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The 30 Daily Habits of a CEO Responsible for Success

Getting to the top involves doing the right things, day after day.  
Any CEO running a profitable company has figured a few things out. One of many habits to have in common is consistency. 

Here is my 30 habits 

1. Try one new thing each day.
“Every day, I force myself to do something that is out of my comfort zone.

2. Don’t do bad days. Running a company is really hard, and every day is different, but having a bad day is a choice.”

3. Stay informed about what’s trending.

“I spend an hour or two every day keeping up with tech news on Twitter. It’s not good to obsess over what other people are doing, but staying informed is certainly important.”

4. Accept invitations to as many meetings and events as possible.

“You never know who you will meet or the advice you’ll receive.”

5. Experiment constantly.

“I’m always trying new things and changing how I work. As we’ve grown from a small team to a bigger team, my businesses has changed pretty significantly, and by experimenting with new habits and processes regularly, I am always discovering better ways to run my team that make sense as we grow.”

6. Fight brain blocks with building blocks.

“There are footballs, golf balls, softballs, chessboards, Legos–everything a curious kid could dream of–covering our office space. Whenever I’m stuck on an idea, I play a quick game of catch or build a Lego house to give my brain a breather. Then it’s back to the drawing board. I encourage my team to do the same thing, too. Just like any muscle, your brain needs a recovery session after a tough workout.”

7. Never be afraid to email someone who is “too big.”

“Most people are accommodating and open, as long as you are clear about your needs and what you have to offer.”

8. Make punctuality a priority.

“I strive to be on time for every appointment, every day, without exception. This may seem like a no-brainer in the business world, but you would be surprised how many people still don’t make this a priority. It’s mind-boggling. If a leader is consistently late, it tells others that he or she is unreliable or has no respect for the time of the individuals he or she works with. If he or she is on time, the opposite is true.”

9. Never ask somebody to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.

“No matter how exciting your company or the problems that you are solving are, there will always be day-to-day tasks that are simply boring. Showing that you are willing to roll up your sleeves when the going gets tough will be a positive example for your team. You will be amazed at how this reverberates.”

10. Watch YouTube to learn from other great leaders.
“I spend time at the end of every night watching interviews, speeches, and panels of other leaders I admire. Through a bit of YouTube stalking, I’ve gotten great lessons on culture from Brian Chesky, brand building from Neil Blumenthal, and leadership from Esther Dyson.”

11. Exercise and meditate.

“Transcendental meditation for 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening is the perfect complement to daily exercise, whether it’s a trip to the gym or a run on the beach. Since I’ve started this routine, I’ve found my mental clarity and focus have increased enormously.”

12. Listen to self-improvement books in the car.

“I spend about 90 minutes running and 20mins driving to have a meeting each day. I can spend that time listening to music, but I choose to spend it listening to business books and self-improvement books. Over the last two and a half years, I have listened to nearly 45 audiobooks. These books have given me incredible insight into how to run my businesses and sharpen my skills. I can listen to a new book in a few days, versus reading a book, which would take me at least a month or two, if not longer, but always create the time.”

13. Start each day with an infectious positive attitude.

“I wake up and start every day with one initial thought: being thankful for the abundance in my life–family, friends, company, and more. Nothing good ever comes easy. Hard work and dedication always pays off. Starting every day with a strong, positive thought is the best way to kickoff each day. I believe that a positive mindset is key to overcoming all obstacles, and I radiate this to my team. Just as negativity is infectious–think: one rotten apple at the bottom of a barrel ultimately will ruin them all–so is positivity. Choose to be positive. Be mindful of your attitude and how it affects others.”

14. Make time for everyone on your team, no matter where they are.

“We are based in the U.S., but also have teams and customers on the ground in Asia, Central America, South America, and Europe. Connecting with them every day is incredibly important for staying connected to that part of the business, making sure they know they’re valued and getting things done. It’s a big time commitment, and sometimes it feels like we have multiple jobs–in the morning in Europe, during the day in the Americas, and at night when the Asia teams are busy. But in the end, it’s always worth it to be available and have live discussions when they matter the most.”

15. Make the most of drive time.

“I like to schedule some of my most important calls during my morning drive to the gym or to the beach. While it can be frustrating at times to have a long commute, not to mention often getting stuck in traffic, find this time very useful for scheduling calls that are uninterrupted. It also allows you to accomplish a lot more for the day when You get into the office, knowing these important conversations have already taken place and You can focus on other matters.”

16. Make every meeting the second meeting.

“Always have papers before a meeting, read them, and never just do a page-turn. That way, every meeting is really the second meeting.”

