Seattle Small Business Blog

Studies have shown that successful entrepreneurs possess these characteristics:

1. Self-confidence

This is that magical power of having confidence in oneself and in one’s powers and abilities.

2. Achievement Oriented

Results are gained by focused and sustained effort. They concentrate on achieving a specific goal, not just accomplishing a string of unrelated tasks.

3. Risk Taker

They realize that there is a chance of loss inherent in achieving their goals, yet they have the confidence necessary to take calculated risks to achieve their goals.

Entrepreneurs are people who will make decisions, take action, and think that they can control their own destinies. They are often motivated by a spirit of independence which leads them to believe that their success depends on raw effort and hard work, not luck.
So which of these three main characteristics is the most important? Believe it or not, it has to be self-confidence. Without self-confidence, nothing else is possible. If you don’t believe in your abilities, then the first challenge that arises may knock you off the path to achieving your goals. Here are a few things to keep in mind for maintaining a higher level of self-confidence.

Positive Thinking

Well, it all starts with a positive attitude, doesn’t it? Believing that something good will happen is the first step. Negative thinking simply is not allowed. You must truly believe that there are no circumstances strong enough to deter you from reaching your goals. Remember too, that positive thinking can be contagious. When positive thinking spreads, it can open doors to new ideas, customers, friends, etc.

Persistent Action

Now all of the positive thinking and believing in the world is useless if it is not applied towards a goal. You have to take action, no excuses are allowed. This action must also be persistent. Trying once and then giving up is not going to be enough. Keep at it one step at a time. If you can’t get by a certain step, then find a creative way to try again or just go around it.

At the beginning of this article we identified a few traits that are common among successful entrepreneurs. You should be able to look ahead and see yourself where you want to be. Now just maintain a strong belief in yourself and your skills, stick with it, and don’t give up. If you can do that, you’re already half way there!

In today’s society we often put a lot of emphasis on how things are done. Present a plan with lofty goals to the board of directors of any company and surely they will ask you how you suppose those goals will be met. Apply for a mortgage and you will be asked to demonstrate how you plan to pay it off. Give a professor the correct answer to a complex question and you might be asked how you arrived at your conclusion.

The How is often so predominant that the Why is sometimes completely forgotten as if the Why is of less importance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Why you want something is infinitely more important than how you think you’re going to achieve it.

To find out what your Why is start with identifying what it is that you want. After all, if you can’t visualize what you want how could you ever hope to realize it?

This seems easy enough but apparently it’s a bit more challenging than one would think. Ask an adult to write down everything they want on a list with a minimum of 50 items and you will find that for most it turns out to be quite difficult. Stating that you want a certain amount of money, want to quit working or just want a bigger car than your neighbor can cause people to experience discomfort. After all it may make them appear greedy or lazy and that’s not generally considered positive.

So they try to come up with something that’s socially acceptable and in doing so make what they want subject to the opinions of others. Kids on the other hand have no problem here. They’ll come up with 50 items and more in no time, listing things you didn’t even know exist. They don’t worry about what others may think of it, whether it makes them look greedy, lazy or whatever. All they know is that they want it.

After you have identified what it is you want, then you get to the Why. Why do you want all those things?

Again, kids have the upper hand here. They’ll be quick to point out why they want it all: mostly the fun they will have and the popularity it will give them. Ask an adult why they want something and you’ll enjoy watching the expression on their face. You’ll see them searching for an answer. Why would you want to be rich? Why would you want to quit working? What would you do if you no longer had to go to a job every day?

You may decide you want a bigger house than anyone in your family before you ever had. But what does that do for you? Would you sleep better? Would it make your life better? Or is it because you just love cleaning house all day? Whatever it is, it’s important that you know.

Exactly how you plan to achieve your goal is far less important, especially in such an early stage. Too much focus on the How early in the process can have a devastating effect. It could paralyze you. If your financial situation is so bad that you are actually below broke, achieving financial independence can seem so far fetched that reaching it appears impossible. You might sell yourself on the idea that it’s so far out of reach that you couldn’t possibly make it happen in this lifetime.

As much as that may seem true at the time, it doesn’t have to become your reality. However in order to get there you will probably have to overcome some serious hurdles. And for that to happen you need a reason to get up and take the necessary action. That reason needs to be strong enough to pull you through the tough times that inevitably will come. That reason is your Why.

History is packed with unbelievable stories of accomplishment. People facing seemingly insurmountable odds who overcame obstacles you wouldn’t believe. Individuals with relentless determination who decided to push on in situations where most people would give up.

