How to Give Yourself a Jump on Your Competition.
Life is a competition. Business is a competition. Personal improvement is competition. Pretty much everything we do where "achievement" is involved, we are competing in one way or another...either with others, or with ourselves (or both).
But the way we approach competition can sway whether we out compete (win) in business, and whether we fall into an ongoing and predictable cycle of failure.
So what are the difference makers? What can YOU do to give yourself a competitive advantage in a world that "appears" to be full of stiff competition (in all reality there isn't much).
We are all looking for a way where can have an upper hand. I have spent some time thinking about what attributes will offer this competitive advantage, and I have come up with a few very clear and concise personal attributes.
I am not trying to simplify success, but the reality is these things are simple human characteristics and they are going to lead to much more success in business than any "secret" or knowledge that you have obtained. The reality is that we can all obtain new skills and knowledge, but it is impossible to succeed without these human characteristics (at least at a high level anyways.
The 4 Characteristics of the Successful.
Coming to these conclusions wasn't difficult. I actually took to social media to refine my ideas here, alongside direct conversations with several folks that are creating 6, 7 and 8 figure businesses within the online world. To learn about success, you need to understand the things that are consistent across the board with those that are creating a great deal of success.
I have narrowed these down to FOUR, and I believe these are the ONLY four that you need to focus on to establish and grow a fruitful business.
(1) Work ethic. You can't rise to the surface if you are not outworking those general masses. Try to work as though as you are working as hard as the 1% in the world.
Quitting is the absolutely easiest path, regardless of the situation...even mentally. It is the path MOST traveled by people though, we are serial quitters.
Thus if you can overcome this and refuse to quit, either through an external motivator or sheer will power, you are going to have a real competitive advantage in this world
(2) Not blaming your circumstance. People achieve extraordinary success from many different upbringings, life circumstances, and at different stages in their life. The minute I see someone sharing their life story, their health issue or a story about their family member passing away 5 years ago I fear they won't be able to make it.
They are passing blame on their circumstance as to why they aren't an achiever, that is likely going to continue to be the case in their next business adventure.
Don't play the blame game. It not only creates a perception of you where people are going to work with you in a different manner (as it feels you are already set up for failure), it is going to take you down a path of recurring failure in business and in life.
Own your situation and your circumstances. They are often times out of your control, but you are in full control of the decision you make moving forward and what you achieve.
(3) Being flexible to change. In particular the online world (but no limited to), things change. Stuff that works now, may not work tomorrow. It is hard work to change gears, but few are willing to do this when it happens...thus again, another way in which you can have a competitive advantage.
There are many changes within the online business environment that you can come to anticipate, expect and embrace. These could include, but are not limited to
- Google algorithm changes/updates
- Affiliate programs changes (Amazon, Networks, etc)
- FTC Advertising/Policies change
- PPC networks changing
- New advertising/marketing opportunties
- Technology evolution and changes
- Audience behaviour changes
You simply have to be ready for these changes and have to be able to adapt to your environment. Remain flexibly and your business will always be in a position to grow.
(4) Focus. This is not as simple as it sounds. Being great at ONE thing has always been a more consistent path to success than trying to create success within many niches/industries.
All the successful companies that you see around you likely specialized with one thing when starting out. Look at Apple. Look at McDonalds. Look at Coca Cola. Look at Shell. They were all specialists and worked to become great at ONE thing. Once they were able to get the formula for success down at that, is when they were able to diversify.
Apple started with computers. Then shifted into Phones. Then they moved into Music. Then they moved into Wearables. Then they moved into services. Now they are potentially moving into autonomous vehicles. If they didn't become great at ONE thing and tried to do all of these things at once when they started out, then they wouldn't exist today (at least not on the same Trillion Dollar Company level).
Those are my 4 keys to success. If you can hone in your skills in all of these areas, you are going to have a true competitive advantage in business. The reason. Most people ARE going to suffer in one or more of these areas and will never achieve success as a result. In fact MOST people will.
