Awareness to Action: Five Step Guide for Intentional Living as an Entrepreneur

Mindset Modulation: Five Steps to Live with Intention For entrepreneurs, mindset is everything. Creating a mindset of your own design—one energized by the desire to move forward, succeed, and achieve—is not something that can be completed with a figurative snap-of-your-fingers; as with all good and worthy things, it takes time, patience, and persistence. The destination is most definitely worth the journey, however, and you grow with every step you take in your preferred direction. Before you begin taking those steps, it may be of great assistance to have a map to guide you; you set the destination, and the way by which you get from point A to B is key. Ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi is credited with the famous quote, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and it’s so important to remember that any path you choose to walk is a series of steps—not one massive jump from beginning to end. Whether the path you choose focuses on running a marathon or becoming a Real Property Management franchisee, living with an intentional mindset is always to your benefit. To that thought, here are five steps to refine—or modulate—your mindset for success:

Create Awareness

One of the key factors of mindset is awareness. Whether you’re looking to make a change, or excel even further, you must be aware of yourself and what you want. Without awareness of an undesired habit, you’ll never change it. Without awareness of what success looks like to you, you’ll never achieve it. Ask yourself what you want, and if you’re happy with your current state. Awareness represents the ‘what’ of the five W’s, illuminating what you want to change/grow in/succeed at/move towards/etc. Knowing this is vital, as it sets the direction you need to travel to ultimately arrive at your desired destination. Define Your Desire to Grow or Change

If creating awareness is the ‘what’ of the five W’s, then this step is the ‘why’—arguably the most important of all. You may know what you want to change, achieve, or succeed at, but without a strong why, it will be an incredible challenge to realize. Adversity and challenge are found at every turn when embracing change and growth, and it’s your strong, foundational, why that will keep you moving forward when times are tough. The why also represents values—whether they be personal or for your business—and directly inform how you communicate yourself, your direction, and what you are doing to others.

Embrace Fear and Failure

Many of us run far and fast from fear and failure, and it’s understandable why, as neither are particularly comfortable. That word, ‘comfortable’, is exactly why it’s important to embrace them, though. For any growth or change we invite into our lives, our comfort or ‘comfort zone’ is directly challenged; we’re stepping into the unknown and welcoming uncertainty, which inherently makes us uncomfortable or fearful. Fear keeps us playing small in our lives, and only when we embrace a level of uncertainty can we make room to play a lot bigger. Additionally, if we are not willing to accept failure or misstep along the way to our goals, we miss out on valuable learning opportunities and the perspective of what success is or feels like. Failure is only final if we do not learn from it, and if we never fail how can we know when we’ve succeeded? Plan Backwards to Move Forward

One of the biggest pitfalls we run into when planning a path forward to success or change is looking at the end from the beginning. The perspective can be deflating, as the leap from A to B seems nigh insurmountable. One of the most effective means to overcome this is to reverse the situation: envision yourself in the place of success, growth, or change and imagine looking back at the beginning (where you are now). Ask yourself: What steps did I take to get here? Who helped me along the way? What resources did I make use of to grow/change/succeed? Looking back at your journey—even if you’re just embarking on it—removes the mental block of ‘how do I get where I’m going?’ and inspires creativity, thought, and motivation to succeed.

Take Action

Too often, we wait for the ‘perfect’ time to act—believing all the stars need to align for us to succeed. Realistically, we know there is no ‘perfect’ time for anything; rather, we use that thought as an excuse to not act. No matter how motivated, prepared, and encouraged you are to grow/change/succeed, if you do not act, everything is for nought. Taking the first step towards that journey of a thousand miles is the most difficult, but also the most vital—momentum is built with each succeeding step, and the movement becomes much easier. Remember: imperfect action is better than inaction. Embracing what you want in life is infinitely realizable, and you can do so through a strong mindset and approach. The process outlined above is a roadmap to success where you’re in charge of filling in the landmarks. If you truly want to achieve your goals, embrace success, and grow into the person you want to become, setting a strong mindset and building through action will get you to where you want to go. I

f that direction is focused on becoming a Real Property Management franchisee, take the action of reaching out and beginning your journey today!