The Remarkable Entrepreneurs’ Top 10 Focus Areas

1. Remarkable Entrepreneurs understand the quality of the practice determines the caliber of the performance:

The Pro Athlete Protocol: Prepare Yourself Mentally, Physically + Emotionally.

2. Bureaucrats talk about people and problems, Remarkable Entrepreneurs talk about possibilities and solutions

Focus on results and get things done. What’s the opportunity here? How can we leverage this situation. Focus on possibilities. Results. Results. Results.

3. Remarkable Entrepreneurs understand they are paid not just to work, but they are paid to be scared:

The best entrepreneurs play out on the edges and take calculated risks. Challenge the way you performed yesterday. Take calculated risks.

4. To have what only 1% of the entrepreneurial population have, you must be willing to do what only 1% of the entrepreneurial population are willing to do:

The best entrepreneurs do what’s difficult, what causes them to stretch and what requires commitment. Be committed. Be willing to do what the few do. Develop the leaders around you. Go into silence. Work on your customer experience. Have acute clarity on your 90 day goals. Work on your goals. Build relationships and trust. Persist.

5. Bureaucrats are threatened by change, Remarkable Entrepreneurs are inspired by change:

The best entrepreneurs understand that a change is required to get to the next level of profits, success and fulfillment. Go through the confusion to get to the clarity.

6. Bureaucrats have jobs, Remarkable Entrepreneurs have crafts:

Develop your talents and make a dent in the universe. Do something you are proud of. Elicit the best within you. The best entrepreneurs aren’t in it for the money, they’re in it for the pride they feel on creating world-class products and doing genius-level work.

7. Remarkable Entrepreneurs understand an addiction to distraction is the death of creative production:

The best entrepreneurs understand the key in business is to shift out of complexity + busy-ness to simplicity + focus. Focus on the few high leverage activities that will get you to where you want to be.

8. Bureaucrats wait until they get the energy, Remarkable Entrepreneurs understand that to get the energy you must first do the work. When you do the Work You Will Receive The 3 Entrepreneurial Gifts:
1. Release of more motivation 2. Release of confidence 3. Release of energy

9. Remarkable Entrepreneurs understand the bigger the dream the more important the team:

Leadership is about influence – moving people to action by your example. Leadership is about impact – less talk more results. Leadership is about inspiration – grow other leaders

10. Remarkable Entrepreneurs populate their lives with people whose lives they want to be living:

Surround yourself with people and environments that inspire you. Obsessive attention to excellence. Create worlds that inspire you.

Jim

PEAK ENERGY LEVELS

Few people talk about the importance of managing your energy as a means to peak performance and business success. Without high levels of energy, nothing great can happen. Neither a brilliant plan, scintillating opportunities or inspiring service can overcome low energy. Great energy produces great results. Each of us needs to manage our energy so that we can play at our best each day and realise the potential that lies before us (and within us).

With world-class energy levels you can get more done in less time (think Edison, think Mandela, think Branson, think Welch, think Andy Murray). With outrageously high energy your creativity soars and you unleash a torrent of ideas. With boundless energy you have the stamina to persist when others wilt. Energy is contagious: when yours is soaring, your people feel it. When you are excited, they get excited. HOT Leaders manage their energy like a prized asset-because it is.

Jim

BEING BUSY vs BEING PRODUCTIVE

There’s a giant difference between being busy and being productive. Many people are busy being busy. Many people have ‘overscheduled’ schedules. Many have a ton of ‘To Dos.’ Few amongst us, however, are genuinely productive. Few of us stay masterfully focused around the “vital few” - those pursuits that yield outstanding results and move you towards world-class.

“Focus” is one of my favorite words. The best of the best are wildly focused around their highest leverage activities. To them, being busy isn’t the name of the game - getting good stuff done is. They’ve made the leap from being busy to creating results. They focus on the worthy. They stay stuck on the things that truly count.

Make the time to think about which things, that when you do them, give you a wonderful return on investment. Which things actually move you closer to both your organizational and personal goals? Which things are the best - and wisest - uses of your time? And then have the courage to say no to the rest. Stay productive. Let the competition be busy.

Jim

LEADERSHIP PRESENCE

Presence is acute awareness - it’s what allows human beings to survive. With presence you encounter someone else, they know you and you know them - and somehow you are both changed.

