Entrepreneurial Success Factors
I’ve been reading The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan and making some changes in my thinking about my own business. In Chapter 16, entitled The Three Commitments they explain the three commitments required in order to achieve extraordinary results in your life and business. These are:
1) Adopting the mindset of someone seeking mastery
2) Seeking the very best ways of doing things
3) Being willing to be held accountable to doing everything you can
They describe mastery as being a way of thinking and acting, as well as your journey to your destination. If you choose to master the correct thing, then pursuing mastery will make almost everything else you do easier, or no longer even necessary. Once we know the basics of what we want to achieve, it is simply a matter of spending enough time to achieve mastery. I think of my writing as an excellent example of this; once I knew how to write blog posts, short reports, and books it was time for me to start writing every single day so that I could continue to perfect my skills over time. The journey of mastery is never ending, and you will be pleased with your success over time.
This all goes back to the theory of ‘10,000 hours’, a rule first discussed by by psychologist K. Anders Ericsson in 1993. The thinking behind this is that establishing the habit of regular practice with any skill will lead to enhanced performance over time with that skill. We’ve all known people who spent endless hours practicing a sport, a musical instrument, or other activity and have observed how they improve over time. I think back to when my grandson took up the guitar at age six and am still amazed at how proficient he has become over these years. This theory assumes a direct correlation between the hours invested and your level of proficiency.
They also discuss the idea of ‘doing your best’ versus ‘doing something in the best way that it can be done’. This requires you to change what you are doing, something many of us are simply not willing to do. Moving from an ‘Entrepreneurial’ approach to one that is more ‘Purposeful’ will change your life forever.
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What are your thoughts on this subject? Have you adopted the mindset of mastery for your life?
