Helen Zad, Administrator of Active Plus Home Health and Divine Grace Hospice, and Host of Femme Fatale by Helen Podcast.
Being a successful entrepreneur is all about the right mindset. In parts one and two of this series, I discussed the importance of challenging fears and learning new things in an ever-changing world market.
In this final part, it’s time to take action. This part is about putting your mindset into practice, building healthy habits to support your confidence and motivation, and living the life of your dreams. These are eight actionable practices that will pave the way for success in your business and in your life.
1. Play to your strengths.
When I first started my company, I entered an already oversaturated home health market. I could have let this discourage me, but I knew my strengths were in this field. Why would I enter another field I knew less about, just because the competition might be less fierce?
Instead, I analyzed the market data and calculated that I would need to maintain 50 patients for the year to keep my company afloat. I knew that with my skills in interpersonal sales, and by understanding how to navigate patients’ insurance like the back of my hand, I could achieve that number. I made double that my first year.
2. Create new opportunities.
Don’t be afraid to try something that hasn’t been done before. I know of an owner of a home health care company that approached hospitals and medical offices and proposed that they rent a room to her for free in exchange for providing free physical therapy services for their office.
This model didn’t exist before she tried it, but it was so successful, she started operating this way out of multiple offices and ultimately saved her company thousands of dollars per month.
3. Establish a ‘plan A’ and stick to it.
When you have a plan B, you’ve already given yourself permission not to achieve plan A. It’s useful to have backup strategies and multiple tools in your arsenal, but when it comes to your ultimate goal, don’t settle for the next best thing.
Keep yourself focused, and remember why you want your business idea to succeed. Of course, it’s always okay to change your mind, but what I’ve seen happen more often than not is that people simply become distracted by shiny new ideas and lose interest in their first goal the moment it becomes challenging. You have to stay committed to one goal in order to achieve it.
4. Live your life like you’re already the person you want to be.
Visualize your own success, and live your life like it’s yours to claim. When I was just starting out as a marketer for the company I would ultimately come to own, I lived and worked every day as if I already owned the company. I made sure everything was perfect and every client was happy. By assuming the role of someone who owned her business, the quality of my work was on another level, and people wanted to work with me.
When you take ownership and pride in what you’re doing, it gives you a leveled-up confidence that is magnetic. I’ve found that when you’re on this wavelength, it becomes inevitable that you’ll reach your goals.
5. Practice discipline and self-motivation as daily habits.
Discipline is a muscle you have to build by practicing every day. Learn to trust yourself by sticking to your daily goals and cultivating habits that make you stronger. For me, one of these habits is exercise because it shows me how strong I’m capable of becoming and keeps me focused on self-improvement and health.
Compound the benefits from your discipline practice by keeping yourself motivated. This is a habit like anything else; choose two to three authors or speakers who inspire you, and commit to listening to clips of their audiobooks or videos on YouTube. Pick one motivator who gets your blood pumping and another who brings you peace.
Treat this like any other step in your routine, like meditating or drinking coffee, and it will begin to change your inner self-talk for the better.
6. Hold yourself accountable.
Building credibility and trust with others is important for your professional life. When you follow through on your commitments, people notice, and it helps establish you as someone who can be trusted. This can be crucial social credit when you need to borrow money, do business with others or seek out new opportunities.
7. Don’t burn your bridges.
Conflict is an inevitable part of business. The most successful people are the ones who embrace that and refuse to let a disagreement turn into a closed door. You want to keep your connections open because business is about seizing opportunities and expanding your network.
You never know when that person might become an avenue for you in the future. I’ve worked with people before with whom I eventually had to part ways in one area, but I’ve always strived to do this amicably, with respect for our relationship and an open mind about other ways we might be able to help each other down the line.
8. Surround yourself with the right people.
Fill your professional life with people who can do things you can’t, who will help you build something better than you could ever have done on your own.
I know my strengths; I know I’m a visionary, a dreamer. I have big goals, and I have the determination and energy to put a team together and see a project through to the end. But I can’t get anywhere without people who are organized, or people who can execute, get into the weeds on details, or communicate effectively.
No successful entrepreneurs are 100% self-made. In the end, most of your success comes down to who you’ve assembled as teammates.
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