I’ve started a lot of
different exercise programs in my life. Some I started because I wanted
to lose weight, some because I enjoyed a particular sport, and others
because I just wanted to get into shape.
I have
been variously successful. When I joined a team and had to show up
regularly for practice and games, I was able to more easily keep the
exercise going - at least until the season ended. Other times I quit
after less than two weeks. You know how it goes. You decide to start
the routine and the first two or three days are okay. Then you start to
get a little sore, but you make yourself keep going because you know
you need it.
But at
about the two week mark something shifts. The determination is not
quite as strong. Then one day it rains or you need to attend some
function that interferes with your exercise time. Missing one day
doesn’t seem like a problem, but one day turns into two, into three and
the next thing you know you are not working out any more.
On the
other end of the spectrum, I am working on a routine, now, that I have
maintained consistently for over eight years. Of course whenever I have
started a new exercise regimen, my desire has always been to maintain
it, otherwise I would not have even begun.
So what
made the difference this time? That’s a great question, because what is
true for an exercise program is also true for business! It is a well
known fact that a very low percentage of small businesses actually
succeed more than just a few years. So what is the thing that allows us
to maintain consistency over the long term?
In the end
there is no shortcut to making a new business successful. The necessary
ingredients are: 1) a great idea, 2) competent workers, 3) a workable
business model, and 4) perseverance. The first three
components are the easiest to deal with - not necessarily easy, but
easier than the last. With the first three, all that is necessary is
creative strategic planning, a little business education and some good
management skills.
But this
last ingredient falls into a different category. Here you have to learn
how to manage your emotions so that the inevitable ups and downs of the
start-up cycle don’t destroy your dream. It takes a huge amount of hard
work to get a new business up and successful. If you don’t have the
inner strength to persevere through the struggle, you will end up on
the scrap heap of failed small businesses.
The Five Step Formula for Keeping On
Successful
perseverance begins and ends with a good personal development plan. It
is the process of strengthening your personal inner core to the point
you are able to stand strong in the face of adversity. Knowing the
formula is a great place to start, but even with the knowledge many
people fail. Success does not happen because of what you do or what you
know. It happens because of the person you become.
These five
steps can be applied at different levels. Most people think of them in
terms of completing a task - and that is okay when there is a task that
needs to be accomplished. But for creating success, we need a broader
understanding. We need a formula which creates a life that is
successful. The various smaller tasks that we do in life emerge from
that. This five step formula is the explanation of a process that, if
implemented, will help you become the kind of person who can persevere
to success.
Step 1 - Know Your Purpose
Purpose is
essentially the reason you do something. It has been said that if we
have a big enough reason we can accomplish almost anything. On the flip
side, without a reason we will not have the motivation to make it
through even the smallest tasks.
Actually
you do have a purpose in everything you do. If you start a business
there was a purpose that moved you to do it. If you quit a business
there was a purpose to that. The only problem is, most people have not
identified what those purposes are, and when the purpose is
unidentified the activities that emerge out of it are unintentional. If
the purpose is not intentional it is based on an emotional response -
and when the emotions change, the purpose changes without you even
realizing it.
Purpose,
to be effective, must be intentional and it must come out of the very
core of your being. It is not good enough to start a new business just
because it makes you feel good to be a business owner. You have to want
it to fulfill something deeper - some underlying ambition that propels
you to the next level in your own personal development.
[BB]
Step 2 - Set Process Goals
Almost
every business owner has studied goal setting to some extent. It is
such an important aspect of business that most people read about it and
even attend seminars to learn how to do it more effectively. Most
goals, as with most purposes, have to do with accomplishing a task. But
there is a level of goal setting that goes beyond simple outcomes.
Process
goals relate to personal growth activities, and they don’t have an end.
Think of the process of losing weight or getting physically into shape.
