Benjamin Franklin Nailed It In 1751
Benjamin Franklin in his early 20s developed a system for achieving almost anything in life that has proven the test of time.
In fact for over 275 years pretty much every person who has achieved significant success has been using this method either consciously or without knowing that Benjamin Franklin developed it all those years ago.
The great news is this method is simple and incredibly effective and will definitely work to help you build a successful online business or a more successful online business.
This is the same method that helped Franklin:
- Invent bifocal glasses.
- Make series of critical discoveries about the nature of electricity and how to harness its power.
- Invent the lightning bolt for buildings to prevent them burning down from lightning strikes.
- Developed the highly efficient Franklin stove.
- Developed a flexible urinary catheter.
- Developed the first public library.
- Ran his own successful newspaper and printing company.
- Helped to form a new country…the United States of America and helped to write its constitution.
- And much more. Franklin was a highly prolific, writer, statesman, businessman and inventor.
So what is the method Franklin developed as a young man that helped him become so prolific and successful?
The answer lies in the habits you form…
Your Habits Make Or Break You…
We’ve all seen people who have a habit that’s out of control and how it can destroy their lives…drinking, smoking, drugs.
What many people are less aware of is how the daily habits you form have such a huge impact on your success in life and in business.
Exceptionally successful people have developed successful habits…either by design or as a normal part of the process of getting things done. Athletes are a great example of this…
What’s powerful is that you can consciously choose to form the habits you need to be successful…and in many cases it’s a whole lot easier than you might think.
Ask yourself this question…
Do you have anything you know you should be doing right now that will move your business to another level? Something you just never seem to get around to doing?
What Benjamin Franklin discovered all those years ago was that he could condition himself to get things done and to become the type of person who go things done simply by focusing on and developing one success habit at a time.
This may sound too simple but it a huge key to pushing through any barrier that’s standing in the way to your success.
Here are some of the keys to making this work…
Make a List of Important Things You Need to Get Done…
The first step is choosing the tasks and habits that will make the biggest difference to you, your life and your business.
It helps enormously if you get these into bite sized chunks you can get done in 15 minutes or less.
Examples might be:
- Scheduling 2 posts on social media each day.
- Writing one new content post each day.
- Making contact with 2 new potential joint venture partners each day.
- Writing and submitting and online press release each day.
- Creating and uploading a YouTube video each day.
- Writing and sending an email to your list each day.
- Doing ONE short task that moves your business forward each day.
- Anything you know you need to get done broken into a short bite sized daily chunk.
Choose ONE Thing To Work On For A Month…
The more tightly focused you are the more likely you are to succeed at developing one habit that will change who you are and what you do permanently.
You can still perform all those other tasks but you need ONE thing you do every day without fail for an entire month…
Get The Resources You Need To Get It Done…
When you’re developing a new habit you want to make sure there’s nothing obvious standing in the way of getting it done every day.
You’re going to have enough obstacles without dealing with the ones you can see right now.
Get things together so you know you can do this every day. If a particular task requires more resources than you have right now choose another task you do have the resources for.
Get Started Right NOW…
Ultimately you can only become successful by taking action. Don’t over think this.
If you add any type of positive action you perform every day to your daily schedule and you keep doing it week in and week out you’re going to have more success than if you didn’t perform that action.
And you’re also going to become a more successful person…
So start right NOW doing something that moves you forward in your business.
It Takes 21 Days To Form A Habit…
If you have a waste paper basket next to your desk and you put it on the other side of the desk it will take 21 days before you completely stopped throwing your garbage from the side you used to throw it in and throw it into the waste paper basket without thinking.
That’s what you’re looking for…doing the most important tasks for your business success automatically.
There’s magic in this when you get it working for you.
Just get laser focused almost to the point of obsession on of doing something every day for 21 days. More difficult habits can need 6 months to really enforce them.
I have some quick tips of my own here:
- When building a new habit where you do something, pick something you already do daily, and do it after that. That’s why brushing your teeth after you wake up is so ingrained – getting up is the trigger to brush your teeth. Look for existing actions that you can use as triggers for good habits.
- When starting a new habit it is very hard… put notes and reminders everywhere to help you keep the focus you need, as it’s all to easy to forget.
- If it’s a habit you need to break, then use a replacement habit that you enjoy and can look forward too. For example, instead of the drink after work, you might go to the gym instead, play football, hang out with your kids, go to a class, walk your dog, go for a walk with friends. If you are trying to eat less sweets and chocolate, replace those choices with healthy alternatives like fruit, nuts or cheese.
- Avoid people who reinforce your bad habit while you try to break it.
Never Let An Exception Occur…
Once you start working on a new success habit the biggest key is to make sure you perform that task you’re developing every day.
Don’t accept excuses for not getting it done. If you go to lie down in bed at the end of the day and you realize you haven’t done it get up and do it.
By never letting an exception occur…by following through every day…you’re telegraphing to your subconscious that you’re serious and committed to this.
Over time you’ll find this type of self-discipline will pay huge rewards.
Do It First Thing…
The ideal way to make sure you get that key task done every day is to do it first thing…before you do anything else.
Don’t check email, don’t look at messages on your phone…don’t do anything until you’ve performed the success habit you’re working on for the month.
That will ensure that it gets done regardless of everything else going on in your business and your life.
Keep Doing It…
After you’ve successfully performed one task for a month keep doing it and move on to another task.
Over the course of a year that’s 12 different successful habits tasks you’ll take on.
Your business will look entirely different and you’ll be a different person too…
You’ll find some tasks and habits you’ll refine, some you might replace with others and some you’ll need to go back and do for another month to solidify the habit you were developing.
Over time you’ll get smarter at identifying the habits and tasks you need to work on and the process will actually become easier because your subconscious stops fighting you and starts working with you each time you take on a new daily habit.
Now you have one of the most powerful business and people building tools ever devised. Take it and run with it.
I am human and have faults, and a work in progress. I do my best to apply all of these methods, and they work incredibly well. The better I apply them, the better I do. My strongest area is building powerful habits, but the habit I find the hardest is ‘first things first’ as being teh CEO of a small start-up I’m often pulled in lots of different directions… but I am certainly getting better at this and seeing the results!
What Franklin Tips have you tried that has worked, and what have you had difficulty with? Comment below…