You already know it:
It’s very DIFFICULT to build a successful business online.
Is it really?
Well, it just so happens that you can exponentially increase your possibilities of coming up with a thriving online business by developing a few success mindsets…
…a set of success / business mindsets that may decuple (10 times) your chances of achieving your goals and living the life of your dreams.
In Episode 10 of the Online Business FM podcast, I’ll be reviewing 18 of the best success mindsets you need to have or develop in order for you to thrive with your digital venture.
I’ll be sharing the top online business mindset tips you need to put in place prior to actually starting your business on the Internet so that you can master it and get closer to making it thrive.
What You’ll Learn
- Why you should celebrate even your smallest wins.
- Why you should set risky goals and “pay it forward”.
- Why you need to be patient, persistent and yourself.
- Why you should follow your passion and do what you love.
- Why you shouldn’t underestimate the required amount of work.
- Why it is important to say “thank you”, learn to say “no” and welcome failure.
- Why you should take consistent action and focus on your steps rather than on the outcome.
Download the MP3 File
If you prefer, you can download this episode’s MP3 file to your device for later listening. Just use the link below and follow the instructions to do so.
Links and Resources Mentioned
Affiliate Disclaimer: Some of the following links below may be affiliate ones, which means I earn a commission — at no extra cost to you — if you end up purchasing anything after clicking through those links.
- OBFM 3: Passive Income Myths & Truths: Can You Really Make Money While You Sleep?
- OBFM 8: How to Create and Sell Information Products & Make Money Online
- How long does it take to rank in Google? (A study by Ahrefs)
- Michael Hyatt’s 5 Days to Best Year Ever
- 1,000 True Fans
- Ahrefs
- Long Tail Pro
Episode Transcription
18 Success Mindsets That Will Make Your Online Business Thrive
Hello, people of the world!
Welcome to another episode of the Online Business FM podcast, as always with your host here. (Who else?!) My name is Luís Miguel Correia but — you know it — people know me online as “Louie Luc”.
I am here to help you start, grow or scale your online business; I’m rooting for your success!
My aim is go alongside you as you grow, as I grow, as we grow, sharing what I learn and experience so you know what works, what doesn’t and how it is done!
That’s why this show’s motto is… Let’s Find Out Together How We Can Make It Online!
Thank You
If you’ve been listening since the very first episode or have listened to a few episodes before, thank you so much, my friend! That means a lot and gives me motivation to keep going!
If you’ve decided to give it a listen for the first time, thank you a lot, as well.
Feel free to check out our website at www.onlinebusiness.fm, our iTunes page at onlinebusiness.fm/itunes or several other podcasting directories or apps for a full list of the published sessions so far.
Announcement
You can even listen to our show on your Amazon Echo or Alexa device by heading over to onlinebusiness.fm/alexa and following the instructions there to enable our Alexa Skill for free.
And you can also listen to us on your Google Home device by saying this conjuring spell: “play the podcast Online Business FM” after you say the magic words to wake up your Google Home device which are “Okay Google”.
The Decisive Step to Creating a Successful Online Business
Independently of the reasons behind your decision to do business online, you surely want your online business to a be a successful one.
Prior to actually starting your online business — before anything else really — I honestly believe there is a decisive step you have to take.
Developing a success mindset is imperative to be ready to embark in this true adventure and be fully prepared to face all of its ups and downs.
This Is What Many Online Business / Digital Marketing Courses Are Lacking…
I think this is where many online business or internet marketing courses are lacking.
They teach you all about using the right tools or services, train you on the best strategies and tactics but they’re failing on one of most — if not the MOST — important factor of all:
Having the right business / success mindset.
Not only to reach success, but to keep pushing forward no matter what happens in your journey and get you ready for all the hardship and intense work that starting, running, maintaining and growing a business (of any kind — particularly an online one) will require of you.
Let’s Fix That
In this episode, that’s what I’m going to try to do and fix.
Wasn’t it Debi Auger who said:
«Before you can master your business or your life, you must first master your mindset»?
