How can you be most effective with the time you put into your business?
How can you get more done as an online entrepreneur with less time?
If you want to thrive in your endeavors you have to start with your personal habits.
Your habits have a direct impact on your success and they’re either helping you or hindering you in reaching your goals.
In my personal journey, I’ve developed and implemented habits in my life that have given me massive rewards towards growing my business, growing my audience and have enabled me to live the lifestyle that I truly desire.
I want that for you too!
So I’m going to share with you 7 habits that can transform your business and your life.
Take what works for you and start creating a list of habits of your own that’ll help you to rock out your life and your business!
But first, a habit is tough to start and stick to, here's the green grass that awaits you on the other side of cultivating successful entrepreneur habits.
Entrepreneur Risk vs. Potential Rewards
Entrepreneurs are working towards many rewards in spite of the constant risks entrepreneurs have to deal with.
Specifically how every software, business model, marketing channel, etc. all have their downside risk.
But entrepreneurship does offer an opportunity to create a lifestyle that traditional employees never get to experience.
For example...
Yesterday, Melanie and I got up at our normal time, sent out emails and published our videos, then we hit the road.
A couple of Facebook Live streams and a number of hours driving later, we landed here in North Tijuana...
Most people call it San Diego, but let's be real... It's just a gringo enclave and northern suburb of Tijuana 😉
We decided last minute to attend the 2019 Social Media Marketing World conference here in North TJ for a few reasons.
First, do I want to throw my hat in the ring to speak here next year?
Second, what kinds of tid-bits can we pick up about social media marketing to integrate to our business...
Third, the relationships... Who can we bump into and develop relationships with?
Now, booking last minute, everything was way more expensive...
The tickets (we got LATE bird pricing!) the top-floor, bay-front view room...
That was a pretty penny!
But the view up here is quite amazing...
And never once did we look at a bank account or have the thought "can we afford this?"
For me, this is a BIG shift...
And it is representative of the true freedom of entrepreneurship for me.
Because growing up, "Can we afford this" was the #1 default thought of mine at all times.
Honestly, the default thought was "We can't afford that" to be honest...
My parents were working-class poor...
My dad had to pawn things in order to make rent more than once...
Thrift stores and hand-me-downs was the Miles Beckler fashion line till my teens.
Now I never went hungry, and I was blessed to have a lot of LOVE and encouragement in my household.
But the 'shift' out of that poverty mindset was the most rewarding byproduct of 10+ years of STRUGGLE to figure out this entrepreneurship game.
And remember...
On this path I went completely bust twice... I lost over $60,000 on one business imploding alone.
Over 13 businesses failed before 1 worked.
Yet, I knew that if I pushed hard enough, long enough, something would eventually click...
And when it did start to click, I was smart enough to do what worked again and again... And again!
Then, here I am this morning...
Looking out over the water as I write this, hoping this encourages you to persevere...
Sure, there is risk involved.
But honestly, being an employee and counting on a corporation for your long-term well-being is risky, too!
Heck, my dad was fired 2 years before his retirement after 33 years at the same corporation...
They saved a TON of money and were able to short-change him on his retirement with that move.
So maybe the entrepreneur path isn't all that risky after all.
Maybe leaving your financial future in the hands of someone else's corporation is the RISKY part.
And the UP-SIDE potential of being an entrepreneur is pure FREEDOM.
When you help enough people improve their lives, the by-product of that is income...
Through YouTube, Google, Facebook and all the other platforms, you can reach BILLIONS of people...
Melanie's platform reaches many millions of people every month...
And we can keep that machine running from our cell phones and laptops from anywhere in the world.
I truly want to help you create this freedom in your life too.
And it all starts by first acknowledging there is risk.
Second, mitigating the risk by making sure your income is sorted while you dig in on the long path of building a business...
Third, focusing every waking moment and every ounce of energy you have on creating content that will help others.
Stick with that long enough and you'll be amazed at what you create.
7 Habits That Build Success For Entrepreneurs
Creating good habits has to come from your own personal initiative. Good habits are formed when you take ownership of your life, your choices and your actions.
What may work for you might look a little different than what works for someone else as explained in this video.
Or you can listen on the go here.
It really depends on you. Maybe you have children, maybe you don’t, maybe you’re single, maybe you’re taking care of a family member or are working multiple jobs. You have your own schedule, living environment and responsibilities.