Presence explains many successes on the conference speaking platform or in more informal and casual settings.

The Presence Highway Code

Stop: slow down, don’t rush to start speaking. The pause gives precious moments to “arrive” both mentally and emotionally.

Breathe: gently take a few breaths, without heaving your chest or raising your shoulders. Hold and count to 5 - this will slow the heartrate - reducing the discharge of adrenalin that causes the feeling of anxiety and excitement.
Look: in a small group briefly make eye contact with each person. The effect of silence and demanding visual connection can be amazing and convey unmistakeable presence. In a large group look for a friendly face. Continue making contact with a few chosen individuals across the entire audience.
Listen: for sounds that convey something useful about the people you are about to communicate with. Are they restless or is there a stillness suggesting they are ready for you to begin.
Feel: use all your sense, including your natural intuition, to detect what is happening around you. Give sense full reign to uncover subtle signs that can suggest how to best communicate at this moment.

Being truly present emotionally should help you convey what should be conveyed.

Jim 

SMALL ACTIONS SPARK BIG CHANGE

5 One minute productivity techniques based on the Japanese principle of Kaizen:

1. Have the courage to get great at saying “No Thanks” to any activities that don’t advance your priorities.

2. Take 60 seconds every morning to do a written game plan for a productive day. “The things that get scheduled are the things that get done.”

3. Take a few seconds each day to turn off all your technology and work deeply on a key project with zero distraction.

4. Take 60 seconds to breathe deeply and focus on your progress. This will re-energise and refuel you.

5. Take 60 seconds to un-clutter your work area so you create space for your creativity to flow.

Today take the first noble step in continuous improvement.

Jim

 ”THE PRESENT”

The past is a place of reference not a place of residency.

Historic events do not determine our future but we need to recognise the impact people made to enable us to enjoy the freedom we have today.

The poem below is not only for all the people that lost their lives but for everyone who is fighting their cause:

I read of a man who stood to speak At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning..to the end.
He noted that first came her date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears, 1964-2011
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth..
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
The cars..the house..the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you”d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’’s true and real,
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we”ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile..
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy’s being read
With your life’’s actions to rehash..
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

Please make sure that the gap between the dates are filled with joy, happiness and living the life you deserve.

The tragedy would be to say “if only”……. when you when you are the director of your own show.
Jim

SUCCESS

Guts. Boldness. Bravery. Perseverance. Big, beautiful words.

That any great person+leader+entrepreneur needs to tattoo onto their brain cells.
Success is much more about staying true to your vision in the face of challenges/obstructions than being gifted or expressing some kind of Genius.
I’d rather have average talent with a fierce heart that inspires me to be unstoppable versus being brilliant – but frightened to do anything with it.

Here’s a challenging quote:

“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; there is nothing more common in the world than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Calvin Coolidge

Be resilient, STEP UP to greatness.

Jim

1. Do important work.

2. Lift people up.

3. Use the words of leadership.

4. Don’t worry about getting the credit for getting things done.

5. Become part of the solution.

6. Take your health to a level called superfit.

7. Commit to mastery of your craft instead of accepting mediocrity in your work.

8. Associate with people whose lives you want to be living.

9. Study for an hour a day. Double your learning and you’ll triple your success.

10. Run your own race “No one can possibly achieve real and lasting success by being a conformist,” wrote billionaire J. Paul Getty

11. Do something small yet scary every single day.

12. Smile more.

Add your own to this list - many others have found that once the ‘flywheel’ is in motion it is great fun experimenting.

Jim

HAPPINESS

We all an innate ability for happiness - we just need to find the key for it to blossom.

This is one such video - please click here

I challenge you to leave it without smiling….

Warm hugs,

Jim

VISIONING 

Hi,

I was reminded of a saying recently - “Action without Vision is a nightmare and Vision without ACTION  is a Daydream.”

Please do not think I want to be a dream stealer but being committed and having passion and attitude is not enough. I wish it was.

The only way to get things moving is to take action, some massive and other times by taking baby steps.

What are you willing to sacrifice to get your dreams met? What mind shift needs to take place?

Who are the people who support you?

Who are the energy vampires getting in the way?

Jim