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Let’s cut straight to the point. The amount of money you make doesn’t determine your level of success as an entrepreneur. Sure, the more you make, the more secure you might feel. But leveling up your business, your expertise as an entrepreneur and you as a person doesn’t come from an increase in money.
Success is about relationship building. The most significant results I have seen with my business have been the lessons I’ve learned from others and the relationships I’ve built.
When you surround yourself with those more successful than you, you start to think and act differently. Put yourself in the rooms you want to be in, not the ones you currently reside in. If you get to the next level in all areas, personally and professionally, change won’t come from doing the same things you’re doing now. If you want to earn billions, you have to think billions.
Here are four strategies you need to follow to level up yourself and your business.
Related: 6 Timeless Strategies That Drive Successful Entrepreneurship
1. Become results-driven, not money driven
Stop focusing on the amount of money you’re making. When you focus on your money, you operate from a meager mindset. You see what you aren’t making instead of what you are making and aren’t getting a clear vision of what you can do to improve these numbers.
That is why you need to focus on results. When you close your sales, nurture your relationships and go above and beyond to make happy clients, you not only bring in the money but have a more robust, more loyal clientele.
When you focus on nurturing your clients, they do the work for you. They not only stay loyal to you but tell their friends and family about the service you provide. Money will come only when you stop focusing on it and start focusing on driving results.
From this, you will realize which clients are the right fit for you. By nurturing your relationships, you can see how empowering it is to have the right fit. You will feel joy doing your job when you create strong client relationships.
2. Take care of yourself
A professional athlete never performs their best on three hours of sleep and a poor diet. You may not be an athlete, but the principles still apply. If you’re running on crappy food, little sleep and no exercise, you will feel worse and perform even worse.
As much as you think that a cup of coffee and an all-nighter is your secret to producing your best work, you will feel much better if you start with a good night of rest and a meal. You can still work under pressure without hurting your body in the process.
You also won’t attract clients by not looking and performing your best. No one is asking you to be a supermodel, but when you put effort into how you treat yourself, people will take you seriously as an entrepreneur and leader.
Related: 6 Healthy Habits to Maximize Your Mental Health and Get You Through Your Worst Days
3. Be original
Don’t get lost in the shuffle in leveling up as an entrepreneur. It is easy to implement what others are already doing when you’re trying to reinvent yourself. But hopping from one bandwagon to the other doesn’t solve anything. It only prolongs the problem.
If you ask yourself, “who do I want to be?” all of the answers lie within that question. What you desire says a lot about your character and who you surround yourself with to achieve that goal is of utmost importance. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, it is time to start surrounding yourself with those who share the same purpose.
From relationships, you will learn a lot about yourself and what you want to receive from life. But no matter who or what you want to be, you cannot lose yourself in the process.
People will detect your lack of authenticity if you sell what everyone else is selling. Your clients are a lot more perceptive than they let on. And authenticity is what sells — whatever that looks like for you.
Simply put, do you.
Related: 6 Ways to Take the First Step of Your Journey to Success
4. Be positive
Lastly, there is a time and place for cynicism. You don’t have to be little miss sunshine. But it would help if you practiced being open when surrounding yourself with new people and trying new things. When you attack something with a positive attitude, they turn out better than you think almost 100% of the time.
Again, you don’t have to be a positive person. But knowing when to put a positive attitude into practice is a massive win for generating new business and yourself. The more you look at things from a new lens, the less it becomes an attitude you wear and an attitude you have.
Final thoughts
To conclude, if you want to make a change, you have to change. Change the way you treat yourself. Take care of yourself, surround yourself with people that share your goals and try to tackle things with a more positive attitude.
You don’t have to lose who you are to be who you are trying to become. You have to change your habits and your circle.
Related: When Leading Through Change, Adopt These 4 Strategies
