How to STOP putting off transforming your life and business and how to start living your dream now! Wisdom from someone who’s been there, done that.
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You know how it goes. Right? We got home, and got busy with the hustle and bustle of life. It wasn’t long before all the Hawaii talk faded away. |
My wife and I got married young and didn’t have money for a honeymoon. After 12 years of marriage we decided to take a belated honeymoon to Maui, Hawaii. We enjoyed the trip, but little did we know that trip would end up changing our lives.
On the plane ride home we kicked around the idea of retiring in Maui. You know how it goes. Right? We got home, and got busy with the hustle and bustle of life. It wasn’t long before all the Hawaii talk faded away.
The Hawaii talk didn’t start back up again until after the death of my father. I wrote about his death and the lessons I learned in my last post here. Our last conversations woke me up. At his funeral I vowed to live a life of no regrets.
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We started getting serious, and realized we didn’t want to retire in Maui. We wanted to move there now while we can really enjoy it.
After the move, something unexpected happened: my business doubled. My coaching business exploded, and I had more requests to write and speak than I had ever dreamed of. |
It took three years to make the dream a reality but on April 8th of this year we moved our family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Maui, Hawaii.
Before moving to Hawaii business was good. I was writing, speaking, and coaching full time and making more than I had in the much-hated job I’d left behind. After the move, something unexpected happened: my business doubled. My coaching business exploded, and I had more requests to write and speak than I had ever dreamed of.
When I sat down and thought about why, I came up with seven reasons for the transformation. These seven reasons can be applied to any man and any business, not just men who live in Hawaii, or dream of moving to an exotic locale.
- My actions spoke louder than my words
For years I wrote, spoke, and coached men on how to live their dreams. I told them anything was possible if they wanted it badly enough. I even wrote a book called Are You Living or Existing? 9 Steps to Change Your Life.
In that book I talked about the Hawaii move, I wrote that book in 2012. I talked the talked but didn’t walk the walk. Many critics were quick to point his out. After we moved it was no longer talk, my actions backed up everything I was teaching.
If you want to grow your business you have to lead by example. You can’t just tell your clients what works, you prove it works by you doing it first in your own business. More than anything men respect action over words.
When you prove what you’re teaching you won’t have to struggle to find business because it will come to you. You will teach people from what you’ve done and they will naturally tell others. Your business will grow through referrals.
- I learned the importance of the right focus
When you have a business you want that business to flourish. You want to learn every tip and trick out there that will give your business an edge. The problem is that as you keep taking information in, without acting on that information, you can get a nasty case of information overload.
One of the hardest parts of being a business owner is figuring out where you should focus your time. As men we tend to get easily distracted. Case and point: how many tabs do you have open on your computer right now?
I learned to focus on what’s important right now. You may have a huge to do list but what items are actually important? Taking a serious look you’ll realize there’s a lot of busy work that ultimately won’t grow your business. Always ask yourself what’s important right now? This will help you have the right focus.
- The appeal of location independence
As you’re reading this there are 2.5 billion people also online. If you’ve ever wanted to start a business or grow an existing business there’s never been a better market place than the Internet.
The cool thing about having a business online is that you’re not tied down to any one location. You have true location independence. No longer are you bound to a brick and mortar location.
Just by posting pictures of beautiful locations here, people took notice and I got new business. As men we want to hire someone who’s successful and when you have a successful business they’ll look to you.
Take advantage of today’s technology. Take advantage of the power of social media and the Internet and use them to grow your business. When you do your location independence can provide the freedom we really enjoy as men.
- I learned that simple is better
When we moved to Hawaii we sold everything and vowed to live a simple life. We came here with 15 checked bags. After seeing all the clutter and hoarding we did in Wisconsin we vowed to live a simpler life.
After seeing how freeing this was I decided to simplify my business as much as possible. A simple clean desk, less junk emails. Everything I did in my business was simple.
Having a simpler and leaner business lead to less stress and a greater clarity. As men we have the “weight of the world” on our shoulders. When you can learn to let go and keep it simple that weight is lifted and you get the clarity to focus on what will actually grow your business.
- I fired a few clients
Living in Hawaii you get used to a slower pace of life. Here we call it “Hawaiian time.” It didn’t take long for the stress to fade away.
This led to a hard look at the clients I was working with. This is my dream business and I don’t want to work with anyone that will stress me out. I want to work with fire-starters, not people that I dread talking to.
Ingrained in us as men is a temptation to make as much money as possible. This sometimes means working with less than ideal clients. Those clients will drag you down and keep you away from potential fire-starters.
It may put your money in your pocket but ultimately it doesn’t help your business and life. Your business should fit into your life not your life into your business. The life part has to come first.
- I conquered my biggest fear
Moving to Hawaii was scary but leaving the security of a weekly paycheck was scarier. I had a stable job but my heart wanted to soar. I wanted my “own thing.” I was afraid of the unstable income and the lack of security.
Fear holds us back from achieving amazing things in life and most of the time it isn’t justified. There are things you can do to show fear that it’s not justified.
- Proper planning
- Thorough research
- An emergency fund
- Hustle
Once I conquered my fear a whole new world of possibility opened up. Whatever your biggest fears are you have to deal with them for your business to grow.
- I reached out for help
One of the best things I did for my business was hire a coach. I reached out to someone who had done what I wanted to do for guidance. My coach helped me get clear on whom my target audience is and the best way to reach them.
Learning from someone who’s done it can leap frog your business forward. Investing in your business is a wise investment. There’s only so much you can do on your own.
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Moving to Maui far exceeded how great we thought it would be. We’re happy to live a simpler, healthier, more active lifestyle. My business growing was just icing on the cake.
Use these tips to grow your business. Create a business that gives you the freedom to spend your time doing what’s important to you and live life on your terms.
What is one thing you can do today to start or grow your business?
Photo: Author’s own
The post 7 Reasons Moving to Hawaii Doubled My Business and Transformed My Life appeared first on The Good Men Project.