13 Vital Principles To Live By When Starting Your Own Business (Part 1)

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Starting and growing a business solo is tough stuff. It not only takes guts and determination but basic basic principles to guide us! (By the way, each principle is easy to remember and implement in your day-to-day business operations.)

So, along with the following practical recommendations I’ve included links to tools and resources, all if not mostly free, to help you turn these key principles into strong business-building habits!

Principle #1 – Stop Making Excuses and Get On With It!

It’s fine to raise concerns, to question dubious choices, and to be thoughtful and analytical.

But constantly making excuses about why you can’t do something accomplishes nothing positive. On the contrary, it drags you down, reflects poorly on you, and is an absolute productivity killer!

In short, focus on solving problems, not avoiding or complaining about them. After all, you’re in charge and you’re the one that’s going to make things happen!

Take a few minutes to watch Brendon Burchard’s How Incredibly Successful People THINK video for some insights on the success mindset.

 

Principle #2 – Don’t Dwell on the Past

It’s impossible to go through life without hitting a few (or more) bumps in the road. No matter how hard you try, no matter how you plan, stuff happens. That’s life…

And when you do have those mishaps when things didn’t go as planned, how you react to them will influence your capacity for success. You can either learn from them, move on, and pursue your goals, or you can let them eat away at you for weeks, months, or even years—allowing the past to block you every step of the way.

No matter how bad your failure was, it’s over. It’s going to be painful, but the sooner you pick yourself up and continue on your path to success, the sooner your failure will seem inconsequential and a distant memory.

Stay focused, look forward and keep your target in your sights.

Principle #3 – Be a Continuous Learner

Don’t let not knowing how to do something stop you from doing it. It’s so much easier these days to find solutions to problems by doing a little research on the Web.

I’m not saying that you should become a coder if you want to make changes to your website. But launching and running your own business means that you’re going to have to learn a lot of new stuff on the fly.

Some of what you learn you’ll be able to implement yourself. You’ll also learn that sometimes you’ll need to get professional help even though you know what the solution to your problem is.

So don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and start learning new material – there’s no age limit. And as a side benefit your added knowledge will bring you more confidence in your abilities to be self-sufficient in your business.

Again, here’s another good video from Brendon Burchard: How to learn faster

 

Principle #4 –Have a Plan – Even if You Don’t Always Use It

You can’t “freestyle” if you want a successful business.

Initially, you might think this sounds boring and that you need to be creative in business. You do, but you need at least a basic roadmap to get where you’re going.

That’s why it’s so important to have a plan. You may not follow it religiously every day, but you’ll have it to refer to, review and expand on as your business progresses.

Here’s what I use to create and track my short, medium and long-term goals. It says 30-day trial, but you can use the “lite” version free forever. It’s still a very powerful cloud-based software for planning and getting stuff done on a daily basis: Simpleology.com

Principle #5 – Take Action Immediately

Now that you have a plan, it’s time to act.

Thoughts and actions are two very different things. And this is something successful people know quite well.

They know that coming up with a good idea is completely useless if you don’t implement it. Wishing, hoping and “manifesting” will not make it so. Only action does.

So get in the habit of acting swiftly on your plans and ideas!

Principle #6 – Listen to Those Around You

One common trait among successful people is that they listen to other people’s ideas and suggestions. Instead of seeing everyone around them as inferior fools with nothing to contribute, they understand that many good ideas come from other people—not just from them.

There is a caveat though. Take any advice from armchair quarterbacks with a grain of salt. If your uncle Joe who thinks that investing is having money in a savings account at the bank starts giving you advice on investing in gold futures, perhaps you should turn to a more professional source for counsel.

However, seek out suggestions from peers and business owners who are more experienced and successful than you.

Want the 7 other principles? >> Click here.