Most New Year's resolutions consist of improving yourself - lose weight, sleep more - while others just wish to live a happier life. But there are some people who are passionate about bringing a transformational change, and those people are known as entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs always think and have a proactive approach. They continuously accept challenges, solve real problems, wish to grow and build things from scratch. They go on to inspire many like-minded individuals with similar vision and passion. But is passion enough for disruption?
We advise entrepreneurs to take a step back from tactical goal setting. Instead, we suggest they use the time to consider adopting new habits, or changing old ones in a way that will help them be more successful in everything they do.
In the spirit of holidays, here are a few New Year’s resolutions we encourage all entrepreneurs to make.
• Move fast, but think through your decisions
Whether you are at the initial stages of founding a company, or focused on scaling your startup, moving quickly is certainly important. But if you are moving so fast that you do not fully think through your decisions, you can find yourself in a position where you launch a product that no one wants to buy, choose the wrong co-founder, or take funding from the wrong investor.
The line between thoughtful decisiveness and impulsiveness is a fine one, but you can avoid crossing it if you simply commit to thinking through all of your decisions.
• Hire the right bunch
Understand the demands of your company. Know where, when and whom to invest in. Hiring is that thin line, the deciding factor, between success and mediocrity. Your team can be your most prized possession, so hire the right people for the role. Start fresh this year by understanding the problems faced by them. Recognizing and responding to their problems can go a long way in establishing the core value of loyalty. Before hiring, know what kind of team you would like to develop and recruit accordingly. Sometimes being the best is not enough, attitude matters.
• Choose a credit card that will help grow your business
As an entrepreneur, resolve to make your money work for you in 2020. The easiest way to start is by choosing a business credit card that has strong rewards that compliment your business goals.
For example, if you find yourself traveling frequently, choose a card with good travel perks like points toward flights or no foreign transaction fees. Using the perfect card to earn residual rewards or cash back on your necessary, everyday expenses is an easy way to rack up savings throughout the year.
• Focus your energy on future opportunities, not past challenges
Failures, big and small, are inevitable for all entrepreneurs. You will make bad hires, have upset customers, and find product-market fit through trial and error. If you are raising money, you will certainly have a few investors who will turn you down.
No matter how many times entrepreneurs are told that failure is ok, we still see too many dwell on their failures and stop acting decisively because of their missteps.
The New Year is the perfect time to evaluate your company’s strengths and weaknesses and create goals or resolutions for the upcoming year. Even the most successful entrepreneurs and founders use the New Year as an opportunity for growth.
We all are moving somewhere. After all, aren’t we?
• Reading One Book per Month
This one might seem obvious but remains important: expanding your horizons, making our imagination work and learning something new every month is a must for any successful entrepreneur.
• Adapting The No Screen Sunday
Try dedicating your Sundays to be a day free of screens, you will be surprised of result on your overall wellbeing. This gives your body a day of rest: physical as well as mental . Resting our mind from images, video and audio content means that our minds were fresh for the week ahead.
If taking a whole day off your digital schedule is too much, try several hours on the weekend, and you will be sure to see the results.
• Working 50 Percent Less
Sometimes, the harder we pile onto our busy schedules, the harder is to achieve anything worthwhile. This leads to what we call a burnout. Why don't you try to do the opposite? Remove all the superfluous activity, focus on the high leverage actions and do it in half the time. Managing your time more efficiently can lead to great results and better wellbeing.
Of course, there are no silver bullets to success as an entrepreneur. But adopting those habits can at least help put you in a good position to build a product or service that people want, and cultivate valuable relationships.
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