Seven Rules to Thrive

I am privileged to currently work with Business coaching clients from all over the world. And, I am blessed with the success that my coaching clients have experienced. But I’ll let you in on a little secret; I learn as much from my business coaching clients as they learn from me!

The most recent and major reality that I’ve come to understand is that the issues, needs, challenges and concerns that business people experience, no matter where they are at in the world, are all basically the same! These issues always seem to revolve around three things: Productivity; Profitability: and struggling to improve the quality of their life. However today, with the ongoing international economic issues and changing consumer attitudes…the RULES ARE CHANGING!

As a professional business coach I work with many types of business and business owners and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are only two types of business strategies that business owners and managers employ. Probably 80% or more work from the strategy based simply on SURVIVAL. I recently was working with a new customer whom I asked if they had a daily goal that they were striving to achieve. The customer looked at me and with a very straight face said, “Absolutely I start every day, hoping and praying, with the singular goal of…..breaking even!” The battle is already lost unless we can make a quick and profound change in their thinking. The other half or more work on a strategy based on THRIVING. They were striving to take advantage of every opportunity and every situation.

I have created a list of seven of the rules that have changed. Here is the SEVEN RULES TO THRIVE!

1. If you conduct business the way you’ve always done business…you WILL be out of business! You must adapt, adjust and change to the changing market and your changing customers attitudes. You must meet their needs from THEIR point of view not what you think they want. Many researchers say that everything we know today will be obsolete in less than two years. Things are changing and changing fast so you must to. You cannot afford to be stuck in “The way we’ve always done it…”
2. You must run your business like you did when you started it….every day! In other words, no matter how long you’ve been in business you must run it like a “bootstrap” start up, every day. That means, you must get back to watching your expenses every day. You must have effective marketing and if it isn’t STOP it! Everything you do; every penny that you spend MUST BE EFFECTIVE. This is really the number 1 response that I’ve gotten from business development experts when asked about the single most effective trait of successful business people, in ANY economy wherever they’re at in the world.
3. You must be disciplined! Brian Tracy told me once that he defines discipline as Doing what you have to do….When you have to do it…..Whether you want to or not! You must be disciplined in all that you do. You must plan and prioritize your time…every day! You must read your goals…..every day! Be disciplined and do what you need to do, when you need to do it….whether you want to or not. It will make a difference!
4. Your strategies must be based on…WHAT IS vs. WHAT IF. Understand the reality of the business situations and challenges that you face and base your true strategies on that. I was working with a client that was particularly frantic about her perception of the state of the U.S. economy. I asked her to give me one and only one specific way that the economy has seriously affected her. She thought for a moment and then said, “Well I guess it hasn’t…..but it could!”  She was basing all of her reactions on WHAT IF. So slow down, calm down and understand what’s real and what isn’t then plan based on the facts.
5. You must be passionate about what you’re doing! You must enjoy what you’re doing even when times are tough and challenging. If you don’t life is quite a bit harder. And you just as well quit and put yourself out of your present misery. Love what you’re doing and your attitude changes and really everything changes for the better. You find yourself looking for opportunity rather than problems.
6. You must work, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hard! Sometimes the answer is so simple that you talk yourself out of it. You can plan for weeks and months; you can worry till you’re sick….but nothing happens until you go to work. Right or wrong the only way to find out is go to work. Go to work with a plan; with goals; with enthusiasm and passion. If you can be one of the few that can do this, you cannot fail.
7. REPEAT RULE 6. Got it? Good!