She’s totally right!
I’ll share some of the best tips and advices you ought to bear in mind, a few of the mindsets you need to be aware of and put in place or develop before you actually dive into your online business so you’re totally fit to master it and reach success with it.
I’ll probably also talk about goal setting and goal getting, if that’s something you might be interested in learning about.
Oh, I see some of you nodding your heads “yes”, so I’ll definitely do it.
(I know this is a podcast but I can see everything.)
Okay, it’s kickoff time!
Get Rich Quick
Let’s start our review of the different types of success mindsets you need to have or develop by addressing one way of thinking, a particular mindset you actually should avoid having or being drawn to.
I’m talking about… the “get rich quick” kind of syndrome many people just starting out seem to suffer from. Have no doubt, this is a true syndrome that might affect even the best of us.
Regardless of the circumstances (and I’m not judging) — it might be people’s dreams or simply out of necessity — It’s only natural that countless folks fall into the get-rich-quick trap.
Many people feel deeply attracted by those promises of high income within little time and even less effort proclaimed by some shady (quote unquote) “marketers”.
Well, I am here to tell you:
They are only trying to scam you. Those promises are a lie.
There are tons of unethical marketers out there that lure people into buying their courses, into spending money on their products or into wasting cash on their services with the “make money fast” illusion.
My friend:
- Don’t believe in any sort of get-rich-quick promises.
- Don’t believe it’s possible to make money out of thin air.
- Don’t believe you can make money online with a minimal amount of work, time or effort, with just a push of a button.
Overnight Success Stories
Now, you might be saying to yourself…
«Geez Louise… How about all those overnight success stories I keep hearing about?»
Let me clear that doubt of yours really quick.
First off, the name is Louie or Luís, so it would be “Geez Louie”, not “Louise”, all right? Thank you, my friend. 🙂
Second, as I told you back in Episode 3 there is NO such thing as overnight success.
Things don’t just happen magically.
(Except when you’re lucky enough to win the lottery but even that will require some effort from your as you will still need to, at least, buy the lottery ticket.)
Overnight success stories are not fully told, they are lacking the so-called messy middle.
There’s a lot of groundwork, learning, experimentation, frustration and failure behind them that isn’t made public before the people in those stories actually reach success.
And if there is, really, any story of meteoric success… if that business happens to be lacking the proper solid foundations (which normally take some time to solidify), then such a business won’t be fit to face the test of times and will vanish even quicker than it came about.
Do What You Love & Follow Your Passion
One of the very first advices I bumped into a few years ago when I was rediscovering Affiliate Marketing was: “follow your passion”.
At first (I must confess), it sounded a little bit vague and empty but it didn’t take long for me to fully understand what it meant (and still means, naturally).
Especially if you’re just starting out — and this needs to be emphasized — you should try and build whatever it is you’re trying to build on the Internet (be it a blog, a niche website or any other type of online business) in a niche that you’re passionate about.
This is why:
- Doing something that you really enjoy discussing, talking or learning more about will definitely help you when things get tough with your business.
- Doing something that you’re passionate about will make the most boring bits of running and growing your blog, website or business feel less like a chore and more like fun.
Do What You Love
This “follow your passion” advice is part of the “do what you love, love what you do” mindset.
Remember Steve Job’s words:
«”If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “no” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.»
I’m aware that many of you listening don’t necessarily dream of building a successful online business just for the sake of building and owning a successful online business.
Many of you may be looking at it as a means to an end.
As a way to generate the funds you need in order to fulfil your actual dreams of living life on your own terms, having more time for your family, pets and friends, buying a new home, becoming debt free, earning a side income to live a better life, helping your family and pets, etc.
Regardless of your reasons, do try and build something that you love doing, do try and bet on a niche that you’re passionate about and do try and enjoy the whole process, even the boring parts.
When you feel demotivated, down, tired or uninspired, remember your “whys” (Why are you doing this? What’s your purpose?) and key motivations and don’t forget to occasionally take a step back to look at the bigger picture.
Gratitude: Say “Thank You”
A mindset of gratitude is also an important one to develop.
When you show gratitude toward someone you’re acknowledging their help and contribution, you’re recognizing the time they spent doing something for you.
When you say “thank you” to others you’re demonstrating your respect for them, showing that you care and that will make them, as well as yourself, feel better.
Thanking Your Customers Is Thanking Yourself
At the same time, thanking your customers for doing business with you is like also saying “thank you” to yourself for being out there helping people find a solution to their problems or an answer to their questions.
It’s realizing the effort you have made and rewarding yourself for your achievements.
So say “thank you” to your customers, to yourself and to those who have helped you reach your goals and fulfil your dreams.
Celebrate Small Wins
Somehow related to the mindset we’ve just reviewed and next up on our list of growth and success mindsets is celebrating every achievement you obtain.
Everytime you make an effort and complete a task, you should take a moment to congratulate yourself. It might not even feel like an achievement per se, but it’s important to celebrate even your smallest wins.
Think about it:
When you make a mistake (even just a small one) or you don’t perform as expected, don’t you usually punish yourself by complaining or maybe even getting mad at yourself?
Now tell me:
How do you feel afterwards?
Don’t you feel down, beaten up and lacking motivation to go after your bigger goals?
Enhancing Your Motivation & Boosting Your Confidence
Doing the exact opposite of punishing yourself and tracking your small achievements frequently (like every day) will enhance your motivation and boost your confidence.
It will give you the energy and willpower to keep pushing toward your longer-term goals.
Celebrating your achievements is your way to acknowledge you’re on the right path toward success.
- It’s how you reward yourself for your good behaviour and change of habits (changing habits requires constant repetition).
- It’s how you prize yourself for all the hard and good work you’ve been doing.
So if you want to become successful at anything, always make sure to celebrate your smallest wins and achievements.
If I Build It, They Will Come… NOT!
There’s a way of thinking out there that goes something like “If I build it, they will come”.
I got to say that this “build and pray” mindset is risking shooting yourself in the foot.
You can’t just come up with a seemingly great product or simply publish something arbitrarily on your blog or website and expect that you’ll have customers buying your product like crazy or readers coming in herds to read your post just like that.
It’s exactly the other way around:
If you build it, or publish it, they will NOT come.
Test Your Product or Business Idea First
Before you actually build any product, you first need to study the market, see what’s missing, check for potential competitors and look for other players in that market, understand how you could come in to fill in those gaps and, last but not least, test your business idea.
I’ve talked about selling your own products online in a previous session of this podcast, Episode 8.
In that session, I explained how you can come up with product or business ideas and test them to make sure they’ll have everything to become successful ones.
You haven’t already, give it a listen by going to onlinebusiness.fm/8. It’s a one-hour episode filled with awesome stuff that I’m sure will help you out.
Create Content That People Are Looking For or Want to Consume
Likewise, you can’t simply publish a blog post and expect people to come and read it out of the blue, just because it’s live on your blog or website.
You first need to realize what questions people are asking, what they would be interested in reading about or what they are searching for on the search engines.
To do that, you should do some keyword research with tools like Ahrefs or Long Tail Pro [Affiliate Disclaimer: This is an affiliate link, which means I earn a commission — at no extra cost to you — if you end up purchasing this product through this link.].
(These are my favorite; they are paid tools, though. There are few good free keyword research tool alternatives out there too which can get you started, but they won’t offer you all the data you need.)
To understand what’s trending on social media, which types of posts are getting the most shares, which are the most popular, you could use tools like Buzzsumo or Ahrefs’ Content Explorer.
You also need to promote your blog posts very well and that’s basically how it is done which is very different from just building stuff or simply publishing new content and waiting for something magical to happen.
Don’t Underestimate the Amount of Work You Need to Do
Another success mindset you need to have or develop is that you should not underestimate the amount of work you need to do.
There is a ton of groundwork to be done in the first place, even before you begin seeing results from your online business let alone reach success.
And it’s not just the groundwork you need to consider; it is not just the preliminary or basic work you need to worry about.
Starting and running any kind of online business like a niche website, an authority website, an online shop and even a blog or an email list will require a lot of work from you.
Bearing that mind:
- Be ready for all the hard work you’ll be bound to deal with and then some more.
- Be ready for all the unexpected extra work of which you don’t even have a clue about that you’ll definitely be encountering throughout your journey.
Have no doubt:
It takes a lot of work, effort, discipline, sweat, sacrifice, resilience, willpower, organization, commitment and determination to make your online business work and get it closer to thriving.
Welcome Failure
A beyond crucial business / success mindset you need to develop pertains to knowing how to fail.
Follow my reasoning here, my friend:
When do we normally learn the biggest lessons in life?
Precisely when we… FAIL!!
Want to know why?
There’s actually a quote from a movie that really sums it up very nicely and perfectly illustrates how I see failures.
I’ve already said it in the introductory episode of the Online Business FM podcast and it goes like this:
«Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.»
«Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.» #BatmanBegins #BTTF Click To Tweet(This is Alfred Pennyworth talking to Bruce Wayne in “Batman Begins” following Batman’s… ah, nooo, I can’t spoil the film for you, if you haven’t watched it yet.)
- It’s by falling down that children learn to get back up, keep balance and pay attention to where to place their feet.
- It’s by making mistakes and committing errors that we actually learn and reorient our projects to new and more refined directions and paths.
- It’s by failing that we learn more about ourselves, our boundaries and realize what we could change to better ourselves or find new ways to breakthrough our limitations.
So instead of seeing mistakes, errors or failures as something bad or even final, you should look at them as opportunities to learn, grow, evolve, better and improve yourself and your business.
Fail Often
Related to this, some people often advise others to fail: “fail more, fail often”.
Now, don’t get me wrong. This advice doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go out into the world and try your best to fail all the time!
What it does mean is to keep trying, testing out new stuff, getting more experience, checking what works and what doesn’t.
The more you do all of that, the more you will learn and many times that translates to you failing a bit here and there.
What’s important, nonetheless, is how you’re able to bounce back, learn your lessons and live another day with another set of experiences and greater knowledge.
To sum it up:
- Take failures as lessons and opportunities to change, better yourself and, even, to revise your plans or rethink your projects.
- Making changes doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you have a clearer picture of what you need to do to reach your objectives and goals.
(Laziness alert: Just don’t use being okay to change your plans as an excuse to slack off.)
Patience & Persistence Are Fundamental
Patience and persistence are fundamental when you’re running any kind of business, especially an online one.
If you’re building a niche site or an authority website, for example, it will take you several months to experience a glimpse of the results you’re expecting.
Especially for brand new online properties (i.e., websites or blogs), as it usually takes around 6 to 12 months to begin seeing some interesting trends in respects to traffic coming from the search engines and earnings coming from your monetization strategies.
That’s how long Google normally takes to find, crawl, index and rank your website and your website’s content depending on whether or not you’re doing things right SEO-wise.
In fact, according to a study conducted by the Ahrefs Blog: “only 5.7%” of all the pages they studied“ (and they studied the SERPs for 2 million keywords) ranked in the top 10 search results pages within 1 year for at least 1 keyword”.
This time period, though, (6 to 12 months) is dependant on several other factors, too, of course, including:
- How many hours you spend working on your business per day.
- How much content you produce.
- How well you promote that content. And/Or,
- How well you SEO-optimize your content.
- How much money is there to be made in your niche or market.
- How high or low is the competition level in said niche or market.
- Etc.
This delayed gratification will require you to be very patient and persistent in sticking to your chosen path so you don’t give up just a few weeks or months in.
Planting a Crop Field
Think of this kind of online business (or most of types of businesses online) like planting a crop field.
To begin with you need to prepare the soil. Next, you have to select and plant the seeds. Then the soil will need to be watered regularly while you wait for the seeds to sprout.
