This year had felt like a fairytale in a way. As I’m writing this, I’m packing to head to consult at a company in Medellin. Colombia. The opportunities to create a successful lifestyle business today were foreign even ten years ago. Today, you can start a business online and leverage it to travel the world doing what you love while making money.
This idea of “lifestyle entrepreneurship” goes far beyond the scammy Facebook ads that promise the “laptop lifestyle.” In it’s simplest form, lifestyle business means you create something that supports the kind of lifestyle you want to live. For some, that includes travel, for others, it means having the freedom and flexibility each day to do what’s important to your life. There is no one-size-fits-all definition.
If your dream is to create this kind of business/lifestyle in the next year, you would want to start forming the habits that will help you. Hard work isn’t enough. Massive action isn’t enough. Focused effort along with good habits is what will help you achieve your goals. Here are three habits crucial to success in building a lifestyle business — any business for that matter.
1. Have the right priorities.
In building a lifestyle business, your priorities start with a strong mindset. You have to “see it” and believe it. Your family is also the start. You can’t ignore or neglect them while you build this dream. Start with working on the dream in the margins. Keep your family in the loop and have them help you.
Fill your mind with inspiration daily. Podcasts, videos and books can be your best friend as long as you don’t give into information overload. Consume what will either help your next steps or what will inspire you to take action.
Focus on building your audience. Without an audience, you can’t grow or make any money. Don’t make the busy work your primary focus. You can have the best book, website, or systems in the world, but if you have no audience, it won’t be effective. Make building your audience a priority. Make having the right priorities a habit that stays with you the rest of your life.
2. Create a business that supports the life you want.
Once you’ve built an audience, and done this without hurting your family, it’s time to create the business. Working on your business in the right way is a habit that will reap dividends.
You need a simple and clean website with all the information people would search for. Let them know who you are, what you do and how what you do can help them. Have a social media presence, but don’t make it your everything — social media isn’t. Create different offerings that you charge a price for and don’t be afraid to sell.
Yes, this is a much-simplified version of how you can create a successful foundation. I have written extensively about the specifics here on Entrepreneur. Go through my author profile and see articles on many specific aspects of build a lifestyle business.
3. Never settle.
In life, we should be grateful for all of the blessings we receive on a daily basis. However, we can’t confuse gratefulness and complacency. You can be grateful while still wanting to achieve more. Never settle, even if you achieve some success. Strive for bigger goals and work hard to make them a reality.
I’m expecting good things from me — but more importantly — you in the next year or so. If you are a regular reader, we’re going to do this together. If any of this is going to happen, you have to believe in yourself. You have to believe in what’s possible.
Please don’t think about a post like this as a “reminder.” Use it as the first part of your plan to do all the things you’ve wanted to do for a long time. Create habits because they will give you the best chance to do what you need to do consistently. It all starts right now.
What are two major goals you want to accomplish in the next year?
