There are important things in life nobody could do for you. One of such is TAKING ACTION. If you’re not driven from the inside to act on your goals and stick to the plans you’ve mapped out to achieve the goals, nobody will do it for you.

Setting goals and mapping out a plan for creating those goals coupled with deliberate actions and attention to detail is what moves the business and Entrepreneurial world.

As business giants like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Alibaba etc. have used this strategy to record ground breaking results, You can also apply the basic strategy involved to become successful in your own business no matter how small you think what you’re doing is

Talk is Cheap While Action is Priceless

People talk about a lot of things at every given time - they talk about the kind of life they want for themselves, where they want to be in the nearest future, how they plan to start moving towards achieving their dreams.

All of these are good because it shows their willingness to dream, set goals and plan but it will not be that important and so much of help if it does not involve “conscious efforts and deliberate actions”. This is when the information at your disposal becomes power.

Education

Learn how to do it. There needs to be a commitment to continued learning and education. Make daily improvement that will contribute to your Self-development. The more educated you are, the more confident you become.

Education is not only the activities that take place in the four corners of a classroom, far from it. The real education is knowing what you want and how to achieve it. It entails Research, Planning, and Execution. The Internet has now become the go -to place and has revolutionized Education

Application

Practice what you have learnt until you discover what works for you. There’s an abundant knowledge and information out there that could help you achieve whatever goals you’ve set but the way you apply the information to suit your own specific needs will make a lot of difference.

You should make information work for you and not be a slave to it. Focus on what works for you and not just because some experts claim it’s working for them. As soon as you test ideas and it looks like it’s not working, adjust and re-apply until you find your own place in the scheme of things.

Visualization

Make your plans as visual as possible by writing out your thoughts and ideas on paper. An idea that sounds good in your head might turn out not to be but the moment you put it on paper, you’ve gotten it out of your mind and this gives you a fresh perspective on how to make it better.

On the flip side, an idea, thought or strategy you put on paper might turn out to be a winning idea that will propel you and your business to an unprecedented achievement.

See the end you want to achieve and work it back to the beginning. Break down your plans into small and measurable activities and do one thing at a time for maximum attention span and optimal productivity.

Make use of drawings, images, sketches, infographics and any other thing that helps ingrain the purpose and the plans into your consciousness until your subconscious takes over.

Develop the Skill of Asking the Right Questions

Learn to ask the right questions. These guys are your friend:
What do I want to achieve?
Why do I want to achieve it?
How do I achieve it?
Who could help in my journey to achieving it?
Where do I get the manpower and the resources needed for achieving it?
When do I start and when do I achieve it?

If the appropriate answers are given to the right questions, the road becomes clearer and makes achieving set goals a little faster. This does not take away the hard and smart work involved but it makes it manageable.

Networking

Networking most times is as important as the business itself because it can make a lot positive difference when you get connected to the right people of like minds where you’ll see people ahead of you that have done and been successful with what you are doing or about to do and willing to help with practical advice based on years of experience.

Likewise, there will be people who will look up to you for advice. Networking helps you to stay abreast with fresh and exciting developments within your Industry / Niche.

According to Harvard Business Review, “When your Networking is driven by shared interests, it will feel more authentic”.

Communication

Human beings are creatures that interact based on a certain way of communication. To convey your intended meaning to other people for better understanding, you must be clear enough in the way you structure your mode (Written, spoken or gesture) of passing across the information.

Consequently, you need to develop and hone your communication skills.Whether written or spoken, learn how to speak and write in clear and concise manner. Your intended meaning should not be taken for another thing.

Learn to cut out ambiguity from the way you communicate by preparing and practicing. This is very important to better networking and most importantly when you’re trying to pass across a message to clients/customers and business prospects.

Show Thyself Worthy

Nothing attracts and convinces prospects/customers than proofs and evidence of your expertise - the results you’ve recorded and most importantly, how this wealth of experience can help solve their own problems or meet their specific needs.

Good Business Intentions Over Selfishness

Money exchange hands when demand meets supply, when specific needs meet specific provisions. Be sincere in your quest to help people and the authenticity of your intention will attract Clients and prospects.

Create or start a business because there’s a need for it and not solely because you want to make money as money will come to you in multiple folds if you can meet the urgent and most pressing needs of people.

Necessity they say, is the mother of invention.

If there are any other points you think I’ve left out, you can share that and let’s discuss them in the comment section.

To your Success.

While it has been empirically proven that only about 20% of what we do is responsible for 80% of the outcome, the next logical question should be;

Why do the majority of people fail to observe and identify the 20% input that produces 80%, concentrate on them to increase their outcomes and lessen the 80% effort that amounts to nought?

It’s also called the principle of the vital few versus the trivial many.

Most people confuse activity for productivity. That you’re busy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting it right. It only fuels some kind of self-aggrandizement and vanity most of the time.

Be deliberate and intentional about measuring your progress and result as against your set goals, each week and month end.

Tweak, re-strategize, modify and re-adjust when and where necessary based on the feedback.

Doing this will put you in the upper echelon, amongst the few that are fortunate enough to understand the power of balance and positioning.

Are you ready to take the bull by the horn in 2018 for more productivity?

You are welcome to 2018!