The bottom line is:
It will take quite a while for you to be able to harvest your crops, right?
Keep working patiently and persistently to collect your rewards later down the road. The harder you work now, the greater the payback you’ll get months or years into the future.
Be Yourself
A very important business mindset you should have is to just be yourself.
- Don’t try to imitate anyone else.
- Don’t try to be someone you are not.
Your voice is unique and different; that’s exactly what distinguishes you from the rest and sets you apart.
If you insist on impersonating someone else, people will get that. They will be able to see that you are not being real, that you’re sounding kind of fake. And they won’t be confident enough to follow and trust you nor believe in what you have to say.
People want you, the REAL you, regardless of how you see yourself.
They want to listen to you and read what YOU have to say; not you pretending to be someone else, someone that you are not.
Don’t be afraid to just be yourself.
Believe it when I tell you…
Trust me:
You will find an audience that will be interested in learning about what you have to say; your own audience that will relate to you and how you express your thoughts and opinions, how you explain things and share your knowledge.
Set Your Goals In the Discomfort Zone
In order to grow and evolve as a blogger, affiliate or internet marketer, businessperson or entrepreneur (an “internetpreneur” as I like to say) you’ll have to push your boundaries.
Every year, quarter, month or week (whatever the frequency) when you sit down to consider your objectives and goals for the future or the next few days, you ought to set your goals in the “discomfort zone”.
As Michael Hyatt (the gentleman behind the 5 Days to Best Year Ever goal-setting/goal-getting online course) puts it, there are three different zones inside of which you can set your goals: the comfort zone, the discomfort zone and the delusion zone.
If you keep setting goals you know you can easily achieve (and probably already have in the past), how will you ever go above and beyond your limitations?
Your goals should be difficult and a little bit bold and risky.
Something that forces you to go the extra mile, something that motivates you to change things around and think or see things a bit differently in order to achieve them.
Like:
- Cold calling potential clients (when you hate cold calling). Or,
- Doing email outreach (when you hate email outreach). Or,
- Asking people to join your newsletter (when you hate asking).
This is how you learn new skills and more about yourself, too.
Those Who Do Not Risk
There’s a funny Portuguese saying that goes something like:
«Those who do not risk, do not snack.» (Quem não arrisca, não petisca.)
Which means that those who don’t care to try anything that they aren’t too comfortable at doing, obviously won’t get the outcome they are dreaming of.
Let’s say your goal for the next quarter is to make $100 a month online, but you’re making 75 or $90 consistently already. That’s not too difficult nor bold. That’s setting your goal in your comfort zone.
A much better goal, a goal inside a potential discomfort zone would be to make twice or thrice or four times as much that amount like 200, 300 or even more dollars.
See where I’m going with this?
Avoid Setting Impossible Goals
On the other hand, setting your goals too high can backfire on you.
Avoid setting impossible goals like making $1M in the next quarter or six months, if you’re just starting out doing business online.
I’m not saying it’s impossible to make that amount of money online.
But, if you are yet to achieve goals in your comfort zone and, after that, in your discomfort zone, setting too big goals in these particular circumstances, especially in a short period of time, is setting them in the delusion zone which can ensure failure and get you down.
You need to take it one step at a time while, simultaneously, dreaming big about your longer-term goals.
In one sentence:
Keep your goal setting balanced, not too easy to achieve and not impossible to reach, at the same time.
Your Own Goals
It’s also important that the motivation to reach your goals comes from within you, that it is an intrinsic rather extrinsic motivation, that these are your goals, not someone else’s.
This means you need to have a good purpose, a good reason why you’re going after your goals.
Lay out your “whys” beforehand and come up with a vision of why, how and where you want to get in your life and business.
To end this “goal setting” mindset section here’s a quote by Rebekah Radice, an entrepreneur, author and host of the Brand Authority podcast:
«14% of people who have goals are 10 times more successful than those without goals.»
