How To Seek and Embrace Success In Your Side Hustle
Your ability to seek out an embrace success in your Side Hustle is dependent on a couple factors. First you have a clear definition of what YOUR success will look like. If you don’t you will never know when you have arrived. Second you must be willing to discipline yourself to complete the necessary action steps to reach your goal. And Finally it is important that you are mindfully aware of the people you choose to surround yourself with, as they have influence on your mindset.
Do You Know What Being Successful Means To You?
We want to be successful. We want to live meaningful and fulfilling lives and have the material and financial means to do so. It’s part of our human nature to want to be successful. But what exactly does this mean? How do you know if you’re successful, on your way to success, or failing? How do you know when you’ve become successful and can start to relax and enjoy what you’ve worked so hard to accomplish?
To answer all of these questions, you have to define what being successful means to you.
There is no right or wrong answer. It is different for every one of us. For some, it means getting a coveted position at work. Someone else may define success as being able to build their dream house. Another person may define success a being able to travel the world. Another person will measure it in dollars in the savings account or total net worth.
Success will also mean something different in different areas of your life.
Think of success in terms of work, relationships, and health for example. To be successful at work and to be successful in your marriage, for example, can be two entirely different things. In some cases, they may even contradict each other. To do well at work and be considered for a promotion, you may have to be willing to put in long hours and bring home files to work on at night or in the evening. The same holds true when you’re building your own business. These extended working hours can cause tension in a relationship if your significant other starts to feel neglected or they have to take on too many responsibilities at home.
In short, there’s a lot to consider and think about when it comes to success. A
t the same time, it’s essential that you do this thinking and define what it means to you to be successful, in all areas of your life. Don’t let this overwhelm you. You don’t have to work on everything all at once, and you don’t have to reach your long-term goals in a matter of weeks. You can’t. But you need to know where you want to be heading so you can start to make and measure progress.
You can’t set goals for yourself if you don’t know what success means. Start by defining your very own version of success and then set some goals and milestones for yourself based on your definition of success.
No Matter How Lofty Your Goals, Focus And Discipline Can Get You There
One of the secrets to success is to set big goals. We have to stretch ourselves and move past our comfort zone to truly become successful. Working towards lofty goals can help us do just that. Of course, that’s easier said than done. The good news is that if you can work on improving two personal traits or skills, it will become much easier. Those skills are focus and discipline. They work hand in hand to help you reach those goals, no matter how far out of reach they seem.
What Is Focus
Being able to focus is the ability to concentrate on one particular task at a time. It keeps you from getting distracted and helps you make progress on what’s most important. Focus gives you clarity and purpose.
To get better at focusing on the important task at hand, write them down. Limit yourself to about three things that you should be working on and accomplish today.
What Is Discipline
Discipline is just as important when it comes to avoiding distractions. It’s the skill to make yourself get things done even when you don’t feel like it. Power through and you’ll feel better for it.
To get better at discipline, you need to practice it daily. Make it a point to not stop for the day until your three important tasks (that give you focus), have been checked off.
Why You Need Both
While there are many other success skills needed throughout life, there’s a reason I’m mentioning these two together. Discipline helps you work on something day in and day out. Focus helps you stay on target and not get distracted. Think of it like going on a long walk towards a specific destination. Let’s say it’s a hike through the woods at the base of a mountain, and the end goal is to make it to the top of said mountain. Discipline will help you make sure you keep walking even when you’re tired, and when you don’t feel like hiking anymore. Focus on the other hand helps you make sure you pick the best route to get to the top of the mountain. Without focus, you could end up walking around in circles without making any real progress. Without discipline, you won’t be able to take the thousands of steps (and make it through any setbacks or difficulties you encounter along the way) it will take to make it to the top.
Why The People You Spend Time With Influence Your Future Success
There’s this idea floating around that the five people you spend the most time with will determine how successful you are. I did a little digging and traced it down to a quote by Jim Rohn, an entrepreneur, and motivational speaker. His exact quote was “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with.” While I don’t think that the influence and math are quite that simple, there is something to this whole idea that the people you spend time with influence your level of success.
The People You Choose To Include In Your Circle Matter
The important conclusion to draw from this is that it’s important to pay attention to who you spend time with and surround yourself with successful people as much as possible.
You know the inverse is true. When a kid falls in with the “wrong” or “bad” crowd at school, grades drop, and behavior changes for the worse. The opposite is true too. If your child has friends who are working hard and doing well in school, he or she will be more likely also to do well. The same is true when it comes to our own lives and the areas we want to succeed in.
Let’s say your dream is to own a small restaurant on the main street and make a comfortable living cooking amazing locally sourced food for your community. Wouldn’t it make sense to make friends with other local business owners, chefs, and even boutique farmers in your area? How about having a group of friends across the county who are running the same type of restaurants?
Influence Is Powerful
When you surround yourself with other people who are already successful in what you want to do, you can tap into their vast experience and hopefully avoid making some of the mistakes they’ve made. Think of them as your mentors who will help you make progress faster. Something as simple as knowing who to talk to about your business license can save you days of time and aggravation.
The people you surround yourself with don’t even have to be very successful at what you want to do. There’s a lot of value in having people around you who are on the same journey. You can mastermind and exchange ideas. You can bounce ideas off each other, and most importantly, you can encourage each other to keep pushing through the tough times and celebrate the small successes.
Start by looking for like-minded people. Find a few who are either working towards the same goal or who have already accomplished them and can play the role of a mentor or guide. Building a network like that can become an invaluable asset on your road to success.
