Today, more than ever, you have to be adaptive and able to take consistent, focused action to stay on track and achieve your goals.

focus

“Your customers are your best advisers. They will tell you what you are doing right, what you are doing wrong and what it is they want you to change, if anything. But you have to ask them first.”

Tip #1 – Focus your mind

I start with focus your mind because I feel its so damn important, and what I mean is that we live in a world that is full of distractions and things that can pull us off track, mentally, emotionally and physically.

It is important to be able to have a clear and calm mind, because the fact is that when our minds are all over the place, we become as effective as a candle in a tornado – it’s crucial to master your mind and emotions.

Morning routine to get your mind focused:

  1. Hydrate yourself
  2. Find a quiet space to sit and meditate
  3. Close your eyes and consider everything in your life you can be grateful for (2min) – Read more here
  4. Allow pictures of your loved ones and people you care about to float into mind and send them feelings of love (2min)
  5. Now you’ll have all them feel good chemicals flowing through your body so now is the time to visualise your day and all that you want to achieve. See the successes of the day / week / year (4min)
  6. Fuel your body (this means food)

I do this each morning, and since I started doing it, I have noticed the results in all that I do – from my focus and execution to how much better I relate to staff and others.

Our days are created, so use this routine to set yourself up for success from the start.

Tip #2 – The 20 mile march

So here comes Todd Pierce, the man with the tips based in common knowledge… Well hang on, I hear common knowledge is actually uncommon? But anyway!

In the book Great by Choice, author Jim Collins tells the story of the explorers, Amundsen and Scott, who in 1911, led separate teams on an expedition race to the South Pole.

The journey there and back was roughly 2,253 km, which is equivalent to a round-trip from NYC to Chicago.

  • Scotts team had the plan to go hard and as far as they could on the good weather days and then rest on the weather bad days.
  • Amundsens team had the strict 20 mile per day regime – even if they could do more, they wouldn’t.

Who won the race?

Amundsen did with his consistent action.

What’s interesting is that Amundsen’s team were all completely safe and healthy too, but on the flip-side, Scotts team, who used inconsistent spurs of action actually died.

What I take from this, is the power of consistent action, of having your 20 mile march – whatever that happens to be.

  • What’s your 20 mile march that ensures a healthy body and mind?
  • What’s your 20 mile march that ensures your business continues to grow and thrive?
  • What’s your 20 mile march that ensures you stay ahead of your competition?
  • What’s your 20 mile march that ensures you bring a new product to market?

Get clear and get marching.

Tip #3 –  Listen to the market

Customer: Can I have the blue one please…

Store person: Here, try the red one.

We are in an age of innovation and the truth is that if we don’t listen to the market and actually hear what our customers want and need, then we may find ourselves in the situation Blockbuster or Kodak did.

  • Survey your customers – What do they love, what do they dislike, what do they think you do well / should improve etc
  • Do market research

Don’t get stuck in the bubble and create, build and do all this wonderful work… Inside the bubble… Get real feedback and iterate.

Tip #4 – Build the right culture

Companies all around the world spending big sums of money to try and get their culture right.

The truth is that you don’t necessarily have to spend hundreds of thousands to build an amazing culture – every business is different – but you do need to know what your business stands for and what kind of people are the right fit for it.

So once again, get clear and then take action – hire and fire based on what you want your culture to be, and remember, you don’t do ‘culture’ part-time…

It is something that permeates through your whole business through repetition and reinforcement.

Tip #5 – Know when to pivot

Pivot, pivoting, pivoted… This is another word I have been hearing more and more – also I hear a cry from Blockbuster and Kodak… Ghosts in the wind…

It’s funny because at the time of writing this article, we have recently made a slight pivot in my business iRecruit, a pivot that was the result of tip #3, we were a platform that matches job seekers with employers based who they are, not just what they can do.

We still do that, but now are also a really unique filter that instantly does the part of recruitment that takes the longest amount of time for employers –  ours was a slight pivot with a few different changes that came from it, but there can be pivots of all sizes.

The question, like what we had to ask ourselves, is something along the lines of:

“Is the path we are travelling right now the best / most effective / right path for our overall plans?”

It’s important to be able to pivot when needed, but make sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons.

Tip #6 – Be passionate about what you do

“Let passion drive you, and intellect guide you”

Have you ever met somebody that was SOOOO passionate about what they were doing / talking about that you felt yourself become absorbed into it?

Passion makes it easier to sell, to lead and also will give you the juice to push through hard times.

Lets face it, the world of business can be gruelling – lets not sugar coat it.

Tip #7 – Listen to opinions but let your intellect guide you

What I mean when I say listen but let your intellect guide is that you have to listen to feedback in order to grow, being closed off to it means you block potential chances of great growth.

Take onboard feedback in a way that promotes internal growth, learn to navigate negative feedback and turn it into positives and ultimately, use your intellect to reject the rubbish and take on board the good feedback.

Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it and fee free to share this article with friends or anybody you think would get value from it.