You may have realized that I’m not normally the type of person who writes woo-woo type posts, pontificating on pearls of wisdom that will transform your mindset. That’s just not me. I prefer cut and dry, simple steps, and real repeatable formulas. Well, today, I have a little bit of both for you. Today, you’re going to learn the secret to success.
But, luckily for you, it’s not just a platitude or useless BS that won’t do you any good in the real world. I actually do think that the secret to success is in these 3 things I’m about to share with you.
I actually talk about my secret to success a lot.
Every time a student tells me they are suffering from “imposter syndrome,” or I hear that they are scared to start their own business….I always share the secret (or, actually, secrets!) with them.
I figured that since I come across this situation a lot in my Facebook group, I should share it with you. So, listen up!
The Secret to Success is in These 3 Things
Secret to Success #1: A Good Personality
Now, don’t worry — I’m not here to judge anyone or tell you that you need to act like the class clown or little good two-shoes to get hired. But having a good personality is probably the #1 thing that you need in order to be a successful online business owner.
If there truly is only one secret to success, this is it.
Whenever I open up my signature internship program, I always get a ton of questions from applicants. Probably the most common ones I hear is “what can I do to have a better chance of being chosen?” or “what are you specifically looking for in an intern?”
The answer to this type of question is simple. The #1 thing I consider when choosing an intern is their personality.
But when I say that you should have a “good” personality, that’s really not all that descriptive, is it? Honestly, though, personality is pretty subjective. Whether or not you have a “good” personality is really going to depend on who you’re talking to at the moment.
That being said, there are certain indicators that I personally look for if I want to find someone with a “good” personality. Other people might have slightly different lists than me, so just use this as an example:
My Favorite Personality Traits in a Contractor/Employee:
- Personable and easy to like
- Good conversationalist
- Friendly and kind
- Positive and upbeat
- Honest and communicative
Basically, I just want to get along with them and feel like we are “clicking” during an interview.
If you are someone who tends to have trouble “clicking” with people, I’m not going to lie — that is most likely going to be a serious issue when it comes to attracting and booking clients.
But that’s not to say that you can’t change or improve, though!
When I first started my own business, I was extremely shy and nervous to talk to potential clients. I was terrified of discovery calls and completely froze up on video. But after lots of practice and trial and error, I eventually got to the point where I often “click” with others and can easily make friends with other online business owners.
If you’re looking to actively work on your personality, I love these tips from LifeHack.
Besides just helping you get clients, having a good personality can help grow your brand. I have to say that my own personality has been a huge factor in the overall success of my business. And when I think about other successful people I know, all of them have really amazing personalities.
Secret to Success #2: A Determined Work Ethic
Something unique to running your own business is that you are totally in charge. This means that you make all of the decisions for yourself and your business.
It sounds like a “duh” moment, I know. But unless you have owned a business for a while, you may be unaware of how unbelievably difficult it is to deal with this fact.
Because you are in charge, the only person you have to answer to is yourself. Sure, you may have clients and customers, but you are always your own boss at the end of the day. And this means that you need to police yourself.
You may think you are a hard worker, but just wait until there isn’t a boss watching over your shoulder or telling you what to do.
It’s a whole different story.
Think back to high school or college and remember the large tests, projects, and papers. Were you someone who got started right away and did the work in stride? Or did you procrastinate and wait until the last second?
I don’t know about you, but even though I am totally a Type A person, I still was in that second group.
Unlike school or a “normal” job, there aren’t enforceable deadlines, or angry teachers/bosses to oversee your work ethic. So you need to be capable of making yourself do things even when you don’t want to.
To be honest, this is probably the secret to success that I have always personally struggled with the most. I’ve certainly gotten better about it over time, thank goodness. Even before I started my business, I knew that this was going to be an issue for me.
Luckily, kind of like an addiction — knowing that you may not fully have all the secrets of success under control is half the battle.
Having the perception to be able to say “I struggle with this” and figure out how to solve it is a really strong clue that you would be an awesome entrepreneur.
For me, using tools like Asana and Google Calendar to manage clients, to-do lists, projects, and dates has really helped me overcome this. I also have a project manager on my team who kicks my butt when I need it!
Related Post: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Project Management App
If you don’t have a project manager of your own, and tools just aren’t cutting it, one good tip I can give you is to find an accountability buddy or a mastermind group that you can use to help keep you on track.
So, again, while this is an extremely important secret to success when it comes to running a business, your work ethic is something that you can work on over time. You just need to have a determination to want to have a good work ethic. If you have that, you can totally figure out how to improve.
Secret to Success #3: A Willingness to Learn
The last secret to success is that you need to have a willingness to learn.
This natural-born curiosity is something that you will find in most entrepreneurs. If learning new things isn’t fun to you, that’s definitely a red flag that starting a business may not be a good choice for you.
As a business owner, especially in the beginning, there are so many things you need to learn. You will have to fill your head with knowledge about websites, social media, marketing, packages, advertising, graphics, and a million other things.
If learning about the different facets of business does not interest you? Guess what? Owning a business is probably not going to be that much fun!
Business is all about learning. And you need to be able to implement those things you learn in order to create products, sell your services, make changes in your business, and improve over time.
Luckily, there’s a little bit of an “out” when it comes to this secret as well. If you have a lot of money, you can hire people to know and implement things for you.
But if you’re on a budget, you’ll need to be up to the task of self-education.
And that’s an ever-changing, ever-growing thing. You don’t ever “finish learning” when it comes to business. You need to keep teaching yourself and implementing new ideas every single day.
The most important thing to take from all of this is that the majority of people I talk to on a daily basis absolutely have what it takes to succeed as an online entrepreneur.
The true secret to success is a whole lot more about how much you want it than anything else.
