Being a millionaire is a highly coveted status for many entrepreneurs who are constantly striving to be the best in their industry. If you’ve got your eye on this prize, you’re not alone. And while there is no magic pill for success, here are five practical tips you can use to move closer to your goal:
1. Stop judging your success or failure
At first glance, it appears that success and failure are absolute; success is when you get what you want and failure is when you don’t. You may want to consider that these definitions of success and failure are exactly what cause you to fail. Not because you’ve done something wrong, but because the words you use have the power to create what you experience.
What you aren’t aware of is that success and failure do not exist independently of how you perceive them. In other words, the way you define success and failure is exactly what creates your experience of success and failure. And, if you can suspend your current definitions (which likely don’t support success), you’ll make room for a new definition that will support your success.
Your brain is wired to judge
When you want to create something with a specific goal in mind and you don’t reach that goal, the first thing your brain does is tell you that you’ve failed. But defining an unmet goal as failure only does one thing—it makes you feel bad and discourages you from moving forward.
Finding something that doesn’t work is often more valuable than finding something that does work, simply because it prevents you (and others) from making the same mistake and having to reinvent the wheel.
On the subject of failure, Thomas Edison shared his wisdom with the world, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
And failure, no matter how you define it, isn’t a bad thing. Many great successes have been preceded by great failures. Take entrepreneur Sam Ovens for example, who quit his job to build a job recruitment website that ultimately failed. Ovens told the Epoch times, “The big lesson is that you have to sell something that the market actually wants.”
If his business had not completely failed, giving him just a hint of success, he could have easily stuck with it and struggled for years to make it happen. However, the wisdom he gained from his total failure turned out to be more valuable than gold. Not long after his business failed, Ovens created two successful businesses, becoming a millionaire in just a few years.
Millionaires don’t like lemonade
Even the famous statement that says to “make lemonade out of lemons” is misleading. A successful person has no need to make lemonade; they can appreciate a lemon for being a lemon, and if they don’t like the lemon, they’ll adjust their plan and move forward. They don’t need to add sugar just to feel good.
2. Don’t be a whiner
According to Entrepreneur.com, research has shown that people complain once per minute. That’s a lot of complaining.
Because many people don’t have the patience or interest to listen to others complain for very long, chances are, when you share your emotionally negative experiences with others, they’ll start inserting their opinion uninvited and won’t really be listening to you. This can be a frustrating experience.
If you want to share your negative experiences with someone, the best way to do it is by prefacing the conversation with a simple request. Ask the person if you can share your experience with them and make a request that you just want to be heard. The idea is that by creating the context in which your conversation is about to take place, you’re actually getting the other person to switch gears into listening mode.
Change the context of your conversations
Habitually complaining hurts you more than your friends. When you constantly complain, you are actually wiring your brain for negativity. You’ve probably noticed that whenever you complain, your mood tends to go downhill and collects more negative thoughts. The more you allow yourself to think negative thoughts, the worse you will feel. And when you feel really bad, you’re more likely to make poor decisions.
If you change the context of your conversations with people, however, you can quickly change your mood. Doing this requires not giving in when you want to complain, and seeking out friends who will support you by encouraging you, rather than providing you with sympathy.
3. Don’t be afraid to accept responsibility
When you were younger, you may have heard your parents or teachers tell you that you must accept responsibility for something you’ve done wrong. Because of this, you probably grew up with a negative view of responsibility. But responsibility is a powerful component of success that goes beyond the concept of right and wrong.
Responsibility is literally the ability to respond; to be answerable to someone or something within your control. It has nothing to do with blame or fault. In fact, you can be responsible for something you didn’t cause—and being able to do that is what actually makes you successful.
For example, when a website development company is late delivering a project to their client, the CEO of the company is not the person who caused the delay; they’re not writing the code or managing deadlines. Despite their lack of hands on involvement in the project, they can still be fully responsible and accountable to the client for the resolution of any problems. They didn’t cause the problems, but they’re accountable for fixing them.
The mindset of success
The mindset that says “that wasn’t my job, I didn’t do it, I’m not responsible” doesn’t create millionaires. You’re not likely to find any successful entrepreneurs with this mindset. Success comes to those who can look at a situation and accept responsibility, not for what happened in the past, but for creating a resolution in the future.
4. Stop comparing yourself to others
With all of the successful people appearing in magazines and on TV, it’s no wonder entrepreneurs are comparing themselves to what they see. If you’re doing this, although it’s not inherently wrong to look to others as a model of success, don’t allow it to define you.
Someone else’s success is not always going to be indicative of the kind of success you will create. Everyone has unique gifts and talents to share with the world, and if you compare your success to someone who derives their success from a talent you don’t have, you’re going to be disappointed. For example, you may love composing music, but if you compare your success to Mozart, you’re going to be disappointed.
It sounds simple, but the best way to be successful in business is to create and run your own business, and model only what can be applied to your business. Don’t try to stick a round peg in a square hole. Do what you love to do and what you’re great at. Make your success your own. Don’t chase other people’s dreams while sacrificing your own. Forge your own path to greatness.
5. Don’t fake it ‘til you make it
While there can be some benefits to the famous phrase, “fake it ‘til you make it,” that’s not always the case. If you find yourself engaging in this behavior for long periods of time without results, you’re probably just spinning your wheels. The most likely reason you’re spinning your wheels is because you’re modeling the external behavior of someone who derives their success from their inner world.
According to TheIntrovertEntrepreneur.com, when you “fake it ‘til you make it,” you’re not honoring or acknowledging your truth. And studies have shown that when people fake being happy, their mood actually deteriorates faster.
This makes sense when you realize that mindset, not actions, are at the root of success. If you find yourself particularly drawn to someone whose success you want to emulate, you need to discover what their inner thoughts are and find ways to develop that mindset.
Your thoughts determine your results in life
Mahatma Gandhi said:
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
No matter what business you’re in, the best thing you can do to improve your success and feel good about what you do is to work on your inner game—starting with your thoughts.
Original post: Unleash Your Hidden Millionaire with These 5 Tips
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