Almost a year ago, I wrote about defining my ten year goal during a class at business school. I was excited to read it recently and discover that I am already on track at year one. I am working for a new company and am well on my way to refining what I need to start my own business.
I expected to be working at a small startup to learn about small businesses, but I actually made the opposite move. I think there is still a lot to learn from my new company and some things that will help me with the startup.
My next steps on idea refinement will include a class next term on launching a startup. I expect to get a lot out of this class and use it as a launching point into the accelerator at school or into independent study focused on the business.
I also had a breakthrough this past weekend on what type of business I want to pitch during this class based on buying and selling web businesses. It actually just crystallized for me which felt good after thinking about it for so long. I think the persistence and research is paying off.
There are two other things I have kept up with since that class that have had an impact. First is I have been keeping a weekly journal where I first list the things I have control over in my life, then I writing about something recently that felt like winning, how it made me feel and where I can recreate that feeling. This is to increase my promotional versus preventative mindset. I think it does help long term and might seem subtle, but being reminded of that mindset feels good and obviously keeps me doing it.
Second has been really impactful and that is actively working on expanding and enhancing my network. I knew it was an area of weakness for me and the that course at school was a wakeup call. I started working on it by tracking my contacts in a spreadsheet and planning regular touch points. As I remembered or met new people I added them to the list and would text or email weak ties every 2-3 months. I eventually looked into “PersonalCRM” tools and chose Uphabit which has been great.
I have seen tremendous progress. I am much more eager to reach out, send a quick note, make a connection, and share than I used to be. I think it is a hugely positive change and has made me feel a lot more connected and capable. One thing that I was reminded of is that if you work on an area of weakness, you often don’t end up average at it but can actually end up better at it than average. It feels like this will end up as an area of strength for me with continued effort like I have been doing.