8 Ways to Elevate Your Game to the Next Level Your entrepreneurial journey won't be such a grind if you learn to take joy in your growth along the way.
By Sherrie Campbell Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Most of us are driven to succeed, yet it is amazing how many of us view the process of getting to where we want to go as a chore, rather than as the greatest, most fulfilling adventure of a lifetime.
The pursuit of success is our greatest gift, as it is exactly what develops our character and makes our lives extraordinary. When we have a goal in mind, we are instantly purposed. Succeeding comes down our mindset. Our mindset must be driven to succeed, to sacrifice and to have the resiliency and patience to chart our path. The reason most give up is because they want their vision now; at the click of a button.
Keep in mind, that succeeding is not an event but a process. Results take time; therefore, we must have frustration tolerance and emotional management as our warriors if want to go next level.
1. No pain, no gain.
Our identities are built around who we are, and who we are is largely constructed around what we do with our lives. If we're not willing to sacrifice, we must question how deeply we desire to succeed. There is a cost that comes with the pursuit of success. To elevate our game, we will have to sacrifice leisure activities, lazy days, time, and even relationships to get to where we need to go. Elevating to our next level is in all the action; the late nights, the research, making sure we're prepared, the stress and worry, the personal growth, and the achievement of one small goal at a time. If we want results, the pain will be more than worth it. Bottom line, we must be in it to win it.
Related: 5 Lessons From 7 Months in Startup Hell
2. Keep the faith.
To elevate our game, we must always hold a vision of the next steps in our process. The vision we hold is the picture of success we chase. We must drive, dig, grind and then let go and have faith, as we witness how the results of our actions land. Every single day our eyes open in the morning, we must make sure we're clear about what we want. We each have control over how hard and how smart we work; the rest comes down to having the faith that our efforts will pay off in the ways we want. The large majority of successful people work from faith. Faith is the energy that funds belief. Without belief, success isn't a possibility.
Related: How to Stay Focused When You Feel Like Giving Up
3. Practice patience.
If we don't master having patience, we will never master success. To elevate our game, we must learn not to allow our more reactive, frustrated, fearful or impatient emotions to get in our way. We must use our faith to bring us patience, along with employing positive self-talk, and training ourselves to remain flexible and open to whatever results come. We must hold the attitude that we cannot lose, we can only learn. If we work hard enough, and know we're doing all we can, waiting isn't quite as challenging. When we're patient, we give our success the room in needs to breath, mature, grow and manifest.
Related: How Patience, Grit and Beer Helped This Entrepreneur Finally Find Success
4. Show up.
When it comes to success, showing up is half the battle. Many people think about succeeding, they think about losing weight, about clearing their clutter, making more money and they think about it a lot. Thinking about success will not bring success. To elevate our game, we must back our thinking with the necessary effort and action to move on achieving our new goals. We must show up or show out. If we start, we must finish. It's part of the grind. If we're in the game, we have nothing to lose by giving it all we've got.
Related: If 80 Percent of Success Is Showing Up Then 20 Percent Is Following up
5. Run you own race.
To get to our next level we must focus on our own race. We must not succeed for anyone but ourselves. We must not pursue success to show other people up, to get revenge, or to take someone down that we fear is better. The reason race horses have blinders on their eyes is so they don't get distracted by the other horses when they're racing. The blinders do not allow the horse to see anything but what is in front of them. It forces the horse to stay focused on their own race. We must do the same thing. We all saw what happened in the Olympics with the south African swimmer and Michael Phelps. The South African was watching Phelps and Phelps was watching the finish line. It's no wonder Phelps won. We must each focus on our own finish line.
Related: 5 Routine Habits Of Successful People That You Should Pursue
6. You must believe.
The more we push ourselves beyond our perceived limits, the more we expand our belief in ourselves. This is exactly how we elevate to the next level. If we see a door that has a sign that says "limit," "fear," "I can't," "its not possible," or "who are you kidding?" on it, we must take it upon ourselves to push through every single one of those doors. The majority of the time we will find that the signs on those doors were lies we've been telling ourselves. When we walk through them and achieve the "impossible," we build our character and greatly increase the confidence we have in ourselves. The more confident we are, the more we elevate our game.
Related: Don't Believe Success Comes From Hard Work Alone
7. Be a team player.
One of the most important ways to elevate our game, is to be inclusive. Success is a team sport. If we are selfish, and we try and hoard or hide our success, we won't get nearly as far as when we choose to include others in achieving our goals. It's teamwork that makes the dream work. When we're on our mission and we see anyone on our team wearing thin, we must partner up and bring them along, and expect the same in return. We must drop our egos and ask for help whenever necessary. We are much more resilient when we have a community of support to turn to.
Related: How to Become an Exemplary Team Player in Business
8. Be proud of yourself.
The most precious gift we give ourselves when trying to elevate our career to the next level, is to take pride in who are and in what we're trying to achieve. We must be proud of our efforts, proud of our level of commitment and proud of our desire to make a difference. The journey to success is no fun if we cannot take immense joy in our own personal growth and development along the way. We must take moments to pat ourselves and our team members on the back. Being proud of ourselves and others increases morale and motivation. When we see that what we're doing is having a significant impact on those we serve, we must allow this to touch our hearts and keep us inspired to continue to do more.