When can you quit the diet or stop the exercise program? Do you do it
when you attain a fixed goal? When you drop your twenty pounds can you
then go back to the way you ate before? When you get to where you can
jog for thirty minutes straight do you quit the program? If you do, you
will quickly get back into the same condition you were in before. So of
course you don’t just quit. If you want to accomplish the real goals
you have to continue these programs indefinitely. They have to become
part of your lifestyle. The “process” has to continue.
When it
comes to our business, it is not enough to simply set it up and let it
run itself. The development of the business emerges from our own
personal development. We have to identify all of the factors that make
us better and more effective individuals, then make the development of
those things an ongoing part of our lives. There are too many factors
to list them all, but they will include such things as: 1) learning to
control our emotions (we don’t want to be tempted to quit the first
time we get discouraged), 2) maintaining our physical stamina (it is
physically demanding to run a business), 3) staying mentally sharp (new
innovations are always happening and someone else will jump ahead of us
if we don’t keep up), and 4) keep our relationships in order (including
the relationships with self, family, customers, distributers, etc.).
Step 3 - Develop Long Term Plans
The third
step relates to strategic thinking. It is not enough to know how to do
the various tasks related to your business. There are probably
hundreds, maybe thousands of people out there who can do that - many
better than you. We can’t see our business in terms of simple
repetitive tasks. Once we have our goals firmly before us, we have to
look way down the road and decide specifically where we want to end up.
If you go
for a hike, you can walk ten miles in a circle or you can end up in the
town on the other side of the mountain. In your business you can just
make enough money to pay the mortgage or you can build an empire.
Barely getting by might “just happen” if you have a great deal of luck.
Building an empire (even a small one) requires knowing where you want
to go and developing a grand plan to get there.
Step 4 - Build Up Your Personal Development Tools
The effort
we put forth to make ourselves successful begins in our mind. It
relates to the purpose, goals and strategic planning that we do to
become the kind of person who operates on a higher level. But once we
know where we want to go, and how to get there, we have to begin
implementing the process. This brings us to the personal development
tools.
The tools
are skills that we must develop in order to become a better person.
There are too many to list them all individually, but we can identify
them in broad terms in order to get a grasp of the concept. The skills
fall into four categories.
C The first category is emotional skills. These are skills that help us have control over our emotions.
C Category two is physical skills. This set of skills relates to things that improve our health.
C The third set of skills are mental skills. These relate to our ability to acquire, store and use knowledge.
C The final category is the spiritual and relates to relationships skills.
By
developing a life process that continuously develops these skills, we
automatically generate a life that has the ability to be successful. We
don’t simply generate a successful outcome, we become a successful
person.
[BB]
Step 5 - Turn on the Energy
The final
step in the process is to “put the pedal to the metal.” Once everything
is in place, the only thing left is to carry it out. If all of the
other steps really are in place, this shouldn’t be a problem. You have
a reason, an outcome a plan and all the tools in place. At that point,
it is just a matter of flipping the switch.
Keeping On
The
impetus to keep going when the going gets tough is not simply a matter
of will power. It is also not simply an issue of having a better plan.
It is a matter of being a better person. Who are the people who quit?
Quitters quit! If you have developed into the kind of person who is not
a quitter, quitting will not be an option. This does not mean that you
will never terminate a project. But the termination will be based on
objective reasons, not on an emotional response.
When you
arrive at a place in your business life where things seem hard, how do
you know that you have become a person who can keep forging ahead in
the face of difficulty? You will know you are there when you face the
desire to quit, but start looking for options to succeed. At that point
you will be able to keep on, no matter what!
Dr. Freddy Davis is the owner
of TSM Enterprises and conducts conferences, seminars and
organizational training for executives, managers and sales
professionals. He is the author of the book Supercharged! as well as the “Nutshell” Series of books for strengthening business. Sign up, free, for Freddy’s twice-monthly e-letter, Nutshell Notes, at http://www.tsmenterprises.com. You can contact Freddy directly at 888-883-0656 or by e-mail at info@tsmenterprises.com.
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