5 principles to build a business

This article comes from Scott Meyers. The article can be found at: http://www.reiclub.com/art/print.php?article=five-principles-success

Principle # 1 – Overcome Fear of Failure
Probably the greatest obstacle to getting started in any business venture is that demon we call FEAR. I have seen many people that have been defeated by the fear of failure.

Some don’t even make it to the failure stage because they were too afraid to try; they were afraid of failing. Some people fear the unknown because it represents areas beyond the boundaries of their comfort zone. Mostly, they fear what others may think of them! They fear ridicule by their friends, and even worse, ridicule by their own families. This fear has stopped more would be successful investors than all other factors or considerations combined.

Some friends act as an anchor placed around your shoulders, holding you firmly in place, keeping you from reaching your true potential. I have done my best to surround myself will people who act as buoys, who lift me up, rather than hold me down. I am more selective in whom I spend time with as I grow older, choosing to spend time with people who have a similar, positive approach they take to work while glorifying God with the time they spend on his earth. As your friends and your family witness your progress, eventually, their attitudes will change, and you may even discover that they will probably start coming to you for advice from time to time.

Principle # 2 – Setting Goals
A BHAG’s (or Big Hairy Audacious Goal) are defined by Jim Collins in his books “Good to Great” and “Built To Last”, as a huge and daunting goal-like a big mountain to climb. It is clear, compelling, and people “get it” right away. A BHAG serves as a unifying focal point of effort that keeps you striving toward a pre-defined finish line. I would compare it to the 1960s NASA moon mission where President Kennedy’s goal of reaching the moon captured the country’s imagination and grabbed people in the gut. Your BHAG should be quantifiable and possess some timeframe associated with it. Jim Collins went on to describe the five criteria of a good BHAG as follows:
1. Are set with understanding, not bravado.
2. Fit within the parameters of what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be the best in the world at, and what drives the economic engine of your company.
3. Have a long time frame — 10 to 30 years.
4. Are clear, compelling and easy to grasp.
5. Directly reflect your core values and core purpose.

It is much easier to become a great organization than to remain a great organization over time. To remain great over time requires, staying focused on what you are deeply passionate about, what you do the best, and what is most profitable in your investing career.
Principle #3 - Establishing Priorities
Setting goals however, doesn’t do you or your organization any good without a game plan in place to achieve them. This starts with prioritizing your activities on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis to ultimately conquer your BHAG. John D. Rockefeller, The founder of Standard Oil who went on to build one of our country’s most successful organizations, was a master at prioritizing the activities of his firm to ensure that it attained his goals. Remember, if it isn’t written down and measured, it doesn’t get done.

Principle # 4 – Perseverance
The will to persevere is not only crucial to one’s success in the real estate investment industry; it is crucial for success in all aspects of one’s life. The ability to endure whatever challenges life throws at you is essential for personal development and growth, and it is especially true for the attainment of wealth. If you wish to accumulate wealth, then you must be willing to dedicate a great deal of effort to that end.
Think of a skill that you are particularly adept at. Whatever that skill is, if you are like most people, you have honed and developed that skill over the years and you now possess it as the result of your dedication and the will to excel in your chosen field. In other words, it wasn’t handed to you; nothing in life worth having is.
Perseverance is a conditioning process that is best learned in our youth. Perhaps, like me, you have been conditioned by your environment in your formative years. Family and friends have told you that “you cannot do it; you don’t have what it takes; that’s a risky idea; or I know someone who tried that and failed miserably”. This continual negative assault may have slowed or halted your progress. Perhaps some of your past attempts did fail, bruising your ego, and you began to believe what the naysayer’s were throwing at you.

I know some people who were in this same situation, and to alleviate the pain, they just gave up. It was too hard for them to see through the darkness and trust that things were going to turn around, and that success was not as far away as they had thought. In order to persevere, you must recognize that the short term sacrifices you endure now will be well worth the long-term benefits you will eventually enjoy.

After all, they say Thomas Edison experimented with over 6,000 different materials before he was able to find a suitable filament for the light bulb.

And in the often quoted words of Winston Churchill to Great Britain when it seemed that all hope was lost and the Germans were invading his country and threatening to overthrow him, “Never, ever give in”!

Principle # 5 - Developing your Purpose
I firmly believe that it is just as important to know why you are going on this journey as it is to know where you are going on the journey. And on a more philosophical level, you may be asking yourself, what is my purpose in life? What exactly is it that I hope to achieve in this process of wealth accumulation, and what do I plan to do once I have achieved my goals? .