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Tag: Making a change

  • 4 Resources To Make Your Website More Accessible

    4 Resources To Make Your Website More Accessible

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you made a list of goals for your website, I bet three things would be near the top:

    1. Get more value out of your customers.
    2. Find new customers.
    3. Increase your website’s conversion rate, whether you want more leads or more sales.

    Each of these goals requires a functional, easy-to-use website. Yet a staggering 97% of the internet today is inaccessible to people with disabilities — meaning there are accessibility issues that can make it hard for some visitors to navigate a website or engage with its content.

    That’s a big problem — and it’s not just a matter of what’s fair or legally required. (Although the U.S. Department of Justice has repeatedly maintained that accessibility laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) apply to websites and physical locations.)

    It’s also a matter of what makes sense for your business.

    In the United States, one in four adults lives with some type of disability, from visual impairments that require them to navigate websites using assistive technology, such as screen readers, to hearing impairments that make it hard to follow videos without captions. Globally, people with disabilities — and their friends and family — control more than $13 trillion in disposable income.

    That’s a lot of potential customers who could be left behind if you don’t take steps to make your website accessible to everyone.

    Now for the good news: Every accessibility issue is fixable if you have the right tools and know what to watch for. Here are some of my favorite accessibility resources to help you:

    1. Use alt text correctly

    The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is known for publishing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), but it has also created additional resources to help businesses better navigate digital accessibility.

    One of the most useful is the alt Decision tree, which describes how to use the alt attribute of the element in various situations. With the decision tree, you can make faster, more informed decisions on whether your image needs alt text — and, if so, what information to include.

    Alt text is a written description of an image that screen readers can read aloud — or convert to Braille — for people with visual impairments, sensory processing disorders or learning disorders.

    Done right, alt text can help paint a fuller picture of your products and services for people who use screen readers to navigate websites. Unfortunately, many businesses forget to provide alt text. Or they write something so generic — for example, an image of a restaurant menu that simply says “menu” — that it may as well not be there.

    Note: As a general rule, I always recommend writing alt text like you’re describing an image to your friend over the phone. What are the key details they need to know in order to understand the image?

    Related: How to Make Your Social Media Channels More Accessible to Everyone

    2. Check your website’s accessibility

    When it comes to digital accessibility, one of the biggest challenges is the dynamic nature of most websites. Just think about how often your website changes, whether it’s new product photos or updated website copy.

    Each update is a chance to introduce new accessibility issues to your website accidentally, so it’s important to monitor your website constantly. Unfortunately, most businesses lack the time or internal resources to test the accessibility of every new design and line of code. That’s where an automated solution like AudioEye’s Website Accessibility Checker — which runs more than 400 tests to check your content against accessible coding standards like WCAG, then generates a detailed report of accessibility issues on your site — comes into play.

    Related: How Website Accessibility Affects Your Brand’s Reputation and Success

    3. Add automated captions to your videos

    People are watching more video content than ever, but you could be leaving a large part of your audience behind if you don’t add captions to your videos.

    There are plenty of tools that can help you save time by automatically generating captions. However, it’s important to note that voice recognition technology is not perfect. Errors do occur, which can confuse or frustrate people who rely on captions.

    For that reason, I always recommend proofing automatically generated captions with human eyes and ears.

    Closed captioning is a great example of the overlap between “good” and “accessible” design. When you add captions, you aren’t just helping people with hearing impairments or cognitive disabilities — you’re helping anyone who chooses to watch the video with the sound off. For example, someone might be watching your video in a public space or while multitasking.

    Adding captions can ensure a positive experience no matter how people consume your content.

    Related: How Accessibility Teams and Executives Can Work Together for Disability Inclusion

    4. Check your color contrast

    The colors on your website might seem like a purely aesthetic decision, but they have a significant impact on how usable your website is for people with color vision deficiency (also known as color blindness) and other visual impairments.

    Low contrast between foreground and background elements (think white text on a gray button) can make it harder for people to navigate your site, engage with your content and ultimately take the actions — whether it’s filling out a contact form or making a purchase — that matter to your business.

    AudioEye’s Color Contrast Checker makes it easy to determine if your colors meet WCAG’s requirements on contrast ratio. To conform with Success Criterion (SC) 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum), you should aim to have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between the foreground and background color.

    Related: Launching a Business Website? Here’s What You Need to Know About Accessibility

    Take the first step toward a more accessible website

    For most businesses, there are two hurdles that can slow down accessibility efforts.

    The first hurdle is awareness. Many business leaders are unaware of digital accessibility or that it could present a problem for their online business, both in terms of user experience and legal risk. However, the rise in digital accessibility-related lawsuits is bringing more attention to the importance of accessibility.

    The second hurdle is a common misconception about the cost and difficulty of digital accessibility. Some organizations believe that making a website accessible would cost too much, or require building a new website from scratch. The truth is that there are plenty of things you can do to improve your website’s accessibility without touching a line of code.

    To help you get started with your business’s overall accessibility strategy, the W3C and the UK’s Business Disability Forum have created self-assessment tools that can help organizations understand their current level of accessibility and implement measures to improve their accessibility policies, processes, and outcomes.

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    Alisa Smith

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  • How to Find (or Create) a Job You Love

    How to Find (or Create) a Job You Love

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    A lot has been written about employee relations: how to lead and inspire effectively, how to ask for a raise, how to find work-life balance through self-care, how to establish and retain great employees, etc. These are all important topics, and there are many ways to approach the subject matter. But at the heart of almost all employee-related topics, it comes down to one thing: Is the employee happy?

    Professional happiness is one of the most subjective topics because it means different things to different people. Some people simply do not care about how much money they make if they have the freedom to live their life without the confines of a typical job. Some people are very focused on how much they can earn and save towards financially-driven goals. Some people love to travel for work while others want to work from home. And others want to do things they enjoy and want to feel like they are contributing to something greater, regardless of the compensation. There are an infinite number of other examples of how people define professional happiness. So, no one definition can be applied to all people.

    The key is not trying to come up with a universal definition for professional happiness, but rather the questions to ask in order to create your own personal definition. Here are five questions to get you started:

    Related: 7 Secrets to Employee Happiness

    1. What do you actually like to do?

    Think about this question in general professional terms. Do you like regularly engaging with people? Do you like being creative? Do you like having a set schedule? Do you like working in a team environment? Do you like networking? Do you prefer having oversight or autonomy? Would you prefer to work around other people or from home? Make a list of at least 20 things you actually like to do professionally.

    2. What are your strengths?

    Are you great at creating reports? Do you excel at project management? Do you lead and inspire naturally? Do you love working with numbers? Are you self-motivated and directed, or do you work better with direction? Are you a great presenter? Again, think broadly and make a list of at least 20 things.

    Related: 10 Secrets to Finding a Job You Love

    3. Where do your strengths and what you like to do intersect professionally?

    As you make the first two lists, you will start to notice some overlaps in your strengths and what you like to do. This is where you begin to define what makes you happy. The intersection of what you like to do and what you can do well is a win-win for any professional situation. Employers get more out of employees who are doing what they enjoy and are good at, and employees work harder and more efficiently when they are doing things they enjoy and things for which they show a strong aptitude.

    4. Does your current work environment afford you the opportunity to merge your strengths and pleasures?

    A lot of people like where they work. They enjoy the people around them. And they enjoy the company as a whole. They just don’t find joy and fulfillment in what they do every day. It is perfectly normal to want a change of scenery, new challenges and new responsibilities. Odds are, you know what you do, the value of it and what your company needs as much or more within your capacity as the key decision-makers above you. And it is equally likely that your employer would prefer to have you contributing at your best. So, consider defining and pitching a new role for yourself that reflects your strength and preferences. It will show dedication and initiative, and it can potentially move you into a role that brings you better professional happiness.

    5. What would be a great vertical move?

    Even if you can’t redefine your role at your current job, taking the time to define a new role for yourself that combines your strengths and preferences helps define what other opportunities you might want to pursue. In business, when people switch jobs, a lateral move often refers to taking a similar job elsewhere with a similar role and pay. And a vertical move often refers to moving to a job with more responsibility and pay. I tend to think that if you move to a job that brings you more happiness, regardless of the role of pay, it is a vertical move. Knowing what you want to do and what value you can bring will help you identify other opportunities that might be a great fit.

    Related: Hate Your Job? Ask Yourself These 7 Questions to Find One With More Money and More Happiness

    The two things most people do most in this world are sleep and work. This is why you should always be willing to pay more for a perfect mattress and work in a way that brings you professional happiness. It is up to you to define what that means for you and then pursue it with passion and purpose. So, ask yourself these five critical questions, and you’ll be on your way to creating or finding the job you love.

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    John Peitzman

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  • 2 Key Steps to Improve Both Yourself and Your Business

    2 Key Steps to Improve Both Yourself and Your Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Understanding yourself and your demons is what separates average entrepreneurs from great ones. The ability of a business owner to look inward and not only understand their abilities but also focus on ways they can improve those abilities and curtail their weaknesses is a key factor to success, no matter what industry they’re in. As an entrepreneur, you can approach personal development in several ways. Here are two that I focus on to make myself a better husband and leader in business:

    Accept your shortcomings

    The first step in accepting your shortcomings is to acknowledge that you have them. It can be one of the most difficult parts of the process, but it’s the foundation for all forms of personal growth. Accepting your shortcomings and weaknesses takes a high level of self-awareness, which is critical for entrepreneurs.

    You need to ask yourself: Am I living up to all of the potential that I have within me? If the answer is no, it’s your responsibility to reflect on the causes of your shortcomings and why you’re not maximizing the potential that you know you have. Are your shortcomings due to a lack of discipline? Are they the result of a negative habit? A lack of self-esteem? Fear of failure?

    Once you identify the root causes, develop a plan to address your shortcomings. Don’t be afraid to push yourself. This could involve setting goals, seeking training or education, and committing yourself to consistent habits that you know will lead you to success. It’s big, it’s scary, and it’s challenging, but it’s going to force you to grow, and in turn, your business will as well.

    Overcoming shortcomings will serve as milestones on the road to reaching a better version of yourself. You won’t know what you’re capable of unless you’ve gone up against a giant obstacle and won. When you face your demons and win, you send a clear message to yourself: I am a badass, and I can overcome obstacles that are in the way of reaching my goal.

    When you’re feeling down, you have reference points to anchor your self-worth to. You’ve overcome struggles in the past, so you know you can overcome the current one. You find validation within yourself. You stop seeking external validation because you’ve already proven to yourself that you’ve got what it takes. When you become good enough for yourself, you stop caring what other people think.

