What’s the secret to success in life?

And what’s the secret to success running a trade business?

• And you might think it’s being smart.
• And you might think it is being beautiful you know like all the film stars in Cannes and all those.

And what they found… there’s been some research done by a woman called Angela Lee Duckworth, a psychologist, to say that it’s not those things and it’s this other thing called GRIT.

Now I’m Jon. I’m a business coach for tradies. I work with trades business owners who want to grow and scale their trades business, and make a business and a future for themselves that they’re proud of and that they want. And I think this GRIT is one of the success factors you need to consider.

So what’s GRIT?

It’s these things:

• It’s perseverance for very long term goals. Perseverance and passion, they said, for very long term goals.
• Its stamina.
• It’s staying power.
• It’s sticking with your future for years day-in, day-out.
• It’s working hard to make that future a reality for you.
• It’s running life or your business as a marathon and not as a sprint.

How do you get more grit?

The answer is they don’t really know and they were talking about how to develop grit in kids. I would try and translate that into how you can develop it in your role as a business owner a trade business owner.

The best thing they came out with was the being smart doesn’t really help. It doesn’t really help you be successful in life. It doesn’t really help you get more grit either.

The best thing they’ve got in terms of helping you get grittier is to take the view:

• That you can learn
• That you can improve yourself
• That your experiences help you learn things.

And don’t believe that failure is final… That if you fail at something, you can get up and have another go. And that’s okay. A lot of the stuff you see on Facebook about success is about failing, getting up, and having another crack.

So how does this translate into your trades business specifically for you?

We don’t know how to make you more gritty inside but you can do the stuff, right?

Here’s your four point plan to be more gritty and to be more successful in your trades business. They said it’s about perseverance and passion in chasing your goals.

Recommended Reading: Find your passion – I call bulls#!t

Step 1: Set Some Goals

If you don’t have any goals, if you don’t know where you’re going then you can’t really persevere, can you?

• Where do you want to go?
• How big do you want your business to be?
• What you want your business to become?
• What do you want it to be like?

And you might not be naturally inclined to persevere but you can have a go, can’t you? You can go, “I’m going to try hard and stick to this.”

You can set that as a goal, “I’m gonna stick to this for five years, or 10 years, or whatever you know as long as it takes.” You can not give up. And that’s a decision I reckon you can just make.

Step 2: Make A Plan

Make a plan, and write it down, and stick to it.

Now I reckon, you’ve got this far in business so you’ve probably got some grit already. You’ve achieved your apprenticeship, you’ve got your ticket, you’ve got so as far as you’ve got in working for yourself, so you must have some already. So you’re in good shape.

Step 3: Get Some Help

I think another thing you can do is get some help.

Obviously, you can get help from me that’s my job, I’m a business coach, but you can seek help from your partner, your business partner, your wife, your husband, your mom and your mates.

Step 4: Stick To It

Go to the people who’ve given you help and say: “I’ve got a goal, I’ve got a plan, I’ve written it down, help me stick to it when I’m feeling tired and fed up, you know give me a bit of moral support, would you? Help me. Help me not give up.”

I think it’s clear that having some goals helps because it’s hard to be passionate and persevere if you don’t. So that would be a good first step setting some goals, having a plan is a good second step.

And guess what?

At my workshop, I’ll help you do both of those things. I hope you set some goals. I’ll help you make a plan. And I’ll give you of course an opportunity to hire me as your business coach if you really want to as well. And I’ll help you stick to your plan.

So there you go. Two links below the video. One to watch the video and one to read a bit more about this workshop I’m running in Byron over a weekend.

Happy reading and if you don’t want to come to Byron, and you don’t want me as your business coach, set some goals and make yourself a plan.

Give yourself a headstart.

See you.