Why is that so many people throw in the towel when things don’t go their way and only a small number of people seem to persevere? It’s not because they’re genetically stronger and it’s not because they’ve been dealt a better hand in life. What sets them apart is their Why.

That’s what keeps them in the game. Their Why is so strong that whatever gets in their way they will find a way to deal with it. They don’t have all the answers, but what they do have is an inner conviction that they can and will find them.

Working on your Why is one of the best ways to improve the chance of reaching your goals. So make sure that you know what your Why is. Find it and refine it over and over again. Make it so strong that achieving it becomes an absolute must for you and the How will magically reveal itself to you over time.

When life hands you something that you don’t naturally agree with, or when you seem to be having all sorts of problems, it can seem all too easy to get down about it and to get upset and negative. However, there are many reasons that you should always attempt to be as positive as you can – whether you are dealing with the stresses of family, of your job, or of your life in general. Being positive is going to help you make sure that you never need to worry about anything else.

There are always times where it seems like it is tough to look on the bright side of things. It can be that you have too little time on your hands and too much to get done, or that you have stresses that you simply cannot combat no matter where you go. However, usually, with some practice, you can learn to see the positives in these things as well, and you can learn to train yourself to always look on the positive side.

The first step to staying positive is to be able to step back from the issues at hand and to learn how to look at everything as a big picture. This is very important because it means that you are going to be able to look at everything put together as a whole, and you won’t need to worry about all of the small details. As you begin to pull away and look at the big picture, you are going to see the positives that are there – you might have very well behaved children generally, who are very smart and strong – and suddenly the spilled soda on the floor doesn’t seem so bad. You might have a great career with a boss that you respect, and suddenly the issue with one project doesn’t seem as important or as huge as before. If you can learn to pull yourself away and look at the big picture, chances are good that you will learn how to start to look more positively at your entire life.

Studies have shown that when you are able to focus on the positive, you are going to be able to attract even more positive energy to yourself. People who are more positive are more attractive, more comfortable with themselves, and are in better spirits – and these things attract only good things and opportunities as well. Therefore, the more positive that you can be about the world in general, and about your life, the more positive aspects you will be able to attract to yourself.

Whether you are dealing with a business, your home life, or with anything else that might be going on with you, you are going to find that there are lots of great things for you to consider about each of the parts of your life. And, the more that you focus on these positive and great aspects, the better you are going to feel about your life in general.

People have been rediscovering inspirational books, such as Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” and James Allen’s “As A Man Thinketh,” in which wealth is achieved by one’s thinking habit. It is based on the premise that you are what you want to be, you are what you think. It is no wonder that Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret” became a bestseller, for the book also believes that wealth comes to those who want it.

We do want to achieve great wealth. But is it enough just to think about wealth and it will automatically come?

Of course, it is not as easy as it may seem. However, achieving wealth really starts with the mind. For example, if you set your mind as an employee, you will start to look for a job and be satisfied to work for someone else. But if you set your mind to attain financial freedom, you are able to see opportunities and means to get wealthy.

This article will suggest ways in which you can set your mind for financial wealth.

1. Be aware of your thinking process.

The poor will say, “I cannot afford….” while the rich will say, “How can I own…?” What is the difference between the two? The poor focuses on the problem while the rich tries to seek for the solution. Now, who do you think will most likely achieve his goal?

2. Work to learn, rather than earn.

It is all right to be an employee, but do not stay one for too long. As an employee, your income may be guaranteed, but it is limited. You will have what is called a “linear income”, in which you need to produce more or put in more time and effort to your job to earn more.

As you work on your job, learn the business in order that you may later become the employer.

Come to think of it, if you work for somebody, then you are surrendering the control of your finances at your employer’s mercy. Your future is shaped by that person and not by you. Therefore, it will be of importance to you to control your future, especially in terms of money matters.

3. Have an objective.

There once was a teacher who asked his students to cross from one end of the room to the other. There were thirty students, and each one crossed the room according to his or her own way. The teacher had shown that once you have an objective, the means of getting that objective will present itself. There is often more than one correct way of achieving one’s goal.

Many inspirational gurus will tell you that if you visualize your goal, put a lot of emotion in it, and believe that you have already have it, you will surely achieve your goal.

4. Make a budget and stick to it.

Companies, to become successful, formulate a budget and stick to that budget. They track their sources of money and determine where their money is going. They do this to control their cash flow.

How many people have ignored making a budget, or not sticking to one, and find out that they have spent more than they have earned? They get mired into debt in which there seems to be no way out.

