Lessons for Conquering the World

Knowing, Forgetting, and Beginning Right is the formula for success. Business owners who follow some simple advice and change their companies and their lives.

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by Ethan Hausmann

There are are several things that successful people tell themselves all the time. These are the little pep talks that push business owners to do more. If they listen to themselves, then they can conquer the world. If you follow them, then you will conquer your world too.

"Work hard to know what you don't know"
Most successful people are very open to learning new things. They are always on the look out for what they don't know. The difference between knowing and not knowing is often just a short class, a book, or even a quick Google search.

Knowledge is what is missing. This often entails knowing your own weaknesses. Once you know your weakness, you can turn it into a strength. The goal is to change your "don't know" into a "now I know."

"Forget your competition"
Your competition is not the most important thing. In fact, your customers are arguably the most important. Too often business owners focus too much on what others are doing. Forget it. Follow your own path for your business. Don't just copy what everyone else is doing. Think for yourself. Choose the direction for your company. Decide where you need to go.

This doesn't mean that you should completely ignore the competition, but don't let it be your sole focus. Otherwise you can become distracted and lose sight of what is important.

"Take the time to get it right in the beginning"
This is part of a quote by columnist Ron Gibori. The full quote is, "There is always time to get it right in the end, when everything has fallen apart. So make the time to get things right in the beginning."

Put in the effort at the beginning to ensure that everything is on track. This is the idea of attention to detail. If you start right, then you will end right. I think of bobsledding. If you don't have a great start time, then you probably won't have a good finish time, since all of the problems compound on each other. Take the time to start right, then everything else will follow.