8 Things Exceptional Thinkers Do Every Day

Everything that we are and everything that we are not is an end result from our current level of thinking. Every great achievement in history came from exceptional thinking. Every man or woman to ever rise to the top of their profession had exceptional thinking that played a major role in getting them to where they are.

I have never met a high achiever who lacked in their level of thinking. Our feelings, emotions, professional success and happiness levels are all affected by our thinking and what takes place on a daily basis from the neck up.

If you aren’t currently happy with where you are at in life or in your professional journey, there is great news. You can drastically alter where you are and everything around you by changing your thinking. Just like any other important habit, you can’t become an exceptional thinker if you practice it only once in awhile. Working on your mind and thinking must become a daily practice.

Here are eight things exceptional thinkers do daily.

1. They focus on the positive.

Every single day of our lives, we have a choice when we wake up in the morning whether we are going to direct our focus on the positive or negative. Exceptional thinkers know the importance of where they direct their focus. They fully understand that it impacts their energy levels and will determine how they perform. You can eliminate a lot of the worry, stress, and anxiety just by choosing to focus on the positive. Regardless of how big or small, force yourself to see the good in every situation no matter how miniscule it may be.

2. They spend time in solitude.

Exceptional thinkers know that we live in a noisy and distracting world and therefore prioritize the importance of spending time alone. If you go pick up an autobiography of your favorite inventor, president, or even athlete, you will realize that they valued alone time to reflect and think in solitude.

3. They have a long-term vision.

Exceptional thinkers have a clear vision of where they want to be in the future and all of the things that they need to do in order to make that become a reality. They rarely get discouraged and disappointed because of short-term obstacles because of this powerful long-term vision that they have for their life.

4. They have a mindset-development routine.

Whether it’s a special morning routine to jump start their day, reading positive books first thing in the morning, or listening to empowering podcasts and audiobooks while commuting, they go to work on their mind daily. Most people wait for something positive to happen throughout their day to have good thoughts, but exceptional thinkers are proactive towards positively developing their mind every chance they get.

5. They only associate with those who build them up.

There is nothing more detrimental to one’s thinking than hanging around others who are constantly negative and energy vampires. You adopt the habits and channel the energy of those around you, so make it a habit to surround yourself with positive people and remain in good company.

6. They eat clean and healthy.

A large majority of the population is oblivious as to what you put into your body on a daily basis and how that plays a role in your thinking. What you drink and eat every single day greatly impacts how you feel and how well your brain operates.

To further understand just how important what you eat is to how well you think, I highly recommend checking out Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Daniel Amen. Two of my favorites when it comes to brain optimization and thriving on all cylinders.

7. They find time to regularly workout.

I have talked about the benefits of working out and how it can tremendously impact productivity levels, but the same goes for brain health and increasing your current level of thinking. The endorphins released during routine exercise are packed with positivity.

8. They have an attitude of gratitude.

Your thinking and life in general is just that much better when you possess an attitude of gratitude and find ways to regularly acknowledge all that you are grateful for. It’s impossible to be truly grateful and miserable at the same time.

There are a lot of things that exceptional thinkers do on a daily basis to help them rise above, but the above eight things that I have listed have greatly impacted the way I think on a daily basis. When you understand just how important your mind is and work to constantly upgrade your level of thinking, your life will be upgraded in return.

Matt Mayberry

21 Success Tips for Young and Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Being successful often means learning from those who have already achieved their goals. Having a mentor is an amazing blessing to an entrepreneur, but not everyone can find one in person.

If you haven’t yet found your personal business guru, here are 21 tips for young or aspiring entrepreneur to help get you started.

1. Challenge yourself. 

Richard Branson says his biggest motivation is to keep challenging himself. He treats life like one long university education, where he can learn more every day. You can too!

2. Do work you care about. 

There’s no doubt that running a business take a lot of time. Steve Jobs noted that the only way to be satisfied in your life is to do work that you truly believe in.

3. Take the risk. 

We never know the outcome of our efforts unless we actually do it. Jeff Bezos said it helped to know that he wouldn’t regret failure, but he would regret not trying.

4. Believe in yourself.

As Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” Believe that you can succeed, and you’ll find ways through different obstacles. If you don’t, you’ll just find excuses.

5. Have a vision. 

The founder and CEO of Tumblr, David Karp, notes that an entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a desire to create it. Keep your vision clear at all times.

6. Find good people. 

Who you’re with is who you become. Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, noted that the fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be.

7. Face your fears. 

Overcoming fear isn’t easy, but it must be done. Arianna Huffington once said that she found fearlessness was like a muscle -- the more she exercised it, the stronger it became.

8. Take action. 

The world is full of great ideas, but success only comes through action. Walt Disney once said that the easiest way to get started is to quit talking and start doing. That’s true for your success as well.

9. Do the time. 

No one succeeds immediately, and everyone was once a beginner. As Steve Jobs wisely noted, “if you look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” Don’t be afraid to invest time in your company.

10. Manage energy, not time.

Your energy limits what you can do with your time, so manage it wisely.

11. Build a great team. 

No one succeeds in business alone, and those who try will lose to a great team every time. Build your own great team to bolster your success.

