, get them done one after another without distractions or extra time in between. Many people I know will turn off their phones when they have a task but will check their messages on Facebook between their tasks. The reality is that they can wait until later in the day to check social media. I schedule my social media and checking websites time to just one hour per day, and the reason is mainly because most of my businesses are online to begin with, which forces me to understand what’s going on in social and on the web. If my business priorities force me to focus on doing all my work and leisure online in less than 60 minutes a day, then so can you.
- Take Your Own Word Seriously. This is the habit that I am best known for with my employees and with my clients. Everyone knows that when I give my word, I take it very seriously and will deliver 1000% of the time. Promising things is ok and setting goals is ok, but the important part is to keep your word. I always hear things from fellow business owners like, “I am going to make a $1M in revenue this year,” or people telling their employees “If this goal is met, I will give you a large bonus or promotion,” and even personal promises like “Mark my words, my next car will be a Lamborghini.” While all three are fine to say, none are ok if you are not going to uphold your word. If you are not sure, then simply don’t say or promise it to yourself or to other people. Becoming a man of your word, even to yourself, enables you to keep a grounded approach to executing realistic principles that allow you to make real progress.
- Worry About Momentum, Not Revenue. Every business needs revenue to survive and grow, but very few realize that what they need more and more each year to go even further is momentum. The same can be said about your personal life; while making money may be great, going the distance is better. I have learned throughout the years to not focus so much only on revenue, but instead focus on growth and other metrics related to growing our business such as our following, the amount of press we received, and how big our team had become. All of these indicators for growth are often ignored for the sole reason of measuring growth by the basis of how much money was made. By creating constant momentum, I always know that even when revenue is down the habits and hard work ethics that got us there to begin with will only improve rather than be subjective to the rollercoaster the revenue can sustain.
These 4 key areas of focus have always helped me become the person that was needed to be able to build successful businesses time and time again. Regardless if you struggle to build your first or are already still thinking and debating if entrepreneurship is for you, you can visit these and see if they can help you become a better entrepreneur.
Pejman Ghadimi is a serial entrepreneur, multi-millionaire, and best selling book author. After having spent 10 years in Corporate America, and having created several 7 and 8 figure businesses, Pejman dedicates his time to helping bridge the gap between formal and self education with the creation of Secret Entourage and Third Circle Theory.