5. Control your fear.

Most people are afraid of going into business because they fear they might lose their money if the business fails. They say that going into business is risky. But, with the present economic situation, isn’t it riskier to stay being an employee? If the company you are working for goes down, you go down with it. And with no job security, the company can give you the pink slip anytime.

Going back to our example of the teacher, what if one student stayed in his place and did not cross the room? No matter how much energy he applies in visualizing his objective, he will never get across the room.

Ultimately, it is the actions that you take that will determine if you will achieve your financial goals or not. However, without that goal, that “compelling why,” how can you achieve it?

While goal setting and planning are activities that are important to achieving your dreams, creating a vision is an important first step. You need to know first what you want to achieve in life. What are your dreams? What kind of a person do you want to be? What do you want to build? What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

As you answer these questions, start visualizing how you will be when you have achieved that vision. Do not dismiss this as day dreaming. Consistent visualization done daily will attract the right resources to you. This is the power of the mind.

Creating a vision board will help you tremendously. A vision board is a poster board on which you can paste pictures torn out of various magazines. Look for pictures that reflect your dreams and desires.

Go through the magazines and tear out pictures that fit your vision of what you want to be. Have fun with this. Do not paste the pictures yet.

Once you have selected your pictures, lay them out on the poster board. Eliminate the pictures that do not fit. As you do this exercise, you will typically intuitively know which pictures you like.

You could organize the board such that different sections may be for different aspects of your life, like career, family, spiritual, social and others that you may have in mind. Some people like the images to be spread all over the board. Choose what feels best for you. You then paste the pictures.

Once you have pasted the pictures, you can then use markers to write anything that you want on the board.

An excellent idea would be to paste a photo of you looking radiant and happy right at the center of the board.

Put up the vision board somewhere you will see it often. Each time you see it, besides the pictures you see, add your emotions to your thoughts. Imagine as if you already achieved what you have created on your vision board.

Play with this. Bring out the child in you.

While vision boards have become popular when it was talked about in The Secret, it is not a new concept. People have been using this concept for a long time.

The vision board helps you to energize and give life to your visions. As this vision that you have painted in your mind becomes stronger, you will naturally find yourself beginning to take new directions. You will find that you meet different people or find reading materials which are aligned to your vision.

When surfing the Internet, your searches may lead you to something that you would not have intentionally looked for.

This is about the power of attraction. Whatever we attract into our lives is based on the thoughts we have in our minds. If it is negative thoughts, then we attract what is negative.

The beauty of having a vision is that we can visualize it and create positive thoughts. We then attract the appropriate energies from the universe to assist us in achieving what we created in our vision.

Some people question if this can happen every time. People who have practiced this say that if their vision did not happen, something better than that happened. Or sometimes, it just took longer but happened at a better time with greater value.

The beauty about creating a vision is that you do not depend on anyone else. Furthermore, you can have fun creating a vision board. Then each time you look at it, imagine and feel as if you already achieved it. You can even just imagine it without a vision board and it still works.

Start creating a vision. Visualize it daily and see the magic happen in your life.

Leadership abilities come naturally to some, but for many, leadership skills have to be honed and developed. Observe the following requirements to improve and build upon your leadership skills.

Be Committed & Responsible

People are more likely to follow you if they perceive you as committed. Show commitment by following through on your promises. Accept responsibility for your successes and failures – playing the victim is not an option. Follow up on issues and review projects regularly to make sure you have done all you can. Keep an eye on projects so that you can head off problems.

Don’t accept failure. Look for ways to turn failures into successes. Think outside the box and make an effort to improve your weaknesses.

Education and Training

If your level of education is holding you back, bite the bullet and sign up for the appropriate course. A curious mind is an asset, as leaders are expected to have a good standard of education and general knowledge. Choose a topic and spend half an hour a day researching it – this should build your knowledge base.

Positive Mental Attitude

Be the best you can be by spending time on self development. Condition your mind to reject negative attitudes – try NLP (Neuro-Linguistic programming) to channel your mental energy. Read self-help and motivational books, and the biographies of prominent leaders. Immerse yourself in the arts: do an art appreciation course. A commitment to positivity will bring about that relaxed countenance that many successful leaders exhibit.

Inner Circle

Besides your family, cultivate an inner circle of people who build you up. In your work environment, surround yourself with colleagues you can trust; people who have the right skills for the job. Spend time with friends who make you feel good about yourself.

Be Disciplined

Always arrive early for appointments. This shows that you are disciplined and respect other people’s time. Seek the support of your family in everything you do.

Be Courageous

Strength and courage in the face of adversity is a must. Trouble comes with the territory but be determined to face it off. People will respect you more if you show courage.