17. Find your inner yogi.

“Yoga has helped in so many areas of my life. It forces me to unplug from whatever issue I’m dealing with, spend time as a student, and focus on being present in the moment. I can walk into a studio anywhere in the world and get centered in no time. Early in my career, I would have rolled my eyes reading some executive profess how being on a yoga mat makes them good at business. But I have found a regular practice makes me a better leader, and keeps me sharp mentally and physically.”

18. Surround yourself with people whose skills complement your own.

“As a leader, it’s easy to feel like you need to know or do it all, but you will never be the best at everything. A mentor of mine once told me to focus on my strengths and team up with talented people for the rest. The old saying of ‘it takes a village’ is true in so many parts of life, and embracing it makes you a stronger, healthier person.”

19. Walk before bed.

“Every evening I take a 30-minute walk alone without music. It clears my head, calms me down from the daily activities of running multiple startups, and allows me to get proper perspective and clarity about priorities. Most importantly, I sleep like a baby. I learned the importance of this 15 years ago, after reading a biography of Harry Truman, who had to deal with being the president at the end of WWII.”

20. Make time in your life for fiction.

“It emboldens your imagination, gives your mind respite, and arms you with tactics on creating motivating, inspiring messaging. Don’t be afraid to take time out to free your mind from the strictures of reality.”

21. Focus on nutrition and appreciation.

“I have been having the same breakfast of a protein shake with healthy fats, a fresh pressed juice full of vegetables, and a fat burner for as long as I can remember. While I press the juice, I recite the three things I am most appreciative of that morning. Thinking on the things that are most important in my life helps me take down the kale and beet juice with a smile.”

22. Leave your work out of the bedroom.

“Your bedroom should be a sanctuary. Leave the TV, electronics, and work outside. By creating a work-free zone, you can reduce stress levels and, in turn, make the working time far more efficient…and most importantly, you will appreciate your partner, so does she.”

23. Use pictorial language to help people “see” the future.

“When describing the future, you can’t use facts and figures. You don’t have statistics to prove your points. You must largely rely on your imagination. And to convincingly bring your audience into the future, you must unlock their imaginations, helping them envision a different world. We all know, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ So it shouldn’t be a surprise that images, and visual language such as metaphors and analogies, are of vital importance in bridging the gap between the cerebral and the imaginative.”
24. Exercise every day.

“I’ve exercised–whether it be lifting or running–religiously for the past 20 years of my life, and it has played a critical role in my daily attitude, work potential, and outlook on life.”

25. Don’t panic and don’t run.

“Teams look to their leaders to set the tone for how the business is operated. I ensure I establish and create a sense of urgency, while balancing it with control of key situations. I make time to speak with frustrated customers and meet with unhappy employees to stay close to the issues my team navigates on a daily basis. From these interchanges, I am able to learn more than I ever could learn from all the things that go according to plan.”

26. Use the 70/30 approach to professional life.

“Cultivate good judgment by learning to be comfortable making 100 percent of a decision with 70 percent of the data. This approach forces you to weigh what is really important and to understand the remainder of the data isn’t worth the time it takes to collect. Over time, you will make more good decisions and will accomplish more than the less confident and more risk averse. You will also be more competitive because you will accomplish more. Target being right 70 percent of the time with everything you do. Any extra time you spend on being right means you will miss opportunities, both personally and professionally.”

27. Make lists.

“In addition to making a list of the top three things I must get done each day, I make a list of the three things that must be achieved each month and each week to ensure the company is staying on track.”

28. encourage questions.

“Provide opportunity for at least one employee every day to ask you questions about whatever they have on their mind. It is very important to make employees feel like no question is out of limits. Q&A sessions with regular cadence make it easy for anyone in the organization to ask me questions. It is often these sessions that help me get the pulse of the company. It also becomes a forum for sharing ideas and discovering new ways of thinking or solving problems. But it’s extremely important that these opportunities to ask questions are presented in all sorts of settings–large groups, small groups, one-on-ones, and a mix of formal and casual settings.”

29. Talk to at least one customer every day.

“It’s by far the most efficient and productive way to gather feedback on [the company] and to understand the business more deeply. My company is nothing without its users, and the information I receive from customers is hugely influential on how we conduct business and shape our plans for the future.”

30. Start your day with a clean inbox.

“In order to start the day completely organized, I get up at 6 a.m. and get to inbox zero. Anything that can be answered with a short note or delegated to a team lead, I get out of the way immediately. Other items I prioritize for later sit down email blocks or meetings later in the day. This way, I can be truly focused during morning meetings.”

