10 Tips for a More Success and Prosperity in the New Year

Another year has come and gone. I hope everyone has done something life-changing in the past year, but most people are probably in the same situation as the previous years.

In this article, I wanted to share a few insights into starting a business and developing the right mindset for change and success. The easiest thing for most people to do is to keep going what they’ve been doing, so here are a few tips and ideas that you can implement to help you become more successful this year.

1. Commit to Developing a Learning Habit

Whenever I go to business networking events, I always meet some “wantapreneurs” who want to start their own business, but have no idea where to start. They don’t know what product or service to sell or how to go about getting customers.

My recommendation for people in that stage of business is to learn everything you can about business, sales, marketing and any other aspect of business that you find interesting. Start bookmarking business books that you are interested in on Amazon and commit to reading regularly, even if you just read 5 pages a day.

Find blogs, Facebook groups, podcasts and YouTube channels about business and subscribe any that are even remotely interesting. Make sure that you are constantly exposed to business and marketing content to increase the chances that you will actually click on something and learn useful information that can help you succeed.

Learning leads to inspiration and increases confidence.

I started my first eBay business when I read an eBook from someone who made a living selling on eBay. I later learned SEO from an SEO course and used that information to start my e-commerce store.

When you learn about other people’s success and how they did it, sometimes it inspires you to take action to pursue your own success.

Inspiration is temporary though, and the feeling will fade if you don’t act on it, so be sure to take action right away.

Also, get into the habit of reading and learning on a consistent basis so that you can keep getting inspired. You will also find that the more you learn, the more confident you will become when it comes to starting your own business or whatever goal you choose to pursue.

All the information you need to succeed is out there. Make a commitment to keep learning until you find that information.

2. Find People with Similar Goals (and Spend Time with Them)

I’ve met many people who had ideas for starting their own business and some even tried to do it. But a lot of people will give up or fail because they get stuck and don’t have a support network.

Entrepreneurs are often independent-minded people and want to do everything themselves. Many don’t like to ask for help. But you will get much more leverage and increase your odds of success more if you surround yourself with other like-minded people (especially ones that are already successful).

Make it a goal to look for such people and work hard to become more like them. You may have to set aside time to go to networking and other business events.

These people probably aren’t your current friends, even the ones that expressed interest in starting their own business. Look for people who are serious about it and are already taking action.

Spending time with others with positive goals will rub off on you. A good group of people can help you stay motivated and prevent you from getting stuck or quitting.

3. Consistency is King

One of the biggest keys to success is simply being consistent. Although the idea is simple, lack of consistency is where most people will fail.

I’ve many several people who tried blogging, for example, and then quickly quit when they didn’t get immediate results.

When starting a new activity, sometimes people feel like they aren’t seeing results, but you should also keep in mind that results can accelerate over time. Even if you suck at something when you start, you will also gradually improve if you keep practicing it.

You won’t become a stellar marketer or business person over night. Any skill you choose to develop will take time and any project you spend time on will get better results if you keep at it.

To stay consistent, commit specific times and dates to work on something and stick to it. Finding partners, mastermind groups or an accountability coach can help if you are really serious about attaining your goals.

4. Become Aware of Distractions (and Limit Them)

If you ask someone why they aren’t pursuing their goals right now, they will probably say that they just don’t have the time. However, if you don’t have time, then you are probably just spending time doing other things instead.

And those other things often include short term distractions, i.e., activities that cause short term happiness, but don’t do much to contribute towards long term success.

The first step in reclaiming your time is to become aware of distractions and make a conscious effort to limit them. Like dieting, start small by cutting out one small chunk of fun time and reallocating it to productive work.

Some distractions are fine and work-life balance is important. But most people are spending far too much time on distraction and not enough time working towards their goals.

By the way, cutting back on recreation won’t make you less happy. In fact, research has shown that entrepreneurs are happier and healthier than employees on average.

5. Break Big Goals Down into Smaller Goals and Tasks

One thing that keeps people from starting a business or pursuing big changes is that it can be overwhelming. Feelings of overwhelm can cause people to shut down and give up.

