Morning Success Routines For Entrepreneurs. If you start your morning early, you just might be more successful! You don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn — unless that is your wont. But there are some things that I have found from reading and from running my own business that simply make people more successful.
Morning Success Routines For Entrepreneurs
Wake up! Some entrepreneurs wake up at 5 am, others “sleep in” until 6 am, but they all wake up with a positive attitude. Waking up early is a habit you can cultivate. Many entreprenuers find that if they wake up early they are more productive. You could wake up early and exercise, or eat breakfast or read a bok. Waking up early means you need to stop hitting the snooze button and just get up. Make sure you go to bed early enough that you get between seven and nine hours of sleep so you can face the day.
Stay off of your phone and email. Don’t get on your phone or check your email or get on social media first thing in the morning. Don’t let an email put you into a “reactive” mode. Start your day, then get onto your phone or on socila media. Turn your notifications off so you can undertake your morning routine without interruption.
Eat breakfast. Your mother was right. Eating a healthy breakfast is the best way to start your day. Breakfast fuels your brain and your body for the day ahead.
Before your feet even hit the floor, think about the successes you anticipate with the coming new day. A positive attitude upon waking will carry through the day.
Take time each week to set your goals and priorities. This will keep you on track and focused. I suggest preparing your next day’s to do list before you leave the office so that when you get to work you aren’t faced with multiple decisions — you can sit down and get right to it.
Once you’re in the office, get down to work. Train your mind to equate your butt in the chair with focused attention to your business. Let me know how these routines work for you.
Stress less, focus more. Does that seem like an impossibility? If you put plans in place in your business and your life, you will be able to do just that — stress less, focus more and get more done. How do I know? Because I practice what I preach and when I work with my business coaching clients, we work on focus and priorities.
Stress Less, Focus More
Priortize. If you don’t know what you truly care about, you will fly from project to project and may not be focusing on those items about which you have a deep, meaningful connection. If you can’t focus, take a step back and write down what your priorities are? Then write down what you’re focusing on. Are there places in which those two intersect? If you’re focusing on non priority items, you need to determine why you’re letting yourself get distracted then work to get back on track.
What are you striving for? Are you ambitious? Are you seeking the correct items? Are you finding your efforts being scattered because you don’t know what you’re aiming for? In the book, “Essentialism,” author Greg McKeown writes that success is about “getting more focused and aligned.” He writes about the “disciplined pursuit of less.” This doesn’t necessarily mean you disregard tasks that need to be completed, but instead you focus more fully on priorities and work on non essential items after you’ve completed the essentials.
Where do you rank? When you look at your daily priorities, where do you and your business rank? If you are performing tasks for clients and disregarding your own tasks and priorities, why is that? You need to “put on your oxygen mask first” as they tell us on board airplanes. Take care of yourself and your business. If you and your business aren’t healthy, neither will thrive.
Delegation. If you’re still struggling to keep up with tasks in your business that aren’t generating revenue, why? You need to delegate those tasks for which you aren’t well-suited — even if they’re necessary to your business — and outsource. You need to focus on your core competencies. If bookkeeping isn’t your core competency, delegate it to someone who has that expertise and focus on your own expertise.
Look at your business, your priorities and where you rank on your daily to-do list and see if you need to shake things up in order to thrive.
Do Older Entrepreneurs Have An Advantage? Are you at a disadvantage as older entrepreneur? There are thoughts on both sides of the equation. We are seeing more older entrepreneurs because people are retiring, don’t want to or can’t afford to, be retired and are jumping into business ownership in greater numbers than ever before.
Do Older Entrepreneurs Have An Advantage?
If you’re an older individual does opening your own business seem like a wise move for you financially, emotionally and physically? Here are a few more points to ponder when making the decision to become an entrepreneur:
How will you pay for the start up costs? Will the endeavor you’re undertaking require an outlay of upfront cash? Can you work your new business on a shoestring until you have the funds to make a move to a bigger endeavor? Do you have investments or equity in a home that you’re willing to risk to fund the start up? Think long and hard before you make that decision.
Will going into business fit with your retirement goals? Do you have an objective for your retirement? Will opening a business impact that negatively or positively? Do you have a dream or a passion you want to follow but never did because you were employed?
Should you consider a side hustle before you retire to see if you really want to be an entrepreneur? The idea of owning a business may not be what the reality is and a side hustle might help you figure that out.
Do you have an end game in mind for your business? Meaning do you want to start this business as a legacy to your children? Do you hope to build it up and sell it so you have more money to add to your retirement nest egg?
Do you know all that you need to be a business owner? Do you have access to a business coach or a mentor from an organization like SCORE or your local Small Business Adminsitration? Get all of your ducks in a row before you hang out your “open for business” sign.
What are you hoping for when you want to open a busienss when you’re nearing, or at, retirement age? How can we help?
Should you hire a business coach? It’s a question that many entrepreneurs ask themselves during the course of owning a business. If you’re on the fence and wonder whether you would benefit from working with a business or a life coach, here are some reasons to consider.
Should You Hire A Business Coach?
Consider that athletes and musicians and many other professionals work with coaches and you can see why they are relied upon to help business professionals achieve higher levels of success and grow their business.
A coach is an unbiased observer who may see solutions that you aren’t seeing because you’re in the midst of the problem or challenge.
Your coach can be a confidant and will point out items that others in your circle of friends or colleagues may not feel comfortable pointing out.
If you’re looking for objective feedback, whether on a new project, to charge higher prices or to make other changes, your coach can provide you a sounding board.
Accountability is one of the biggest appeal of working with a coach. If you’re a solopreneur it is sometimes hard to keep your nose to the grindstone and to accomplishing goals you’ve set for yourself. Your coach can hold you accountable and help you set goals.
It’s impossible to brainstorm when you’re alone. Look to your coach as a brainstorming partner.
Celebrate successes with someone who has watched you walk through fire to achieve your goals! Your coach is there for the trials and tribulations and for the ultimate successes!
Have you ever wondered if coaching is for you? Reach out to a coach and ask if you can schedule an initial session. You need to mesh with the potential coach — both in terms of your business aspirations and personality. If you don’t mesh, you won’t feel motivated to achieve goals set with that particular coach.
Should You Get An Accountability Partner? The answer is, “It depends.” Many people find they benefit from working with an accountability partner while others feel they don’t put enough weight into what their accountability partner brings to the table and therefore has no follow-through. In order to make the relationship beneficial for both of you, you need to find someone you respect and admire and who brings something to the table that you need. Conversely, you need to bring benefits to your accountability partner as well.
Should You Get An Accountability Partner?
Here are items to consider:
What do you want to get out of the accountability relationship? An accountability partner will not, and cannot be expected to, fix all of your business woes. The partner’s goal is to help keep you on track with goals you have set for yourself and your business.
Is the accountability partner you’re considering working with reliable and organized? Are you reliable and organized? If the accountability partner you’re considering is always late or can’t meet a deadline, it may not be a good fit.
Do you like this person? You don’t have to be best friends with your accountability partner, but you do need to like and respect him or her.
How often will you speak? Once a week works best for most people, but you may want to start out with talking every other week. If you only talk once a month, chances are, the relationship will not flourish.
Make a commitment of at least one year for the accountability relationship. Focus on a long term goal you want to meet as well as other smaller milestones throughout the year.
An accountability partner is an ideal business investment, whether you’re just starting out or if you’ve been in business for a long time. Solopreneurs benefit from an accountability relationship as a way to interact with other like-minded entrepreneurs.
Are You Suffering ‘Info Overload’? If you are, it’s time to take a step away from what is causing that overload and take a deep look at your business and how you’re running it. In working with business coaching clients I find that many of them are looking for the “latest and greatest” and this is especially true when they are struggling with an challenge in the running of their business.
Are You Suffering ‘Info Overload’?
If you find you’re unable to move forward and that you’re spinning your wheels, you could very well be suffering information overload. Here are some ways in which you can overcome that feeling of paralysis and move forward.
Step away from all technology. Get out of the office. Take a walk. Go swimming. Meet a friend for coffee. When you remove yourself from the situation you may be able to see it more clearly.
Determine, if you can, what is making you feel overloaded and overwhelmed? Too many tasks to complete? Too much new technology to learn? Too many new staff to train? Put systems in place to address all of the areas in which you feel overwhelmed. Business systems can help you run your business with ease and you can put systems in place for something as seemingly trivial as ordering office supplies. Don’t let yourself get too mired down in the process of putting together business systems or you will put yourself into another state of overload!
Think about what you need to know, versus what you do know. Do you need to know something you don’t already? Look for ways in which to gain that knowledge. If you are doing certain tasks in your business that you could easily outsource, but you are afraid of the expense. Look at your hourly wage then determine how much time you are spending on non essential tasks. The figure you arrive at could very well show you that you can afford to outsourse those tasks at which you don’t excel, but that need to be done.
Are you in a state of information overload? Are you overwhelmed and are not certain why? Working with a business coach could help you overcome that feeling and move forward.
