The world is a big wonderful place full of exciting, beautiful and wonderful things. But, without the freedom to explore it, what’s the point?

Most people agree, but a very small number stop and say, “Wait a minute, I’m going to do EVERYTHING I can to make sure I get to explore the world on MY terms. Those people are Lifestyle Entrepreneurs.

Back in April, I launched the “How to Quit Working Show,” which features the most amazing Lifestyle Entrepreneurs in the world! Each one of them is an inspiration. Each week, I interview another one and find out what they are doing that makes them successful and what they would tell other people who want to do the same.

This week marks the 25th episode and after that many interviews, there are very clear common themes. Seven of them to be exact! Let’s get to it:

Be 1000% Dedicated

This can’t be a hobby; it must be a dedication. It can’t be something you do only when there is time. It has to be something you do ALL THE TIME. Everything thought that goes through your head, every decision you make and every action you take has to be about Lifestyle. Make the decision that you deserve it.

Fight the Fear Monster

Your biggest enemy is not money, customers, marketing, technology or lack of business accumen. It is FEAR. Fear is the number one thing that holds potential Lifestyle Entrepreneurs back. What if I can’t pay the bills? What if I can’t get any customers? What if nobody likes me? It’s your survival instinct kicking in. Human minds evolved to be fearful to protect us. But, fear does not serve us in business.

Don’t Focus on Money

Focus on doing something you care about. Devote yourself to it. Once you’ve done that, layer good business smarts on top of it. Then you will make money. And don’t worry about where to get the business smarts. We’re talking about simple principles that are learnable and readily available on the Internet, in books and classes.

Never Regret Anything

Approach decisions and new situations knowing that it’s entirely possible (in fact overwhelmingly likely) that you will make mistakes. Mistakes are progress. They are good. Embrace them. Never say, “I shouldn’t have done that” because next time you do something or make a decision, you’ll hesitate, afraid to make another mistake. When you don’t regret, you don’t fear being wrong and you can confidently move forward.

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency

Everything you do, you must do consistently. Whether it is your morning routine, content publishing, following up with prospects or clients, or daily meditation, consistency is critical. In fact, doing things consistently is more important than doing them perfectly. Consistency is what separates the real entrepreneurs from the talk-epreneurs. Unfortunately, there are a lot of want-to-be entrepreneurs who simply don’t make it because they don’t keep at it.

Do Something You Care About

Whatever you do, don’t start a business about something you don’t care about. There are enough challenges and hurdles without making it harder than it needs to be. If you are really devoted to what your business is about, then you’ll have the motivation you need to push through the difficult times. And there will be difficult times.

Listen

This is the most important. Forget your agenda and listen to what your audience (customers, prospects and followers) tell you they want. There is one mistake that almost everyone makes and that is creating the wrong product. They create a product that they think will sell, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t sell because it was the wrong product. If you first build a following, and then ask them what they want, you have the perfect product — the product that is guaranteed to sell.

Photo by Pedro Lastra on Unsplash

Merriam-Webster defines work as: “an activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something.” Exerting strength or faculties doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

Every day, people complain about “work”. They say things like, “I don’t want to do that; it would be too much like work.”

So, why do we think “exerting strength or faculties” so bad? Why is it such a terrible thing to use your mind, your body, and your resources to perform something? Do our minds, bodies and resources even exist for any reason other than “performing something?”

I searched the Internet for “popular life goals” and found many lists of common goals that people have for their lives. One was very comprehensive: http://www.ranker.com/list/most-important-life-goals-list/samantha-dillinger 

What We Really Want

Wow, what an ambitious bunch of people we are! We really want the best for ourselves and everyone in the world.

According to the ranker.com list, we want to start a non-profit, care for others, help the needy, bring peace to the world, be giving, raise wonderful children and on and on. Most of all, we want to be the best possible people we can be. We want to be happy, enjoy life, learn new languages, be healthy, grow intellectually, be true to ourselves, and appreciate beauty.

Money shows up on the list, but it’s a needle in a haystack. Also noteworthy is that “doing nothing” never shows up on any of the lists.

All of the the things we say we want require us to exert our strength or faculties to achieve them. Which, back to the Merriam-Webster definition, is work.

So why does work have such a negative connotation. The reason you don’t like work because too much of it is done to achieve things we don’t care about.

Working a Job You Don’t Like

Working a job you don’t like is what 80% of Americans do five days a week for over 40 hours. It’s the primary activity that we attach the term “work” to. No wonder we think “work” is such a bad thing.

Stop thinking of work as something you “MUST DO.” Redefine work as: “how you get whatever you want.”

Then look at all the things you are “working on” that you don’t care about and redefine it as: “wasting your life.”

Write down three things you want and what it will take to get them. Then bask in the wonderfulness of work, knowing it’s the exact thing that will get you whatever you want.

Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash