Stand Up and Stand Out in Your Business

It’s my personal opinion that we, as a nation, are in the midst of an epidemic.

No, not THE pandemic; I’m talking one of more personal nature, not viral.

One of the things I learned from my many years of teaching high schools was that we, in America, are in an epidemic of mediocrity. We are a country that gives everyone a gold star, awards medals for just showing up, and grades A’s for effort, not actual accomplishment. It is acceptable to be mediocre.

We aren’t teaching the younger generations to excel and exceed. They aren’t learning how to push through challenges. And we certainly aren’t encouraging them to step away from the ordinary, from the every day, and step into who they truly are.

Because of these observations as a teacher, one of my missions in life became to combat mediocrity. 

And so, I leave you with 5 suggestions that I thought of to help you combat mediocrity and make your business stand out.

5 ways to go from mediocre to masterful

Be curious

It’s really too bad that the phrase curiosity killed the cat is so well-remembered. The basic lesson learned from the phrase is that curiosity is bad. It’s a warning not to get too curious.

I fundamentally disagreed with this. In business—and in life—curiosity is good. Curiosity is what keeps you learning, and therefore growing, allowing your business to be propelled forward.

Take for example a marketing ad. You run a Facebook ad for your new course—and it completely fails. How do you respond?

Do you say you hate Facebook and are never running an ad again? Do you complain that you don’t understand marketing, never will, and that you are going to give up?

Or do you get curious? If you get curious, you don’t take it personally. Instead you ask what you can learn and what you can do different. Investigate what makes some ads perform well and why your ad didn’t. Learn from your mistake.

Don’t get emotionally tied to your problem. Instead get curious about your problems and you will start to rise to greatness. We all have greatness inside of us but most of us kill it with anger and frustration.

By getting curious, you are opening yourself up to expansion and it is with expansion that you are able to really grow and make your business stand out.

Be Unrealistic

That’s right. If you want to go from mediocre to masterful, you need to stop being realistic and start dreaming big. Or as I like to say in my podcast, start Playing It Brave.

There is nothing that will drown your business quicker than being realistic.

How many of you are realistic in your dreams and goals? Just stop. Stop it now!

Being realistic is not only safe, but its boring. And a boring business doesn’t get noticed.

Was it realistic for me to double my business in a year? Was it realistic for me to go from school teacher to millionaire? Not at all. But I did it because I kept dreaming and kept trying. I didn’t stop being unrealistic because once I stopped, my acceleration would stop.

When you are unrealistic is when you start to rise to greatness. 

This is when you start to make your business stand out from everyone else’s.

Be Accountable

There is no room for blame when you own a successful business. By deciding to run a business, you must start being accountable for your own actions.

Being accountable is a huge step in going from mediocre to masterful. 

Everything that has happened to you -in life, relationships, business- is because of you. There is no escaping it and, try as you may, you can’t blame it on anyone else.

All day, every day, on social media or in my coaching, I see business owners trying to blame others. 

But by taking personal accountability – saying this is where my life is , this is where my business, and this is where my relationships are—and owning it, you will more clearly be able to get where you want in both your business and your life. 

Take this to heart – everything is because of you and you must take responsibility for all that you do, both the good and the bad.

Do something great? Awesome. Don’t hide it.

Mess up? Own it. Learn from it. And move on.

Accountability is must-have for growth and for transitioning your business from mundane to masterful. 

You Need to Fail

You read that right—you need to fail.

Fail often. Even goes so far as to celebrate your failure.

Why?

Because when you fail, you learn.

When you fail, you undersatnd what doesn’t work.

And when you fail, you start to become great.

I remember watching a talk with Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx. She talked, when she was younger her father would ask them one question every night at the dinner table. 

He didn’t ask them what their favorite part of the day was. And he didn’t ask them what test they aced. He asked them, “Tell me what you failed at today?”

Sara Blakely’s father was more interested in where they failed rather than where they succeeded because he understood that the greatest lesson in life is to fail and learn and then grow. 

And so fail. Fail big.

But learn from it and move on.

Don’t Stop

The final word of advice is to keep going. Don’t stop moving forward.

It’s the most simple one to say and the most difficult one to follow through on.

Mediocrity lives in apathy, thrives in stagnation, and relishes in giving up.

Perseverance is what will bring you through the hard days, the dark days, and the long days.

Without this trait, you will struggle to maintain the discipline and drive to keep you going when all you want to do is stop. 

When you commit that you will keep going no matter how often you fail, that you will pick yourself back up and keep moving forward along that path, you can not help but be successful.

So whatever you do, or don’t do—don’t stop. 

What’s Next?

Are you ready to start down the path towards excellence? Or are you content to live a life of mediocrity? One path will lead to a thriving business, the other to the ordinary life you were conditioned to live.

By following these 5 points with intention, you will soon leave mediocrity in the dust, rise up to the person you know you were meant to be, and make your business stand out from the crowd.

Do you want to go deeper into Play it Brave? And BIG? And BOLD? Come listen to the Play it Brave podcast and binge your way to a better business and a better life.

Want to up level your portfolio so that it screams elegance and luxury? And brings in a luxury paycheck? Check out my most popular course, The Profitable Portfolio and be on your way to $10k wedding clients.