Every morning I wake up and follow my daily ritual, however I follow a short list of rules. I write or re-write this list of principles
in my cellphone everday to remind myself of what it takes for me to be a successful
"entrepreneur" and let's face it success means money! :-) Plus it’s
the easiest way of measuring value and more importantly freedom. I think
principle number 3 is the biggest difference between entrepreneurs and everyone
else.
What are the principles? Well these are the principles that I think separate entrepreneurs from everyone else and push me towards becoming one. (In no particular order here are the reminders in my cell)
- You get out what's put in.
- Remember Be Awake
- Either create heaven or be comfortable in hell
- Love your work
- Change or die
- Life is just 1 tiny step
Read further for the ideology behind each step, or just skip
to the one you'd like to know more about.
1) You get out what's put in.
We all know this one. This is an old saying and should hit home with everyone. We all know that if you want to get anything, you're going to have to do something for it. "If you ask enough girls one will kiss you" – Warren Buffet I happen to have a girlfriend, but to get her I had to have the balls to talk to her, ask her out on a date and not play around with the fact I thought she was attractive. I had to put in time and energy to get her, not to mention going outside of my comfort zone attending a Yakima (live in Seattle) inter-college student conference. (They aren't mandatory) Yes, you get out what's put in and in order to know what I would have to put in I created these principles to create myself a recipe of the "what". Everyone had to pay a price for what they have even the ones "born" with it.
2) Remember Be Awake
This one is also quite simple, as most of my principles are so I can remember them easier. Be awake, simply means that there are times in our lives where we're simply "following the pack", sheep, lemmings even! : ) It means don't be one, be yourself! Don't get comfortable with being a follower and think CONCIOUSLY for yourself, there are times when we're on autopilot just doing what we told ourselves we wouldn't do, staying conscious and being awake is important. Think before you act, know why your doing it and have good reasons. It actually is very similar to the next principle. The word remember, is also added in to "be awake" because as we all know people naturally forget about their struggles, their hardships and all of their accomplishments. If you take a look back at your life and re-visit your hardest moments, nothing in the future should look insurmountable. If I take a look at the time my grandmother died of cancer and compare it to any other hardship nothing comes close to what I had to go through being around her.
3) Either create heaven or be comfortable in hell
Before we get into a philosophical rant about what hell/ heaven is, if they exist etc, I respect all faith(s) so this principle isn't anti-spiritual, it's simply conceptual. The place you are in right now, the place you do not want to be in, I deem that "hell". The place you'd like to be in is what I call "heaven". Even though, these places might not have such a huge difference, I give them these terms to prevent myself from nullifying the very real fact that there is a difference. I think an entrepreneur doesn't live in "Mickey Mouse" world where everyone does what they're supposed to like a good puppet and not notice their surroundings. I want to create my own slice of heaven, a place where I follow my own rules and am free; To do this I need to remind myself of where I want to go and where I am. Psychology also points out that humans are motivated more by pain (hell) then heaven, recognize the pain of the situation you're in and you'll be on a fast track to success.
Before we get into a philosophical rant about what hell/ heaven is, if they exist etc, I respect all faith(s) so this principle isn't anti-spiritual, it's simply conceptual. The place you are in right now, the place you do not want to be in, I deem that "hell". The place you'd like to be in is what I call "heaven". Even though, these places might not have such a huge difference, I give them these terms to prevent myself from nullifying the very real fact that there is a difference. I think an entrepreneur doesn't live in "Mickey Mouse" world where everyone does what they're supposed to like a good puppet and not notice their surroundings. I want to create my own slice of heaven, a place where I follow my own rules and am free; To do this I need to remind myself of where I want to go and where I am. Psychology also points out that humans are motivated more by pain (hell) then heaven, recognize the pain of the situation you're in and you'll be on a fast track to success.
4) Love your work
This one is super simple, but can be easily misconstrued. I wrote this principle so I can love the work I don't like or don't think I will like. We all have that thing about ourselves that we don't want to do but know we should. I'm telling you to love it! :-) Yes love to exercise, because if you don't you'll most likely stay or get fat and forget it has a benefit whatsoever, love to sell because it's what helps you connect with your customers, LOVE WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO SUCCEED! (Of course stay ethical =P) "Work" is simply a term that means doing something productive, love the productive things you do to get you to that next stage. If you learn to love what your next step towards success, you'll live an amazing life. (at least things shouldn't be so bad).
This one is super simple, but can be easily misconstrued. I wrote this principle so I can love the work I don't like or don't think I will like. We all have that thing about ourselves that we don't want to do but know we should. I'm telling you to love it! :-) Yes love to exercise, because if you don't you'll most likely stay or get fat and forget it has a benefit whatsoever, love to sell because it's what helps you connect with your customers, LOVE WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO SUCCEED! (Of course stay ethical =P) "Work" is simply a term that means doing something productive, love the productive things you do to get you to that next stage. If you learn to love what your next step towards success, you'll live an amazing life. (at least things shouldn't be so bad).
5) Either change or die
This principle is repetitive of
the hell one, so if you read that one you'll notice a similarity ; ) I think
all successful entrepreneurs are "agents of change" as some would put
it. If you don't change in today's society you die, so this one tells you how
to survive. You have to change! Sooner than later someone else will change and if you don't as well you'll fall behind. You'll slowly shrivel away...like a snail!...ok maybe not
a snail, but you get the point. By the way, my definition of change includes
"innovate" just so you know ; )
6) Life is just 1 tiny step
Since I LOVE to simplify things and make them "elegant", I like this principle the most. It makes your life easy and is a good one to remember when the going gets tough. Whatever you're down just remember…"life is just 1 tiny step". 1 Tiny Step is actually an idea I was a part of, which "failed" at start up weekend http://www.1tinystep.com : ) If successful our startup would give you the next tiny step to solving whatever problem you had, which I think was an ingenious principle in itself. If you don't know what to do, I'm sure you can think of a tiny step to help you get the answer. Action is most important and I'm sure you don't need a company to tell you that. Keep taking those tiny steps and you'll get very far. That next tiny step may be enough to push you over the edge, where you'll be free falling towards your success and hitting all your targets before you know it. This principle also resides with the whole "a journey starts with one step" saying, but my cellphone doesn't have a lot of space. = P
Since I LOVE to simplify things and make them "elegant", I like this principle the most. It makes your life easy and is a good one to remember when the going gets tough. Whatever you're down just remember…"life is just 1 tiny step". 1 Tiny Step is actually an idea I was a part of, which "failed" at start up weekend http://www.1tinystep.com : ) If successful our startup would give you the next tiny step to solving whatever problem you had, which I think was an ingenious principle in itself. If you don't know what to do, I'm sure you can think of a tiny step to help you get the answer. Action is most important and I'm sure you don't need a company to tell you that. Keep taking those tiny steps and you'll get very far. That next tiny step may be enough to push you over the edge, where you'll be free falling towards your success and hitting all your targets before you know it. This principle also resides with the whole "a journey starts with one step" saying, but my cellphone doesn't have a lot of space. = P
If anyone has any other principles they think are important
for entrepreneurs to follow let me know below or just tell me what you think of
the post. These are the principles I think I need to follow to be a successful
entrepreneur, everyone has their own problem areas, but these just help me get back on track when I'm #$@%*&% up.
What reminders do you think an entrepreneur needs? Maybe I shouldn't have anything on my cell because typing reminders, reading etc could have been time used as action I could have taken for my start up.
What reminders do you think an entrepreneur needs? Maybe I shouldn't have anything on my cell because typing reminders, reading etc could have been time used as action I could have taken for my start up.
