OUR BLOG

As a business coach, my primary responsibility is to help people succeed … not only to reach their goals, but to attain that level of personal satisfaction and meaning that comes from fulfilling their mission.

In this series of articles, we’re exploring the qualities and attributes that set you apart as a small business owner … the ones you absolutely must have … or develop … if you want to succeed in business!

We’ve looked at the importance of having rigor and grit.

The third key I want to talk about is knowing where to focus your energies.

In my fifteen years as a business coach, working with thousands of small business owners on their business development and marketing strategy, I’ve seen it all.

From businesses that continue to grow and thrive year in and year out, all the way to businesses that never seem to get off the ground!

So what makes the difference?

Back in the heyday of the passenger ship, there was a man who owned a steamship with an engine that wouldn’t run properly no matter what his crew did to fix it. So, he called on an outside expert to diagnose the problem and get the engine running smoothly again.

It didn’t take long. The master mechanic came on board, listened intently to the engine for a while, reached into his toolkit, brought out a hammer, and fetched the engine housing a mighty whack. Instantly, the engine started humming like it was new.

There aren’t many eight-year-olds who have their own businesses, but this little guy does. His name is Thomas Compton. He’s from South Carolina and he raises chickens, goats, and calves. He also tends his own garden.

He’s been selling his produce and 3-4 dozen eggs a day to the local market, as well as marketing his produce directly to the public on Saturday mornings at the community tailgate market since he was three years old. And he’s been saving his money.

Last year when he was seven, his parents asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.

“A shaved Ice Stand.”

Which do you think is more important to manifesting the things you want in your life and business? Your emotional state … or the amount of work you do?

Notice I didn’t say one is important and the other isn’t. I asked which do you think is more important. This isn’t a rhetorical question. Go ahead and choose an answer.

MasterMind groups have been around for more than 75 years, since Napoleon Hill popularized the concept in his book, Think and Grow Rich!

You might ask … Why would a billionaire like Andrew Carnegie need a MasterMind group? In his words:

Someone from my family of origin who I was very close to growing up and trusted my whole life just isn’t that “best friend” and protector anymore. This person has betrayed my trust and behaved very badly.

I appeared on a panel recently addressing a group of entrepreneurs and “wantrapreneurs” when an intriguing question came up.

Are entrepreneurs born that way or can you learn to be an entrepreneur?

Dilemma.

A client called me recently. She wasn’t sure what to do. She’d made a special offer for a complimentary session on her blog.

I have to tell one on myself.

I noticed recently that my response to suggested changes in the way we were doing things or plans we had in place had become an automatic no.