Optimize Communication Skills

People make assumptions about your level of education based on the way you speak and write. When speaking, pay attention to the way you form sentences and pronounce words. If need be, do a business English course.

In written communication, avoid long, drawn out sentences. This is frowned upon, as it represents the old style of business communication. Plain English is now the acceptable standard for business English. Sentences should be short and contain simple phrases. Know your audience and tailor your communication appropriately.

Keeping your employees motivated with high morale is the most important function of a supervisor. This article provides a list of actions that can be taken to keep employees producing for the success of the organization.

The first three suggestions are related to the physical characteristics of the work place:

1. Make sure that the work place is clean and well-lighted.

2. Give employees the proper equipment (furniture, computers, machinery) to perform their jobs efficiently and comfortably.

3. Design the work flow such that there are few bottle-necks and downtime.

The following are suggestions for keeping employees’ morale high:

1. Reward employees with the highest rank and status justified by their aptitude, performance, and contribution to the success of the organization.

2. Provide salary and wages based on the employees’ performance and value to your organization.

3. Provide a meaningful annual review which includes recognition for work accomplishments and an honest assessment of areas where the employee could improve.

4. Give employees effective feedback on their work, including giving reasons for work assignments, the assignments contribution to the organization, and how the assignment contributes to the success of the organization.

5. Delegate as much authority to employees as they can handle effectively.

6. Provide positive incentives rather than negative incentives.

Consider the following actions related to communicating effectively with your employees:

1. Listen to employees–really listen.

2. Allow employees to air their grievances–even if they reflect on your perceptions of your own performance.

3. Give credit for actions, ideas, and suggestions for improvement to operations. (Never take credit for actions or ideas of your employees.)

4. Organize your operations so that everyone can make a contribution by offering suggestions for improvement. Consider all suggestions seriously. If you find that the suggestion can’t be implemented, give a full reason for not adopting it.

5. Show a genuine interest in each employee without becoming a bore.

Now that you’ve been presented with a series of actions that you can take to improve the morale and motivation of your employees, here’s one more important point to remember:

Each supervisor comes into the job with a set of attitudes and behaviors that have developed over a period of years. In most cases a new supervisor needs to take stock of his or her attitudes and behaviors that might not be effective in their role as a supervisor.

Most new supervisors don’t take the time (or even realize the need) to assess their skills related to being an effective supervisor.

Let the list above serve as a checklist of areas where you need to make improvements to be successful as a supervisor.

Would you believe that you can have fun at work and increase your effectiveness? The happy fact is that this is true.

In the offices and often even at home, we make notes on small pieces of paper, use paper clips, staplers and other stationery. The standard stationery comes in boring standard colors and implies boring work.

You can easily make a few changes to make this fun and yet get your work done. Get different colored post-it notes, colorful folders, colored clips amongst other things. Make a visit to the stationery supply store and you will be amazed at the number of fun things you can use at work and at home.

Your to-do items can be written on post-it notes. You can use different colors for different projects. Prioritizing is easier with post-it notes as you can physically arrange and re-arrange post-it notes when prioritizing them. If you wrote a list, then you may need to rewrite when re-prioritizing.

It will also be fun, if you can have a clipboard that stands on a base. You can stick the post-it notes on it and it will stand up above any clutter that may be on the table. It can also be moved around.

The post-it notes should be organized in a certain pattern. One way can be the most important ones go on the top left hand corner and the least to the bottom right corner.

Add drawing to the notes. If you are writing a report, then draw a symbol that indicates a report. A drawing of a personal computer can indicate that you need to do some computer related work. There is no fixed picture to indicate each of these activities that need to be done. Let your creative self have fun with this.

What will really make a great impact is to celebrate the completion of each activity. Normally, people will just draw a line across to indicate that an activity is completed. You can draw a star to indicate a job well done. Draw a champagne bottle being opened. Be like a child and you can have great fun with this.

A physical calendar is another item that you can have lots of fun with. Use different colored highlighters to differentiate activities.

Choose a vibrant color for holidays. Stick some pictures based on where you will be going for your holidays.

Allocate different colors for different projects. Here again you can draw pictures or use stickers. Writing can be in different sizes and styles and also in different colors.

Celebrate work finished by giving yourself stars. This way, when you look back, you can easily see the successes that you have enjoyed and feel good about them.

Remember, just completing a job is successful. If you finish it ahead of time and get very positive feedback, then give yourself more stars and accolades.

Do not be overly tough on your self, and give yourself a star only on a rare occasion. Remember that you are doing all this to motivate yourself and have fun on the job.

