Are You Truly Ready For Success? 3 Key (Surprising) Things To Plan For

Have you ever had a "How'd I get here?" moment - not from a over-indulgent night-on-the-town experience, but from that other kind, where you wake up, look around, and while everything looks the same, it markedly different.

My colleague had such a moment when she signed on with Simon and Schuster. "I've been writing all my life," she says, "and I've been published, but this was one of those 'How'd I get here' moments that leaves me pinching myself, and doing all those things we do to try to convince ourselves that what we know to be true is really real."

As a business owner, you too may wake up to a flourishing business where everything you have put in place is humming along and working hard, so you don't have to.

For many business owners, that's a fantasy they can only imagine, but for you, when that day does arrive, and it will, are you going to be ready?

I'm going to give you some tips, but before I do, do you remember that sheep story I relayed in another article? The gist of it is a herd of sheep are grazing away, heads down, hell bent on getting the job done (sound like anyone you know?). One ram intently chomps away, mowing the field until he runs out of grass. He looks up and a look comes across his woolly face that says, "Where the heck am I, and how did I get here?"

He has eaten himself lost.

Now, this little parable could go two ways as an analogy of the business person who is so focused on one thing that they're blind to what's going on around them, or it could just as easily be a parable for the driven business person, going for the goal: Success (and I should point out that everyone defines success differently), only to find out that the goal s/he had strived for -that big grazed field - gets them that extra time, or money, or freedom they had dreamed about, but not planned for.

Think of it like Back to the Future, only you get to stay in the present, and the action you take now is your future. We do it all the time in other areas of life:

Products and services are pitched before they even are produced to build anticipation and capital

We gather "clients" by building on friendships and relationships and the referrals that result

We truly believe and have faith in knowing that the more we give (freely with no strings) the more we will harvest in return.

So, why not plan for our success? Now, what I'm about to share with you might surprise you, because the 3 Key things I am going to cover today have nothing to do with material things. Those you can figure out for yourself. But they do have to do with relatively small things you can do that give back tenfold.

3 Keys to Preparing for Success:

1. Fill a need in your community. Think of Jimmy Carter and his Habitat for Humanity. He saw a need and took steps to fill it. Habitat for Humanity was started in 1976, and today has helped 500,000+ families get shelter--one of man's basic needs. Think how great you would feel if you helped 500,000 people live better lives.

2. Re-awaken to the events of the world around you. For years, you've had your concentration focused almost entirely on growing your business, but in keeping a finger on the pulse of society, you'll find ways that proceeds from your sales can go to help an organization, a cause, or important event. Be part of the solution.

3. Make your business a tie-in to publicity, where you can give generously and with no strings through any of these activities:

* Give Information freely

* Give Time freely

* Give Talent freely

* Give your business location for local meetings, events, etc.

* Give Money freely

* Give Products/Services freely

* Give Events freely

Follow these 3 relatively simple tips and you will find that something magical happens. You are making that extra time, money, and freedom meaningful. You will be rewarded.

So, don't be the sheep with its head down, looking up to find it has eaten itself lost. Instead, plan for your success. A business coach can help you clarify, create and cultivate the successful culture you've always dreamed of. Be the achievement you want to see in yourself, you business, your family, your community, and your world.


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Peter Williamson, Business Coach and Master Licensee. For advice and access to proven systems that will advance your business, visit http://www.actioncoachcalteam.com/ or http://actioncalteamblog.com