    I’ve been up against these giants for nearly my entire life, from being addicted to heroin at age 18 to running 37 miles on my 37th birthday. Each time I’ve faced one of these big, hairy audacious goals and won, I’ve been more confident and capable as a businessman, leader, friend, husband and father.

    As much as you might feel that your shortcomings hold you back, once you overcome them, they differentiate you as an entrepreneur. Accepting your shortcomings, adjusting and moving forward is the exact same process you will face as an entrepreneur in growing your business to the best possible version it can be.

    The more you practice this in your business, the more it provides you with more tools in your belt for the next challenge you face as an entrepreneur. If you have a pulse, it means that you’re going to face struggles in this life. The same goes for a business. There will always be new obstacles to face and new challenges to overcome, but accepting the shortcomings of yourself and your business and moving forward is what will lead you to be a formidable competitor in any industry.

    Refine yourself constantly and consistently

    Your job in personal development is never over. Frequently, people become content with where they’re at when they’re comfortable, and they stop pushing themselves to grow. When they end up in this position, it means they’re no longer showing up for themselves and who they care for. There are endless ways you can continue to work on yourself, but here are a few key suggestions:

    Manage your time effectively. Learning effective time management in your personal life is going to be one of the greatest skills you will learn as an entrepreneur. Time management forces you to analyze critical tasks and establish clear priorities. Identify your most important tasks, and focus on those first. Get to the root of why you’re procrastinating. Identify what that habit is all about.

    Create a schedule, avoid distractions, and know when to delegate tasks when other people can take on the workload, letting you focus on the most critical tasks in your life. All other elements of personal development depend on managing your time and developing habits of success.

    Take care of yourself mentally and physically. The road to being a successful business owner is going to be full of struggle. It’s tough, and it’s taxing. It’s also what weeds out those who can endure from the people who can’t. If you are going to perform your best as an entrepreneur — as a leader within your business — you need to make sure you’re paying your necessary dues by taking care of yourself mentally and physically. Set aside time in your schedule to make sure you’re showing up for yourself, moving your body and recharging in the ways you find rewarding.

    Commit to learning 24/7. Constantly seek to expand your knowledge. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Look for mentors and educational resources. There are endless online resources and courses that can teach you valuable skills and knowledge, but it’s up to you to make sure you’re carving time out of your day to commit to learning. If you’re starting entrepreneurship and you don’t have the capital to spend on courses, there are tons of free resources on YouTube and podcasts with valuable information.

    This will help you learn from others who’ve both succeeded and failed, not only in entrepreneurship but in every other aspect of life that is relevant to you. Committing to expanding your knowledge also helps you stay informed on the latest developments in your field, which helps you stay ahead of the competition. If you want to come equipped with the right tools and skills as an entrepreneur, you have to make learning a priority.

    Personal development is about staying uncomfortable, becoming comfortable with what’s unfamiliar, and honoring yourself. Ask yourself every day: What am I doing to create a new ceiling for myself and raise the floor of what I once was? Make intentional decisions to continually raise the ceiling of what’s possible for you. You’ll learn to adapt to change, and your business will grow with you. If you focus on facing the demons that currently control your habits and overcome them, it’s inevitable that you’ll witness endless growth within yourself and your business.

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    Trevor Cowley

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  • 10 Things Every Working Woman Should Do This Year

    10 Things Every Working Woman Should Do This Year

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Self-care has become an all-encompassing term that has strayed from the importance of everyday commodities that keep us in good health and spirits. Though pampering and “treat yourself” moments still have value, here are ten ways to invest in yourself to produce long-lasting, positive results.

    Related: 8 Self-Care Tips From Wildly Successful Entrepreneurs

    1. Put money into a 401(k)

    It’s never too early (or too late!) to start saving for the future. Depending on your employment status, there are different retirement savings accounts. 401(k)s are the most common since these are employer-sponsored and often come with an employer match. However, freelancers also have options, such as a SEP-IRA or a high-yield savings account, to put away extra, tax-free dollars for retirement.

    2. Schedule a health checkup

    Self-care first includes taking care of your physical health. It’s easy to discredit regular checkups when you’re feeling healthy, but make this the year to get your blood work done. It creates a baseline for your health to identify areas needing improvement or extra attention.

    Also, choose areas in your life where you can make small changes. Improving your health doesn’t always mean a drastic overhaul; it may be as simple as drinking more water or adding an extra 30 minutes of exercise to your day.

    Related: 3 Key Tips for Optimizing Your Physical Health as an Entrepreneur

    3. Review health insurance benefits

    Many people with health insurance aren’t sure exactly what it does and doesn’t cover. If you’re unsure, talk with your HR representative or your health insurance provider to get an overview of deductibles, co-payments and other supplemental benefits you may not be aware of. Then, decide if the health care plan makes sense for your current lifestyle.

    Are you paying for benefits you don’t use, or do you need additional benefits that aren’t covered? Selecting the right plan will help ensure you have what you need without paying the extra expense for anything you don’t.

    4. Ignite your curiosity

    Maintaining healthy cognitive functions through new pursuits gives a boost to the brain. Get curious and find what speaks to you. This can be anything from exploring local museums, embarking on different hiking trails, learning a new language or reading more books.

    There’s no limit to what you can do, and these activities can ignite more creativity and motivation in your work. While it may be helpful to look to others for inspiration, make them enjoyable so you’ll want to make them a regular occurrence.

    5. Prioritize mental health

    Mental health has been at the forefront of people’s lives over the past few years, as many have experienced burnout. We often equate productivity with a value that drives us to go beyond our means and leads to anxiety, stress and depression. Take note of your everyday stressors and see how to reduce or eliminate them. Then, replace them with relaxing outlets that allow you to recharge.

    There are various ways to prioritize mental health, from practicing positive self-talk to meditation to scheduling an electronics-free day. You may have to try different solutions before you find one that fits.

    Related: 5 Ways to Protect Your Mental Health as an Entrepreneur

    6. Implement good sleep habits

    Consistent sleep is one of the essential factors of good health but one that is often overlooked. For many, it can be challenging to wind down from the workday. Therefore, you must “train” your body to prepare for sleep by getting into a nighttime routine.

    Create a sanctuary for yourself to improve your sleep habits. Enjoy a soothing cup of herbal tea, perform a skincare routine, and snuggle in with a good book rather than scrolling through your phone. Additionally, ensure your bedroom is dark and cool for ideal sleep comfort and turn on soothing sounds if it helps lull you to sleep.

    7. Try something new

    What have you wanted to try but have always held back? Maybe it’s public speaking or contributing to a blog. Whatever “new” has been on your to-do, make a plan, schedule it on your calendar and go for it. It’s common to hold back from these activities due to fear of the unknown or failure, but trying new things helps create confidence and can be the catalyst you need to push you to the next level.

    8. Learn to set boundaries

    Boundary setting is crucial to relationships yet can be difficult to master. It doesn’t always involve simply saying no to people’s requests. Instead, it requires protecting your own values when people violate them. Setting boundaries may mean spending less time with certain people, removing yourself from toxic situations, or declining invites to events that don’t improve your life. Explore areas where boundaries will help you grow, and keep in mind growth itself is a work in progress.

    Related: How to Set Boundaries to Build Thriving Relationships

    9. Spend quality time alone

    Learning how to enjoy time spent alone is a valuable gift. We are inundated by a false sense of connection through the internet, which often makes us feel lonelier than ever. Then, we overschedule our calendars to make up for human connections, only to feel drained afterward. Slow it down and plan a few solo dates a month to see how it feels to be truly present with yourself.

    For those who aren’t used to spending quality time alone, it can feel awkward and uncomfortable initially, but these stem from your own perceptions. Take in a matinee, sit in a coffee shop and read, or enjoy a concert or event you’ve wanted to attend. Alone time has been linked to improved stress management and greater life satisfaction, so it’s worth trying to give yourself more time.

    Related: Turns Out, Those Who Like Being Alone Can Be More Creative

    10. Get active

    Getting active can take on several directions. It can be physical, emotional or spiritual. The point is to engage with people and pursuits that feed your soul. Whether volunteering within your community, setting yourself an exercise goal, or learning more about personal development, there are endless ways to get active and invest in yourself this year.

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    Kelly Hyman

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  • Having a 10-Year Plan Is a Bad Idea. Here’s Why — and What You Should Do Instead.

    Having a 10-Year Plan Is a Bad Idea. Here’s Why — and What You Should Do Instead.

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    “Everybody has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth,” Mike Tyson famously said in 1987. History teaches us that we will face conflict when we don’t plan and often when we do. Over 60 years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” We learn valuable information during the exercise of planning and not just the understanding that even the best plans can and will change.

    When planning for your business battles, do you ever really know what is ahead, and most importantly, what to do? Strategic planning can help create mechanisms and mindsets to allow you to respond to the battles ahead, but it is not a one-time thing or a “set it and forget it” activity.

    It is a plan that shows the way forward for your business, spelling out your company’s goals and why they are important. It can also guide you by outlining things to consider when responding to opportunities and challenges.

    Related: Why Having a Strategic Plan for Your Business Is Essential

    Why are long-range strategic plans not realistic?

    I believe in one- and three-year strategic plans and re-establishing them each year. Just keep in mind that a strategic plan is a roadmap for a company to achieve its goals. It’s also a tool to unite your teams, motivating them with clarity, direction and focus.

    Not that you wouldn’t want to have a list of items you want to achieve long-term (I do have one), but because we live in a world that is changing faster and faster, we must adapt our plans in an agile way and harness the power of technology and systems to help us.

    Companies need to be fluid and mobile. In a changing world, the future is no longer easy to predict based solely on the past. What we need is a strategy that breaks away from the old three-ring binder plan already starting to gather dust on the shelf and instead devises one that is adaptive and directive.

    This is why the one-to-three-year timeframe helps and why a 10-year timeframe is obsolete before it even begins.

    Related: 5 Actionable Strategic-Planning Tips To Boost Business Efficiency

    What should strategic goals align with?

    If strategic goals are your long-term objectives, operational goals — or, as we call them, lead measures — are the daily milestones that have to be reached to achieve them.

    While aligning your business goals with your strategic goals can be hard to do every year, we must make an effort. Don’t forget that the actions you take each day should mostly roll up to achieving your goals.

    For our franchise brands and us, our three main goals each year are franchisee success, revenue and profit. Each brand determines success, but revenue and profit numbers change each year. What’s important is to have your main strategic goals supported by lead measures — actionable items you will do each day and week that will lead to accomplishing the goal.

    So, for example, if you are a salesperson and have a goal of $XXX sales this year (revenue), what do you need to do to make those sales?