Are you one of those type of people who like to leave piles of papers, related files on your table or on the locker beside you? Meaning you do not organize them and put them away and only take them out when you need them.

There is good news for you. Apparently, there are some of us who work best in this way. Although papers and materials are scattered, these people are able to scan quickly and pick up exactly what they want.

Beware anyone who tries to help by organizing the materials. You are in for trouble as the clutter is needed for these people to perform the activities well.

So, if you are one of those people who has a messy workplace and finds it difficult to keep things organized, it may not be a bad thing.

You can also have fun at work by having a few of your personal items that might make you feel good. It could be a photo of your loved ones, it could be a little gadget that you like to play with to get your creativity going or just some goofy toy that brings a smile to your face.

Being in a place that reflects you and your personality helps you to feel at home and deliver better work than in a sterile office environment.

Just look around your workplace and you will be able to find some ways to have fun at work. Effectiveness and productivity increases as a result of having fun at the workplace.

Around midnight students across the country become record setting authors by finishing essays, and study groups for tests in unheard of time. This unnerving process often leads to below average results. Many people wonder why this is happening. The answer is poor time management. A few pointers on how to avoid such a scenario follow. Before you read more, be sure to give yourself a few minutes of time in case you’re cramming for something right now, you don’t want to miss something important.

Make lists early and often to become experts at time management. Lists that will be available to you for reference can be recorded anywhere. Studies prove the more one makes lists the more apt they are at logically completing tasks. Further, lists can provide people with a realistic look at their workloads. Often people will put more on their plate then they can chew. Sometimes it takes a list of all the foods on the plate for the stomach to get the picture.

The mind works the same way, often we need to see things all together on one comprehensive list to understand the magnitude of it all. If you create detailed lists you will be able to budget out the assignments thus avoiding the common scenario outlined above. When making lists be sure to include everything categorically so nothing gets missed. If you are making a list of things to do, make sure even the laundry and dishes make it onto the list so you don’t forget to budget time to do those tasks. Once the list is created, make a potential schedule to execute the duties on the list. If you have a small list it might just take a few minutes to complete, larger lists can take days, months or even years. So plan in advance.

Keep to appointments to avoid a scheduling traffic jam. The more you put off appointments the harder they can be to reschedule. If you are a busy person, like most of us, you have a lot of daily commitments. By missing appointments you create more pressure on your other appointments. Further if you miss multiple appointments you may just start doubling your schedule, this was explained to me one time as when you schedule two things for the same time frame. In terms of results, this is not a good plan. Imagine if you had coupled your dentist appointment with studying for a big exam. Not good time management at all. Most likely bad results are to follow, so be sure to keep appointments at all costs.

If you can make lists, and keep appointments your time management skills will increase greatly. When in doubt think of your time as something that can be on your side if you choose to master it, rather than just ignore it.

Do you have any dream killers in your life? Dream killers are those people who discourage you when you are trying to change your life. It’s amazing how many people tell their friends and family that they cannot succeed. This is especially true when you are trying to do something “outside of the box” like making money online or starting your own business.

The main argument these dream killers have is that your goals are unrealistic. They will advise you to be more “practical”, and pretend they are offering you sound advice.

Many of them believe they are doing a favor by discouraging you. They think they are helping you live a life in “your best interest”. But really, they are encouraging you to a live a life without vision.

If you are really motivated toward success, doing anything less than your ambitious goals will be unfulfilling for you. You end up wondering what could have been. You continue to live your life for other people, instead of yourself.

Your friends and family who discourage you from trying something new are only giving you insight into what they would do in your position. They do not have the vision and the drive that you do. They are only reacting out of their own fear.

Other people take the path of least resistance, but that does not mean that you have to. Your goals are important to you for a reason. You will only be happy when you achieve them. Giving up on your goals because other people think they are unrealistic is no way to live your life.

How do you overcome the dream killers in your life?

You may want to start with choosing who you spend your time with. If you want to be self-motivated, you’ve got to spend time with other people who are self-motivated. The same goes for the other aspects of success.

If the dream killers in your life are close relatives, and long time friends, try keeping your business goals to yourself for a while until you get going. By the time you’ve had a little success, they will probably be a lot more supportive.

Finally, the best way to overcome the dream killers in your life is to be confident in yourself and your goals. If you are truly confident in yourself and your ideas, then no one can stop you.

Keep your goals and dreams in front of you all the time. They will be your motivation, when some of your “well-meaning friend” try to discourage you.

Don’t let anyone steal YOUR DREAM!