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HEADLINE ARTICLE
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* The
9 Key Distinctions of Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs!
By Nina East
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SUCCESSFUL Solo-Entrepreneurs approach life and business from a
perspective that is new, fresh, and rather unorthodox. The differences
are subtle, yet significant. These distinctions are more than just
fads or interesting tips; they are direct, measurable SHIFTS in how
you will approach your business, your personal life, your
relationships, etc. - for the rest of your life! They are direct from
the experience of hundreds of successful solo-entrepreneurs!
First, one pre-distinction. We are not talking about “habits” in
this article. There’s really nothing wrong with habits, except that
you are still looking at habits. And, you probably already knew the
habits before you even read about them…you just weren’t getting
them to stick.
The problem with habits is that it’s easy to backslide because they
aren’t really YOURS. You haven’t really owned them. Just when you
are about to decide they are valuable and working, something comes up
that throws a twist in the whole thing and there you are back again,
living your same old habits.
A distinction, on the other hand, is not a habit or a secret, or even
the latest tip of the day.
A distinction is often a subtle difference in language, but it brings
powerful new insight, meaning and perspective to the situation at
hand. Once you grasp the distinction, and begin acting on it, you will
notice distinct, measurable changes in the way you run yourself and
your business, and in the successes you experience.
As you incorporate these 9 key distinctions into your life and
business, you will create a key shift in how you think, how you
evaluate, and how you approach any situation.
You can never go back to the old way again – unlike the old paradigm
of “habits”.
What are the 9 Key Distinctions of Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs?
1. Force vs. Power
When you are forcing something, you are pushing and shoving to get
things to work out the way you want. There is a great deal of effort
involved, and usually struggle.
Power, on the other hand, implies a strength that goes beyond what you
might be able to exert. You experience power when you align your inner
energies, beliefs, and emotions with your outer actions. This will
propel you forward toward your goals, with much less effort and fewer
toes being stepped on.
Some people talk about this as flow, but it is really much more than
that. It is a sense of energy and multiple dimensions working in
tandem so that with each step you actually move ahead many paces.
For solo-entrepreneurs, who don’t have a large corporate machine
backing them, this distinction becomes even more important. Power,
rather than force, becomes the name of the game.
Remember a time when you felt confident, in flow, and successes seemed
to just come to you. What were you focused on? How were you being?
What actions were you taking?
Use these answers as a self-prescription for tapping into this power
state so that you no longer have to rely on force.
2. Accomplish vs. Attain
Accomplishment has a sense of finality, an end point, and refers more
to a task. Accomplishments often feel meaningless once you’ve
accomplished them. Have you ever worked hard in order to get
something, and then once you had it, it didn’t seem so important or
meaningful any more? There was a bit of a letdown.
Attainment, on the other hand, has no end. It is based in a spiritual
or inspired knowing that what you are doing is meaningful at a level
that goes far beyond just you or your company. A sense of attainment
provides inspiration and comfort.
Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs indicate that when they were in
“accomplish” mode, they got a lot done, but it didn’t always
move them closer to their grander vision or mission. When they made
the shift to attainment, it expanded their capacity to create the life
they wanted.
Do you focus more on accomplishing or attaining? When you finish or
complete something, does it inspire your forward and connect you with
your reason for doing what you do, or does it feel exciting briefly
and then go flat?
3. Gaining information vs. Using what you learn
While it might seem obvious that to simply gain information is not
sufficient for producing incredible, solo-e success, there are a lot
of business people out there reading and acquiring information without
really putting it into practice. Until you use what you learn, you
haven’t really learned it. You’ve just expanded your storehouse of
information.
By putting it into practice, applying what you learn, you are able to
distinguish useful information from irrelevant, and tweak approaches
or systems so that they work for you.
What have you learned about today/this week that you can put into
action now?
4. Segmented vs. Integrated
Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs say that before they became incredibly
successful, they thought of their lives in compartmentalized segments.
Even within their businesses they had a segmented approach to their
services, products, and even their efforts.
The shift for them came when they created a synergy by integrating
their work and their lives. When you have an integrated approach,
activity in one area directly benefits goals in another area. This is
part of how you can move three paces ahead with only one step.
Write out all the different projects or components of your business.
Then identify the patterns or themes that emerge. Where can you
leverage your efforts so that work in one part directly improves the
work in another?
5. Working Hard vs. Working Joyfully
Working hard brings with it all the “must do’s” and “to
do’s”, plus all the heaviness that those lists entail. Working
joyfully, on the other hand, brings with it ease, fun, inspiration,
and a light, powerful sense. When you work joyfully, you are working
in tandem with spirit, in tandem with your true desires, whereas when
you work hard you are usually pushing against something. (See Force
vs. Power.)
Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs often learned this the hard way. They
spent years working hard, only to see their goals slipping away –
along with their health and their energy. Often they “hit bottom”
before they decided to try it a different way. When they did make the
shift to working joyfully, they found themselves thinking, “Is it
really this easy?” or “Wow, this is great! I can have fun, make
money, and make a difference!”
What is it that you absolutely love doing in your business? When was
the last time that time seemed to just disappear (in a good way)? How
could you create more of that in your business?
6. Structure vs. Environments
Structure is a good thing. You need some structure in order to get
things done – even if your structure looks vastly different from
someone else’s. Structure is focused on tasks and specific outcomes.
Environments, on the other hand, go beyond structure to setting up
entire systems of support that enable you to continue making progress
without even “working” at it.
The distinction is that an environment works for you, while a
structure requires you to do the work. An environment makes the
structure YOURS.
Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs say this is one of the most important
distinctions. When they could transform their structures – or lack
of structure – into environmental supports, they were able to
consistently move ahead with far less effort.
Where are your environment(s) currently supporting you to be your
best, do your best, and experience your best? Where are the drains or
stumbling blocks that slow you down? What can you change so that you
automatically do the right thing without having to overcome inertia?
7. Behavior Change vs. Shift
A behavior change is just what it sounds like. You either stop doing
or start doing something. It can be simple, and may or may not be
lasting.
A shift, on the other hand, is powerful. It usually comes as the
result of an experience of some sort (perhaps from the behavior
change), and results in a deep, cellular change in how you approach
things. It is often accompanied by an identify shift as well.
Think of those “aha!” moments and epiphanies you have had – the
times when you all of a sudden “got it”. That is a shift. You can
try to go back to the old way of doing things, but there is a part of
you that always knows you’re not participating at your full
potential.
For example, once you realize that what you think about and focus on
affects your results, you cannot pretend it isn’t so. You might
temporarily think less than helpful thoughts, but your internal set
point has changed and you will be inspired back to what you know to be
the truth.
In order to get to this shift point however, you might have to
practice it as behavior change until you get the evidence of how it
works.
Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs make key, internal shifts, not just
behavior changes. They are constantly looking for what shifts are
needed in order to make their businesses – and their lives – even
more successful.
If you were already as successful as you want to be, what shifts would
you have made?
Now that you know what they are, what can you do to begin making these
today?
8. Pessimism vs. Optimism
This distinction probably seems obvious. What’s not always so
obvious to people is WHEN they are being pessimistic. People who are
struggling with their businesses often describe themselves as being
“realistic”, seeing what’s really going on. The truth is, they
are only looking at a portion of what’s going on, and chances are
they are making that worse than it really is.
Optimism is not just a state of mind or an approach. It is a
commitment to looking for what’s working, looking for the good in a
situation, and building on that. It is based on spiritual and
scientific principles that when we focus on what’s working and
looking with vision and passion toward what we want, that we are
actually more resourceful and creative.
Successful Solo-Entrepreneurs have MASTERED this distinction!
When you evaluate your business, your decisions, or even yourself as
your own solo-CEO, what do you focus on more – what’s working, or
how much is going wrong?
What would happen if you committed to looking for what’s working for
the next 72 hours? Just three days. Try it!
9. Focusing on the Gap vs. Honoring Where You Are
While wanting more is not a bad thing, when most people talk about
what they want, what they are really doing is focusing on the gap
between what they want and what they have. By doing this, they
actually activate the “not having” more than the “having”, so
it sets up a bit of a catch-22.
Honoring where you are is being fully present, loving each moment,
knowing that each moment is already full and perfect, regardless of
whether you have accomplished or attained. It is tapping in to the
power of NOW.
Honoring where you are doesn’t discount that you might have dreams
and desires, but in really honoring, you activate trust, celebration,
and good feelings that allows in more of what you are wanting.
As you’ve noticed, these key distinctions of Successful
Solo-Entrepreneurs are grounded in inner and outer attitudes, beliefs,
and actions. They require an inner mindset shift, as well as an
external, or action, shift.
What shifts or distinctions are you noticing in yourself already?
What will be your next actions toward becoming a Successful
Solo-Entrepreneurs?
Copyright 2003, Nina East, The Follow-Through
Coach
***********Find more articles like this at www.Solo-E.com
– Keeping Solo Entrepreneurs Juiced in Business and in Life. Our
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__________________________________
Nina East is the Follow-Through Coach, corporate consultant, former
teleclass leader and content developer at CoachVille, LLC, founding
member of the IAC and Solo-E.com ( www.Solo-E.com
) and a published author (www.ninaeast.com)
.
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