Ideally, there should only be two steps to success: learning what to do and doing it. But, like everything else in life, becoming successful isn’t that simple.
The road to success is oftentimes full of unexpected potholes. For example, there are setbacks, failures, false starts and external factors (the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance).
While overcoming obstacles isn’t easy, you can plan for many of them. And if you do the work ahead of time, you’ll be in a lot better shape down the road than many of your peers, especially your competitors.
Now, identifying potential challenges may seem like a daunting task at first, but by taking a step back and studying the map ahead, you’ll get a better grasp of what’s in store for you and your business. But what if there’s nothing on your roadmap because you don’t know what success looks like or how to succeed?
Like I mentioned earlier, there’s more to success than just learning what to do and doing it. Many MSP owners become TruMethods members to simply apply the knowledge they acquire from us about becoming a world-class MSP, but soon after joining one of our many peer groups, they realize that success is more than just a two-step process.
Despite what many people believe, there are actually four steps to success (and they’re all equally important): desire, knowledge, discipline and belief.
Desire is the gap between your current results and your expectations. Your goal should be to close the gap between the two. You can narrow the gap by simply changing your expectations. Remember: Desire fuels change.
Even though knowledge isn’t everything (I attribute only 10 percent of success to knowledge), it’s a necessary step to success. We need to know what to do, right? But too many people focus their efforts entirely on acquiring knowledge. If all you needed to do to succeed was follow a spreadsheet, we at TruMethods would be selling that instead of our training, software and peer groups to MSPs.
Self-discipline is another key to success. It’s what keeps you focused on your goals. The most successful people in life and business are incredibly disciplined. Without self-discipline, you won’t be able to plan, execute and deliver results to your customers consistently (consistently is the keyword here).
Believing in yourself, your plan, your team and how you operate as a company is the final step to success. You must believe in everything you’re doing, especially when you’re pitching to prospects. They should feel like the money they’re about to spend with you is the best decision they’re ever going to make. The belief you have in your company’s ability to deliver results should come across strongly when you’re speaking with your team members, customers and prospects. It’s this belief that will get you to the finish line.
Success takes time, but once you understand the steps you’ll need to take to get there, your roadmap will become evident, with many of the potholes highlighted.