    Look at your sales funnel to determine the steps and the quantity of each step you need to make your goal: how many leads or prospects; how many points of contact, calls, presentations, discovery days and follow-up calls; or how many applications?

    Related: How to Fall in Love With Strategic Planning

    How do I prioritize goals and to-do lists?

    One recipe for disaster is never doing the most important things and always doing the urgent things. While balancing them, you should stay focused on the most important goals.

    It’s not about “to-do” lists or checklists — it’s about your goals. The only thing worse than not having goals is having too many goals. I believe that three primary goals per year and two to three lead measures for each are good.

    While there are set goals and trackable lead measures, don’t forget that there’s never only one way to get something done; there are multiple ways.

    So, encourage your team members to do what they feel is right. Find out what they want to do rather than just telling them what you would do to achieve it. Weaving that strategy into your planning together will help you get better results.

    In The Power of Positive Leadership, author Jon Gordon famously advised us not to focus on the numbers. We must trust the process, and when we keep doing things the right way, the numbers will eventually rise, those wins will come, and the desired outcomes will occur.

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    Ray Titus

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  • Babbel Can Help Make Business Travel Much Easier in 2023

    Babbel Can Help Make Business Travel Much Easier in 2023

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    Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

    If you’re ready to ditch Zoom calls and get back to business the old-fashioned way, you aren’t alone. According to new reports, millions of like-minded professionals have the same idea — and it could account for a major bounce-back in business travel in 2023.

    If getting back on the roads or skies is in the cards for your business this year, it’s probably time to start brushing up on some new skills to lock down new clients, like speaking their native language. With a subscription to the Babbel Language Learning app , that’s a lot easier than it sounds.

    Babbel is backed up by more than 15 years as one of the leading online language learning resources , with over 10 million subscribers worldwide. Powered by more than 10,000 hours of content, learners have everything they need to start learning any of Babbel’s 14 core languages, ranging from staples like Spanish and French to more exotic options like Danish, Polish or Turkish.

    Crafted by an expert team of more than 150 linguists and instructors, Babbel’s immersive style builds through contextual learning. Each schedule-friendly 10- to 15-minute lesson offers a cluster of words, phrases, and heavy verbal practice around one everyday topic to help students better grasp that learning and use it to advance their understanding of the language.

    As learners discover how to order a particular dish, ask for directions, or inquire from a native speaker about the weather, the learning begins to stick faster. With a mix of learning materials from traditional class settings to more adventurous fare like games, podcasts, and more, Babbel is convinced they can have any conscientious learner conversant in their new language in as little as three weeks.

    And that learning is tailored to each student. For example, Babbel’s AI-driven speech recognition algorithms monitor your speech, evaluate your verbal performance, and then deliver review material aimed at shoring up any trouble spots.

    “I love how explanations are plentiful and, in some cases, in real time as you learn, besides being able to choose between speaking, listening, reading and writing,” Babbel fan Michael said in his 5-star Trustpilot review. “I will not go back to any other app, as this (Babbel) is truly the best!”

    Regularly $599, lifetime access to all the learning resources of the Babbel Language Learning app is now available at almost half the regular price while this offer lasts.

    Prices subject to change.

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    Entrepreneur Store

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  • 7 Tips to Help You Write the Book You Always Dreamed About

    7 Tips to Help You Write the Book You Always Dreamed About

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Whether we tap into our lived experiences or allow our minds to spin a yarn, writing a book is a magical form of art. Yet, whereas over 80% of the population say they have always wanted to write, apparently only 1% start and complete their book. Thought-provoking, isn’t it? If we were to gently dive into the thoughts of those who never start or finish their books, what might be their primary hindrance?

    The good news is that as writers, we can bring together all our entrepreneurial and leadership skills and abilities from which to draw upon. Strategy development, time management, innovation, effective marketing, continuous learning, agility and managing change are some of the many business aptitudes that will enhance the life of an author.

    Related: How to Write a Book (and Actually Finish It) in 5 Steps

    The “aha” pieces of the puzzle

    What are the steps we should take to realize our dream of writing that novel, manuscript or book? In my case, it was letting go of preconceived assumptions and embracing learning, growing and connecting with the vibrant writing community as an aspiring author. When my fingertips dance across the keyboard, the self-doubt evaporates into the admixture of words, characters, scenes and settings. A few months ago, I started writing my first book, a fictional novel. To my surprise, I finished my first draft in four weeks.

    Let’s explore and transform seven common obstacles into “aha!” moments that will prompt you to write that book:

    1. I don’t have time

    Whether or not we love them, plans, structures and goals help us move forward. The same applies to writing a book. Can you find a window of time in your average day to create the time? Nothing earth-shattering. Can you set up a consistent writing pattern, perhaps a daily 30 minutes or a few hours every second day? If so, you are a step closer to your dream.

    2. I don’t know how

    Start with an idea, and there are methods, formats or templates available to develop that idea. I created an outline first and expanded from there. Some authors follow their impulses without an outline. There are helpful resources, such as writing software (like Scrivener) story development templates (like Save the Cat) and, of course, online grammar writing assistants such as Grammarly. And there is the vibrant writing community of editors, proofreaders, fellow authors and readers, all of whom can be of help.

    Related: 9 Tips to Stay Motivated When Writing a Book

    3. I need to be more creative

    Over the years, this was a thought that I kept repeating to myself. Putting pen to paper is a process of learning and growth, much like the other facets of life. When I started baking sourdough bread, I did not expect my first bread to be edible; in fact, it was dense and flat. But my husband cheered me on and even proudly ate it. When editing, the experience can be daunting. It involves writing, rewriting, revising, editing and rewriting again. But it hones the craft. You have the option of working with professional editors who tell you if your story feels too vague or too flat. Not all successful authors are natural-born writers and neither am I. But I enjoy the growing knowledge enveloping me like rays of sunshine while I edit and refine my story.

    4. My first attempt is/was not successful

    It’s no surprise they are called messy first drafts. Unless you choose to share it, your first draft is just for you to read. I still love my first draft, though. At a writing seminar, the lecturer told us that our story would probably be dreary if we didn’t rewrite 90% of our first draft. So, when writing the first draft, the rule is to write, write and write. No fixing, no editing. This will prevent us from judging our writing too soon on the journey.

    5. Publishing a book is too challenging

    There are various publishing paths. The traditional route of working with an agent and publisher is one option, or you could access a specific provider who will help with writing, editing, publishing and marketing. There is also self-publishing as an independent author. There are success stories from all; it is up to us to choose the right course of action and enjoy the path we choose.

    Related: This is the Future of Book Publishing

    6. I am not comfortable putting my name out there

    This is easy. Choose a pseudonym, a pen name. I have a pen name. For instance, many great writers like Stephen King and Agatha Christie used pen names. There is no universal rule; you choose what you feel most comfortable with.

    7. I have other commitments

    Many authors manage a successful career while still having other commitments, whether a full-time job or something else. Many become full-time authors and authorpreneurs. So, it is not impossible.

    Whether it is a fiction or nonfiction book, the writing journey ahead is like an unwinding spool of ribbon, rolling and growing. As a result, my debut book will be meeting its readers in the summer of 2023.

    Let’s imagine yourself sitting behind a table. You admire a stack of books in front of you. The room is bustling with excited laughter and chatter. A line of fans in front of you, one by one, and you are signing their books. Imagine hearing someone tell you how much your book meant to them. Imagine the spark in your eyes and the beam on your face.

    Aha! It’s time to begin! Let’s start writing and crafting that tale that your future readers deserve.

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    Gulcan Telci

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  • Why You Need to Become Your Own Cheerleader

    Why You Need to Become Your Own Cheerleader

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We all like to be celebrated and cheered on. But how would you feel if no one or very few people cheered for you after you’ve accomplished making it to the next step in your goal, or when you went from 20 sales to your first 100 sales? Or how about when your business launch that you worked so hard on was a success? I’m sure for a lot of us, it wouldn’t feel good. The hard truth is, those who we feel should celebrate our accomplishments and milestones with us are often not the ones who do. We have to learn to be okay with that.

    In all honesty, that was a hard pill for me to swallow. For years, I’ve genuinely cheered people on and supported them. I love to see anyone working on and accomplishing their goals. So, when I wasn’t receiving the support that I had been giving for years, I felt slighted. And it wasn’t because I felt that someone owed me. It was more so, “Hey, we can get so much further when we support one another. So, why aren’t we?” But then I was so busy working on my projects that I didn’t have the capacity to worry about who wasn’t supporting me. I tend to focus more on those who do support me.

    Related: Stop Worrying About Why Your Family and Friends Don’t Support Your Business

    Why you should become your own cheerleader

    It’s not easy to get to a point where we can say “I’ve invested so much of my time and finances in making my dream come true, and I’m finally here.” So, it’s understandable to be proud of yourself and want others to be proud of you as well. But when we expect others to be our cheerleaders instead of us being our own biggest cheerleaders, we set ourselves up for frustration and maybe anger at times.

    In Be Your Own Cheerleader: An Asian and South Asian Woman’s Cultural, Psychological, and Spiritual Guide to Self-Promote at Work, Neelu Kaur writes, “Alongside being a super rock star in your role at work, your other job — and actually the most important job you will ever have — is to manage your mental health. This is no easy task and takes constant vigilance of what you allow in and out of your precious mind. The other piece of mental health management that is quite challenging to control is the internal dialogue you have with yourself. The inner critic can run the show and your job is to make sure you keep it in check. The inner critic doesn’t rule the show; you do. You ultimately have a choice: Are you going to work for your inner critic or are you going to manage and lead your inner critic? Empowerment comes from a place of managing the negative inner dialogue.”

    I love this passage because although the author is speaking in terms of the workplace, it’s something we should apply to our personal and professional life. Life would be so much better if we did. We must learn to be our own cheerleaders and recognize the benefits of it. Hopefully, these five tips I’ve shared will help you.

    1. Don’t have expectations for others

    No one cares more about what your goals are than you. You know what your vision is and how you plan to make that vision a reality. No one else understands that, so you can’t expect them to care just as much as you. Of course, it’s nice to receive support of any kind while on your journey, but don’t weigh yourself down with negative emotions if you don’t receive it.

    Related: How to Deal With Unsupportive Friends and Family

    2. Celebrate any milestone

    It’s freeing and a confidence booster to celebrate yourself. It doesn’t matter the size of the milestone you’ve reached or what the accomplishment is. Celebrate everything. The more you celebrate yourself, the less you will care about those who didn’t celebrate you.

    3. Cheer yourself on

    Write your goals down, and once you’ve reached them, be proud of yourself. Give yourself a mental high five, and maybe treat yourself to something nice. Speak positively to yourself. I’m a firm believer in manifestation being a real thing, so I often speak what I want in my life as though it is. Know and understand that you are deserving as much as anyone else.