So be great by having strong work ethic, not playing the blame game, remaining flexible, and keeping your focus on your own
Anything outside of these are going to be education. We all have pretty much the same access to education, and we can all learn the processes of building a business online. The difference maker will be thee 4 character sics and whether you are actively pursuing mastery of these.
Now I want to open the floor to you. Of these four, which ones do you feel you are really good at (and why), and which ones do you really need to start working on? Leave your comments below and I really look forward to hearing your feedback.
Recent Comments
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I agree with the idea of not allowing circumstances or our life stories to be an excuse for being stuck. I have always found it very empowering to take 100% responsibility for my situation. In that way I take initiative to imrprove my lot instead of waiting for external sources to come to my rescue.
On the other hand I am weak on sustained focus. Ever reading one book after another, trying this and that and never becoming expert at anything. Things have to change, and they are. I am going to work hard and focus on my training here at WA.
Brilliant sharing as always Kyle. I think I'm ok at the work ethic part. I work to the points of burnout sometimes.
As for the blaming part. Sure, I sometimes hate Google. But life goes on and it doesn't stop me from moving forward.
I probably need to be more flexible. Trying out new strategies and stuff.
Focus.. argh.. there's so much going on in my brain. Yeah. I need a little bit more focus.
Well, the question is always about whether should i be focusing on what's work, or explore new strategies/niches that may take me further.
Focus is something I have to master. I am easily distracted by researching new things so my attention is divided most of the times. This is something I need to learn how to stay focused on things I am currently doing.
My strong side is work ethic. When I want to do something, I will do it, no matter how long it will take or which road I have to take.
I think I am actually good at all the four...But as a mother of four it's getting a bit difficult for me to take out time ... but I still want to keep myself occupied with the work if I find one and also try and be good at it ...
I feel like i'm good at not blaming my circumstance, but it's taken me a while to get here. I have two small children and in my mind it's hard to find time for anything else outside of them, but that's just in my mind! Once I was able to identify I just needed to adjust my attitude to my available time (when they are asleep), things have gotten easier. I try to maximise the time i DO have to work on my business, and I have some other business mums whose brands I love to follow, and if I ever start feeling sorry for myself I just take a look at what they're achieving to re-inspire me.
focus is something i struggle with. when I started here back in 2015 I had 4 websites. I don't work on any of those now, and just have one that i'm sticking to. and two traffic channels to work on for now. I find it hard not to get distracted by shiny objects, new niche ideas, etc etc! I tend to step away and watch one of Jay's webinars when I start feeling distracted, I always learn something new that helps me focus back onto my site. I get so nervous for people when I see they're working on multiple sites when they're just starting out, because I've been there and it's not smart to me. Its enough work just doing the one site, and I need to remind myself of that all the time.
A great recipe to create a fulfilled life, definitely a work in progress, as we travel through life, following your strand will bring about some good outcomes.
If I was thinking of anything to add it would be the drive to beat ourselves, at the end of the day it is us that sets things in motion or not.
Thanks for sharing kyle, food for thought.
A very timely and, as usual, excellent post Kyle.
My work ethic is shocking.
I feel this is as a result of blaming my circumstances and not being flexible enough to adjust in the early stages of my time here at WA. The google slap on PPC - a lifelong ban that took the wind out of my sails (and sales).
But I am trying real hard to take control and push on.
I am using the situation I blamed for a long time to help me with my journey. I came to the conclusion thats if I can't change the situation, I have to change my response to it.
I have now used my life situation to achieve something I never thought possible and the best part is, I get to help others who find they're stuck. 😁
What you said about the blaming game really got me thinking. I seldom blame the circumstances, but I often take on so much upon myself that I do a lot of self-blaming.
I think the point is really, blaming game - be it towards life circumstances or anyone including ourselves, isn’t healthy.
Move on and focus on what to be done and not what have been done. Whether we dwell in the past or take on the lesson and move forward that is up to us.
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A very interesting read and I think the second point about blame is the key one.
The reality is that most people who start a business will fail and will look for things to blame for their failure. Many look to identify these reasons early on so that when they give up they can say “well it wasn’t my fault”.