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I’m shocked to discover that high performing people often describe themselves as natural procrastinators. If they weren’t being held accountable, they simply wouldn’t be doing half the stuff they get done. Sometimes I meet a naturally motivated person and discover they have a huge amount of pain in their past that requires them to rise above it every day. Motivational icon Tony Robbins had a highly abusive childhood and decided to fight his way out of it. He appeared to be self-driven, but in many ways he was facing a very real threat.
For those of you who aren’t dealing with a threat, put in place external accountability systems. To be clear, pay someone, join a group or set up an ugly consequence for not acting. The accountability needs to be daily or at least weekly, because humans are hardwired to wait until the last minute.
Research shows that the majority of successful entrepreneurs actually grew up in wealthy families and had access to resources (read the report ‘What Makes an Entrepreneur?’ by David G. Blanchflower and Andrew J. Oswald: http://www.andrewoswald.com/docs/entrepre.pdf). More often than not, they had startup capital, accounting and legal support, and safety-nets in place if they failed. All these resources allowed them to get going – personality traits, desire and goals didn’t make as much difference to success as having resources did.
Why wait until after you are financially successful to do your most rewarding work? The approach that works best is to choose something big from day one. Naming something bigger than your business as a mission expands your thinking and attracts collaborators. A big problem to solve in conjunction with an enterprise you want to build creates nuclear fusion powered growth.
The best system I’ve ever seen for turning your business into a force for good is to select a Global Goal and then use B1G1 to find a project to support. Because giving is linked to sales, as your business grows, so does your impact.
From the moment you start this approach, you will build purpose and contribution into the growth and success of your enterprise. As an added benefit, you’ll be part of an inspiring global community of entrepreneurs, leaders and change makers. Not only will this approach attract more customers and better team members, you’ll unlock a deep sense of pride and empowerment when you’re solving meaningful problems in your business and in the world.
Your business is here to do something big. You are here to do something big. Everything you’ve done up until this point has formed part of your story. Asset Zero is the thing you started with when you had nothing, and it’ll be the thing that still has your attention after money, fame, power and influence all show up. It is right there in the background of every milestone, setback and achievement you’ve had.
Asset Zero makes you face your fears and take brave actions. It brings out your passion and your playfulness. It fuels the dent you want to make in the universe. The 24 assets are important, but really they’re not very valuable without Asset Zero. Only you can know what your Asset Zero is. Strip everything away and what are you left with? What have you been about since day one? What are you really up to? What is it that gives you the feeling of being in flow? What lights you up even though it’s hard? What will you go to your grave trying to get done in the world?
