One question I've gotten in the last few weeks a lot is, "Why do you guys always talk about money? It's not about necessarily the money for everybody." But the deal is income is a measure of the value that you create in the world. It's about how much can you step up, how much impact you can create. You can create more everywhere if you commit to a higher level of business. That's what we're doing here. What we really believe is, when you come in with the intention to be your biggest self, you're going to show up really, really differently.
Create your business the right way right away is really important because then you can actually have control over how your business turns out later, and how you live in this business. The first thing you have to do is you really have to look at how do you want to live your life. What lifestyle do you want to have? Then, you want to create the business around that. When you create your business the right way, it's on your terms. That means you have to clear out all the limitations around your thinking. You have to start with a clean slate because then you can play all out. If you can't play out all out, you have limitations in what you think you can create. You need more confidence, more cash flow, more freedom, and that's what's the right business in the end.
If you set up your business up right, then you will inevitably create a business that is unlimited. That means you have to kiss your fear goodbye and really run with it.
The first thing you have to do is set your income goal. It's quite amazing how many entrepreneurs I talk to who are already making great money never set an income goal. This is your measure in the world. Then, you have to really think about who do you have to become to reach that goal. Those two always go together. That's, again, the mindset and the strategies, right? What's your income goal? Who do you have to become to reach that income goal? Then, you can spend all your time becoming that next level, that next level of yourself, that next iteration of yourself that you need to be to create this business that will support your vision.
I want to talk a little bit about the big five elements that create super high success in your business. First, you have to be able to be your unique self. You have to be able to show up as this amazing person that only exists once. If you do that, that's immediately a leg up. When you think about what knocks competition out of the park, it's when you are your unique self, because people don't just want to work with anybody. They want to work with you. They want to work with you for all your unique qualities. That's the only reason competition doesn't really exist.
Then, you have to really love what you do. You can't create a great business if you don't love what you do. The other thing that you have to do is you have to be really good at what you're doing, so be your unique self, be really good at what you're doing, and then also make sure that you love what you do.
Then, of course, the fourth thing is you have to have a market that really needs this thing that you're doing. Sometimes we want to create something that sounds fun and we like it, but actually we don't have a market for it. You have to have a market who really needs this. Then, the other piece is they have to be able to pay for it. Make sure you have a market that is able to pay for your service, and they have a problem that they really need solved.
The fifth part is whatever you're creating, it has to support your lifestyle. If it doesn't, you will get burned out, you'll get tired, you'll get overwhelmed, you'll hate your business, and nothing good will come from that. Make sure that you always have those five pieces lined up, because otherwise, if any of them are missing, your business is going to stall. You're going to have a hard time really creating that goal and reaching that goal that you want. All these five elements need to work together all the time.
What else does it mean to be in business and to have success in business? You have to be able to create a business that supports and exceeds your goals on your own terms. There's a book I love The Diamond Cutter. It's the Buddha on business and life. In that book he says three things: Your business should cultivate a generous state of mind. Whatever you're doing, you should feel generous about it. You should feel like you can contribute with what you're doing.
Then, your business should be successful and make money. Now, you'd think that that's automatic. That a business should make money, but you'd be surprised how many entrepreneurs who are in the health business, the spiritual business have a hard time with this. Many people have a really hard time claiming their value and charging for their services, and charging enough for services. But, the Buddha says your business should make money. Then, the money that you're making should be made in honesty and integrity. Of course, that's a huge, huge piece. Make sure that everything you're doing is in honesty and integrity.
Making money is the first thing. The second thing is raising your income. Now, we don't make our offers based on the competition, the time it takes to carry it out. We want to make sure that we base all of our offers on the value that we're delivering. If you're still trading money for dollars for time, really take a look at this, and really look at more what's the value-driven piece that you're offering.
For any of you who have a hard time with this, when it takes you longer to complete something, does it make it more valuable? You know, when you think about it, the longer it takes to reach your goals, the more time, the more energy, and the more momentum you lose. Also, when you think about pricing, pricing is really arbitrary. Value is really arbitrary. It is whatever people believe it is. You're not going to base your services and your price on the competition. You're going to base it on the value that you're providing for your market. Also, it's about the emotional connection, the incredible caring, and the integrity-driven outcome that you're providing. Think about this: What is the value of the outcome that you're providing? Then, really look at the gap between what your pricing is right now and what it should be.
We're thinking in terms of premium pricing. You have to make sure that you solve a major, major problem for your market and that your market is aware that they have this problem. You know, the value perception really is the more you charge, the more your clients believe that it is worth. Everybody wins, because what happens is you get paid really well for what you're doing, for your expertise, for your wisdom. The client that shows up is super committed, and prepared, and ready to do the work, and also get the results. That takes you out of this place where you're just a service provider, and you become an expert and a thought leader. You can create a lot more meaning and difference in the world being that. Really dive deep, look at your income goals, look at your gap that's right now between the service that you're proving, and the results that you're getting, and the money that you're charging.
What I talked today about is getting your big five dialed in. Be you. Be uniquely yourself in your business, that's the biggest value that you can offer. Love what you do. Be really, really good at what you're doing. Make sure that you have a market who needs what you're offering, and they know that you're helping them solve a problem that they have, and that they also have the funds to pay you, of course. Then, the fifth thing is that make sure that all of that fits your lifestyle. Because if it doesn't, you're wasting a lot of your time, and you get burnt out, you get tired, and it doesn't really work for you in the end. Then, you have built a business that you don't really love, and we don't want to do that.
This is just the beginning. This is just kind of a band-aid to get you started thinking about this. If you want more, you can join our free Facebook group, The Art of Scaling to 7-Figures. There are a lot of good threads and discussions in there, so join us there, participate, and ask questions. I'm always really happy to do another Facebook Live on a subject that you are interested in, so comments are great. If you want to talk more, and you're interested in learning more, you can also apply for a strategy session with me @ sevenfigureceo.com/apply.