But one thing’s for sure, not all habits are good ones!
However, the great thing about habits is that you have the power to change them.
The habits I’m about to share with you are the habits that have helped me personally to become a successful internet entrepreneur.
I’m not saying you have to do these, these are just the habits that I have picked up over the last 10 years that have helped me to become successful along my path.
Take the ones that resonate with you and build your own list of habits that work best for you.
1. Create more than you consume
This is one of the hurdles that many online entrepreneurs have….
Are you a producer or a consumer?
And no I’m not talking about where you fall on the food chain! I’m talking about what you take in verses what you put out.
Do you spend the majority of your spare time watching tv, surfing the web, scrolling on Facebook or binge watching YouTube videos?
Reading the best books for internet entrepreneurs, or studying up to master your craft is great for nurturing your unfair advantage but your time is one of the most valuable commodities you have.
There has to be a limit on how much time you spend consuming because it can become addicting and a serious income reducer!
Here’s some entreneurship wisdom from Dan Norris about this topic.
That’s why I love and highly recommend doing the 90-day challenge!
It’s such a great way to really begin flexing that creative muscle, rewiring your brain to form the habit of producing more than you consume.
Then as you continue creating content your creative muscle continues to strengthen and over time you expand into different types of content until you have become a full-blown successful online entrepreneur.
As an example, here’s a glimpse of what this content creation habit has done for me over the last two years.
I have grown from creating videos into about 7 different types of content everyday.
There’s my (1) Youtube channel where I create about 3 videos per week and then check to respond to the comments about 4 to 5 times a week.
I also have my (2) email list where over time, I’ve gotten into the habit of sending out emails to my audience every day with anything I can think of that might be valuable to them.
Email marketing is your direct way to connect and build a relationship with your audience so they can know, like and trust you.
They say the money is in the list, but it’s really in the relationship you form with your list.
There’s also my (3) blogs and (4) podcasts that get uploaded to my site by my virtual team about 3 times a week.
Before I was able to outsource, I worked on those myself and now I supervise the process and act more as a project manager.
Now, I also have my content and conversion membership program available to my inner circle at contentandconversion.com where I’m working to help people grow their business.
In this platform I’m crafting (5) deep dive trainings monthly on specific topics that really help people grow their businesses, (6) doing live stream reviews and personal mentoring for members, and (7) answering questions in the forum of the membership platform daily.
Instead of absorbing and consuming content during every free moment you have to, produce your own and publish it!
2. Meditate
Practicing meditation has shown to benefit your cognitive processes, psychological and physical health.
Taking even just a few mins a day to focus on your breathe alone can make you a more patient, happier, calmer person.
I’ve been meditating for over a decade now and it really helps to support mental clarity and allows me to gain a sense of rejuvenation that helps me to thrive and be productive throughout my day.
You can actually rewire your brain!
Meditation reduces stress and it can really help you to overcome confusion as an entrepreneur, overcome fear and overthinking as you sort through the details of your journey.
But it also gives your mind an opportunity to create new ideas for content and tactical steps to take in your business.
So when you need a natural energy booster, ditch the coffee. Repower your energy tank by meditating 25 to 45 minutes daily.
3. Follow a Clean Diet
Remember the saying, “Rubbish in, rubbish out”?
What you consume in your diet will come back to you either in the form of a disease, a sluggish body, or a disturbed, perturbed mind.
If you’re eating nothing but junk and processed foods, it’s going to mess with your hormones, your energy levels, your digestive system, your gut bacteria, every level of your health will be affected.
The biochemical composition within your body is everything so having the habit of eating well and drinking plenty of water every day is really important.
I’ve been on a vegetarian diet for a while, but I started out with being partly vegetarian and eating a bit of meat to becoming full vegetarian then it evolved to a plant-based diet.
This works really well for me personally. It supplies my body with a wave of natural energy that helps me become much more productive throughout my day.
You of course don’t have become a vegan, but it’s important to create the habit of eating the best foods you possibly can.
It’s actually a lot cheaper to eat real food versus the fake stuff too, so that’s a fantastic bonus!
Your body will respond a lot better, you’ll get more clarity in your mind, and be able to get more done throughout your day because you’ll just feel better overall.
4. Ask yourself “How Can I be of Service to Others Today?”
An effective online entrepreneur is not all about how can he make a sale, or how to make a six-figure income.
