Mental Work

Before we get to the nitty-gritty of creating your business, we need to do some mental work.

Don’t be tempted to skip this stuff – it’s important! Trust me, I’m not trying to be some kind of junior Tony Robbins here. The rah-rah stuff has its place but that’s not the point right now.

I’ve watched as others have backed down on creating their businesses. You know why? They didn’t lay the mental groundwork first and guess what? They’re still working at their jobs!

I want to help you avoid that. Before we move with the more concrete steps, we need to explore 5 things:

1. Values
2. Vision
3. Goals
4. Commitment
5. Action

Each of these build on the previous. You’ll first need to identify your values. Once you have those, then you can create a vision. Then you can make concrete goals to make your vision a reality. Then you commit to those goals and take effective daily action.

They all build on each other. Here’s another way to think about it:

Your Values

While a lifestyle business may not necessarily be about your passions, it’s all about your values! Lifestyle business owners lead with their positive core values. When you start out with your core values as the highest priority, you’ve already won.

To contrast that, you hear about so many top executives who’ve raced to the top of their industries but have a sucky home life. It’s the whole dilemma that asks:

Would you rather make $200K a year but have to work 60+ hour weeks and miss out on most of your family time or would you rather make only $50K a year but only work 5 hours a week and have all the time in the world for your family?

If your values are clear, family time will (should) win out every time. But with a lifestyle business, you don’t have to make the choice! You can make $200K a year and also only work 5 hours a week.

Coming up, I’ll show you how to scale up your business to whatever level you wish while maintaining your flexibility. This is why you must first establish your values before you build this business. You need to know what you’re building it for!

Question – how do you go about discovering your core values?

Well, it’s easier than you think! The fastest way I know of is just to think about what makes you the most happy.

If you didn’t have to go to a job, and you had the whole day to yourself, what would you do? Don’t think about the things you think you have to do like chores around the house or whatever. Pretend that’s all taken care of. Think about the things you would love to do.

I like to answer this phrase:

I’m happiest when…

Then you just fill in the blank.

Personally, I’m happiest when I’m doing something outdoors. I’m happiest when I’m doing something fun with my family. I’m happiest when we’re going on a trip. I’m happiest when we’re exploring some place new. I think you get the point.

Your Vision

With your values in place, you need to work on creating a vision. This is also known as your “why”. This is what you’re fighting for. This is the whole point of even starting a business in the first place. Knowing your values helps you realize what’s most important to you. Creating a vision helps you imagine it all actually happening.

As you begin to craft your vision, you need to think about what you really want. It seems obvious right? Like it’s almost too easy of a question. You might think things like, “I want to pay off my car or my house” or “I want to take more vacations” or “I want more time with my family” or whatever.

In the last section, you already thought about your values. Take what makes you the most happy and now think about actually starting to live it. This is your vision.

Get started by taking out a pen and paper and jot down the answers to the following questions:

• What do you want your dream lifestyle to look like?
• What’s your dream Monday look like?
• What’s your dream Thursday look like?
• What’s your dream week? Dream month? Dream year?
• Where are you?
• Who’s with you?
• How do you feel now that you’re living your dream life?

The above questions are just to get you brainstorming. Feel free to add any details that you think will add to your vision. The more personal, the more motivating it will be. And that’s really the whole point.

This may seem like dorky life coach stuff but I promise as you get busy in your business, you’ll need this. In fact, it’s going to help you close deals and grow your business.

Your Goals

By now, you should know your values. You have your vision. Now it’s time to set goals based on those two things. Then, and here’s the kicker, if you don’t succeed in your business, it’s really because you didn’t achieve your goals. If you look at goals as tools, you’ll take them seriously and work on them everyday.

It’s important then, that you set really effective, targeted goals. Goals that you can make real progress with every day. You want these goals to be big but not too big.

It’s sometimes easy to get super optimistic and put up crazy goals like 1 million in your first 6 months. You need to be excited. But that isn’t the point here.

Simplicity and the ability to actually achieve your goal is the point. You want to feel like you’re making real progress and you do that as you baby step into it.

Take your vision and then break it down into a money goal. This is the easiest way to make it tangible. As you make money, it’s something you can track.

Let’s say your vision includes paying off your mortgage of $200,00. Then you know you need to break that down into benchmarks to hit in your business. Think about how many products or services you need to sell per month to hit that goal.

In my first month, I set the goal of getting one new client. I ended up getting three! But it’s only because I was hustling and speaking with everyone I knew about it – more on this later.

Hardcore Commitment

This is the path that’s going to help you live your ideal lifestyle. You’ve to got to commit it. You’ve got to do what it takes.

The whole point of these lessons are to help you create your business. To do this, you’re going to have to commit and that may mean sacrificing some things.

Imagine giving up a little TV time now in exchange for swimming with dolphins. Imagine giving up a little Facebook time to get to fly around the world with your family. Imagine giving up your ESPN to buy your new dream house.

I could go on but I think you get the point. Give up whatever you need to now and commit to your vision and goals.

Effective Action

“It’s not in the dreaming, it’s in the doing.”
-Mark Cuban

For this stuff to work for you, you must do something. Don’t overthink it. Just do it. I once heard a super successful guy talk about this exact concept.

He said, “I’m not smart enough to overthink things. I just read a book and then do what it says.” I thought that was brilliant actually.

Just study what successful people have done and do it yourself. Don’t overthink it. Don’t procrastinate. Do what they do and then have what they have. It seems pretty simple, right?

Many of the most successful people I know have a definite major purpose. It’s the main thing that drives them. It’s based on their values, vision, and goals. With their goals in mind, they break everything down into their most basic tasks.

When you look at your goals, think about the fastest way to achieve them. Break everything down into a literal checklist and then get busy!

Note – it’s not enough to be busy. Being busy is different from effective action. Being effective means you’re making progress. It’s not just shuffling papers around. It’s actual tangible progress that you can see at the end of the day (usually in dollars and cents).

When you focus on effective action, it also helps you to eliminate common problems that come up like negative beliefs, perfectionism, fear of failure, etc. Just move quickly through your action items and before you know it, you’ll have reached your goals!

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In the next lesson, we’re going to cover how to create your business plan quickly. For now, be sure to go through all of the action steps!