Structure Equals Success

Most people that are in business for themselves are not motivated to succeed, at least not to the extent that will further their career.  It is not that they don’t want to succeed, but they may not know exactly how to go about it.  Working for yourself is great when you can make your own hours and  are largely responsible for your own income, but it can also work against you when you have nobody looking over your shoulder.  You need to find that mix of creating a routine that works for you and having the flexibility to change if the situation arises.  If you do not have a plan of attack every day, you will eventually find that your days are not as productive as you would like them to be. Structure your business to harbor a successful environment.

With a significant other, possibly kids, a social life and other things you want to do; finding the time to do everything can be difficult at times.  From the minute you wake up until the minute you go to bed, you are on the clock and should take advantage of that time.  In fact, your day should start before you even wake up.  Make a list of things you want to do tomorrow just before you go to sleep.  This will give you motivation when you wake up to accomplish everything you have written down.

It may sound cliché, but if you take care of your body, it will take care of you.  Investors come in all shapes and sizes, but to have energy to accomplish everything on your daily list, a good diet and a little exercise have proven beneficial.  You don’t need to go to the gym for an hour a day, but if you start your day with a quick 20 minute walk, it will start you in the right direction.

After you get a little exercise in and have a good breakfast, look at your list of daily goals and figure out when and how you will accomplish them.  If you don’t figure out exactly how you will do them, you will end up just doing enough to fool yourself that you are doing everything possible.  Along with your daily goals, you need to make an action plan and then do it.  It is also a good idea to have a few monthly projects or long term goals that you can work on if you have a few minutes of down time.

Your day doesn’t have to end after lunch.  Most people will hit a wall or crash after lunch.  If you ever played sports, you should view this as halftime. After lunch, come up with a plan for the second half of your day.  If you need to go for another walk or come up with a new list, do it.  If you shut your work down after lunch, you will only get half of what you want.  A large part of investing is done after traditional work hours and into the evening.  Investing club meetings and networking opportunities are after hours and you need to be sharp and focused for these events.

The most productive people in business are the ones that set goals and have structure in their lives.  You can have the best intentions, but unless you have the best plans, intentions will go by the wayside.  Start by writing down what you want to do and how you are going to do it.