12. Hire character. 

As you build your team, hire for character and values. You can always train someone on skills, but you can’t make someone’s values fit your company after the fact.

13. Plan for raising capital.

Richard Harroch, a venture capitalist, has this advice for upcoming entrepreneurs: “It’s almost always harder to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer. So plan for that.”

14. Know your goals. 

Ryan Allis, co-founder of iContact, pointed out that having the end in mind every day ensures you’re working toward it. Set goals and remind yourself of them each day.

15. Learn from mistakes. 

Many entrepreneurs point to mistakes as being their best teacher. When you learn from your mistakes, you move closer to success -- even though you initially failed.

16. Know your customer. 

Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, cited knowing your customer as one of his three keys to success. Know those you serve better than anyone else, and you’ll be able to deliver the solutions they need.

17. Learn from complaints. 

Bill Gates once said that your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. Let unhappy customers teach you where the holes in your service are.

18. Ask for customers’ input. 

Assuming what customers want or need will never lead to success. You must ask them directly, and then carefully listen to what they say.

19. Spend wisely. 

When you spend money on your business, be careful to spend it wisely. It’s easy to spend too much on foolish things and run out of capital too soon.

20. Understand your industry. 

Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos, once said, “Don’t play games you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.” Truly understanding your industry is key to having success.

21. Deliver more than expected.

Google's Larry Page encourages entrepreneurs to deliver more than customers expect. It’s a great way to get noticed in your industry and build a loyal following of advocates.

Being a successful entrepreneur takes a lot of work, a lot of vision and a lot of perseverance. These 21 tips, from entrepreneurs who have already found success, will help you navigate the path much more easily.

Sujan Patel

10 Steps to Booking Your Business Solid

Smoothies on the beach, massages on a Tuesday afternoon…there is a certainly a certain level of relief and comfort in knowing that you are booked solid and have a steady stream of income for the next six months.

For those of us that have experienced this sense of joy, we spend most of our days being thankful that our business is off to strong start but for my newer or “still climbing” Ladypreneurs here are 10 steps that you can take today to make sure that you have everything in place to allow your business to take off in ways that you could not imagine.

1. Be clear on your why.

One of the major determinants in whether or your business succeeds is your passion for the work that you do. If you lack passion for your business and are unclear why you engage in the work that you chose, you are unlikely to get very far. What engages people is not what you do but why you do it. Once you discover it, lead your conversations with it.

2. Be clear on your vision.

Everything that glitters is not gold. Be clear who is your ideal target client. Avoid spending your time with potential clients financially unable to work with you, or who may not choose to work with you. Use your vision for your business to establish a clear brand designed to attract your ideal clients. 

3. Be memorable.

Have a tagline that your target audience will remember you by and tell their friends about. Listen to how your family and friends refer to what you do. Does it align with what your tagline says?

4. Keep the individual in mind.

Design your content as if you are speaking to one specific person with very clear pain points. If you know your audience well, they will feel as though your content was written specifically for them. Feeling like you really get them is what gets people interested in you.

5. Don't skimp on your website.

I see so many people who have a website that is just a “boring” website. Your website is supposed to work for you while you are sleeping. It should have an irresistible offer, a call to action and be set up to capture the contact information of potential clients.

6. Email is crucial.

You need a good email provider (MailChimp, AWeber or Infusionsoft) to follow up with interested clients and plan your funnel!

7. Never underestimate the power of social media.

Use your social media as an extension to your website and a way to interact with your fans. Be personal, share tips, let people get to know you and see you first as a person and then as an owner.

8. Share free content.

The most sure fire way to get people to invest in your services is to first give them a taste of what you “got” in a very low risk way. Your free content should be some of the best content you provide. Get your potential clients thinking “if this is what free looks like..I have to see what the paid stuff is!”

9. Get outside.

Yes, we live in an Internet-driven world today, but the old school methods of giving public talks, presenting at seminars and sending a postcard still work and adds credibility to your business. Get known and recognized for your expertise in your community.

10. Keep your eye on the prize.

Never lose sight of your big goal; whether it is to send people to your signature course, coaching package, design service etc. “Scaffold” everyone up to that offer. If you have automated your systems and done a really good job along the way, you will have no problem booking yourself solid.

Safiyah Satterwhite

9 Intangible Assets Dominant Entrepreneurs Possess

Lose your degree. Years of experience can never fully convey your overall worth. There have to be more effective ways to display your value to a potential employer and to the business world at large.

Plain and simple, the resume is old and broken. It hasn’t had a major overhaul in nearly 380 years and it’s time to disrupt how job-seekers and hiring managers find the best candidates to fill positions. Our higher education system is a mess, and online schools continue to challenge the education model. Yet, we still use these same archaic methods for sourcing the right people by only scrutinizing education and years of experience through resumes. Blah!

Conversely, if you're an outlier with ridiculously high talent, unconventional education and little experience (or any combination thereof. For example, a 21-year-old self-taught hacker with no formal education and one year of "job experience."), this broken process makes it even more difficult for you to be discovered.

