Posted by JuJuan Buford @JSBUFORD
The aforementioned quote by Mark Cuban could not be more accurate, as at some point you realize that 99% of your success or failure in business is an inside job. However, while the colloquialism “get your head right” is ubiquitous in its use verbally, very few understand its application in business, or in life for that matter. At the end of the day, how do you get your head right as an entrepreneur?
THE STORY YOU TELL YOURSELF, ABOUT YOURSELF IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY YOU’LL EVER HEAR IN LIFE.
Who or what is shaping your world view, your place in it, and you’re overall self concept? In other words how much time are you spending writing, reading, and reviewing your vision statement, your goals and affirmations, and looking at the action steps you’ll need to achieve your chief aims? Versus, how much time are you spending listening to constant negative news, sifting through social media content, profiles, and commentary, or listening to the most recent radio show gossip?
If you’re willing to answer this question honestly, the answer may and should alarm you to no end. From the time you wake up in the morning, the world’s agenda is waiting for you. And the question you have to ask yourself is are you ok with it? And are you really in control of your life’s trajectory, or are you a shiftless human, happening?
If you think of your mind like an emotionless, computer programming system (which is kinda what it is), ask yourself who’s making the most inputs into your mind: the corridor to your thoughts, feelings, physical doings, and spirit. Are the very first inputs of the day determined by you? Or are you taking inventory of what your boss wants you to do via email? Or what the news wants you to be scared to death of today? Or your bill collectors demands for your wages? Or the opinions of people, who wouldn't attend your funeral on a rainy day?
Whoever is determining or making the most inputs into you, is ultimately determining your trajectory in life. Are your thoughts being dominated by things that build up your self esteem and give you energy? Are you consuming content that you are the author of, speaking to your dreams, ambitions, and the life you truly want to live? Is your mind inundated with your victories -small and large alike? Financial independence deposits? Information, new learning, or data that will help you become 1% better each day?
Show me your social media feeds, or lack thereof, and I’ll show you your life. Who is ultimately penning your life’s story. Who’s really pulling your strings? Are you the pilot? Or are you asleep at the wheel, or worse, allowing others to steer you here and there. You say, God’s got his hand on the wheel. I don’t think God would appreciate his name being taken in vain, and substituted for Facebook, your supervisor, or the bank that financed your car.
Don’t be flippant, or allow yourself to skate past these questions. Take inventory right now.
FAMILY, FRENEMIES, AND NEIGHBORS
The people that you spend the most time interacting with are either breathing life into you, or siphoning it away. They are either challenging you to live up to your potential, or happily introducing you to their shared life partner, Mr. or Ms. Mediocrity. They are either contributing to your goals, strivings or ambitions, or sabotaging your efforts.
There is no in between. Just like there is no in between when a hyena is chasing a zebra. You’re life’s energies are either being consumed and torn asunder by the words, actions, and inaction of those around you. Or they are being replenished and edified like a sunflower, being kissed by the sun.
This is not a call to diss those around you. However, if you’re not moving forward or making the progress you desire, perhaps it’s time to distance yourself from some people, and befriend others who are achieving and succeeding at the work you desire to pour yourself into.
I’m not a motivational speaker, or social media influencer who is going to fill your brim with curated sunlight. Entrepreneurship is empowerment, but it can be grueling. The rewards of entrepreneurship can by far exceed the alternative, but so does the price. Being an entrepreneur means you’ve decided to swim upstream against the current (the opinions of naysayers and haters, and a system that is constructed to reduce you to a duracell battery for the matrix), and it requires that you have some people who are willing to spot you when the physical, psychological, and spiritual fatigue sets in periodically.
Talent wins games. But TEAMs win championships. Remember the Detroit Pistons 2004 NBA Championship team.
YOU MUST LEARN
At the end of the day, entrepreneurs are compensated commensurate with the volume and size of the problems we are able to solve, and or the needs, wants, and desires we are able to fulfill. The bigger the problems solved, or appetites fulfilled, the bigger the paychecks. The most successful entrepreneurs repeatedly summon the courage and the humility to step into the fringes of society, and see things first. And this type of commitment requires that you must be better informed, more acutely aware, and attentive to the ever changing conditions coloring people’s lives.
By the time most of us reach adulthood, we’ve attended 12 to 17 years of structured learning and preparation to become a more effective worker bee. Why would you believe that the entrepreneurial journey you’re embarking upon…..the vehicle that you intend to transport you to, and deliver a lifestyle of satisfaction would require a lesser commitment to learning?
Goal setting and goal achieving is skilled trade. Understanding how and why people make decisions is skilled trade. Learning and implementing systems that will allow your business to scale beyond simply surviving is skilled trade. Effectively influencing and communicating with people is skilled trade. Listening and interpreting the winds of change is skilled trade. Leadership is skilled trade. Balancing your personal and business checkbook is skilled trade.
The super-majority of us haven’t been exposed to or inundated with these skilled trades in a structured, extended learning environment. Reading ten pages of a good book a day (or an equivalent audio) pretty much ensures that you’re reading approximately 1 book a month, which is tantamount to approximately 15 books per year. Entrepreneurship is leadership, and leaders are constant learners.
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JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
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