13 Vital Principles To Live By When You’re Starting Your Own Business (Part 2)

 

So picking up where we left off, here are the remaining 7 principles… Each principle is easy to remember and implement in your day-to-day business operations. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, you can read it here.

Principle #7 – Become Goal-Oriented

Don’t only set goals but become goal-oriented. Determine what actions you’ll take, what tasks you’ll complete on a daily basis that will consistently bring you closer to achieving your goals.

It’s also easier to be motivated when you can see your goals. Simpleology.com allows you to build an online Vision Board to track your objectives visually!

Principle #8 – Organize Your Workspace

Having a clean, organized workspace is a vital part of success. It may sound trivial, but in fact, the cleanliness and the order can go a long way towards improving your mindset and structuring your day.

A cluttered space makes for a cluttered mind.

Principle #9 – Create Schedules and Use a Calendar

Using a calendar allow you to lay out your plan with timelines and deadlines. A schedule can take many forms. For example you can use project management software to visualize parts of your plan as manageable time-limited and self-contained items.

Here are two indispensable online services I use every day:

Google Calendar

Zoho Projects

Principle #10 – Record Your Progress

Identifying and recording progress is important. It tells you how far you’ve come from where you once were. If you don’t follow it carefully, it’s easy to miss that it has occurred at all.

So, as progress occurs, record it somewhere. Write down exactly what happened, why it qualifies as “progress,” and why you think it happened. It will help you focus on the positive and document your journey.

You can either write with pen on paper in a journal or use software like OneNote or Evernote. With software you can also keep photos, media, and files along with your notes.

If you’re using Windows 10, OneNote is already on your computer. You can also download it at no charge from Microsoft here: https://www.onenote.com/download

You can see the differences between OneNote and OneNote 2016 here: What’s the difference between OneNote and OneNote 2016?

I find that OneNote is also great for all kinds of things such as documenting processes, creating lists of topics with links to your hard drive to find files quickly, keeping notes on troubleshooting tech issues, etc.

Principle #11 – Be Patient

One of the most common traits among those who are successful in business is patience.

Those who aren’t patient can often find themselves spinning their wheels and jumping from one project to the next. If you bail on a project too soon because according to you things are moving too slowly, you’ll never know how close you were to success.

Being patient doesn’t mean that you sit around waiting and hoping, it means that you actively work on finding solutions to move things along. But success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time…

So, do yourself a favour, and cultivate patience. You’ll be surprised at the payoff.

Principle #12 – Be Persistent

In business, few things are more closely related to success than persistence. Persistence will determine whether you push ahead or give up altogether.

And persistence will determine whether you eventually break through as a leader in your field or whether you muddle along in mediocrity.

Principle #13 – Don’t Settle

In some cases, you will find that the deck is stacked against you and your plans; you will simply have to settle for the best you can get, for now…

But in most situations, this simply isn’t the case. It’s just that you haven’t yet found the way to get the result you want.

So don’t find reasons to settle when you don’t have to. When it seems like a situation is hopeless, take a step back and take some time to think about it. Come back to it later with fresh eyes, renewed enthusiasm, push hard and go for it!