Self Development For Entrepreneurs – Guide, Tips & Strategies
I first dipped my toes into the Self Development world when I decided to start my own business. I knew I needed to improve myself in a number of different areas to be successful.
Quitting your job and starting a business is like jumping off a cliff and then having walk all the back up to the top of the mountain.
Self Development is crucial for entrepreneurship because business requires you become serious about your life in many different ways. If you go into business half cocked or without a solid worth ethic, the market will quickly make an example of you and put out of business. Developing yourself in all areas including increasing your knowledge and skills can increase your value and earning potential. You can also learn from the mistakes of others who have come before you and fast track you path to business success.
Self development is one of these journeys that are commonly found in business where we never arrive at the destination, it is a life time journey and we are simply looking to travel as far as we can in creating the very best version of ourselves possible and maximizing our potential.
Self Development Is Inherently A Part Of Entrepreneurship
Self development is almost a component of entrepreneurship in and of itself when you think about it. You have already made a decision that you are not going to be depending on a paycheck anymore but have shown a willingness to eat what you catch.
It should be a natural next step that you want to increase your catching skills as much as possible. Entrepreneurs know how important self development is and it can also be an extremely lucrative and satisfying pursuit.
There are plenty of ways that people typically need to improve including:
- Skills
- Knowledge
- Extroversion
- Character
- Discipline
- Physical Fitness
- Networking
- Mindset
- Goal Setting
- Assertiveness
- Self Worth & Self Esteem
- Valuing Your Time, Yourself And Your Services Correctly
The Best Ways To Self Develop For Business
Reading Books
A wise man will learn from his own mistakes, a wealthy man will learn from the mistakes of others.
Reading books was something I did as a child and a teenager but less often as I became an adult. That is, until I decided to start a business.
I was thinking about opening my own fitness gym so I took a personal training course. The trainers caught my attention in a massive way when they started talking about the business books they were reading.
I had never even known such books existed and I knew it was going to take on board, starting with the books they recommended like The Richest Man In Babylon, Think And Grow Rich and Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
The Age Of Audiobooks
When I starting working, I didn’t have as much time for reading physical books and happily discovered audiobooks.
Audiobooks can give you all the knowledge but also allow you to multitask. I can listen to a book in the gym, while working or out for a morning walk.
There is also something authentic about listening to a biography written and read out loud by the author.
Books are really the backbone for self development because of the variety available on the market.
- Biographies of business moguls so you can learn from their successes and failures.
- Finance Books for building wealth and maximizing resources
- Marketing for growing your business
- Mindset books for overall growth.
Check out Audible.co.uk or Amazon for everything you need in relation to books and self development.
Online Courses
As the world moves online more and more, the need for traditional college is becoming less and less important and the need for self education is growing more important by the day.
The skills that you need are just one course away and you can usually pick up courses for a pretty affordable fee.
The vast majority of successful businesses these days are online and that is where I would encourage most people to start.
I started a Digital Marketing business because I wanted to learn how to create the best websites and turn them into profitable businesses with SEO and Paid Ads.
You can learn how to do almost anything online nowadays, even for free on Youtube like:
- Creating Websites
- Blogging
- SEO
- E-Commerce
- Dropshipping
- Affiliate Marketing
- Creating Authority Sites
- Creating Online Courses
- Freelancing
- Investing
We live in the information age where all the skills and knowledge you need is only a mouse click away and some incredibly lucrative courses can be bought for insanely low prices when comparing their earning potential to a college degree.
Trying Your Hand At Sales
When you start a business, you think you are going to be building websites or performing the operations of the business all the time when in reality, the first job you need to tackle is SALES!
The truth is, everything in life is a sale. Your kids are experts at selling because they know what they want and they are incredibly persistent.
To get your business up and running, you are going to have to sell people.
The first step in that regard is the actually get in front of people that may be willing to buy your product.
Your biggest challenge in business is that people don’t know who you are. How can someone do business with you if they don’t even know you exist.
Once you get in front of people, you need to convince them of three things:
- They Can Trust You
- You Product Will Add Value To Their Business
- Your Ability To Actually Do What You Say You Are Going To Do
Sure, you could just go to Networking events and hope your business kicks off that way or you can take matters into your own hands by:
Working for a client for free so you can build a portfolio to show other potential customers
Call around to businesses that you think might be interested in your service with fliers and get chatting to the owners
Pick up the phone and start calling businesses that might be interested in your product or service
Is it easy, no. Will it work, yes! That is exactly what I did an every method work. People will see your commitment and be willing to give you an opportunity.
You can also get sales and leads online with Facebook Ads, Google Ads and SEO but I enjoyed the character building side of selling in person and over the phone.
