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Worried about your business? Have a great idea for a business but don’t know where to start? Forget the Life Coach. What you need is a ‘Success Mentor’ the latest growth industry imported from the United States. Our guest blogger, Creative Strategist & Success Mentor, Vanessa Jane, is currently in Australia to introduce her profession to aspiring entrepreneurs.
This article isn’t your run of the mill piece on how to be more successful. The principles here are unique and different, so read with an open and curious mind. Remember that who you are as a person in life will directly determine who you are in business. They’re not separate!
The world’s changing at such a rapid pace. The way business is done is hugely different than in the past. Many believe the Global Financial Crisis was necessary to highlight excessive materialism and overspending. Large corporations no longer make the amount of money as before– redundancies, cuts in discretionary spending and reduced customer loyalty are now commonplace.
Entrepreneurship and innovation are flourishing, with innovators reaping significant financial rewards. Numerous entrepreneurs I know have enjoyed record years despite what’s referred to as the GFC, mini depression or lean years. I’ve seen profound behavioural shifts – from a sole focus on money, to people now partnering with businesses, to creating businesses and products with meaning and purpose.
For decades, profit has been the ‘granddaddy’, the motivation, the ‘ultimate gain’. Not just healthy profits, but outrageous, exploitive and obnoxious profit. Well, times are a changin! The ‘new economy’ is upon us.
This heralds a marked change in the way we do and create business. Return on investment, tax breaks, key performance indicators (KPIs), restructures, profit margins, streamlining and outsourcing – these measures and devices were always at the heart of business. In the new economy, these faceless, moneymaking machines have diminished. In their place? Dynamic entrepreneurs creating businesses that operate differently and at their heart encourage a fuller creative expression, have a human ‘face’ behind the website, and cultivate a profound connection between business and client.
Combining your talents and strengths with your passions to create a business you love is now the norm, and we’re now avoiding the ‘cookie cutter’ recruitment company job description-type jobs.
Technology permeates most areas of our lives. A noticeable trend, however, is that technology is used as a useful aid and tool to support (rather than as replacement); assisting innovators to create businesses that allow us to live our best lives possible – e.g. not being tethered to an office space.
The definition of ‘success’ is also changing. Different people measure success differently. A big shift’s taking place. From a former lack of fulfillment and creativity, trying to fit into these ‘cookie cutter’ style job descriptions, not using one’s natural talents, lack of inspiration at work and feeling undervalued; to a refreshed awareness, matching our talents and desires with what the world seeks, brings personal fulfillment, alongside a stronger and more robust economy.
Here are some essential and effective principles to help people create businesses, design creative ventures, navigate success and thrive in this new economy. As a respected Creative Strategist and Success Mentor, I provide out-of-the-ordinary creative strategies, innovative business structures and profit ideas coupled with a deep humanity and spirit to allow people to make money, make a difference and make their mark.
To quote Richard Branson:
“I make no distinction between work and play – it’s all just living.”
Life and work are meant to make you happy and to feel good, but it’s your responsibility to design it that way. In the new economy, people create businesses exactly as Branson observes and celebrates – making money doing what they love, using their natural talents with a purpose, and they desire to make their mark in the world.
The new entrepreneur travels the world, lives a life of luxury if they so choose, does what they love, gives back in the world by contributing their time and money, provides tonnes of value and conducts business on their terms, on a global scale. My guiding principle is to thrive in business; or as an entrepreneur/creator in the new economy, you must first look at ‘you’ or who you are ‘being’ because who you are being in life is who you are being in business or at your work.
I’ve distilled it down to three golden, fail-safe tips, learnt from personal experience, to help you to ensure success:
- 1. Success is something you are and something you become, NOT something you go out and get. The secret no-one’s talking about is that you need to embody your message, or what you want. To become a success you must first work on yourself (i.e. your inner game; your mindset, behaviours, actions and how the world perceives you). Then you have to live it, integrate it – walk your talk. There’s nothing worse than someone who says one thing, but does the opposite.
You can write endless lists and goals and tell people what you want, but your private actions and thoughts are the keys to what happens for you and to you. You can’t fool success – everything you say and do matters. For example: If you want great clients – at all times BE a great client. Provide testimonials to everyone you work with, refer people to each other and pay people on time. Be who you want to draw to you. If you want love, be loving to everyone you come into contact with.
- 2. Desire is your lifeblood. We as a society are so disconnected from our desires and what we truly want. We’re walking around every day pursuing things we ‘think’ we want – things our parents wanted for us, jobs that don’t make us happy, we’re working for people we don’t respect, are in relationships with people we don’t like; and are doing jobs that don’t use our gifts, talents and strengths – all the while wondering why we’re unhappy. We’re living in a time with more and more entrepreneurs creating businesses every day – entrepreneurs who are pursuing careers, creative ventures and businesses that they desire. You don’t have your desires or wants for no reason – they’re there as a GPS system for you to direct your life. Don’t ignore them. Get connected to what you really, really want, and make sure it’s your desire – not one inherited from someone else or for someone else’s approval.
- 3. Do your own thinking. Most people don’t think for themselves. They’re influenced and controlled by external circumstances. They accept whatever they life has thrown their way. But remember this great quote: “Life is not coming at you; it’s coming from you”.
Before the age of seven, specific thoughts, ideas and pictures become ‘fixed’ into the subconscious mind. This is our ‘operating system’, which becomes the system from which our life is created. What we experience on the outside is what we believe on the inside. Everything originates in your mind! So think about it. With that power you can think anything you want.
Don’t be left behind in this exciting age of entrepreneurship. For more success principles, check out my free e-book, “The Only Success Principles that Really Matter”. Sign up at www.vanessajane.com
Written by Vanessa Jane, Creative Strategist & Success Mentor