Most entrepreneurs struggle to succeed, some achieve moderate success and a handful build empires. The dream of success tends to give rise to the search for a shortcut to success.
Millions of entrepreneurs are trying to build a successful business. Many will fail and give up. Many will fail and pick themselves up and carry on. And many entrepreneurs will spend a great deal of their time looking for the ultimate shortcut to success.
There is in fact a real shortcut to success. It is no secret though so many entrepreneurs seem to dismiss it and continue to look for other shortcuts.
There are Two Parts to the Shortcut to Success
In the title of this article, I already mentioned the first requirement of the shortcut to success.
You cannot achieve success without having a strategy to reach your goals. One assumes your goal or goals are clear because if they are not, then no amount of strategy is going to help you.
It’s like making a cup of coffee really …
First, you have to want a cup of coffee! This gives you a goal. Then you have to follow a strategy to make your coffee.
Your coffee strategy probably looks something like this:
- Gather the raw materials you need, a mug, some coffee, milk, clean water, a kettle, electricity, etc.
- Define the steps to making a cup of coffee, boil your water, put coffee in the mug, pour hot water into the mug, add milk and sugar, stir, etc.
The above example then makes the second part of the shortcut to success rather obvious. If you have a strategy worked out, what is next?
Action, effort, doing, progress, etc.
Thus, the shortcut to success could be summed up as a formula that goes something like this:
Success (Goal Attainment) = Strategy + Action.
You might want a cup of coffee really badly, you might know exactly how you are going to make it but if you do not follow through on the strategy you worked out you will not end up with a cup of coffee.
If you spend all your time looking for a better faster kettle, a new coffee machine that is not yet within your budget or you won’t make your coffee until you get those premium organic beans then you’ll never drink coffee.
Building a business is the same as making a cup of coffee. You either get busy building your business or you spend all your time trying to figure out how to make it successful faster. There is nothing wrong with speeding things up as long as it doesn’t take you away from doing your work.
The fastest route to success, the ultimate shortcut to success is to work on your business continually and consistently.
Success is the accumulation of many many small actions.
Yes, building a business is much more complex than making a cup of coffee but the basic steps are the same.
- You start with a goal, a vision, something that excites you.
- Then you work out what you will need to make that vision a reality.
- You also work out the action steps you will need to take in using the materials you have listed.
Then you get busy doing the actions.
Naturally, there are improvements you can make along the way, there are failures (learning opportunities) and there are small wins and big disappointments.
Those few entrepreneurs who build empires are the ones who follow the above formula. In most cases, success takes a really long time. If it didn’t it would hardly be an exciting game.
Looking for shortcuts is the surest way to slow down your success!
Stop looking for shortcuts that take your attention and efforts away from working on your business. Enjoy the struggle for success as you will find it far more rewarding than finally being successful.
The game of life and all its side quests along the way are not about winning or losing but about playing the game. When the game ends, win or lose, you are going to need to find a new game anyway or you will be miserable.
