This is a guest post by Jon Gordon. Jon is the Wall Street Journal and international bestselling author of a number of books including The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy, and his latest, The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work. Learn more at www.JonGordon.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonGordon11 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/jongordonpage.

“Vision without execution is hallucination.” – Einstein

I believe every one of us has a desire to accomplish great things, to do something meaningful, to have an impact. Yet, so many of us don’t take the actions necessary to create the success we desire. Then there are others who are very busy taking actions but the actions have nothing to do with their vision and goals. They’ve become lost in the busyness of life.

In my work with sports teams, businesses and organizations I have found that the key to individual and team success is to Zoom Focus. Zoom Focus helps you turn ideas and goals into reality and results. Zoom Focus helps you focus on your priorities, execute, and create success. Zoom Focus helps you take daily steps towards your big picture vision.

Now more than ever it is a time for action. It is a time for getting things done. It is a time to tune out the distractions and the noise from the doomsdayers and the naysayers and focus on what truly matters and what truly will help us create success. In this spirit here are a few ways to put Zoom Focus to work for you and your team.

Create your Big Picture Vision – This might be a goal or a dream. It might be a project that needs to be completed or a sale you are trying to close. It might be a company objective or a team mission. It might be a book you want to write, an initiative to improve your community, or a championship you want to win. Identify your vision and then you’ll be ready to Zoom Focus and take the necessary actions to get you there.

Ask One Question – Each day when you wake up in the morning ask the question, “What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?” Then each day take action on those three things.

Tune Out the Distractions – Turn off the television. Stop answering the phone. Don’t answer the email right now. Talk to your friend later. First, get things done. Execute, accomplish and then feel free to embrace the distractions.

Say No and Yes – My friend once told me, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” He reminded me that we need to stop scattering our energy and wasting our time on trivial things that have nothing to do with our vision and goals and start saying yes to our priorities and to what truly matters. Each day we must make choices and those choices including saying “no” to people and opportunities so we can say “yes” to the work we are meant to do and the success we are meant to create.

Focus on Daily Improvement – I see it in sports all the time. Teams focus too much on winning the championship and forget to Zoom Focus each day in practice. They are outcome focused not process focused. The key is to focus on improving each day and take the necessary action steps. If you incrementally improve each day, each week, each month, each quarter by the end of the year you’ll see remarkable results and growth. When you Zoom Focus on the process the outcome takes care of itself.

Photo Credit: Lululemon Athletica

I get asked this question a lot:

What is the easiest and quickest way to start a web business?

The answer really depends on a lot of things.

For many purposes, it is pretty easy to actually launch a website. If you are publishing mostly content (text, photos and videos), then a simple WordPress theme will likely suffice. If you are going to be selling anything, you may need to look at an e-commerce solution like Shopify. Or for more complex applications, you might look to hire a professional web designer and/or developer.

The real issues revolve around the business side of the question. Is this just a personal hobby you are trying out, or are you serious about starting a business? If the latter is the case, you will want to spend time reviewing the different types of business entities. There are a lot of options, and trying to figure out what is best for you can be challenging.

Different Business Structures

Incorporation
C-Corporation
S-Corporation
Professional Corporation
Non-Profit Corporation
LLC Limited Liability Company
Professional Limited Liability Company
LLP Limited Liability Partnership
Sole Proprietorship
General Partnership
LP Limited Partnership

My advice is to seek out an expert like MyCorporation to answer your questions and help you decide. Note: I have not used them personally, but several friends have. There are many other online services, or you can meet with a local lawyer or accounting firm that advises startups.

I have started both an S-Corporation and an LLC and there are pluses and minuses to every business entity. For many reasons, you should not just operate a business as “yourself” (unless you’re set up a legitimate sole proprietorship) as there are plenty more risks associated with that. Not to mention, various business types may benefit you with certain tax advantages.

The best structure for you will also depend on the type of business you have and where you are located. You may consider meeting with your local Chamber of Commerce, tax department or Small Business Administration (SBA) office.

The main thing is to not simply rush out and launch a website; carefully consider what type of business you are going to operate. Get this structure in place early on, not after the fact. This is crucial for ensuring you are not caught later with tax liabilities that could not only threaten you financially but could get you fined or put out of business.

Photo credit: Dierken

In my experience running several web businesses—and seeing others either do the same or attempt it—I have seen one common hurdle. It’s the biggest thing that prevents most people from achieving the level of success they’d like.

Fear.

Fear comes in many disguises—such as self-doubt, low self-esteem and criticism from others. Regardless of what you call it, fear prevents people from making a commitment to their goals and sticking with a plan when things go off course (which they always will).

Here are some ways I have found to overcome fear and keep going against the tide:

1. Silence your inner critic. Consider him/her that nemesis you are dead-set on proving wrong. Turn negative thoughts into challenging statements and will yourself to succeed.
2. Silence your outer critics. Accept that lots of people would secretly (or openly) like you to fail, or have failed themselves, and they will not stop in finding all kinds of ways that you, too, will fail.
3. Stop comparing yourself to others. There is always someone who has been doing it longer than you have, or for whatever reason has some mojo going that you don’t. Find your own rhythm and enjoy the music.
4. Take action. It might be just another small step, but keep moving.
5. Stick to the topic. There is a great tendency to start something then water it down by chasing after some new shiny object. Resist this and stay focused on one common theme.
6. Ask for help. Lots of breakdowns occur when you try to do everything yourself. And don’t assume everything is (or should be) free.
7. Adapt as you go. Every one of us has some challenges that affect how much we can effectively get done. Be willing to experiment and change your habits if something isn’t working.
8. Keep track of what you’re doing. Make to-do lists and calendar items and check off completed tasks. It’ll make you feel good to chart your progress.
9. Celebrate small victories. A few more page views a week, or a new subscriber to your email list are sometimes all you need.

Photo Credit: PSD

I ran across a great quote today by George S. Patton, Jr.:

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

Sounds kinda harsh. But there’s some brutal truth to that statement if you are even thinking about running your own business. Tired is likely to be one of your greatest enemies. If you give in (cower in fear) in the face of fatigue, you’re not going to make it.

Show me any successful entrepreneur, and I’ll show you someone who has sacrificed sleep for the greater good of moving the ball forward on their venture or passion. Granted, I’m all for getting proper rest, but the sad fact is you won’t be able to get a full night’s rest consistently and still accomplish the things you need or want to do. Sometimes the bills have to be paid after the kids are in bed. And the blog posts written. And the invoices prepared and sent. And the proposals prepared. And the website coded tweaked. And on and on.

Fatigue sucks. It’s not always fun to be tired and wanting to sleep and still churning for a little longer. But the secret is, if you really love what you’re doing, you’ll find a reserve of energy you never realized you had.

For business sake, the next time you think you’re too tired to keep going, soldier on like the good General Patton.

Photo credit: o5com