«14% of people who have goals are 10 times more successful than those without #goals.» @RebekahRadice #success #quote Click To TweetBelieve In Yourself
Sometimes we think it will be impossible for us to do a particular task.
Oftentimes though, the fear of not being able to do that particular thing is usually more daunting than actually doing whatever it is you’re trying to do.
Develop the mindset of believing in yourself.
You’re stronger than you think you are, you can do whatever it is you aim to do.
I need to repeat my favorite quote again today, because it sums the “believe in yourself” mindset perfectly:
«If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.»
«If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.» #quote #BTTF Click To TweetNot written yet is the future, my young padawan.
It’s what you do today, it’s what you do now, that will create that future.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Anyone
Besides believing in yourself, you should not compare yourself to anyone.
Don’t make that mistake. People are just different.
Some are faster, some are slower. To some it seems easier to do something, but harder to do something else. And the other way around.
That doesn’t mean that they are better (or worse, for that matter) than you or me or anyone else.
For better or for worse, don’t compare yourself to others, don’t look at their successes (or failures), don’t look at how much (or how little) they are making.
That’s not good for yourself. Besides, you don’t even know all the circumstances and it will only get you down or going in the wrong direction.
Pay It Forward
Now comes the “paying it forward” mindset, which signifies helping others that are experiencing the same difficulties, fears or doubts you have experienced some time in your business path or entrepreneurial career.
Being a helper to someone else or “paying it forward” is how those who have helped you generally want you to pay them back.
Teaching Is Learning Twice
This type of mindset is particularly important to me as one of the reasons this podcast exists (one of my “whys”) pertains to that other saying I hold dear in my life:
«Teaching is like learning twice.»
(Yeah, saying I like… sayings is an understatement.)
By helping, advising, teaching someone else you’re actually cementing your knowledge, refreshing your memory and also learning even more by taking what you already knew to a whole new and higher level.
So, when the time comes, help someone else. Both of you win big time.
You’re Not Too Late
Another thing to bear in mind is that you are not too late (or too old) to start.
Online business is just in its infancy.
There are millions of internet users worldwide and the number is growing daily; there is a lot of money to be earned and rolling around.
Find Your 1,000 True Fans
Besides, you only need to find your 1,000 true fans.
If you do things right, you’ll have hundreds — if not thousands — of raving fans always eager to know what you’re up too.
Let’s suppose each one of those true fans spends something like $100 a year on your products or recommendations, that could mean a sum of $100,000 per year.
I’ll link to the awesome article that Kevin Kelly wrote about this popular idea where he explains what the 1,000-true-fans concept is all about in the show notes for this episode which you can find at onlinebusiness.fm/10.
Do check it out, it’s totally worth it!
Competition
It’s true that one of the aspects you need to check before entering a niche is the level of competition but, even it seems too difficult, don’t forget that you are unique and special in your own way.
If you stick to being yourself, you will be able to find your audience or they will find you.
Plus, you have a great advantage. The advantage of having a broader view of what’s going on in your niche.
You can study your competitors, see what they are potentially doing wrong, understand what’s missing in that niche or market and come in to fill in the gaps.
You can enter that space with a new perspective or a different angle that will set you apart from the crowd.
That may become your unique selling proposition leveraging your business and making it less complicated to find your golden spot in your chosen market or niche.
Take Action
One of the most crucial mindsets there is for reaching success in literally anything you aim to do is taking action.
If you don’t ever take action, how will you ever move forward and get closer to achieving your goals?
Take Action… Consistently
There’s an even more important aspect concerning taking action that you should not / cannot / ought not forget.
In order for it to work, it needs to be done consistently.
Don’t just take action now and tomorrow and then next day or month. It doesn’t work like that.
Taking action occasionally or “when the time is right” simply won’t work.
It’s sort of like brushing your teeth. 🙂
If you don’t do it consistently, day in and day out, it won’t be of much use, it loses all the effect.
You need to do it consistently throughout the time, every day.
Even if you don’t have that much time available on your hands, make it a commitment to yourself to spend an hour working on your business each day or to complete a daily task that will get you a step closer to achieving your goals and objectives.