    4. View yourself as your ally, your own best friend

    Being your own best friend means supporting and motivating yourself just like you would a friend — showing up for yourself when others cannot or will not. You will gain more self-awareness, confidence and compassion for yourself in doing so.

    5. Practice positive affirmations

    Practicing writing positive affirmations is another way to cheer yourself on. Affirmations motivate you, challenge you, and push you to reach your full potential in life.

    Related: 7 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated

    So, celebrate your accomplishments even if no one else does. Don’t expect anyone to be supportive, and also don’t be angry if they don’t. Showing yourself the same support you would a friend, will boost your confidence and happiness.

    In conclusion, being your own cheerleader isn’t about being arrogant or thinking you’re better than anyone else, but it’s about making sure you don’t feel the need or desire to count on others to validate you and your accomplishments. It’s also about keeping taking steps to keep your mental health in check.

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    Athalia Monae

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  • He Turned His Music Passion Into a Thriving Audio Tech Business

    He Turned His Music Passion Into a Thriving Audio Tech Business

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    In this ongoing series, we are sharing advice, tips and insights from real entrepreneurs who are out there doing business battle on a daily basis. (Answers have been edited and condensed for clarity.)


    Darren Nakonechny, CEO and founder of Flock Audio

    Who are you and what’s your business?

    I am Darren Nakonechny, CEO and founder of Flock Audio. We are a professional audio technology company that specializes in advanced analog routing technologies and hardware management solutions. Our patented analog routing technology is the first of its kind and we’re setting a new standard in our industry for using analog hardware in the professional audio field.

    What inspired you to create this business?

    After leaving a very stable career with many job promotions, I felt like I needed a change. Although I was making strides in my current career, I wasn’t happy or feeling fulfilled. So I changed my career path and ventured into uncharted waters, deepening my passion for audio production and recording studios — which I had been doing on the side for many years with local bands and artists. Once I left my career and began recording full-time, growing my studio and adding more recording hardware/tools along the way, I noticed there was a vital part of our industry that was missing and still stuck in the archaic past: the analog patchbay.

    Related: It’s Never Too Late to Launch Your Dream, Say These Skincare Entrepreneurs

    Analog routing in recording studios was still being done by a 150+-year-old technology, originally developed for the telecommunications industry. We are all familiar with the classic black-and-white footage of lady operators on stools, routing phone calls on a giant patch panel as they plugged and unplugged cables to connect phone calls. It turns out that this very technology was being used a century and a half later in the audio industry, and remained the only lucrative option for thousands of audio professionals worldwide. Upon experiencing this limited and grossly outdated method of analog routing firsthand, I knew there had to be a better way. More importantly, I questioned why there wasn’t a better way. This is what led to my journey into creating our industry’s leading analog routing technology, the Flock Audio PATCH Series.

    Patch

    What has been your biggest challenge and how did you pivot to overcome it?

    As with any groundbreaking technology, it’s overcoming the naysayers. To my surprise, most of our industry accepted and adopted our new technology solution with open arms, but this didn’t change the fact that we had to win over a range of more skeptical audio professionals, who despite seeing the growing successes of the product, were still unconvinced that this was the future of analog routing. New technology and change can be scary among the masses until you see what it can offer, and this is exactly what transpired with the Flock Audio PATCH Series.

    Once those skeptical audio professionals started to see more of the Flock Audio brand and eventually test it for themselves, they all agreed: there was no going back, and nothing else like it. This truly was the future of our analog hardware industry. I generally dislike the term “game changer” but the PATCH Series has been one of, if not the biggest game-changing technology in our industry. Seeing, hearing and experiencing is indeed believing.

    What advice would you give entrepreneurs looking for funding?


    As with every business, product and company scenarios are always unique. There is no simple solution or method to obtain funding. You will be promised a lot of opportunities for funding, and disappointed by a lot of roadblocks and gatekeepers along the way, but keep going. If it was simple or easy, everyone would do it. You will have to experience many hardships, difficulties and dark days during the early times of starting your company, but don’t stop. Accessing capital can come in many different forms of VCs, angel investors, love money, self-funding, preorder funding and more. But don’t expect some golden-throated investor to come along and sign a check to get your business off the ground. It takes determination, stamina and decisiveness to figure out the routes that others haven’t taken, and what might work for your company — specifically in terms of funding options that haven’t been explored. Our company was promised a lot of money and investments along the way during the early years, but not a single penny came through, and we had to do it on our own using creative and decisive methods. Despite the pain and disappointment of not getting any funding from outside sources, we made Flock Audio a true success story.

    
Related: You Don’t Have to Be a Business Owner to Think Like an Entrepreneur


    What does the word “entrepreneur” mean to you?

    For me, “entrepreneur” means a trailblazer: someone who can fit a square peg into a round hole. Perhaps someone who sees things differently? For the first 30 years of my life, I admittedly didn’t really know, care or had any reason to understand what ‘entrepreneur’ ever meant. It never made any sense to me until I lived it, and that included the heartbreaking times as well as other times of achievement that made you feel like a champion. I believe a true entrepreneur is not born. Instead, you are sculpted through early mornings and late nights of small successes and major defeats, until finally, you find the perfect balance towards achieving your dream. Never lose that focus, never forget why you started, and keep both of these things in your field of vision until you get there.

    What is something many aspiring business owners think they need that they really don’t?

    Partners, co-owners, etc. I hate to sound like a lone wolf but no two people, and no two business owners, are alike. If you have a vision for your life and how you want to live it, you don’t rely on other people to get you there. You need a great team, good individuals and positive reinforcement around you to help assist in fulfilling that dream but partnering with the wrong people can destroy in a matter of weeks what may have taken months or years to establish in your mind. Like many entrepreneurs, I made the typical mistake of thinking that I needed someone else to share this journey with and I was wrong. While that partnership didn’t work out, it ultimately taught me that even though you need a good team, you don’t necessarily need a partner to help you achieve your vision. No one will work harder for your dream than you. So I say go in it alone, be the lone wolf, be the odd one out. It’s not always fun, but it’s invigorating and can teach you so many things about yourself, including strength and perseverance you never knew you had in you.

    Related: This 18-Year-Old Student Wanted a Better Way to Keep Track of His School Work. So He Built an App — and a Business.

    Is there a particular quote or saying that you use as personal motivation?

    There are so many, but my favorite is one from Les Brown: “Some people get even, and some people get ahead, stay focused.” This quote has carried me through many difficult times, particularly in my own industry where there were some early naysayers who said my product would never be successful. Each and every time I heard this, I reminded myself of this quote above. The best approach was to keep my head down, stay focused and remember that the best revenge of all is proving people wrong with results; not by arguing online in an otherwise noisy world. I kept telling myself, “stay focused, stay focused, stay focused.”

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    Entrepreneur Staff

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  • 7 Steps to Push Your Career Beyond Your Comfort Zone

    7 Steps to Push Your Career Beyond Your Comfort Zone

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    A career is something you build on small successes and failures. But if you want to push your profession beyond your comfort zone, you will need a backup plan. Becoming successful in your work requires you to do what others cannot or will not do. With the simple, concrete steps below, you can push yourself into career-launch mode and see massive returns. These steps include taking calculated risks, learning from mistakes and embracing the unknown. Let’s discuss each of them in detail:

    1. Get comfortable being uncomfortable

    Instead of fearing discomfort, you should embrace it. The more often you do something new and out of your comfort zone, the more comfortable you will become with doing that thing.

    This will lead to an increase in confidence. The more confident you are, the easier it will be to do things outside your everyday routine. You will start seeking opportunities to stretch yourself or take on additional responsibility because you know that even though these things may make you uncomfortable, they are another way for your profession to grow.

    You will also inevitably get better at whatever makes someone uncomfortable — whether it is public speaking or managing other people — and this makes those hours spent practicing worthwhile. The knowledge gained through experience sets a foundation for future success in any field.

    Related: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, Take Risks and Run With the Big Dogs

    2. Take risks but minimize risks as much as you can

    The best way to truly learn is by doing. The only way you are capable of doing that is by letting go of your fear. Take calculated risks, but make sure the odds are in your favor. The crucial decision is knowing when to take a chance and when not to. Here are some tips to help you minimize risk as much as possible:

    • List all of the things that could go wrong if you do not take a chance (or if you do). How will it affect your life? Your career? What are some potential consequences? If this is not worth risking everything on, it is not important enough.

    • Identify what might happen if something goes right with this project or idea — how will it help your profession? Will it lead to more opportunities down the road? Does this have long-term benefits for yourself or others around you? Does this have short-term benefits for yourself or others around you?

    3. Be prepared to venture into the unknown

    The only way to be prepared for these situations is by experiencing new challenges. Try something new every day so that when an opportunity arises where you need to venture into the unknown, it will not seem like such a big deal.

    The more comfortable you become with stepping out on your own, going against norms or doing whatever it takes, it will not feel scary because now you have experience using those tools and honing those skills in other areas.

    4. Learn from your mistakes, and move on

    Many say that failure is the best teacher, but what they do not tell is the best way to learn how to fail better next time. If you are constantly trying new things, pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone and making mistakes along the way (as long as they are not too costly), then there is no way for you not to improve — and fast.

    Related: The Most Important Career Lessons Are the Ones You Learn From Your Mistakes

    5. Do not let what others think of you limit your success

    It is easy to get stuck in the opinions of others, but this can stop you from making good decisions. If someone is telling you not to do something, and they do not have a good reason, then ignore them. What is important is your own opinion and what feels suitable for you. People may have told you that something was impossible or would not work out, but if the situation suits your ambitions and goals — go for it.

    6. Put yourself out there

    If you want to be successful, put yourself out there. This means taking on new projects and responsibilities that can help you grow in your profession. When you put yourself out there, you learn more about yourself, what motivates you and what your strengths are. You also know more about what kinds of projects or responsibilities make you uncomfortable or nervous.

    By identifying these areas of weakness, you can figure out how to improve them. When future opportunities that require this skill set (or lack thereof) come around, they will seem manageable.

    7. Dream big, then work toward making it happen

    When you are dreaming big, you must be prepared to take risks and venture into the unknown. However, this does not mean you have to go all in with no plan to recover if things go wrong (as they inevitably do).

    When planning for success, keep these things in mind:

    • Be prepared for failure: Think about what could happen if your plan fails, and work through those scenarios so that you know what steps you would need to take next.

    • Take small steps at first: Start small, and take one action at a time until you get closer to achieving your goal. Then move on until you meet your goal.

