As entrepreneurs looking to make a huge impact, we first have to master our time and energy—and make an impact on ourselves.
That’s where Nancy MacKay comes in. After teaching executive MBA students for 15 years and consulting with large firms, MacKay concluded that CEOs and business leaders could accelerate their success rapidly if they were given more opportunities to come together to solve their problems collectively in a non-competitive environment.
So she did what all motivated would-be entrepreneurs do: She started a business, MacKay CEO Forums. Since 2005, more than 800 CEOs and top executives across Canada are members of her results- and accountability-based peer groups.
Here are three of her most powerful tips for driving your success to new heights.
1. Get clarity on your professional passion. Passion matters more than anything else, according to MacKay, who believes it’s almost impossible to be a successful entrepreneur if you don’t have a passion for what you’re doing and understand your strengths. Passion is critical because it’s what will drive you forward on your darkest days and it will drive you to build the competencies you need to thrive as a business owner.
That means your passion can’t be simply “being an entrepreneur.” You have to truly want to make a dent in the universe (to quote Steve Jobs)—or least, in your personal universe—and accomplish something amazing. In MacKay’s case, her passion is to populate the world with better leaders.
A lack of passion—or simply not being crystal clear on what you are passionate about—can quickly cause entrepreneurs to burn out. To get clarity here, MacKay says to focus on two areas:
- Your strengths. Understand what you do best and focus your effort there. That sounds obvious, but think about how many times you’ve been told to improve your areas of weakness. Do that, and ultimately you end up with “strong weaknesses.” By focusing on your strengths and letting others address areas where you don’t shine, you will accelerate your effectiveness by leaps and bounds.
- Your activities. What activities do you enjoy doing most—the ones that give you energy and motivation—and what activities drain the life out of you? Armed with that information, you can again focus on where you actually generate the best results and look to delegate the draining tasks. “Get the stuff that brings you down off your plate,” says MacKay.
2. Create a 90-day plan to avoid being overwhelmed. More success usually means more activities, more opportunities (real and perceived) and more distractions. Life becomes overwhelming as entrepreneurs move up the success scale and their passion can begin to erode.
To combat that, MacKay says to create an action plan every 90 days. The plan should identify your biggest goals—in business, in your personal life and with your family—for the next 90 days.
Entrepreneurs often make these types of plans, but MacKay says they overlook one element that’s crucial to their effectiveness: the people who can help them achieve your goals. She explains:
“Business owners think they need to just suck it up and figure out how to do it all themselves—and that’s how they become successful. But it’s not necessary and it doesn’t really work. For every single goal you have, there is a person who has been then and done that before. Find that person and enlist their help. It’s a game changer.”
These people—be they mentors, coaches, people who are already in your organization, or other business owners (who you can meet through CEO and mastermind groups)—help you shortcut your path to your goals. Because they’ve gone where you want to go, they can show you the smoother path—and share the mistakes that almost sunk them so you can avoid them in the first place.
3. Take charge of your time. Plan out how you will spend your time during each 90-day period. Who are the people you need to be with—and who are the people you need to say no to in order to get the results you’ve set out in your plan? It’s vital to establish boundaries and stick to them. Don’t worry about how you’ll be perceived if you say no—a word that entrepreneurs don’t use nearly often enough. If you refuse an invitation or a meeting because you need to commit to other activities and people to execute on your 90-day plan, people will understand.
Give yourself the tools you need to accelerate your success like never before. Check out the insights, tactics and actionable strategies from today’s top entrepreneurs at AES Nation.