Habits and Attitudes
A habit is something that you create by repeating a particular behavior. Do something over and over and it will become a habit. An attitude is a habitual way of thinking. You can develop an attitude by taking conscious control of your way of thinking. By constantly reinforcing your way of thinking, you develop an attitude. Habits and attitudes can make you or break you. Many a hapless business has been broken by the habits and attitudes of its owners. Here is a compilation of the common habits and attitudes of successful entrepreneurs.
"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." - John Dryden
Focus. Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to focus their attention on important projects and see them through. This is the secret to getting things done. Once their priorities are set, successful businesspeople refuse to switch from task to task randomly.
"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape."
Think! Successful businesspeople don't fall apart when faced with crises. They take a moment and think about their situation. They evaluate their options, weight them against their means, discuss it with others who can offer insight and then decide on the best course of action from a list of possible solutions. People aren't compensated for having brains... they are compensated for using them.
"The happiest people are not the people without problems,
but the people who know how to solve their problems." - Robert Seashore
See the opportunities. Opportunities are everywhere. They really are. It's just that most people can't see them. But you must. Most of us expect opportunity to beacon to us with flashers and sirens, but that isn't how it normally works. If opportunities were that easy to see, everyone would flock to them.
"Opportunity's favorite disguise is trouble." - Frank Tyger
Develop good work habits and attitudes. There are far more people who can start a business than there are who can run a business and prosper over the long haul. You've heard the statistics - most small businesses fail. Develop your procedures and policies regarding how you get your work done, how you treat your customers, how you make decisions, etc. Do this consistently and over time, you'll find that you've established the patterns for keeping your self-made juggernaut rolling.
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." - Jim Ryun
Don't let criticism crush you. Everyone is an expert on your problems. Realize that you're probably the best person to evaluation your own problems. Listen and give consideration to the inputs you receive, but remember, you're the person who will rise or fall on your decisions, policies, and habits.
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it's done, they've seen
it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan
Don't overcharge. Customers are quick to recognize value and quick to go elsewhere if they feel they are being overcharged. You're goal should be to make them customers for the long term. If the software makes it quick and easy to perform a particular service (and it should), don't charge too much for it. Consider using it as a promotional service. For instance, if you software makes it easy to generate a custom report based on the client's current body weight that shows your client how many calories she or he will burn in performing any of dozens of exercises for 30 minutes, provide it as a freebie for an initial consult. Or offer to provide these for the new members of all your local health clubs... the owner gets to provide a professional report as an incentive for joining and you get to meet every new club member when you present them with their report and explain it to them. This gives you the opportunity to get acquainted with the new member, win her or his confidence, and to leave the door open for any questions they may have. Leave them with your card. Trade a report with high perceived value for the opportunity to meet a new prospective client.
Don't make the mistake of figuring out how to do something after you get a customer who wants the service. Allot enough time to learn everything your software can do for your clients. By performing the operation with your software, you'll learn how much work is involved and how long it will take you. This information will determine how much you must charge for each service. BTW, studying for our NutriBase Certification Test can bring you up to speed with NutriBase in just a few days.
"Don't learn the tricks of the trade... learn the trade."
Never forget why you're doing this. Sometimes, we lose sight of what we are working for. We get sucked into the day-to-day activities that we have to master to keep the show going and forget why we're doing all of this rather than something else.
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Be willing to take calculated risks. Evaluate the benefits of doing something and compare it to the benefits of not doing it. If you can afford the consequences of failing, then do it. Wayne Dyer wrote that there were two things you needed to consider when making an important decision: One, think about how long you were going to be alive... 30... 40... another 50 years? Then think about how long you're going to be dead. There is never a better time than now to do anything... in fact "now" is the only time you can do anything!
"Don't be afraid to take a big step if one is indicated. You
can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." - David Lloyd George
Start even when you don't have complete information. You will never know everything you wished you knew before undertaking anything. You won't know how that ad will work until you try it. You won't know how people will react to your web page message until you try it. We just can't know these things, so don't make knowing all the answers a criteria for taking action.
"If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey,
most of us would never start out at all." - Dan Rather with Peter Wyden
Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Most of us aren't good at everything we try to do. Learn what you're good at and let others do the rest. Focusing on the things you do well is the best use of your time. As a small business, you have certain inherent advantages over big businesses. You are more flexible. You can respond to specialized requests more quickly. You may be small, but you can think big.
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden
Ask for business. So many things are lost to us for want of asking. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can succeed in business without asking for it. Let everyone know what you do. Give everyone a card. Let everyone know that they can call you for a free initial consultation that may include a Calorie Expenditures Report custom-tailored to their body weight. Or offer a free six-page Initial Assessment Report. After you've done so much for the prospect up-front and without charge, they will feel somewhat obligated to work with you to some degree. Spending time with prospects is a good avenue for acquiring new business... but don't forget to ask them for it!
"Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find;
knock and it shall be opened unto you." - Bible, Matthew 7:7
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. You will learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes. Try not to keep making the same mistakes over and over. View every disaster for what it is: an opportunity to learn and improve.
"Good judgment comes from experience and...
experience comes from bad judgment."
If you discover you've been wrong, stop the damage immediately. It's never too late to cut your losses and change the way you're doing things. If something isn't working, change it... you're the CEO - it's your job. Letting inertia run your business is suicide.
"No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back." - Turkish Proverb
Persist. It's been said a thousand times and a thousand ways... persistence pays. Some scholars even assert that it is a facet of intelligence (one that is almost impossible to measure on a written IQ test). This could explain how some people of lower intelligence have time after time - far exceeded the accomplishments of others who were acknowledged as smarter.
"A chicken doesn't stop scratching just because worms are scarce."
Be open to changing the way you work. The way it's always been done isn't necessarily the best way to do things today, here, and now - especially when you consider the impact of today's modern technologies and, in particular, modern nutrition and fitness software. As the boss, you need to keep your antenna up and be ready to change the way you do things if you see, hear, or think of a better way.
"If you do the things you've always done,
you'll get the results you've always gotten."
Keep pushing, even in good items. Just because you got a nice contract or had a good week is no reason to sit back and relax. Business is an up and down affair: you can have a good week followed by three not-so-good weeks. It's okay to pray for a crop, but meanwhile, keep on hoeing.
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers
Determine your goal, then systematically overcome your obstacles. The tragedy of life isn't failing to reach your goal. It's in not having one to reach. No one has the time to make a career out of seeing to it that you fail. Therefore, no one is standing in our way. Don't forget that. The only thing standing between you and your goal are those little things called obstacles. Make a list of each and every one of them. Break each one down into its basic components. Then make your plan to overcome each and every one of them.
"Decide what you want, decide what you're willing to
exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work." - H. L. Hunt
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