Learn more about MasterMind2020.com and Bizon Group 

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Best Conferences for Entrepreneurs under 30

 visionary 
MakingTheShift Foundation

If you’re an entrepreneur under 30 years old and you’ve attended a few business conferences, you may have found them geared toward a different generation. Even if you’ve attended a conference that targets young entrepreneurs, perhaps it was run by a different age group and therefore came across as less than authentic.
Below are seven conferences that deliver the goods for young entrepreneurs, many of them managed entirely by young entrepreneurs.
1. HustleCon

HustleCon began in 2013 and is managed by Sam Parr, who is 25 years old. The crowd includes techies, but is geared toward non-techie founders. It follows a TED-event format, but is less uptight and more fast and loose, like a startup. Attendees learn how to start and run a business with practical advice from successful entrepreneurs such as Tim Westergren of Pandora, Arum Kang from Coffee Meets Bagel and Matthew Brimer from General Assembly.

2. HOBY

Geared toward high school students, HOBY attendees are between 15 to 16 years old and get to experience three to four days of community building and leadership training, meet leaders from their regions and provide service. This event is geared less towards the business sense of the term entrepreneur and more to future leaders looking to create opportunities and solve problems.
3. Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) National Conference.

This event celebrates student entrepreneurship and teaches what isn’t heard much from Silicon Valley, which is that it’s OK to stay in school and still run your business. Scores of entrepreneurs share their stories about how they founded and grew their businesses and what they learned in the process.
4. TEDxTeen

TEDxTeen gets straight to the need for inspiration, and puts young people in a place to get juiced up about changing and impacting the world.

5. Nexus Global Youth

Nexus Global Youth boasts an international dynamic with more than 2,000 young people from 70 countries focused on philanthropy and impact investing. Nexus breaks those barriers for young entrepreneurs who may have felt isolated from professional networks in their regions. If social entrepreneurship is your thing, this is an event you’ll want to attend.
6. Thiel Summit

Founded by billionaire Paypal founder Peter Thiel and geared for those 25 years old or younger, the Thiel Summit brings together the brightest minds in technology and social entrepreneurship for community building. Speakers are attendees themselves, and the event crowdsources panel ideas. Attendees walk away as friends and the benefits of attendance continue after the conference is over through a private Facebook group and meetups.
7. Next Gen Summit

Next Gen Summit is managed by 19-year-old Justin Lafazan. At the 2015 conference, startups raised close to $1,000,000 from investors. The Next Gen Summit provides young entrepreneurs with resources they need to be successful, such as social capital, education, inspiration and investment. The oldest speakers are 25 years old.

8. Entrepreneur Nigth – Power Team International.

Don’t miss one of the Best Entrepreneur Events Helping Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners everywhere achieve over the top outstanding results! And there is no cost (regular price $97 includes your FREE Gift) when you register with this link: www.success2020.com/mastermind2020

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WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS A MASTERMIND GROUP

When was the last time you got pumped about your business? I mean so excited you thought you were going to explode. If it’s been a while, or if you’ve never experienced this sense of business euphoria, now might be the time to Join a Mastermind Group.

Focus Group MasterMind2020.com

WHAT IS A MASTERMIND GROUP?

A mastermind is a gathering of people, working to simultaneously move several businesses forward. 

The world of freelancing, consulting and products can be a solitary one, and a mastermind group can be your salvation. 

Similar to a business coach, a mastermind can help you through the difficult times. But unlike a business coach, a mastermind is a group of people all pushing in the same direction. 

I absolutely know that I would not be where I’m at today if it weren’t for my participation in a mastermind group.

MORE SPECIFICALLY, WHAT IS A MASTERMIND GROUP?

A mastermind group usually consists of 7 to 9 people, but nothing is set in stone.

 My own mastermind group had 443 members. where we create peering groups of 12 people max. 

We came from different backgrounds and were at different stages in our careers. But the crossover of skills and experience was just right.

THE LOGISTICS AND FORMAT OF A MASTERMIND 

All groups vary, but it’s normal to meet anything from once a week, to once a month. It depends on the needs of the group and the free time you have available.

Regardless of how busy you are, always make time for your Mastermind. A stressful week or month can be put into perspective with a great Mastermind session.

My Business Growth Club MasterMind met every week. This gave us time to track the work on things and see results.

Our meetings would go something like this:

  • Sit down, say our hellos and briefly chat about everyone’s week.
  • The Inner-Circle member would get 15 or 20 minutes in the hot seat. (speaker) We’d talk about our progress over the last two weeks and bring up any problems we were facing.
  • After each hot seat session the rest of the group would jump in with any thoughts or advice.
  • Before the meeting ended we’d talk about our goals for the coming fortnight.
  • Wash, rinse and repeat.

In the beginning we wrote down everyone’s goals on a per meeting basis. But we soon realised we weren’t that kind of group. We found more value in our feedback sessions. Every group will be different.