    Related: How To Achieve Meaningful Career Advancement

    Push yourself beyond your comfort zone to rise in your career. You may think you need to make the right move when you take risks, but the truth is that if you do not go out of your comfort zone, how will anything ever change? Pushing yourself out of your convenience zone can help you grow professionally and personally by helping build confidence, courage and strength. It will also help develop resilience, an essential quality for success in any field.

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    Steve Taplin

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  • 8 Ways Traders Can Manage Their Emotions and Achieve Success

    8 Ways Traders Can Manage Their Emotions and Achieve Success

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Short-term trading can be a thrilling and potentially profitable endeavor, but it also requires a deep understanding of not only the markets and strategies but also of one’s own trading psychology.

    The fast-paced nature of short-term trading (scalping, day trading, and to some extent, swing trading) can lead to significant stress and emotional turmoil, which can negatively impact a trader’s performance if not properly managed. In this article, we will explore some key aspects of trading psychology and discuss strategies for managing emotions and achieving success in the trading arena:

    Related: 6 Important Tips for Improving Your Emotional Control

    1. Detachment

    One of the most challenging things about trading is the ability to remain emotionally detached from our trades. This means that you should strive to separate your emotions from your trading decisions and focus on the facts and data. This can be difficult to do, especially when the market is moving against you or when you’ve already experienced losses. But this detachment is crucial for maintaining a rational perspective and making sound trading decisions.

    At all times, you must get into the habit of asking yourself the question, “Am I just projecting onto the market what I want to see happen or not see happen, or am I looking at things objectively?”

    This is a very powerful way to notice when you’re getting carried away in rash emotional decisions.

    2. Attitude

    Another important aspect of trading psychology is having a positive attitude. Attitudes are different than emotions in that they’re the mindset you decide to cultivate day in and day out, in the face of challenges and difficulties.

    Trading can be incredibly challenging, and it’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t going well. So, traders must be able to stay positive and maintain a long-term perspective, even when faced with short-term losses.

    This can include things like focusing on the lessons that can be learned from losing trades, rather than dwelling on the losses themselves. It’s also crucial to have realistic expectations — not expecting to become a millionaire overnight, but being patient and consistent in your approach while keeping an open mind to learn and evolve with time.

    3. Discipline

    It’s also crucial for traders to stay disciplined. Even the most successful traders can fall into the trap of getting caught up in the hype of a new trend. There’s nothing wrong with onboarding a new trend, but generally speaking, traders need to learn to think for themselves and not blindly follow what’s hot at the moment.

    To avoid these trading psychology pitfalls, traders should focus on a well-researched strategy and stick to it, even when things aren’t going their way. This can be achieved by developing and following a trading plan, which outlines your risk management, entry and exit criteria, as well as other important elements of your approach.

    Additionally, traders should also set specific goals and hold themselves accountable for achieving them.

    4. Self-awareness

    One of the key elements of a winning trading psychology is self-awareness. This includes being aware of your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as your emotional triggers and tendencies. By understanding these things about yourself, you can take steps to manage your emotions and make better trading decisions.

    The best way to develop self-awareness, on purpose, is via meditation. It takes 10-20 minutes per day. That’s it. Observe your thoughts and your feelings objectively and non-judgementally, and when you notice that you get carried away by thinking, mentally detach yourself from the thinking process and observe it objectively again.

    Doing this for 10-20 minutes per day is enough to begin exercising your awareness muscle. This greater level of awareness will positively impact the way you trade, guaranteed.

    Related: How Mindfulness Can Help Traders Succeed

    5. Confidence

    Having confidence in yourself, your abilities and your strategies is crucial to being a successful trader. However, it’s also important to recognize the difference between confidence and overconfidence. The latter could lead to taking unnecessary risks and not managing the risks properly, while the former allows traders to make the right decisions even in adverse situations.

    The best way to develop confidence is by practicing it. Be decisive when you trade. Good or bad, when you make a decision, stick with it. And whether the outcome is favorable or unfavorable, keep practicing that decisiveness muscle, and your confidence will grow.

    Always remember: Be flexible in what you expect, but be decisive about what you do.

    6. Adaptability

    One of the biggest obstacles that traders face is fear and greed. Fear can lead to missed opportunities and profits, while greed can cause traders to hold onto losing positions for too long, hoping for a rebound that may never happen.

    To combat these emotions, traders must first recognize them and then take steps to manage them by acknowledging the fact of uncertainty. Markets are constantly changing, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Traders must embrace that fact and constantly adopt a mindset that adapts to these changes. This requires flexibility and an open mind, and the willingness to learn and evolve over time.

    One technique to embrace uncertainty is to journal about it. Examine the patterns you revert to when something unexpected happens in the market. Do you get emotional and impulsive? Do you worry? Understand what you do and why you do it, and you’ll have an easier time changing those things.

    7. Preparation

    Preparation is essential for trading success. This includes setting clear trading rules like stop-losses and profit targets, as well as having a plan for how to exit a trade in the case of a black swan event (an adverse event that is completely unexpected). Ideally, this preparation should be done outside of market hours when traders are at their most rational.

    Preparation also includes doing certain exercises that promote focus, concentration and equanimity under pressure. Traders can prepare mentally through mindfulness, visualization or another form of mental training.

    8. Rest

    Finally, it’s important for traders to take time away from the markets to relax and recharge their trading psychology. This can include things like taking occasional breaks from trading and engaging in activities that are unrelated to trading altogether. This can help traders stay focused and refreshed, and it can also serve as a reminder that there’s more to life than the markets. Taking care of physical, emotional and mental well-being will help traders to have a healthier mindset while approaching the markets.

    Related: What Kind Of Trader Are You? An Introduction To Trading Behaviors

    In conclusion, short-term trading requires not only knowledge of the markets and strategies, but also a deep understanding of one’s own trading psychology. By recognizing and managing emotions, maintaining a positive attitude, staying disciplined and taking time to relax and recharge, traders can improve their performance and achieve greater success in the trading arena.

    It’s also important to remember that as traders, you are in it for the long term, and you need to be patient and persistent. Successful trading requires consistent effort and learning over a period of time, and you should be prepared to put in the time, energy and dedication required to build your skills, knowledge and perspective.

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    Yvan Byeajee

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  • 4 Simple Self-Care Rituals to Help You Build More Resilience

    4 Simple Self-Care Rituals to Help You Build More Resilience

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Emotional outbursts are a sign of exhaustion and even burnout … Take time to replenish yourself before you hit a wall.

    Being resilient allows people to respond to unexpected challenges thoughtfully, with calm, grace and poise. But when we are depleted — physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually — we are more likely to react or even lash out when things go wrong. The challenges don’t necessarily need to be life-altering to spur a reaction when depletion is our reality. Something as simple as a comment, traffic or ruined plans can quickly seem catastrophic.

    We saw an example of this level of serious depletion earlier this year at the Academy Awards when actor Will Smith lost his cool, storming on stage to slap comedian Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife.

    Smith’s wife, Jada, was resilient enough to deal with it in the moment with little more than a pained expression on her face. Rock demonstrated resilience by not getting angry, choosing instead to express his surprise and move to another joke. But Smith’s lack of resilience was clear from his reactivity. And more often than not, reactivity is the result of depletion.

    Related: 7 Ways to Stay Resilient in Uncertain Times

    When depletion leads to bad behavior

    Burnout is very real, however, it can be avoided through simple self-care rituals. We are all human, and we need to replenish our resilience so that we can best face whatever struggles come our way. However, many of us do not pay attention to our level of resilience until we are already running on empty.

    About 49% of American employees say they are burned out from their jobs, a new survey by Eagle Hill Consulting, LLC finds. The rates are higher for women (54%) and younger workers ages 18-34 (53%), says the report, which blames staffing shortages and heavy workloads as causes.

    Depletion is a root cause of burnout. When you are depleted, you are less able to deal with adversity, uncertainty and unexpected challenges. You are in a lowered state of readiness. Unfortunately, often we don’t notice we are depleted until something happens to test us.

    The signs of depletion are all around us. Road rage, online rage and general incivility are all indicators that people are tense, reactive and triggered — like Will Smith at the Academy Awards. We didn’t wake up one day having lost our ability to be patient, civil and compassionate. We’re the same people we were before we got stressed out; we’re just less patient, less thoughtful, less considerate and less able to manage our emotions.

    So, what’s the answer? Do we all need to take civility classes? Maybe, but it’s really not about that. It’s about the fact that people are exhausted. In that state, you’re more likely to be short with your kids, your spouse, your coworkers — and certainly with strangers.

    Our human tendency is to deal with uncertainty or adversity from a place of fear. When our primitive fight-or-flight response is activated, our ability to think critically is diminished, overrun by defensiveness and even anger. We’re far less concerned that we might offend somebody with our words, actions or tone of voice. This is where smart people can make bad decisions.

    We’ve always been tribal, so why does it seem we suddenly can’t be civil to one other anymore? I don’t think people have forgotten how to be civil. I do think many people are feeling depleted. A key indicator of burnout is overwhelming fatigue that threatens to overrun the body, the mind, the heart and the spirit.

    It takes energy to be patient. It takes energy to be empathetic, compassionate and understanding. To have the energy we need to be at our best, we have to bolster our resilience and restore our energy before we need it.

    Related: 3 Rituals to Help You Build Resilience and Beat Stress

    4 rituals for more resilience and less depletion

    In order to successfully bolster our resilience and restore our energy before we need it, we can establish rituals for renewing and replenishing ourselves in all four resilience zones: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. These are the daily habits we engage in to replenish ourselves.

    1. Movement is healing. Simple acts, such as stretching and exercising can do a lot for all four resilience zones. They’re also a great way to interrupt a spiral or negative emotions that might lead to bad behavior.

    2. Fresh air is revitalizing. Getting outside, taking a quick walk or engaging in an activity you enjoy outside stimulates those feel-good chemicals in your brain that we need to battle depletion. Daily doses of fresh air, outside of the cubicle or office walls, create space for a mental break as well — pulling double duty for your resilience.

    3. Silence really is golden. Meditating and taking short but meaningful breaks throughout our workday interrupts the noise and constant information overload we are all subjected to on a daily basis. Rather than wait for overwhelm to take a break, schedule these moments intentionally throughout your day. If it’s on your calendar, you’re much more likely to follow through, which is half the battle when it comes to self-care.

    4. It’s important to feed your brain. We don’t give enough credit to how new perspectives and growth can create a calming effect across our lives. When we read, invest time in learning or spend focused time on personal growth, it also creates more space in our lives to deal with difficult situations in more effective ways.

    With practice, we can change how we react to stressful, unexpected situations. By creating and practicing rituals for recovery throughout your day, you are less likely to be depleted and better equipped to be patient, kind and compassionate — and, of course, to make better decisions.

    Related: Want to Prevent Burnout? Start Building Resilience Now.

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    Adam Markel

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  • How Leaders Can Embrace Change and Keep Thriving Through It

    How Leaders Can Embrace Change and Keep Thriving Through It

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’re anything like me, when you reflect on the past year, you find yourself reeling from what feels like a punch to the gut. At the start of 2022, businesses were grasping for new hires amid a nationwide employee shortage and trying to decide upon a flexible work plan that was right for them. With 2023 now underway, many organizations are steadying their sails for what increasingly looks like an imminent downturn by tightening budgets and issuing hiring freezes.

    Navigating change will be the anchor for leadership in 2023. As a business leader, you already recognize that change happens constantly. Economies fluctuate between recessions and expansions, share prices increase and decrease, innovative technologies and industries disrupt businesses, and so on.

    The typical response to change can vary greatly depending on the person and the current environment. Some want to jump to immediate action, while others take a wait-and-see approach. It’s only natural that we as humans — and as leaders — get comfortable in our present state and find a rhythm for success, only to then get thrown off by change.

    But what if instead of simply reacting to disruptions, we turned them into opportunities for innovation and growth? Here are some key strategies I’ve found useful to successfully navigate change — and even embrace it — as 2023 kicks into high gear.

    Related: 7 Ways to Stay Resilient in Uncertain Times

    1. Reframe change as untapped potential

    Seasoned leaders know that handling change is always going to be part of the job. The key is for leaders to see that change can be a good thing, and to reframe change as an untapped opportunity for employees.

    A few years ago, we made the proactive decision to upend our business model and undertake a massive digital transformation. Things were not going poorly for us — we were doing better as an organization than we had in a long time. But our CEO at the time believed there was a better way to serve our customers: by transitioning to a digital-first subscription model. And if that proved to be true, it was going to be much better for our clients and our organization.

    I was tasked with testing the model with a subset of salespeople and clients, where results quickly proved the idea viable. But it was not an easy decision as a public company to transform our business. We needed to address everything — what we sold, the way we sold, the way we engaged clients, the financial model of the company, how we recognized revenue, how we accounted for our sales, how we went to market and more. In one way or another, every touchpoint of our business had to change.

    Throughout that process, we knew that if we couldn’t capture the hearts of our people, this change would fail and the benefits we envisioned wouldn’t be realized. As leaders, our job was to help everyone in the organization understand that, while we didn’t have answers to every question, ultimately this move was right for them and our customers.

    We often believe that leadership is about having the “big idea.” But the idea is only the starting line. Leaders need the willingness to confront reality, adjust, get input, adjust again and bring people along. That’s the real work of leadership.

    Related: How to Get Comfortable With Change and Build It Into the Foundation of Your Business

    2. Create a plan for better change management

    When it comes to change management, I have seen organizations of all sizes on every part of the spectrum. Some business leaders have done an incredible job of developing change management plans that are agile and of which their entire workforce is on board, while many others have not.

    Having a change management plan is both a failsafe for organizations and a safety net for employees. It’s a clear signal to employees that you as a leader know change is coming and can be trusted to lead the organization through what’s to come. Creating a great change management plan includes forecasting what changes you expect — and what you as an organization and your individual departments specifically will do to come out ahead.

    3. Communicate your plan and lead out by example

    Start by getting in touch with your own personal reactions to change. As you do so, your empathy with your team increases. Harness that empathy; it’s key to helping your team persist when the going gets tough.

    Empathy plays a major role in communicating effectively with your team. Successful leaders directly engage their people in change. A change management plan is nothing except words on paper if you as a leader don’t communicate it and get buy-in from your people.

    No matter the size of your organization, one of the best ways to communicate your change management plan is to get employee feedback early on in the process. Be a sounding board and listen as they voice their concerns over the anticipated change. It’s essential to meet people where they’re at to successfully gain their support for a change management plan. Try not to focus too much on the process — humans make up your teams, so be human in your approach.

    Related: Want to Make Your Workplace More Human? Here Are 4 Foolproof Ways.

    4. Encourage leadership at every level

    Once you’ve received buy-in and communicated with your employees, trust your leaders to take the helm and begin implementing the plan within their individual departments and teams. With each small win, your leaders will find the courage and motivation to continue moving forward with your change management plan. They will know they can turn to you as a resource for voicing concerns or providing direction, but they will also know that you trust them to make important decisions and carry the initiative forward.

    Over the past decade, we’ve worked with hundreds of organizations to equip them with the skills not only to develop change management plans, but also to create change-ready cultures where people move from fearing and disliking change to embracing and thriving through change.

    As we look to the months ahead, don’t be afraid of what’s to come. You’ve navigated uncharted territory before and you’ll do it again. Use these insights and work with your employees to create a change management plan that is right for your organization and you will steadily sail — even through the storms — and come out ahead on the other side.

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    Paul Walker

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  • Why You Need to Consider Implementing the 4-Day Workweek

    Why You Need to Consider Implementing the 4-Day Workweek

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The four-day workweek concept isn’t new. New Zealand and many European countries have proven it successful over recent years. Yet, with the shift to hybrid work and the need for increased flexibility, more companies are rethinking the work week. One study showed that 40% of companies have implemented or are beginning to implement a four-day workweek.

    Having managed my diversity speaking business for eight years, my organization is trying the four-day workweek in 2023. We studied the benefits, discussed our preferences and decided as a team to commit to the shift. As with any change, we anticipate there will be challenges short-term and are hopeful about the long-term results.

    Research shows the four-day workweek boosts productivity, improves retention and increases access to diverse talent. This work schedule is more attractive to those that are caregivers, younger employees, those from different socioeconomic classes and those with disabilities.

    According to Four-Day Week, organizations with successful implementation take into account the differing preferences of their employees with the flexibility to co-create their work schedule. LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence survey, which surveyed 19,000 workers in 2022, found that for 54% of people, the four-day workweek is among their top three priorities when it comes to workplace benefits. Support is especially strong for the younger generation of workers, with 62% of both millennials and Gen Z supporting the shift. The four-day week was also more popular among women (57%) than among men (51%).

    One wrinkle to this — most senior leadership teams have significantly lower interest in four-day work weeks at just 43%.

    What does it take to boost diversity and inclusion with the four-day workweek?

    Related: The Case for a 4-Day Work Week

    Ditch the “traditional worker” mindset

    Most senior-level leaders grew up under the “traditional worker” mindset where men were more likely to occupy leadership roles with stay-at-home partners to help with tasks outside of work. The preference for workers to always be “on,” respond to emails right away, be visible in the office for more hours, have back-to-back meeting schedules and emphasize being busy over actual results is outdated. The “traditional worker” model needs to shift from the four-day workweek to work.

    For women that are caregivers, folks with disabilities and those from different cultures and backgrounds, it is more difficult to fit into a culture that reveres the “traditional worker.” Burnout and turnover are much higher for leaders in diversity work. More flexible work environments are known to create more psychological safety for workers with different backgrounds and reduce the number of microaggressions they face.

    Barnes‘ organization, which is working with university researchers to test the four-day week across different industries, promotes the 100/80/100 model: 100% productivity, 80% of the time, with 100% pay.

    Oftentimes people don’t reduce their workloads, they’re simply more intentional and efficient with the time they have when they lose one working day. People are forced to evaluate trade-offs and set clear priorities instead of saying yes to everything.

    Related: This is What It’s Actually Like to Work a 4-Day Workweek

    Be clear on what good performance looks like

    Instead of glorifying the “traditional worker,” have objective criteria to measure performance. Reduce meetings by asking “could this meeting be an email,” set clear boundaries on business hours and do not reward work done outside of those business hours.

    Teams that flourish in the four-day workweek have a concise set of documented goals and expectations. They know what is in scope for their role and out of scope for their role. They have the confidence to push back on work outside of their job descriptions.

    Also, encourage employees to set healthy boundaries based on their primary job responsibilities. Normalize pushing back when people ask more from you with clever phrases like, “If I helped you, I’d be letting others down” or “I would be unable to do a good job on your project and my other work would suffer.”

    As a leader, paint a picture of what good looks like. Measure performance objectively based on specific, measurable data to set your team up for success. For example, my team does quarterly key performance indicators (KPIs). Each team member selects three broad goals with specific tactics that are easy to measure completion on. We evaluate them at the end of each quarter to inform quarterly bonuses and pay increases.

    Related: Want to Work A 4-Day Workweek? Here’s What It Takes

    Do a trial run

    If your team is skeptical about the four-day workweek, try it first. Set an expectation for a time period for the trial, define what success looks like and gather perspectives at the end of the trial. My team has committed to our trial period at the start of the year. We are shifting to longer hours Monday through Thursday, proactively managing expectations with our clients and blocking time on our calendars for critical tasks aligned with our KPIs.

    We also looked ahead to the year and blocked time off when we know we are traditionally slow. We plan to take time off on holiday weeks, summertime and spring and fall break times. That way we can be available when our clients are traditionally busier by proactively planning our work schedules around past known seasonality.

    One of the few downfalls to the four-day workweek is time for creative work for folks with diverse backgrounds. With less time to wonder and banter with colleagues informally, the status quo can endure. Innovation time should also be prioritized and fit into the new work week. Our team schedules regular creative project time throughout the month to remind us to continue to rethink work.

    Flexible work environments like the four-day workweek are known to help diversify workplaces. With this new model, our team hopes to retain our diverse team and also attract more talent from diverse backgrounds.

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    Julie Kratz

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  • How Crafting a Winning Environment Can Change Your Life and Your Business

    How Crafting a Winning Environment Can Change Your Life and Your Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Business owners have always been problem solvers. That’s what the free market is designed to do — allow innovative thinkers to create change for others by solving problems. We, as entrepreneurs, are problem solvers and creative thinkers. To see success in business, we must be good at a few core skills. We must be good at solving a specific problem for a specific type of person. We must be good at finding the right people and managing those people. And we must be good at solving the problems that arise in our businesses from the chaos that the world brings.

    We all know that even with the perfect plan, we still run into problems. It’s how we deal with those problems that dictate the end results in our business. The human mind has evolved to create more comfort for us. We’ve designed houses, cities, supply chains and much more to solve problems and also create more safety and security in an uncertain world. It’s in the crafting of these types of environments that we create a better world for ourselves, and, ironically, a worse one at the same time.

    Related: 3 Ways to Create an Environment That’ll Nurture an Entrepreneur

    The problem with being too comfortable

    The more comfort we create for ourselves, the more we crave that comfort and allow that comfort to coddle us and lure us into relaxing our pursuit of betterment. Many of us tell ourselves the story that if we just have the Peloton, that tonal or that home gym set up, we’ll work out more.