To overcome these feelings of overwhelm, take a moment to break down complex ideas into simple tasks and individuals steps. Write out a process that you can follow step-by-step.

Don’t worry about your process being perfect. It’s just a starting point and you can always adjust it later. Just get something together and get started.

Remember that simplifying a task by breaking it down into easy to follow steps will make it less overwhelming. And once you do that, it’s just a matter of doing it.

6. Start Working on Long Term Goals Today

Putting things off means they usually won’t ever happen. Be sure to take at least a small step in the right direction.

If you have goals in life that you really want to achieve, you need to make them a priority and work on them now. People usually make up excuses in their mind because they don’t know where to start or are too overwhelmed.

If you really have a legitimate reason that you can’t start today, then set a specific date in the future where you will get started. Think about something you can do to take a small step in the right direction and then do it.

7. Be a Leader, Not Just a Follower

To succeed in life, you need to stop being a follower and start to be a leader. It’s easier for people to follow because that is how we grew up.

In school, we had teachers to guide us and tell us exactly what to do. Our parents served a similar role in our development.

Then at work, we have a boss that trains us and tell us what to do.

As an entrepreneur, you need to be the leader and decide what you need to learn and what you need to do for yourself. You also need to commit to taking action and holding yourself accountable for making progress towards your own goals.

Organize groups of people that have similar goals and who are committed to achieving bigger things in life. Take the initiative to get the right people together to work towards your goals.

8. Make a sacrifice

Are you willing to sacrifice something that gives you short term joy to reach a long term goal?

Think about the days and times during the week that you spend on recreational activities and ask yourself if you are willing to commit time consistently into working towards your goals.

Unfortunately, time is limited and we only have 24 hours in a day. To find time to pursue goals, people need to take time away from other activities.

For example, maybe you watch movies on the weekends or do other fun things. If you want to pursue a new goal, you might have to cut back on some of that recreational time and use it to do productive work.

If you can consciously make a sacrifice, even if it’s only an hour a week, you’ll be much more likely to make progress towards your goals. Although people like the idea of starting their own business to gain more freedom and income, success often requires working harder and longer hours at the beginning.

9. Make sure you know what you REALLY want

And focus your time and resources on that one thing.

You might think that you want to start your own business. But is that what you really want?

Maybe you enjoy spending time with friends or your hobbies more instead.

Take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what is really important to you. A few questions you may want to ask yourself:

– What things will matter the most to you when you look back at your life and what will make you happy over the long run?

– If you won the lottery and didn’t have to worry about money anymore, would you still start your own business? What would you do with you life?

– Are you willing to make sacrifices to achieve your goal? Success often requires putting in more time, money and effort than most people and you will usually have to give up some free time and cut back on fun activities if you want to succeed.

Don’t delude yourself into ambitious goals if you aren’t willing to pursue them. Instead, remove the conflict from your mind by getting clarity on what you actually do want.

10. Invest in your success

I’ve found that people who invest in their own success are far more likely to succeed than those who don’t. That means putting time, money and energy into things that help you pursue your goals.

Do you spend money on books and courses to learn more about how to become more successful? Or do you find yourself reluctant to spend money and time on these things?

Do you read blogs or watch educational videos regularly? Do you attend events or seek out mentorship? Or do you spend your time doing other things?

Not all books and courses will directly impact your level or success (in fact, many of them won’t). And not all the time you spend will result in success (in fact, you may find that a lot of time you spend trying seems like wasted effort). But learning and gaining experience is part of the journey and sometimes you just need one great idea to get unstuck or to inspire you to succeed.

The more time, money and energy you put into succeeding, the more likely you will be to reach your goal in the long run.

Make this year a turning point of your life

To sum it up, reflect on what you really want and how much you are willing to invest and sacrifice to get it. Don’t hope for short cuts or an easy path. Be prepared to work hard for what you want in life, stay committed to it and get started now.

Commit to developing a learning habit and most importantly, take action. And check out this article if you are looking for more ideas on how to get this year started on the right foot.

Hope everyone reading this find success this year. What are your goals for this year?