I’ve been obsessed with studying successful entrepreneurs and found that many have intangible qualities that wouldn’t, or couldn’t, be expressed on a standard resume. In addition, some entrepreneurs even had seemingly negative marks against them (by worldly standards at least) such as dropping out of college, not being able to hold a job, getting fired and unflattering social-media activity.

Here's a list of nine intangible assets that entrepreneurs possess:

1. Ingenuity

You ever hear the saying, being an entrepreneur is like building the bridge as you walk across it? This refers to those entrepreneurs who always answer “yes” when asked if they can do something (even if they have no clue and figure it out as they go). They are the first to volunteer for the seemingly undoable tasks. They do it with confidence, because they believe that they can accomplish anything they put their minds to, even if they have no idea what they are doing.

2. Stubbornness

I’m referring to good stubbornness. These are the “I won’t take no for an answer” people. These people love a challenge and will get back up even if they fall 100 times because they know they are one step closer to getting the result they want. Giving up is not an option.

Here’s a good example:

Kellee Khalil created Lover.ly, a visual search engine and cloud scrapbook for everything wedding-related. According to Business Insider, "One week before Kellee Khalil launched her wedding startup, she received a coffee invitation from a business strategist at a top bridal site. 'We have $70 million to buy competitors just so we can shut them down,' Khalil was told."

Unfazed by the message, and maybe even in spite of it, she has gone on to to build a wedding-site juggernaut where users now view more than 40 million images each month and have “loved and bundled” more than 400 million wedding details.

3. Cool under pressure

This is a tough skill to effectively measure on a person’s resume or LinkedIn profile.

Too many people are brilliant but can’t hang in the real world. They collapse under the first sign of adversity. Others can handle a decent amount of pressure before they crumble, but true A players thrive under pressure. It brings out the best in them. These are the entrepreneurs who seem to pull off the impossible.

4. Their network and peers

It sounds strange, but a person’s peers show a lot about who they are. People typically like to hang around others with the same interests and motivation levels. The saying goes that “you are the sum of five of your closest friends.”

It is the reason Entrepreneur’s Organization is so effective, and partly why LinkedIn exists.

5. Perseverance

Frederick Hutson did four years in the state penitentiary. That alone would dissuade most individuals from even thinking about starting a company, let alone attempt to disrupt an industry as big as the state prison system itself. He has since created a company, called Pigeon.ly, that provides inmates and their families with discounted phone calls and photo sharing.

The company boasts of supporting 2 million minutes per month on phone calls and a quarter-million photo shares. Pigeon.ly was recently accepted into Silicon Valley’s most prestigious accelerator, Y Combinator, and appears to have a very bright future.

Related: The 10 Qualities of Exceptional People

6. Vision

Vision is an undeniably key trait for successful entrepreneurs. Sometimes vision can be the result of having such extensive knowledge of an industry, technology or market that the entrepreneur almost seemingly knows what the world wants. Noah Kagan's vision with SumoMe, and its explosive growth is a perfect example. 

The other type of entrepreneurs' vision, that marks greats such as Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, is to bend the world to their vision.

7. Blind optimism

Justin Barr sold his company, Tapit, for $23 million. He was so blindly optimistic that he slept in his office and pulled all-nighters while working his butt off. He explains, “I just felt something, and went for it.” It didn’t matter what anyone else was doing in the space, he built a product he “knew” was going to be successful. He contributes his “blind optimism” towards his company’s success and ultimate acquisition. 

8. Opportunistic

I recently read about the publicity stunt Tucker Max and Ryan Holidaywere able to orchestrate during one of Tucker’s book launches. Long story short, Tucker was denied the opportunity to make a sizable donation to Planned Parenthood, but despite this, he was able to leverage the controversy into millions of new page views, website traffic and tens of thousands of social-media shares.

The pair saw an opportunity, and leveraged it to the hilt.

9. Execution

Career Sushi has more than 10,000 internships available with companies nationwide including Warner Music Group, Billboard, FunnyorDie.com, Gary Sanchez Productions, Lionsgate Entertainment, Michael Stars and Draftfcb. It is the brainchild of Shara Senderoff, a film industry executive and producer who was determined to fix what she saw as a broken process for hiring interns.

Here’s what she had to say in an interview, “My mindset from a very early age has always been 'to figure everything out and no matter what, find a solution.' I was born a problem-solver. I believe my 'find a solution' attitude has allowed me to set an example to those around me. I've learned to execute, execute and execute again and I don't think I'd have become the leader I am today if I didn't approach everything I do with the belief that I can always be better.”

My co-founder and I believe the traditional model of judging a person's professional worth is broken. That is exactly why we created Intangibly, and feel that this is arguably the most important factor. 

I leave you with this great Jobs quote:

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Andrew Medal

Vision Boards

When you find yourself struggling to stay focused on your "big picture", there are a few techniques to help keep you motivated. Long term goals can be achieved if you keep moving towards them and visit your goals daily.

Vision boards are a wonderful tool that actually allow you to display direct clear images of what you want to be, do or have in your life. Keep your attention on your intentions and create your daily affirmations with a vision board today to get yourself moving in the right direction.




Here's a great "how to" and step by step link on how to make your display:

 The Reason Vision Boards Work and How to Make One