    The hard truth is that once we get those things that we tell ourselves will create a successful routine for us, many of us stay the same. Now we just have a new living room ornament and a reminder of the failed promises that we’ve made to ourselves every day. We tell ourselves, “Tomorrow, I’ll use it.” And then another day goes by, and it’s unused.

    I’ve been there, too. For five years, I told myself, “I’ll quit heroin tomorrow.” And then, the next day came, and I found myself sticking a needle in my arm. Until a day came when the pain of staying the same was bigger than the pain of changing. So, I quit and haven’t touched it since. Was it easy? No, but what in life that’s worth it is easy? Not much that I’ve found.

    Related: 8 Ways to Structure Your Daily Grind for Success

    Crafting a winning internal environment

    Most of our habits aren’t nearly as harmful to our health, our relationships and our business as heroin. But the continued practice of being comfortable and sitting on our laurels, thinking we’ve made it because we have a business that pays us a certain amount month after month, year after year, can be nauseatingly comfortable and therefore harmful. It’s that type of comfort that we get lured into that can cause catastrophic damage when a large problem arises, and we’re not prepared to solve it because we’ve let our metaphorical tools become dull and our muscles weaken.

    In business, I’ve found that we are at war with ourselves and at war with the tendency to crave comfort over the habit of the consistent pursuit of success. So, it’s not the environment outside that we must cultivate to create success. It’s the internal environment that we must shape and prune to create the success we truly desire.

    With lifting weights, it’s the last few reps when we’re in more pain, fully exerting ourselves and feeling the maximum amount of strain, that create the most significant changes in our muscles and physique. It’s also the times when we feel like giving up, throwing in the towel or procrastinating starting the thing we know we should be doing in which we need to change the internal environment and create habits of execution.

    Life will get in the way; that’s inevitable. Children, headaches, feeling low on energy, needing to get one more thing done at work — the list could go on as to the excuses we could allow ourselves to use to continue to procrastinate the things that we know we need to do. The true power lies in realizing that we’ll never get more time in the day and that we need to prioritize what’s most important, which is self-worth, self-trust and the habit of showing up.

    Yes, burnout is a real thing. And we are only capable of doing so much every day. We’ll never be able to create more time in the day, and that’s why we must create an environment inside, a set of decision-making skills that allows us to be the most effective we can possibly be with our time and our energy. That can show up as being willing to let go of control and empowering employees so that we can allocate our time and energy to different and more critical tasks and activities. It can also mean not allowing ourselves to be distracted by social media and motivational content and only allowing ourselves to be satiated by doing the things we want the motivation to do.

    So, in 2023, I’m going to be creating an environment for myself and my business that allows me to stay consistently on the path toward greatness, and I encourage you to do the same. I’m not going to allow my old habits to destroy the person I know I can be and will become, and I surely won’t let the outside world dictate the way I show up. I hope you don’t either.

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    Trevor Cowley

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  • 3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Social Skills

    3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Social Skills

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When reaching your goals in life, you need other people. Even if you are not in it for the money, we need other people for domestic comfort, companionship, etc. When interacting with others, it is essential to have some level of social skills. This includes listening, speaking and having the ability to read body language. Having these skills is especially important as an entrepreneur.

    When I was 15-16 years old, I went to create my first business once my YouTube channel got demonetized. This business was a social media marketing agency. To acquire customers, I had to put myself out there.

    This includes making lots of cold calls, attending networking events where everyone was over 30 and putting myself in many social situations far out of my comfort zone. Here are the three steps I took to build my social skills as an entrepreneur:

    Related: 5 Social Skills Every Entrepreneur Needs to Master

    1. Consuming content

    The first step I took for building my social skills at 15-16 years old was consuming content.

    The first business-related book I ever read was Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. This book completely changed my view of the world and further expanded my interest in self-development books. Some of the books I read during this one-year phase that improved my social skills were:

    • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

    • The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

    • How to Develop Self-Confidence & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

    • Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life by John McCain

    All these books gave me a deep insight into how to communicate with others for various purposes. The common theme among all these books was to listen, ask questions and focus more on the other person.

    Whenever I didn’t have time to read books, I would tap into audiobooks, short videos and podcasts. Consuming content through these alternate mediums allowed me to learn and build my social skills while busy doing other things.

    My book phase lasted for precisely one year. I read over 56 books, and eventually, I got tired of reading them because some of the information was clashing against each other.

    Don’t get me wrong. Consuming content is good, but you don’t want to consume too much. Eventually, you need to put yourself out there and apply what you are learning. This brings me to my next point of putting yourself out there.

    Related: 4 Important Social Skills You Need to Succeed at Work

    2. Putting yourself out there

    The best teacher of reality is reality. No book, video or class can teach as well as reality can. When I was in high school, I was constantly putting myself out there.

    I would skip school and show up to networking events in downtown Atlanta. I was always the youngest person in the room when I showed up. The first couple of times was terrifying, but eventually, I got used to it.

    When I moved out of my parents’ house, I made it a priority to plan my day outside of the house. Doing this made it easier to make friends and develop my social skills. Putting yourself out there sounds quite intimidating, especially when it comes to getting rejected.

    Related: 4 Tips to Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone and Living Your Dream Life

    3. Don’t be afraid of rejection

    Let’s be honest. Getting rejected sucks. No one likes the feeling of hearing “no.” I used to be the worst at handling rejection until I started cold calling. The first ten times of getting hung up on did not feel good, but after a while, you begin to realize that rejection isn’t as bad as it sounds.

    I once set a goal to meet two people a day. Throughout that journey, I quickly realized that not everyone wanted to talk to me. As far as a reason, it wasn’t because they didn’t like me or anything like that. It was often bad timing. Maybe they:

    This experience shifted my mindset that rejection is just bad timing, and that mindset change helped me stop taking rejection personally.

    It doesn’t matter if you are a business owner, entrepreneur or someone just going through school. We need all need each other to reach our goals. Trying to make it on your own is very hard and often may take a lot more time, energy and money.

    Take the time to learn basic social skills, and polish them through daily practice. You will make mistakes early on, but eventually, your hard work will pay massive dividends.

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    Dejon Brooks

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  • Why You Should Apply Pressure on Yourself to Succeed

    Why You Should Apply Pressure on Yourself to Succeed

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When we think about feeling “pressured,” the immediate connotation is usually a negative one. Understandably so — if given a choice, many would opt not to feel pressure in any situation; it’s not an exceptionally comfortable emotion. Nonetheless, it can be helpful in all facets of life, especially regarding your career journey.

    Historian Thomas Carlyle famously said, “no pressure, no diamonds,” indicating that coal cannot achieve its true potential of becoming a diamond without it. Similarly, the correct dose of pressure will help you achieve your goals when you know how to wield it and handle it in a healthy way that doesn’t detract from your overall well-being.

    Related: 5 Habits Every CEO Should Avoid to Be a Truly Remarkable Leader

    1. Character over comfort

    To an extent, it is a choice. You can go through life prioritizing short-term comfort and avoiding situations that bring a high level of pressure. Still, it probably won’t be a very fulfilling experience. It’s natural to prefer easy and comfortable situations — it’s only human. Unfortunately, you’ll have to endure and welcome the more challenging experiences to spur character development and growth.

    Without the moments that push us, we stay stagnant, and forcing yourself to work through the discomfort does your future self an excellent service. Think back on an outstanding achievement — a widely-known, historical example or something personal that has happened in your own life. To the best of your knowledge, would that goal have been attained or that milestone reached without a level of discomfort and pressure?

    When I think about the moments in my life where I’ve felt most proud of myself or come to the most rewarding outcome, not one of them was able to happen without hard work leading up to it. I’ve never regretted putting myself in a position under pressure, and I will continue to do so whenever the opportunity arises.

    Related: 5 Ways to Become a Top Performer at Any Company

    2. Training the muscle

    As with so many things, working through pressure gets easier with practice. It’s like a muscle or a skill — you have to train it to strengthen it. No one is walking into the weight room for the first time and squatting with 400 pounds, nor would it be recommended. Without training, you’re only going to hurt yourself.

    There’s a reason Lionel Messi is consistently chosen to take penalty kicks; he’s taken so many before and has found a way to be comfortable and successful through what’s arguably the most pressure-inducing moment of the game. He’s been put in the situation before and risen to the challenge repeatedly in a way other players haven’t mastered yet.

    If you can find a way to embrace the moments when it feels like the pressure is closing in, it will get easier the more often it happens. Continually putting yourself in an uncomfortable position will only serve you in the long run, particularly because as you progress and grow, so will the frequency of those moments. It’s a cliché, but a true one: with great reward comes great responsibility, and as you achieve more or attain success, you’ll need that strengthened muscle to deal with times of heightened pressure.

    Related: A 4-Step Guide to Facing Failure and Getting Back Up

    3. Managing pressure

    If you are someone who experiences a high level of pressure regularly, chances are that you’re also consistently trying to do better in most facets of life — the two tend to go hand-in-hand. Even when you lean into the positive side of it, you’ll still need to find a way of managing that pressure.

    Different people have different strategies, but something I’ve found crucial is recognizing the adrenaline that comes with the feeling of pressure. On a physical level, the fear you might feel during those moments is not all that different from the feeling you get when you’re excited, like climbing the highest point of a rollercoaster. The trick is channeling that adrenaline towards the latter and using it to fuel excitement rather than fear. Think about what could go right rather than what could go wrong, or if that proves too difficult, let yourself think about what could go wrong and walk yourself through it anyway to feel more prepared.

    One strategy could be tapping into a friend with complementary strengths. I could be asked to jump out of a plane tomorrow and not think twice about it, but if you asked me to strap on an oxygen tank and go scuba diving, the “yes” isn’t going to come to me as quickly. Having a friend who might be terrified of heights but feels at home in the water would be the perfect match because we can push each other and relieve some of the pressure the other might be feeling.

    Inevitably, the best way to manage pressure is to become comfortable with the physical feelings it invokes, but these strategies can be of tremendous help before you get there.

    If you’re having trouble reaching a true feeling of comfort, viewing pressure through the lens of privilege can be incredibly helpful. Billie Jean King wrote an entire book on the subject where she said, “Pressure is a privilege—it only comes to those who earn it.” The privilege and opportunity of feeling the pressure to compete and perform is not one that everybody experiences. That fact alone can, at times, make it easier to handle. When advancing feels difficult, know that it’s supposed to feel that way, but it doesn’t have to stop you from using every tool in your arsenal. If you can take command of the situations that cause that good pressure rather than shy away from it, you will ultimately find success in a way that feels even more rewarding.

