4 Steps to Playing Bigger

When my younger son Alex was 5, but he played in a 6 & 7 year old baseball league – though I’m certain that he practices more than any other kid in the league by at least a multiple of 3.

Now before you think I am dragging him out to practice, I should tell you that I’ve probably only asked him if he wanted to play catch or hit or something of that nature 2-3 times – ever.

He is very self directed.

He’ll go out and ‘practice’ (his word for play) 3-4 times a day…sometimes with me or Tyler and other times by himself.

But I didn’t really start writing with the intention of talking about Alex’s practice habits…who knows what his interests will be 2 years from now…it just put the concept of getting better on my mind.

Really, I think getting better…playing bigger…in business especially…but in pretty much anything comes down to 4 steps.

1. You need to decide where you want to go.

This precedes anything else. Without a goal it’s hard to focus. Without a destination you can’t really create a map. So decide what the outcome you want is.

What does success look like to you?

Decide…but don’t overthink it because ‘success’ is often a moving target. When you have 30 clients success might be 100, but once you get to 100 you’ll likely want more.

So decide and accept that it’s not written in stone.

2. ‘Get your mind right.’

There is much that goes into the mindset part of achievement…but let’s make it as simple as we can:

• Embrace that success is a result of daily action…people aren’t just ‘born with it’ in most cases.
• Believe that you can do it because you’re willing to go through the process needed to get there.
• When you fall off track…go back to the first two…’it’s a daily thing and you’re willing to go through the process’. Consider it your quick mental reset.

3. Do quality work – daily.

The goal is to improve…to move closer to your goals…each day.

Not to just be busy.

Not to grind.

Yes, there are times that you’re going to have to put in long hours and do things that no one else will do…but if that’s daily for a decade you’re likely doing it wrong.

So map out 1-3 things you need to do to move toward your goals the night before and make them the first things you do with your time the next day.

4. Surround yourself with success.

We all need to be immersed in a culture of achievement if we want to reach our potential.

From the Jim Rohn saying of ‘you’re an average of the 5 people you’re around most’ to the Napoleon Hill writings about the power of the mastermind…we are always better when those around us help to lift us up.

So join a mastermind. Read biographies of top achievers. Go to events and make connections.

This will keep you motivated and allow you to think even bigger.

OK – that’s my for steps. Hopefully you don’t think it’s too simple…because the magic isn’t in the complexity of the plan, rather in the execution of it.