Who doesn’t want to be successful? It would be nice to live our dreams, wouldn’t it? To have everything that we aspire to come true? But, do you wonder sometimes why some things happen for certain people, and not for others? How come some people are able to achieve their dreams while others don’t?
One of my relatives is a super talented videographer. She has a keen eye for detail, and a sharp mind. She’s been meaning to start her production company for years. It is all what she ever talks about at gatherings. I have been waiting to hear the good news from her, inviting us to a soft opening of her company, but years have passed and I have yet to hear what I want to hear from her.
I finally caught up with her to have a chat and find out how far away is she from materialising her dreams. We met over coffee, and I asked if I could look at her plans and feasibility studies. She laughed as she sipped on her cappuccino and said she doesn’t have one.
“What do you mean?” I asked. She said that she never sat down to draw a vision or draft a plan, and that things always seemed to come in the way.
I knew then that she was creating hurdles in her own success without even knowing, and that she wasn’t the only one doing so. Many out there keep talking about their dreams, and they have all the means to achieve them, but but virtually nothing is done.
You might argue and say, well, not everyone has enough finances. A valid argument, but if your dreams are really important to you and you really want to pursue them, wouldn’t you at least have a vision or a plan, and try to find ways to finance them?
I think you would.
But before you do that, there a few habits you need to kick and you’d be on the right track:
Don’t procrastinate
What I know for sure is that the best way to kill any project or dream is to procrastinate, thinking that its not the right time to do something. Here’s news for you: there is never a perfect time. There’s always a risk involved and if you don’t make and effort, take the time out to chalk out a plan, you will run the risk of coming in the way of your own success.
To be successful at what you do, it would require commitment and dedication, meaning that you will leave no room for excuses, whatsoever. This means that sometimes you will have to cancel plans with friends and attend to that phone calls or WhatsApp message late.
Break down your project into tasks, set a deadline, and go for it.
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Step out of your comfort zone: it's the best thing for your business
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Talk is cheap
Talk is really cheap. We could talk all day saying that we will do this and that, but what good will that do us if we don’t go and do something about it? The bad thing about talking is that when we talk so much about something, sometimes, we feel too lazy to do anything about it. Dedicate the passion that you put into explaining your dreams, to actually going and doing something about it!
It'll get tough, don’t quit
We read about the successful stories of entrepreneur X and Y, and we love where they are right now, but what we may not know are the struggles that they had to endure for them to reach where they are right now. Depending on what your dream business is, starting it may not be a piece of cake. Financing it and finding the right place to sell your products or services may be an even bigger challenge. You need to set your mind to expect that hardships will come and things may get really, really bad. So, if you’re not up for this, and don’t want to go through it, then maybe entrepreneurship isn’t for you.
Comparing yourself to others
The worst thing you can do to yourself is to compare yourself and where your business is at with in relation to someone else's. Just because one person believes they are successful, because they have reached a certain stage, doesn’t mean that should be the yardstick for your as well. What you would mark as a success has nothing to do with someone else. This is something personal to you.
Not improving yourself
You may be great at doing a certain thing, but no matter how good you are, you have weaknesses, and if you don’t work on them you will fall behind. Videography for instance was my weakness, but in my field I needed to know more about it to be able to work with my team, and I did. By working on my weakness, I was able to elevate my business more.
Following successful people's good habits is important , but it’s also important to avoid the bad habits that they have avoided to become successful.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer who manages her branding and marketing consultancy in Abu Dhabi