The 4 Pillars of Prosperity All Entrepreneurs Should Attend To Hint: "Business" is at the bottom of the list.
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Many entrepreneurs are wealthy and powerful in the business aspects of life but poor in the others. Some feel fulfilled in a work context but hollow in a personal one. "Is this all there is?" is the question that gnaws at them.
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We too have ridden the business roller coaster. Josh, for instance, says that he once asked himself, "What do I need to be 100 percent authentic and put 100 percent into each aspect of my life every day?" From this question sprang the four pillars. We've listed them below in order of importance -- and their order will probably surprise you.
The pillars are your foundation for living a harmonious life in contrast to one in which you're attempting to cobble together pieces from four different puzzles.
1. Health
Without you, there is no business, so you have to put the pillar of health first. You can only achieve your best productivity and vision for your business when your wellness score is close to 100 percent. At one point, Joshua says, he was spending so much time on his business that he ballooned to more than 40 pounds overweight. And that weight gain had a toll: He felt he was operating at about 60 percent.
One cause of this was convenience foods. These may be "convenient" in terms of time and price, but they make you look tired. They hamper your creativity. Eating energy-rich foods, in contrast, makes you look and feel good. Your energy "pops," and people notice. They feel confident doing business with you because most view staying healthy while running your own business as a Herculean feat they themselves want to emulate.
So, how do you achive good health? One simple change is to make a habit of moving your body the first five minutes at the top of each hour.
2. Vision
Vision is next on the list because of the morning ritual it involves and the importance of launching your day in the right way. It's about tapping into universal creativity so you can solve the problems that arise.
Here's a brief overview of a useful four-phase, 20-minute meditation we learned from life coach Jesse Elder. You can set up iTunes to change music at the end of each five-minute segment so you know to move into the next phase.
Phase 1 entails concentrating on your breath. Breathe in power. Breathe out energy. Phase 2 is about feeling full of gratitude because of what you've accomplished. Visualize an event or time when you felt overjoyed. Phase 3 is "pre-paving" where you project getting to in the future.
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The one rule is that this vision should make you feel good. Go to this future point where you have what you desire, then move backwards step-by-step to understand how you got there.
Phase 4 is allowing all the information and experience from phases 2 and 3 to sink in. Then write those ideas down on a legal pad or in your idea journal so you have a road map for the rest of your day.
3. Relationships
Relationships are your support system. They can include your family and/or spouse and/or a peer group(s) you choose. These are the people who pick you up when you fall. They hold you accountable to be better today than you were yesterday.
Relationships are mandatory for success because so many entrepreneurs take on the woes of the world along with their businesses. They feel the need to protect those around them.
That's a fine objective, but so is disclosure. Disclosure is usually the best policy with those closest to you. These are people who may well have insights that help you solve problems.Having social interactions with no business agenda is key to creating harmony in your life. After all, you schedule business meetings, right? So, why not schedule personal meetings so your relationships don't slip through the cracks?
4. Business
Why is business the fourth pillar? Nobody we know wants his or her business to be a "favorite child." The other three pillars provide a stable foundation and fuel for ideas and business breakthroughs.
Add in a vision tool
A journal is a great tool to provide clarity. It allows you to see where you're going, in the larger sense, as well as to see the specific things you're looking to accomplish in the near-term. A journal helps you focus your thinking "on your business" instead of "in your business." The big 5X or 10X opportunities leap out at you like the Aurora Borealis. Your mind can then make the short hop needed to the relationships you can activate or ramp-up to transform those opportunities into big profits.
Conclusion
Without the other three pillars, yours will likely be weak business teetering on the brink. It's like straining to reach that Golden Apple from a ladder that's too short and has only one or two legs. As our mentor, Jesse Elder, says, "Life is not a knockout punch. It's a combination." The combination of these four pillars is how you knock out challenges and live the stand out life you desire, in order to leave a positive and lasting legacy.
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