Drum – 15 August 2019

untilthere’slessfear.If yousetgoals

butdonotfollowthroughwithacti-

ons,thenthatisnotappliedfaith.

APPLYFAITH

Changeyourfriendsifnecessary

becauseyournetworkisyournet

worth,accordingtoPorterGale.

JimRohnsaysthatyouaretheaver-

ageofthefivefriendsyouspendthe

mosttimewith.If heiscorrect,then

beina groupwhereyourateyourself

theweakest.Stepoutofyourcomfort

zone,andratherchooseridiculethan

settle forfittingintoa mediocre

group.

Changeyourhabits.Avoidnega-

tivity,includingreadingnewspapers

orwatchingTV,if necessary.It ispre-

ferabletoselectupliftingmaterial

thatfeedsyourspiritandhelpsyou

focusonyourgoals.Youarea busi-

nessperson.Watchbusinessnews

andtrends.Askyourselfif yourdaily

habitssupportthegoalsandresults

youwant.

Watchwhatyouthinkaboutmost

ofthetimeandaskyourselfif what

youthinkservesthegoalyouwantto

achieve.EarlNightingalesays,“We

becomewhatwethinkaboutmostof

thetime.”

Learntocontrolwhatyourmind

focuseson.Learntobeacritical

thinker.Committoyourgoalsdaily.

MONITORYOURGOALS

Onceyourstrategiesandactionshave

beendeveloped,theymustbebroken

down intomilestones,withtime

frames,toallowyoutomonitorthe

progress.

Forexample,if I wanttoreachone

millionentrepreneurswiththisbook,

thenI willappointa publicistonre -

tainerforsixmonths,orI willappoint

a contentmarketingconsultantto

createuniquedailymessagestopost

onsocialmediatoincreasemynum-

beroffollowers.I willalsorelease

monthlynews-letters.I willthenbe

abletomonitor,weeklyormonthly,

thenumberofentrepreneursI reach

bythenumberofsharesandlikes.

Keepa dailyjournalandtrackyour

successes.I learntthisimportant

lessonfrommymentor,AllonRaiz,

whoistheCEOandfounderofRai-

zcorp.Whenyouvisithisoffice,you

willbeabletoviewphotographsof

successstories.Keepa scoreofyour

successestoremindyourselfhowfar

youhavecome.

Readyourgoalsatleastthreetimes

a day.Eachweekreviewyourcurrent

performanceagainst theprevious

week,andthendecidewhatcouldbe

improvedoninthecomingweek.

Checkyouractualresultsagainstthe

targetsset,andif you’refallingshort,

assessthereasonsfornotachieving

them.

Buildsystemstomonitorgoalsand

actions.Youcouldevenseta reminder

onyourcellphoneorlaptop.Report

backtoyouraccountabilitypartner

orcoachonwhatisworkingandwhat

isnot.

Beaccountableandcoachable.Most

businessownersarebothshareholder

anddirectorandarenotaccountable

toanyoneelse.Beaccountabletoyour-

selffirst,byfindingpeoplesuchasa

mentororcoachtoholdyouaccoun-

table.

‘Dowhatyoufear,and

keepdoingituntil

there’slessfear’

Thereisnowayyoucanfulfilcon-

tractualobligationstoyourclientsif

youcannotholdyourselfaccountable.

STAYHUMBLE

Someentrepreneursachievesuccess

tooearlyandbecomearrogant.They

rejectadvicefromeveryone.Itissad

thattherearepeoplewhowillnotlis-

tenfirstbeforerespondingtoobjecti-

onsorshortcomingsbeingpointed

out.

Feedbackisalwaysgood.Atleast

peoplecareenoughtotellyou.Soac-

ceptcriticismandthinkaboutit,con-

sideringwhathasbeensaidfromall

angles.Youcanthenpresentyour

reasonsforyourviewsorapproach

anddiscussthemrationallyandobjec-

tively.Vieweverydayasanopportuni-

tytolearnsomethingthatwillimprove

youandyourbusiness.

THIS IS AN EDITED EXTRACT FROM THE ESSENTIAL FINANCE

HANDBOOK FOR ENTREPRENEURS 2ND EDITION BY PRECIOUS

MVULANE, PUBLISHED BY GAD CONSULTING SERVICES INC.

(From previous page)

40 | 15 AUGUST 2019 http://www.drum.co.za

ADVICE