How I went from Good to Great

Toot Toot! Yes, that is me tooting my own horn. If you don’t feel like tooting your own horn, then this article is for you. I want to start off by saying that I am really proud of the woman who I am today, because I worked my ass off to become her. If you aren’t stepping into your full power and shining in your own light, then you really don’t have much to offer others, do you? So please do yourself a favor, do me a favor, and do a favor for your colleagues, family, friends and loved ones and step into your full power and potential!

I wrote an entire book on where to begin and broke down my expensive ten year self-help journey into the ‘cliff notes to happiness’ that you can read through in less than two days. So if you don’t know where to start, start HERE.

So here are 10 steps on how to go from GOOD to GREAT:

You have to wake up every morning in rock star status.

If you start treating yourself like a rock star, than others will too. This means, buying the silk sheets, blaring your playlist in the morning, leaving notes of encouragement and inspiration and a reminder of your rock star status everywhere you turn. You have to believe it at a deep level and remind yourself of how badass you are every time you look in the mirror. No one is going to give you permission to be great, you have to claim it yourself. It is as simple as a shift in your thoughts, which will soon turn into a shift in your belief system and reality.

I stopped putting all of my eggs into one basket.

From dating to income, I stopped putting all of my eggs into one basket. In regards to finding the one, you better believe I was on every website and spending quality time looking for him. In 2016, if you think he or she is just going to magically walk into that bar and sweep you off your feet, you are greatly hindering your chances. The same goes for making it to the top. I found several ways to generate income from consulting to teaching courses, and starting two businesses. As an Entrepreneur, you never want to limit your chances or ability for success. The most wealthy people that I know have several different sources of income from different businesses and offerings, products and investments to real estate.

Work IN your business during the week and ON your business during the weekends.

Most of the revenue generating ideas and the real magic happens when you are in eagle eye view of your company and in strategy mode, not in work mode. People who go from good to great, those at the top don’t spend their weekends like everyone else. They are in planning and strategy mode both personally and professionally. From meal prep, to cleaning and organizing the home, to spending time with a pen and paper in strategy and planning mode for the week and quarter ahead. When I took this seriously and started crafting my weekends this way, everything changed and I was so on top of my game that I felt a great shift in success, happiness and freedom.

The power of Positive thinking baby!

The Law of Attraction is my favorite subject to talk about. Last week I was speaking at Google to a room full of young women just entering the workforce. When I started to talk about the power of thought shifting and how to gain back control of your life, it was like a light bulb went off for so many of them. It is really simple. What you believe, you become. What you think about most, you create. So start to become really picky about striving for the positive uplifting thoughts.

Live under your Means

Guess what? A lot of the millionaires out there are driving Hondas! Thats right. When I started to become closer to my mentors in my industry, the ones who have built up and sold off their companies and who have seen great success aren’t spending above or at their means, they are actually spending way under their means. When you build a large savings nest, it allows you the freedom to go out and create more, to take some risks and to start generating more income. When you are living paycheck to paycheck or can’t see more than a few months ahead of you, the worry can be paralyzing (trust me, I’ve been there, and actually stayed there for quite some time). This worry and fear often hinders our creative side and stunts or stalls our growth. This doesn’t mean that you should stop enjoying life, celebrating and treating yourself, but do so responsibly and choose your priorities. For me, though I enjoy travel, I much rather save up to buy my dream home then go to Europe each year. If you allow yourself 10% spending money off of your net income and put the rest in savings, you will be thanking yourself by next year and be well on your path to greatness!

Negotiate your Worth

So how much do you value yourself? What are you worth? If I believe my time is worth $500 an hour, would I go and book 5 coffee meetings during the week? The answer is no. When you start to value yourself and your time more, you cut out a lot of the BS and wasted time and energy and really focus it all into generating income, only participating in thoughtful networking and freeing up more of your time for your friends, family and loved ones.

It Takes a Village

I have mastered the art of delegation. This is why I can run two companies, write a book and still have free time to enjoy my life. From navigating a great team of interns, to bringing on the right consultants to take you to the next level, I only spend time on my strengths and fill in the gap with a virtual assistant, intern or part-time consultant to help with the admin and operations of the day-to-day. Find out what you are good at and then find a affordable way to bring in the help that you need and to do the work that you dread. This year, I took this a step further and hired a financial consultant, personal trainer and a personal stylist. If you are in the Boston area and looking for a great financial consultant, I recommend Wendy Sabin and for personal styling I recommend Helena Grant. You should be acting and dressing like a CEO if you want to become one. You would be surprised at how reasonable it is to work with consultants and specialists like this and what a positive impact it will have on your life and how other perceive you.

S.E.N.

It is very simple. Sleep, Exercise and Nutrition need to be the top 3 priorities in your life. I prioritize my sleep above everything else in my life. I don’t book early morning appointments and I don’t let anything get in the way of my sleep. I actually wake up around 8:45am and this is why I am always refreshed, motivated, productive and wide awake throughout the entire day and well into the evenings and avoid burnout.

Your Network is your Net-worth.

Have you heard this before? If so, it is time to take it seriously. Business is simple. People do business with people who they like and trust and people refer business to people that they like and trust. Your reputation is everything so never burn a bridge or undervalue your network. Treat everyone with kindness and respect, you never know, you could be working for your intern one day. It happened to me!

You Only Get in Life What You Have the Courage to Ask For.

I never liked this term and I always refer to self-help as upgrading yourself. To make it to the top, you have to be so secure in your own skin and know yourself so well that nothing can shake you. If you don’t take the time and effort to truly go deep and work on yourself you might see some success, but people who haven’t truly worked on themselves usually find a way to self-sabatoge their success or greatness.

And one for good luck….FAILING FORWARD

Listen, we are all human and in the journey of life we are going to see many failures. The thing is, the people who make it to ‘GREAT’ status don’t see failure as something that is negative. They take every circumstance in their life and use it to their advantage. Failure is a beautiful lesson that only takes you a step closer to where you want to go. So start re-defining failure and rejection as something amazing and something to be thankful for. More often than not, it is leading you to something bigger and better so remain open to all possibilities. But above all, remain thankful and in a never ending appreciative and positive state of mind.

Listen, we are all human and in the journey of life we are going to see many failures. The thing is, the people who make it to ‘GREAT’ status don’t see failure as something that is negative. They take every circumstance in their life and use it to their advantage. Failure is a beautiful lesson that only takes you a step closer to where you want to go. So start re-defining failure and rejection as something amazing and something to be thankful for. More often than not, it is leading you to something bigger and better so remain open to all possibilities. But above all, remain thankful and in a never ending appreciative and positive state of mind.

Kristina xo

Author:  Kristina Tsipouras, Founder of Boston Business Women, CEO of Moroccan Magic, Founder of Busy Girl Daily