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    Ryan McGrath

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  • Why You’ll Never Be Happy If You’re Always Searching for More

    Why You’ll Never Be Happy If You’re Always Searching for More

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As someone who has focused on building businesses and wealth for the greater part of two decades, I’ve almost always been focused on more. More clients, more employees, more services, more investments, more franchises; I’ve always been focused on more.

    As entrepreneurs, we generally want more — and on the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that. Getting more clients allows you to hire more employees and provide more value to the world in general. More clients and employees, if done right, will create more money and more of an ability to provide for your family and invest in other opportunities. Those investment opportunities can provide other jobs, income, housing and money for everyone involved.

    At a glance, more is generally better. The pursuit of more isn’t immoral or wrong — but the pursuit of more can have other far-reaching effects, some of which can cause a negative impact on your life, or at least I’m finding that it’s causing negative impacts in mine.

    Related: 4 Things Science Says You Can Do to Be Happy

    Why don’t I feel like I’m enough?

    In a recent counseling session, I discovered that my pursuit of more was creating a feeling of “not enough” for both myself and my wife. I can only assume it’s also spilling into the feelings of my children as well as other people that I care deeply about.

    Coming from humble beginnings, I’ve always had a mindset of consistent excellence. If I’m not building, my legacy is slowly crumbling. So I’ve been focused on building businesses, our podcast, our mastermind, my investment portfolio and myself into more than I was yesterday.

    What I’m discovering is that my constant pursuit of more has created a restlessness for both myself and my family that’s not healthy — and I’m not practicing what I preach to those that I coach. To me, family should always be the most important thing in life and providing for your family should be the top priority. I believe I’ve done that well as a business owner and I believe that I’ve created a life for us that I wouldn’t have otherwise without a mindset of pursuit.

    What I’m also discovering is that what got me here won’t necessarily be what gets me where I want to be in the future. The pressure I’ve been putting myself under to perform and become better has leaked into other relationships. While that pressure of more has been great for my business partner and me to build Easier Accounting into an eight-figure business and create a successful podcast and mastermind group, it’s not facilitating the relationship I want or need with my wife. She feels my constant want for more and feels as though she’s not enough for me.

    Related: Want to Be Happy? Stop Doing These 10 Things.

    What am I doing about it?

    While I still want to pursue new endeavors, I’m putting a pause on them for the next three months. I’m taking the time to reevaluate what it looks like to believe that I have enough. I’m taking the time to be grateful for what I do have and the life I have built for myself, my employees and my family.

    I truly believe that it’s not a bad thing to want more, to focus on building and to create value for society. It’s a noble endeavor that takes sacrifice and its effects are far-reaching — bigger than we might ever know as business owners. But there comes a point when your pursuit of more becomes more than just a virtue or an action. When it becomes a part of your personality, it can create deep-seated feelings of inadequacy for yourself and for those around you.

    As you build in business, you generally level up your network, or at least I have as I’ve invested in masterminds and built my network and relationships with high-level business owners. Comparison crept in and what once felt like a lot, no longer felt like it was enough when I compared what I had built with what others had built or were building.

    Putting yourself around business owners that are doing more is highly beneficial when you’re looking to build your own business, especially when you’re starting out. You often hit glass ceilings and seeing what others are doing allows you to push past and break those glass ceilings. It’s the often-cited Roger Bannister effect. The brain sees that it’s possible when others demonstrate that it is.

    That demonstration is super powerful for many aspects of business, but when you allow it to creep in and comparison becomes rampant, it can become detrimental.

    It brings to mind a Kurt Vonnegut poem written in 2005 that recounts the story of him and another author at a party of billionaires on shelter island. Kurt asserts to Joe Heller, “How does it feel that the host made more yesterday than your book ever did?” Joe responds, “I’ve got something that he’ll never have.” Kurt questions, “What’s that?” Joe sums it up perfectly… “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.”

    I’m learning that what I have can be enough. I’m learning to be grateful for all the hard work I’ve put in to get where I am. I’m learning that taking the time to smell the roses now might even allow me to create bigger things in the future because I will be more present and aware of opportunities that come my way.

    Related: Yes, You Can Be Happy While Pushing Yourself to Success

    What I’m learning and what you can do if you don’t feel you’re enough

    The biggest takeaways I’m learning about myself through this process of self-exploration are two-fold…

    1. Money will never fill the hole inside you. Money can make life a lot better — and it’s not wrong to pursue money — but there was a time when I thought money might fix all my problems. I’m learning that money sometimes amplifies the problems that we think it will solve. Jocko Willink talks about creating the reflex of labeling any challenge as good, so I’m viewing the awareness of still not feeling like I’m enough as a good thing. If you’re not feeling like you’re enough despite seeing successes and creating forward progress in your life, the first thing you can do is view it as a good thing. You can view it as an opportunity to find out what it’s going to take to be enough for yourself and why you’re feeling this way. Take time to get to the root, it’s a good thing that you’re aware of it.
    2. Comparison is either your friend or your enemy, and it’s all about who you compare yourself to. If you find yourself comparing yourself to others, it’s a slippery slope that can end up with you never feeling like you’re enough. The grass is always greener on social media than it really is in real life. Compare yourself to the prior versions of yourself, look at how far you’ve come and be grateful for the opportunities to become better. Reflect on how you once wanted to be where you’re at today and be proud of the accomplishments you’ve made along the way.

    At the end of the day, I’m still learning how to be okay with what I have, even though I know I have built a life I should be proud of. Most importantly, I’m relearning to only compare myself to who I was in the past and focus on being grateful for the changes that I’ve made to become the person I am today — and hopefully, this insight helps you do the same.

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    Kale Goodman

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  • If You Do Any of These 3 Things, You Might Be a Toxic Co-Worker

    If You Do Any of These 3 Things, You Might Be a Toxic Co-Worker

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    Roughly one in 10 U.S. workers consider their workplace toxic, according to research conducted by MIT Sloan School of Management.


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    What’s more, MIT’s meta-analysis of thousands of studies of corporate culture reveals the best predictors of workplace toxicity, with leadership, social norms and work design rounding out the top three.

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    Amanda Breen

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  • The 3 DEI Lessons That Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Can Teach Us Today

    The 3 DEI Lessons That Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Can Teach Us Today

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s been more than 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. passed away. At the young age of 39, he managed to change the entire course of American history, from his influence as a pastor to his on-the-ground presence as a civil rights activist. Dr. King made the United States a more inclusive and equitable place not just for Black Americans but for all Americans. However, Dr. King’s success wouldn’t have been possible without courage, consistency and community.

    These are the three C’s that we as entrepreneurs can use as guiding principles in our work toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). What can Dr. King teach us about courage, consistency and community – even in the face of resistance? Times have changed but the lessons live on. Here’s how the three C’s can help you progress DEI in your workplace.

    1. Choose courage over comfort

    The 1960s were a difficult time for people of color. Forced segregation, domestic servitude and limitations on what people of color were able to accomplish were solidly in place. Despite the pain and trauma this period caused so many people, those in power found plenty of reasons to leave the system in place.

    Comfort can be paralyzing. Comfort can preserve the status quo so that a particular situation remains unchanged. Traditions and practices continue simply because “we’re used to them” or “it’s how things have always been.” It takes courage to see the other side, challenge the status quo and say, “We want change.” Dr. King demonstrated to us what it means to choose courage over comfort.

    Dr. King once said, “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” The history of enslavement, segregation and the demoralization of Black people in America inspired a new dawn of leaders who were ready to tell a different story — a story of freedom, resiliency and courage.

    Nowadays, some of us in the business world can be risk-averse when it comes to creating change. We don’t want to “switch it up” because having an all-white leadership team or having no women or minorities in the executive suite is how “things have always been.” How courageous would it be to implement Dr. King’s approach of choosing to speak up, having courageous conversations and pushing the envelope even when the larger group is resistant?

    As leaders, how can we start conversations with those least affected by pay gaps, missed advancement opportunities, and racial inequality? What can we do today to be courageous in DEI? These are the questions that can help guide your progress in DEI.

    Related: Here’s How to Have the Most Powerful DEI Conversations

    2. Consistency is key

    As a DEI consultant who’s been doing this work for decades, I’ve noticed a desire in people to have instant gratification with their DEI efforts. They invite me to speak or host a workshop in their workplace and they expect an instant change in their employees and culture.

    If the instant gratification isn’t there, people jump ship quickly on their DEI efforts. It can feel frustrating to not get fast results in days or weeks. However, DEI is a journey, not a destination, and continuing to move forward is the key to getting lasting results.

    Dr. King once said, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” When it comes to DEI, the work becomes more rewarding as you move forward. As you remain consistent, patient and committed, you will notice a slow but steady change in individuals, cultures and workplaces.

    While organizational change can take years, consistency is something you can commit to now to ensure incremental change happens sooner. Dr. King knew that, and despite years of defeats on a personal, professional and societal level, he remained committed and consistent with his pursuit of advancing civil rights.

    Dr. King said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” Being consistent with your DEI efforts will pay dividends. But giving up too soon or losing steam can negatively affect your business’ DEI progress.

    Related: 3 Important Leadership Lessons From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    3. Build energy with community

    Dr. King knew how to speak to the Black population and get them on board with civil rights. But what about the white folks or those less affected by civil rights advancements? How was he able to advance his agenda to give Black people civil liberties while getting white folks on board?

    It would have been impossible to advance civil rights in the 1960s without the allyship and comradery of people from all walks of life. Dr. King knew connecting across lines of race and gender to unite folks under a common mission was the key to advancing civil liberties.

    We can learn a lot from Dr. King about how reaching across gender, race, age and class can help make the workplace more inclusive, diverse and equitable. Dr. King taught us that finding allies and utilizing each person’s influence and skillset for the betterment of the movement is an effective way to drive change.

    If you want to advance DEI in the workplace, bravely reach across and get a privileged executive team member to join you, then invite people across different departments, and be sure to include those most impacted.

    The more diverse, wide-reaching, and inclusive your community is, the more likely you are to be able to advance DEI at all levels of the organization, just like Dr. King did in the civil rights movement.

    Related: How Brands Can Go From Performative Allyship to Actual Allies

    Dr. King gave us the tools, now we have to use them

    Dr. King gave us the three C’s before he passed: courage, consistency and community. They are proven and effective tools for advancing DEI in society and the workplace. Now is the time to implement them and carry your DEI efforts further than they’ve ever gone before. There will always be resistance to change. We saw it in the 1960s and we see it now in the 2020s. However, change only comes when a brave group of people can build alliances, get organized and consistently work toward their DEI goals.

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    Nika White

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