I’m sure I’m like you in that, I see a lot and learn a lot from other successful entrepreneurs. I was thinking the other day about the traits that the most successful ones have in common and I’ve identified the three most common ones.
HABIT 1:
They READ a lot … especially books. In fact, when I first discovered ‘The E-Myth‘ way back in 1997 the first thing that I did when I figured out that this stuff really works was to become a veracious reader. I first began with the classics like Napoleon Hill John Caples, Robert Kiyosaki, David Ogilvy, Gary Halbert and everything Dan Kennedy wrote.
Back then I got into a habit of reading a book a week and I’ve kept up with at least two a month ever since, even though my schedule has become much busier.
For example, as I write this I have a stack of books on my desk:
- Conquer The Chaos (Mask & Martineau)
- Category of One (Joe Calloway)
- How to Grow Leaders (John Adair)
- Oversubscribed (Daniel Priestley)
As you can see, I keep the topics somewhat diverse and many of the books are ones that are recommended to me. They’re not all about one thing specifically. But I don’t want you to miss the point I’m making here. This is not a habit that is specific to me. It’s a habit that I have identified as common to the Most Successful Entrepreneurs I work with.
My own Book ‘Battlefield2boardroom – 10 Proven Military Strategies to Combat Mediocrity’ is also available through amazon and kindle.
HABIT 2:
They continue to work on their EDUCATION in live settings. After all, how did we originally learn? We went to school and sat in a classroom. It’s always amazing to me how many people stop working on their education after they get out of school. It should not surprise you that our most successful clients frequently attend events outside of their business. Be it conferences, seminars, summits, those who do make an ongoing commitment to further their own learning, are considerably more successful within their own business than those who do not.
I’m not saying this because I’m trying to promote any specific event, this is true of every event I have ever attended. It’s because people who continue to go to school, whether it’s school at a live event, webinar, or tele-seminar, work on their continuing education. And of course the live event is the best continuing education because you not only can learn from the presenter, but also from all of the other smart people in the room. I know of millions and millions and millions of pounds, euro’s and dollars that have been made by the networking that goes on at live events.
HABIT 3:
They create SMART GOALS for themselves and write them down for everyone to see.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time Bound
There is no question that by creating smart goals and writing them down for others to see, you have a much better chance of achieving them. I’m always amazed at how few people actually do this every year and then update them throughout the year.
On the other hand, the successful Entrepreneur almost always does this. It’s important to point out that just writing them down seldom leads to getting them accomplished. Accountability is what gets them accomplished. That’s why you need others to see your smart goals.
I learned this first when I was operating first business, a Health & Safety Consultancy. I actually posted our yearly goals and promotions for everyone in the company to see. It wasn’t as much for them as it was for me. Because they saw them, I knew as the leader I had to set a good example and get them done.
Okay, now that you’ve seen what I have identified as “The Three Common Habits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs” I have two questions for you.
You probably guessed the first one:
How many of these habits are you currently accomplishing?
But the second question will require just a little bit of thought and I’m going to leave you with it:
If you’re currently not accomplishing all (or any) of these three habits, what do you think would happen to you and your business if you did?…