There are people and successful businesses that are growing and always seem to do well. As almost if they know something we don’t. A secret and that there is this one big thing that made them successful. So is there a secret?

The secret

Yes, there is a “secret.” It’s a question asked to Bill Gates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet. People with one big thing in common: Great Success. And their answer always comes down to this:

“Focussing on one thing day in and day out and becoming better at that, one day and step at a time.”

Keep the focus

Look at companies that survive the crisis and hard times. Those are the companies that stick to their core business. You could be making shoes, serving a specialized cuisine, or making a particular software product. It doesn’t matter.

For example, a steakhouse sees the pizza place across the street does well. So they start selling Pizza next to their meat. What happens? They might sell some pizzas, but precious time and effort now are not dedicated to serving better meat, improving their product and experience. They are probably losing a lot of loyal customers along the way. The focus is entirely on the shiny object(Money in this case) for a quick result instead of consistent improvement and trust in their product.

Your life

Now compare the business to your own life. Did you find your craft yet?

Check out my article about this: Utilizing mastery and Love your Craft. It gives you tools to send you on the right path. Go and read that first!

If you found your craft, focus on improving yourself and your craft by constantly finding the next step to improve. Don’t look too far ahead. Look at the next step.

I’m a web developer, which is a skill set that is in high demand. It’s tough not to get distracted by better short-term job offers that give you a little more money or decide to go for a management position just for the money.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t become a manager because that can also be part of your craft. I’m saying you don’t do it for the paycheck. The advantage of focusing on one thing and doing that one thing consistently is that you will see the right direction for your next improvement.

Side effects

Don’t worry about the money. It’s cliche, but it’s not the thing that makes you feel happy and fulfilled.

Another reason why you shouldn’t worry about it is that people are willing to pay for craftsmanship. Let’s say you love baking cakes. It’s your passion. So next to your full-time job you are baking cakes every day. After a few months, you feel confident about the quality, and you serve it to your guests. They think it’s beautiful and want to buy one for their kids’ birthday party. People at the birthday like the cake and are interested as well. Do you see my point? A potential business is born there by the love for making cakes and turning it into a craft.

It all started with consistently baking cakes every day, making them better than the day before. What if you started right away selling cakes? You would begin to spend money advertising, probably for nothing, since the first cakes you will bake will not be very tasty nor look good, and the customers would have had a bad experience. Which marketing can not make up for

Grow organically or be crushed by the weight

It is the power of focussing on one skill and improving it step by step with consistency. The business grows organically, together with you instead of forcing it. You can carry the business because you get used to the weight and condition yourself. This way, you and your business are aligned.

Let’s make a comparison to weightlifting. When you go to the gym the first time, and you step under a squat bar with 100 kilos on each side. What will happen? Right, it will crush you because you can’t carry that weight.

What is the reason the other guy in the gym can do it? Is he just powerful? No! It’s because he probably has been weightlifting for several years and has increased that weight slightly over the years, day by day. He conditioned himself to be able to carry that kind of weight. Also, you will still find him in the gym every day.

I think it is true when comparing it to life:

“Everything you have in life is what you can carry.”

Love the process

It is something fundamental you need to realize and key if you want to become successful. It’s never about the result; it’s about the process. Results are just a side effect of consistently moving forward. If you trust that enough, you know one day you will lift that bar.

Instead of chasing the shiny object mentality, you have to get that getting better everyday mentality. That’s the immense power behind this. There is no end goal because you are constantly executing towards that next step.

Delaying gratification! It is the most accurate metric to predict how successful someone will be in their life.

Conclusion

You want to build a skill or business? Start small, focus on one thing, and increase it step by step so you can grow with it.

Because you trust so much in the process, you know it will succeed one day.

Otherwise known as faith!

This is the podcast I recorded about this subject