Always keep in mind that your success is tied up to the value you bring to your audience and your ability to solve their problems.
If you’re only after a quick buck or a cheap non-authentic way to make money, your audience is going to pick that up and they’re going to avoid you like the plague.
Get into the habit of asking yourself daily, “how can I be of service to my audience today?”
Being of service at scale is the what I now call it,
If you asked yourself, “what’s 4+4?”, your brain is going to answer you. Did you think to yourself, oh, well, the answer is 8?
So asking yourself daily how can you be of service, when you’re thinking about emails to send, programs to build, content to create you’re prompting yourself to answer that question.
This will help you decide if you should publish something or not and even if you should promote something. Sometimes, people ask me to promote some pretty shady stuff, and I run it through this question, is it going to be something that’s going to help my audience?
So this habit is a great way, not only to help you to connect with your audience through your content but it will really keep your audience at the core of everything you do.
5. Exercise In Nature Everyday
Maybe some of you like to exercise in the gym, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But man, there’s something about exercising in nature that’s so energizing and balancing.
It’s just feels so real, it’s never stuffy, and you don’t have to smell someone’s stinky armpits or listen to some cheesy workout music playing at the gym.
Nature is a giant playground for you, no membership needed, never crowded, and you can actually find a spot that’s just right for you, guaranteed!
Hike, run, paddleboard, snowboard, paddle surf, whatever you like!
There’s something so powerful about being in nature where there’s balance and not all of the inputs we create as humans.
Here’s an aha I had while hiking that was inspired from pinecones!
You’ll have more energy and clarity to dedicate towards your business and creating amazing content that your audience will gladly consume because it helps them and makes a difference in their lives.
6. Sobriety
Thriving online entrepreneurs are clear-minded.
There was a time in my life many many years ago that I smoked weed, drank and smoked cigarettes. I had $50,000 of student debt, I wasn’t able to afford the life I wanted and had a lot of challenges.
I’ve had businesses fail and have gone through that dark night of the soul and there was a time when I turned to marijuana and alcohol as a mood altering tool, ultimately self medicating.
Long term though, it just wasn’t a healthy approach and it’s not something I participate in anymore, at all.
If you think your writing is inspired while smoking a joint, that’s crap. It’s not YOU who’s writing or filming or creating a podcast. It’s your other self, your intoxicated, drugged out, unnatural self.
How can you help someone who needs clarity, who needs answers, who needs a solution to their problems when you’re not clear yourself??!!
You can’t give what you don’t have.
You have to think, are you setting a good example to your audience and are you able to produce meaningful content that will help them improve their life if you can’t even do it with yours?
Yes, alcohol is more socially acceptable but it’s so easy to over do it, and at the end of the day the more clarity you have as an online entrepreneur, the better your results are going to be.
Don’t waste your time or money on what’s not going to serve you. It’s not going to solve your problems and it will be reflected in your work.
This goes back to the habit of a clean diet. It’s incredibly important to be mindful of what you put into your body.
Think big picture and think long-term success. Take care of yourself so that your mind is sharp and clear allowing you to produce great content for the people you’re trying to help.
7. Wake Up Early
Waking up early is the BEST way to create more time in your day and get more done!
In the morning, no one’s interrupting you and you have the best opportunity to focus on your business and get down what needs to be done.
Plus, studies show that you are most productive during the first few hours after you wake up.
In this video are some waking up early tips and a few other ways you can create more time in your day.
But be sure to not skimp on the beautyrest!
An essential part of waking up early is to create the habit of giving yourself the opportunity to have a good night’s sleep.
Plus, without enough sleep it’s harder to wake early so good sleep goes hand in hand.
There are many habits you can implement in your evening to increase your chances of sleeping well. And if you follow the other habits I’ve mentioned then your chances are already pretty high. Healthy people typically sleep well.
So begin each day by getting good rest and rising early so you can make more time as an entrepreneur and get more done..
The Next Step to Actualizing Your Goals as an Online Entrepreneur
These are my personal habits, implement what you want and adjust what you don’t.
The aim is for you to cultivate your own great habits so that you can become the most effective entrepreneur you can be.
Creating your own personal list of habits will help you to work more efficiently, feel better, and offer more to the audience you’re serving.
Great habits will empower you to stick to the necessary steps to build a successful business.
If you have any questions at all, hit me up in the comments below, and I’ll be super happy to help ya out in anyway I can.