List Your Most Important Daily Tasks
And… don’t just do something that makes you feel busy, but that doesn’t actually help your business advance. Don’t procrastinate or slack off.
Make it a habit to list the most important tasks you need to take care of every day before you get to work and commit to checking them off your daily to-do list.
Little by little, step by step, slowly but surely, consistently, you will create the proper working habits that will enable you to get where you want to go.
Focus on Your Steps Not on the Outcome
A big mistake people make pertains to putting too much attention on the outcome resultant of achieving their goals.
Spending your energy thinking about the result of whatever it is you want to achieve can get you “blinded” by that.
It will make you pay less attention to what really matters which will lead you to disappointment, frustration and demotivation. All of which could make you just want to give up more and more as time goes by.
Instead, you need to place your focus on each and every individual step you need to take in order to arrive at your desired destination.
The crucial daily tasks (I have just talked about) that’ll make your business go further and that you should make it a habit to complete consistently, every day.
Watch Your Step
At the same time, don’t just consider what could go wrong.
It’s okay to prepare for the unexpected and have a contingency plan in place — that’s why people say: “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”.
It’s okay to prepare for eventual failures, but if you spend too much time uniquely thinking about them, it may end up making you trip and fall down.
I usually say that this is just like carrying a tray of expensive crystal glasses.
If you’re only worried about what might go wrong (“oh I can’t trip, oh I cannot break this stuff…”) you’re probably going to forget minding about where you place your feet and that might get you in trouble (breaking all those crystal glasses, that is).
Learn to Say “No”
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned recently is that saying “yes” to something new is actually saying “no” to something else you had already started before.
So, if your ongoing commitments, plans or projects are really important to you, you need to take them into account when something new comes along to tent you.
Otherwise, you’ll never finish anything, because you’re not disciplined and determined enough to stick to what you had already began.
In light of that, you have to learn to say “no”.
The Shining Object Syndrome
Now, I’m aware that it is not easy… I should know, right?
The so-called shining object syndrome is something that probably all of us marketers and entrepreneurs suffer from (and I’m including you in the bunch).
I mean, If we didn’t see exciting opportunities everywhere we looked at, we wouldn’t be much of an entrepreneur, now would we?
Saying “No” to Ourselves… & Others
Sometimes, you will even have to say “no” not only to new business ideas or opportunities, but to other types of things, like procrastinating, checking and answering your emails frequently, social media, TV series, movies and popcorns, etc.
(Okay, okay… you can keep the popcorns today, but only for the duration of this here episode.)
You owe to yourself and to your audience to stay focused on your tasks in order to move forward with your business and help more people.
We really need to commit to what we have started before, if we want to see it through and reach our goals. And if that means saying “no” to potential new doors opening up, so be it.
Saying “no” for the first time around is the hardest thing there is but once you do it, you’ll be able to see the advantages of it.
Put those great ideas you can’t go after right now in your “Good Ideas List” and move on.
Be Discerning About What You Say “Yes” To
Last but not least and related to saying “no” is being really discerning about what you end up saying “yes” to.
Consider the costs in money, energy, effort, time and attention (time is spent, attention is paid) that each new “yes” will account for and how that thing you’re saying “yes” to will help you achieve your goals.
It’s not rare to think we have the availability to undertake a new challenge only to then realize that it is disrupting and unbalancing everything else or a lot of stuff in our life or business.
Surround Yourself with Those That’ll Make You Grow
Jim Rohn, a legendary motivational speaker and self-help guru once said:
«You are the average of the five people you spend most time with».
Taking that into account, here is another mindset for you to embrace:
Surround yourself with like-minded people.
The truth is that, many times, your loved ones won’t be the ones who will give you the biggest support and confidence in whichever business or career path you decide to choose.
The reason this happens may be them fearing that you might get hurt and disappointed, them not knowing or understanding all the circumstances, not having the same business vision or not seeing the opportunities that are laying before you, etc.