Networking
Your Network Is Your Net Worth
A phrase we often hear but is becoming slightly less relevant today with the dominance of the online world.
In the past, your network would have a huge impact on how much you could earn and what opportunities were available to you.
In today’s world, you can make millions of dollars on your own with just a laptop and it baffles me why more people aren’t doing it.
If you do your research and take the right online courses, it can really set you up for long term success.
Events for Entrepreneurs can be great to make friends with like minded people and their are always plenty of Networking breakfasts going on in every city. Just check out EventBright and you should find plenty.
Business Chambers exist in every major city that you can join and meet up with people who might be in the market for your services and Business Exhibitions are always a good option as well.
Remember it is not all about selling and you can pick up value from other people as well.
A mixed a varied approach is the best way to expand your roladex.
Setting Goals And Sticking To Them
Don’t be afraid to set lofty goals, commit them to paper and then back up it with action to achieve them.
Committing you goals to paper in a list or through vision boards is a common trait shared by millionaires and billionaires all across the world.
If your mind can believe that you can achieve a certain goal, your subconscious mind will immediately go to work, finding ways for you to achieve that goal.
The world works in funny ways and you be surprised just how often people have actually achieved the goals that they have set for themselves.
It is crucial not to set your goals to low or you will be limiting yourself with a scarcity mindset.
Give yourself plenty of room for growth and when you are making decisions in your business, you subconscious mind will start to work on your behalf and steer you towards the decisions that are more align with your goal.
If you set a goal of $100k per year within 5 years you may only hit $70k per year and be happy with that but if you aim for $500k per year and you end up hitting only $120k, you are still $50k per year better off than not committing your goals to paper.
In another way setting smaller goals and achieving them like writing 2 Blog Posts a day for a month and actually getting it done will build a lot of character, self belief and your discipline.
Your self conscious mind will start to say, she means business the next time you set a goal and you lay of foundation of success on conquering your small goals consistently.
Use Incantations
It may sound corney, but plenty of the worlds most successful people have mantras and power phrases that they repeat over and over again to drill them into the subconscious mind.
This has the effect of your mind actually coming to believe what your say and mould it into existence. It’s not magic but keep it up consistently and watch your dreams come slowly true.
Everybody knows how powerful our self talk can be and it is outrageous how many people going around saying bad things about themselves in their heads. Positive self talk should be thought in schools as it can lead to love, wealth and abundance.
Popular Incatations Include:
My personal favourite: I am a winner, I am growing everyday, I attract Opportunities, I am Wealthy. I repeat this 30 times at least 3 times a week and have done for the past 3 years.
Others Include:
- I enjoy life’s challenges, and I learn from everything that happens in my life.
- All I need is within me now.
- I live each day with passion and power!
- I feel strong and powerful, happy and excited.
- I am resourceful, I have the ability to do whatever it takes to succeed, and to support all those I love.
- I have tremendous confidence in my talents and my abilities.
- I meet every situation knowing I am its master.
- I have deep respect for myself and for everyone I meet each day.
- I am committed to perform with excellence in all that I do.
- I forgive myself and others easily.
- I am aware of the priceless value of my life and the lives of everyone I meet.
- My confidence is unshakable because I live with integrity.
- I am always at peace because I trust and follow my internal guidance.
- Successful people are willing to do what failures are not will to do!
- What the universe has to offer flows to me in oodles of abundance.
- Wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you – I only think thoughts that strengthen me!
This is powerful stuff, don’t take it for granted!
Build Your Physical Fitness
If you neglect your physical fitness, you are doing your business a disservice.
Exercise of all forms is great for releasing endorphins, the chemical released by our brains that makes us feel happy.
Business can be a stressful game and we need a way to relieve that stress. Exercise is the best way to do it.
For me, lifting heavy weights is the best way to relieve stress and I like to practice boxing and running as well. For you it might be spinning or fitness classes, swimming, tennis or even golf.
Keeping your body in good shape will make you fell better about yourself too and when you feel better about your self, you make better decisions and it can spill over into healthier choices in the kitchen to boot.
When you take you mind off problems in your business, your subconscious mind will keep working on them and often come up with the answer. This is why so many people come up with solutions to their problems while they are sleeping and the same is true for exercise.
Conclusion
Self development is about constantly challenging yourself to improve and maximizing your potential.
If you want to succeed in Business, constant self development is not an option, it is necessary.
Self development should also be something that you enjoy, think about it, you are supercharging yourself to become something better than you were before and there can only be positives to come out of that in the long run so get stuck in and commit to your personal and business growth this year!
