Are you minding your business? As an entrepreneurial guru and the author of the E-Myth series Michael Gerber espouses, you can get so wrapped up with working in your business that you forget to work on your business.

Success is a mindset. To succeed, you have to be in the right mind. And that mind needs to be focused on the big picture of your business success. Look down the road. Where do you want to lead your company and its employees? What does your vision look like? Now, break it down and ask yourself what you need to do in order to navigate your business to reach that spot on the horizon. Create the plan to achieve your goals. Read books with ideas, strategy, and motivation. Take a class to expand your skills and knowledge. Stay focused. Ignore the bright, shiny objects that twinkle and shine. They are mere distractions that guide you farther away from your achievements. Stop looking back at what has happened and look ahead at what can be.

When your mind improves, your business will undoubtedly follow suit. Use "MYOB" as a constant reminder to stay focused on your goals.

What positive thinking actually provides is the ability to do anything you want a little bit better. You can run faster, become a better artist or musician, improve your sales skills, or do better at your job, just by believing you can. When you approach a challenge with a successful mindset, you supercharge your confidence and energy. Yes, a positive attitude is an invaluable ingredient but you should not assume that you can get by with that ability alone. A positive attitude without a strategy to achieve what you desire is really just making a wish. Shift your brain into creating an actionable strategy, with a step-by-step plan for making things happen. Then sprinkle it with the magic power of positive thinking.

Having once shared this habit, I objected to what seemed to be "profiling.” She explained that her objection had nothing whatsoever to do with the habit itself, but the time it demanded.

The average cigarette break, she explained, lasts about 15 minutes. A smoker will probably take at least three breaks during the workday. She did the math:

15 minutes X 3 breaks X 5 days X 50 weeks per year = 11,250 minutes = 187.5 hours per year, or nearly 5 weeks!! Five weeks of unproductive time.

I had to admit she had a compelling point.

Whether you have a smoker or a person who spends time making personal calls or emails, or has a habit of coming in late, leaving early, and/or enjoying extended lunch breaks, it all amounts to unproductive habits.

Imagine if that time were spent instead on a habit that nurtures the mind or inspires the spirit? Reading, for example. Give yourself a healthful habit of enrichment. If you used your daily "habit breaks" for something to further your goal and your future, you would come much closer to the achievement you seek.

Life is black and white when it comes to achieving your life goals. There are no shades of gray. Everything you do either takes you closer to or farther away from reaching your pinnacle. Don’t allow bad habits to be a detour.

In the dormant stage, you make no conscious effort to improve. It’s purely status quo, ordinary, and usual. But growth is happiness. Think about the exhilaration when you have achieved a goal. That is the euphoric result of growth. In essence, you bloom. Do you want a garden filled with stems but no blossoms and with vegetable plants that bear no fruit? Of course not.

Stillness is stagnation. Look at the Dead Sea. This withering body of water lives up to its name. There are noinlets or outlets. It is a stagnant body of water that is receding, creating a minefield of sink holes as it retreats to a natural extinction.

I suggest that you examine your life and your work. Where are you in the growth cycle? Make a move toward growth. Movement creates motivation. Set one goal today, perhaps to do something you’ve put off for a long time. Get up and do it. Then let the satisfaction of achievement be your addictive motivator to keep going and growing.

Myers

These are all signs of a normal curiosity. But let’s look at the forecasting for a Super-achiever. "What will I become?" "What do I need to do in order to achieve that future?" "What must I do to become the person I ultimately want to be?"

Then there’s the Under-achiever who wants to know, "What am I going to get?" These are the individuals who believe that they will be rewarded because of who they are, not what they do. They sit back and wait for the spoils. And wait. And wait.

You are in charge of your future. You are the only one who can shape it. Do not expect others to sculpt your life because what you’ll live with is an amalgam of their perceptions, needs, and wishes. You’re at the mercy of others. Is this the destiny you want?

The true joy in life comes from the journey towards "becoming". Become a better person, a better professional, a better parent or friend. Become a good global citizen. Strive. Stretch. Reach.

Start today. Look at one task in front of you. Ask yourself, "How can I knock this out of the ballpark?" I believe wholeheartedly in the statement, "Reach for the moon. If you don’t get there, at least you’ll land among the stars."

The Super-achiever knows that individual achievements are just part of the bigger goal. It’s who you become along the way that defines you.

Myers