I can’t really tell you why this happens for sure (I’m not a psychologist, right?) but it does happen (unfortunately or not, I don’t know), even to the most successful people in the world.
That is why it is so important that you find people like yourself, that reason in the same way you do and be surrounded by them.
That’s paramount for many reasons:
- You can share experiences with them and broaden your horizons.
- You’ll feel supported and at home in a friendly and welcoming environment.
- You’ll be able to learn from their mistakes and failures and avoid common pitfalls.
- Their words and stories may become a source of inspiration and motivation for you.
- They can warn you about wrong decisions and help you get back on your feet if you fail.
- They will teach you a lot and keep you updated on the latest news in the business world.
And the list goes on and on.
Essentially, they’ll be there to support and motivate you because they fully understand what you’re experiencing and will be cheering you on for your success.
Whenever possible, try and find someone in the exact same circumstances as yourself so you can both grow and support each other as you go along your business journey; your travel pal.
How Do You Find Other Like-Minded People?
And how do you find like-minded people like yourself?
Search for them in online forums, Facebook and LinkedIn groups and Slack communities.
Whether you like or don’t like these sort of online communities, try meeting people there, becoming friends and creating your very own private mastermind groups.
Mastermind groups are a fantastic way to be surrounded with other like-minded people so it’s a great idea to join one or create one yourself.
Create Habits That’ll Get You Closer to Success
According to Brian Tracy, speaker and author of personal development books like Eat that Frog!:
«Habits determine 95% of a person’s behavior.»
Highly successful people all share more or less the same habits. Those habits that they practice consistently throughout their lives are exactly the basis of their success.
If you want to reach success in life or in business, you too need to create similar habits.
To finish this episode in great style, let’s quickly review some of them.
You need to be action oriented, goal oriented and results driven.
Meaning that you need to:
- Take action consistently (as I told you earlier) and avoid procrastination. Silence your doubts and fears, put aside excuses and get on with it and be done with it fast by tackling your most important tasks first thing in the morning and/or before all the other stuff. Prior to sitting down to work each day, pick one to three crucial tasks from your to-do list and get them done.
- Become a regular goal setter and goal getter. Write down very clear and precise goals and come up with plans to accomplish them. And regularly review your goals, track down your progress and adapt your plans as you see fit.
- Be driven by results. Set your priorities straight, focus on just one thing at a time and make the most of your time by managing it right as well as your attention levels. Schedule taking care of those tasks that require more attention from you when your attention levels are usually at their highest peak. And keep learning every day of your life to better yourself and improve your skills.
You also need to be self-disciplined, organized and conscious about your health.
Which means that you need to be clear to yourself (and to others) of when is the time to work and the time to do all the other things. You need to learn and know to eat right, exercise and also rest.
Success-Inducing Daily Habits That Anyone Can Develop
All of these principles can be transported into daily habits and routines that can be developed by anyone, at any age, if practiced regularly and consistently.
And it is this set of habits that you develop that will change your behavior and make you thrive both in life and in business.
Conclusion
And that’s it for this episode of the Online Business FM show!
In this session, we discussed 18 different types success mindsets you need to have or develop if you want to reach success with your online business and/or get closer to living the life of your dreams.
You learned about following your passion, learning to say “thank you” and “no”, celebrating small wins, not underestimating the required amount of work, welcoming failure, being patient, persistent and yourself, setting risky goals, paying it forward, taking consistent action and focusing on your steps.
You also learned that you’re not too late to join the party, to avoid get-rich-quick schemes and to do your research and tests before coming up with a business, product or new piece of content.
Join Us Next Time
I hope you’ll join us for the next episode of the OBFM podcast!
All Links & Resources
To get the show notes, the episode’s transcription, all the links and resources mentioned in this session head on over to onlinebusiness.fm/10.
Thank You
As always, thank you so much for listening until the end!
Muito, muito obrigado!
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See You Soon
See you next time!
From Lisbon, Portugal to the World, this is Louie Luc and I’m signing off!