From day one, our company has been built with the premise that skill sets will always carry more weight than strategies. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve built our Coaching and Education Platform. As the famous analogy goes, we’re not here to give you a fish for today. We’re here to teach you how to fish so that you can be sustained over a lifetime.

Strategies may work for a season, but many are often fleeting. Skill sets, on the other hand, are ingrained in you. They are adopted into your lifestyle, psyche, and ongoing routines. They can be referenced and leveraged at any time.

At the beginning of each year, I sit down and take a look at a few things: 1) Skill sets I want to master as a Founder 2) Skill sets our team wants to master and 3) Skill sets that the ever evolving marketplace is now demanding and requiring of us. Each prompt leads to a different answer, but today I want to direct our focus to important skill sets we need to cultivate as Founders.

And spoiler alert: they may not be what you think.

As the marketplace continues to evolve, more and more is being required of us as Founders and leaders within our industries. And I don’t mean more in the sense of adding more to your plate or even integrating more into your business model.

I mean more grit. More stamina. More resolve.

We are being called to become stronger, to stand firmer, and to evolve into even better leaders. It won’t just be an option moving forward. It will be a requirement. Personal growth is extremely central and crucial for our continued success as businesses. We are, as Founders, steering the ship afterall.

So, what skill sets are important this year? Let’s take a look at the top five.

1. Discipline

Many people enter into business because they are either deeply passionate about something, they are in a dire-need situation financially or lifestyle-wise, or a combination of the two. No matter which it is, this season is often fueled by initial inspiration, passion, and drive. But that doesn’t last.

Legacy brands aren’t established, operated, or grown solely through inspiration or motivation. They are built with a massive amount of discipline. Discipline is what gets you out of bed on hard days. It’s what moves you forward when all you’re experiencing is rejection. It’s what grounds you when nothing goes as planned.

This is a skill set not often found in our generation today. We’ve become so used to instant gratification culture. But this isn't how success works. Success that *lasts* takes time, and yes, discipline.

2. Consistency

If you ask any successful entrepreneur what they did in order to attain success, every single one of them, in one way or another, will tell you they were simply consistent.

I can’t tell you how many Founders I meet that are ready to give up on an idea, a tactic, or even a business because they aren’t seeing the success they want *quickly.* Social media has created a false narrative that implies that success is quick, easy, and without challenge. It’s simply not true.

Success takes time and consistency on your part as a Founder. It requires that you keep sharing content even when no one is responding. It requires that you keep pursuing new clients even when so many are saying “no.” It requires that you keep problem solving and testing new approaches even when it seems nothing is working.

The only way to be successful is by sticking with it, through thick and thin. Consistency may not be sexy, but it is required in order to grow.

3. Focus

What is your current focus for your business this year? Why? What vision are your efforts directly supporting? THIS is your guiding light. Not what anyone else is doing, not what is new and “hot” in the online space, and not what sounds “fun” on a given day.

One of the biggest struggles I see Founders face is the ability to stay focused. To prioritize well. To honor one (or a few) ideas at a time. If you follow every idea, thought, or inspiration on a whim, you will never get anything meaningful done.

Lasting success requires unshakable focus. There will be a season for each and every one of your ideas, but they can’t all take place at once. Don’t veer off course. Stay so deeply and intentionally focused on your current season, your current objectives, and your big-picture vision.

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4. Patience

I had no idea that I would generate zero profit for two years. Or that it would take me two more years to hit my first 5-figure month. Or that I would spend 365 days optimizing our signature offer and then our group coaching program.

All I knew was that I was committed to my vision and the mission of this company.

And I’m glad I didn’t know how long these “milestone” moments would take because it required me to develop the skill set of patience. It required me to keep getting up each day, keep moving forward, keep trying new things, and keep focusing on the ultimate vision.

The more you grow in business, the more important patience becomes.

Things almost always take longer than you expect, and that extra time is often crucial to the sustainability of the achievement once it’s met. Patience is everything in business, and you have to be deeply connected to where you’re going so that you can remain patient in the process.

5. Resiliency

No matter what entrepreneurship may APPEAR to be through the lens of social media, it can be hard. It’s full of ups and downs, fulfillment, hardship, and everything in between. And arguably the most important skill set we can master as a Founder would be that of resiliency.

We must be able to stand firm through the storm. And when we fall down, because we all inevitably do, we must find the strength within us to rise again, try again, go again. Without this, we cannot lead well through good and hard times.

Remember this: strategies may be fleeting, but skill sets last a lifetime. As the online landscape continues to evolve, we’re seeing that business growth is a lot less about tactics you tap into and a lot more about who you are becoming in the process.

Are you disciplined daily?

Are you consistently building?

Are you focused on your vision?

Are you patient through it all?

Are you resilient through the good and bad?

These are the things that mark incredible leaders and powerful Founders.

Our Awakening Academy is a no-fluff, hands on experience designed for the Scaling Founder that not only wants to elevate their revenue but expand as a leader. Click here to learn more and see how we may be able to serve you in the program.

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