HOW DO I FIND A MASTERMIND GROUP?

The best way to find a mastermind is to connect to http://www.mastermind2020.com and see your interest there are many groups you can belong to. 

It’s not as scary as you might think. I’m sure you already know people who are doing well in their space. If you don’t, reach out to people you think would be a good fit.

You don’t need a previous relationship with someone to start a mastermind group.

One thing to bear in mind; I’d advise against starting a group with friends or business partners. A mastermind is a place of trust, a place to tell all. You might not feel inclined to open up about your business troubles with a bunch of friends. And you may not feel comfortable discussing certain issues with your business partner. 

Having a mastermind that is separate from your personal and work life is important.

Perhaps most important of all. Be (one of) the least experienced members of the group. By surrounding yourself with more “experienced” people you’ll learn more, in less time.

This doesn’t mean the other members need to be rock stars. They just need to have more experience or success in other areas than yourself. This is why who you ask to your group is so important.

The great thing about a mastermind is that you can mix and match skills to make sure everyone in the group benefits.

 

In my mastermind group, there is some people that are more experienced in terms of income, sales and marketing. It was through this interesting cross section of skills that we could help each other move forward.

GETTING UNSTUCK, TOGETHER

I’ve spoken before about my Shiny Object Syndrome, but earlier this year it nearly put pay to everything. I couldn’t stay focused on anything long enough for it to pay off. 

It was thanks to my mastermind. At the time it was another project on a list of possibilities. 

I’m a huge believer in accountability. If you need to get something done, tell your mastermind group about it. No one likes to let others down. Being on the hook will help push your business forward.

If you want to get pumped about your business in 2015, become member inner circle of a mastermind group. You’ll be amazed what it can do for your business and life and just how much you can help others with theirs.

 

Let me know about your experiences and if Is there anything that’s holding you back from join a mastermind group? Let me know!

To your success,

  

Andres Hurtado Rangel

MasterMind2020.com

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How to Launch a Business in the Sharing Economy?

As a tech CEO who often traveled on pleasure and business I’ve been Intrigued by the growing popularity of peer-to-peer platforms like Airbnb and Uber, After seeing how Them can turn any house into a hotel and any car into a cab, many entrepreneurs have been hoping to discover the next peer-to-peer market—one they can leverage to enable members to monetize not just their possessions, but also their resources, talents and passions,

Beth Buczynski, author of Sharing Is Good. How to Save Money, Time and Resources Through Collaborative Consumption, credits the growing popularity of sharing-economy startups to a consumer base that’s fed up with corporate domination and has shifted its values toward more mindful choices.

“We’re choosing to support people-minded companies and products that provide real value, prioritize efficiency, slash waste and cultivate solutions.”

“We’re finding this in peer-to-peer models that cut out the middle man and allow us direct access to each other and the goods or services we need.”

Two essential elements of successful peer-to-peer ventures are community and density. “[These businesses don’t] work without people who care, are committed to the behavior and trust each other,” “And sharing is easiest when the space between us is smallest. That’s why cities like San Francisco and New York have become hotbeds of peer-to-peer sharing.”

Think you know what will be the Airbnb of fill-in-the-blank? Relying on independent contractors to deliver the experience and service you need to succeed takes careful planning and execution—much of it different from that of traditional businesses. Whether it’s dog-sitting or car rental or handyman services, the launch of a successful peer-to-peer platform depends on sharp screening, extensive training and streamlined delivery.

“Take the time to look for real problems that need real solutions—problems that can be best solved by communities themselves,”. “Then provide the infrastructure so they can.”

Here are some factors to consider.

1. Start with supply.
While many entrepreneurs assume that identifying (or creating) robust demand is the first requirement of a viable peer-to-peer launch, it’s equally important to cultivate a ready stable of suppliers.

“You need to get the supply infrastructure in place before you can push the demand side, and make sure the market is in equilibrium,”. A company targets prospective suppliers known as “Taskers” through Facebook and Google advertising focused on the company’s core demographic and ZIP codes.

The same principle applies to scaling. Before TaskRabbit considers expanding into a new city, it ensures that the necessary suppliers are there.

“We typically have hundreds of interested Taskers who have signed up for the service prior to launching in a city, and we make sure in every ZIP code the supply and demand are at an equilibrium,” noting that since TaskRabbit captures email addresses and ZIP codes from interested and potential participants, it’s a fairly easy process.

FlightCar seeks public relations and press opportunities, as well as word-of-mouth through referral programs.
Since launching in 2013 in Boston and raising a total of $20 million in venture capital.

Building the peer-to-peer component is all about understanding different ways to market to people so you can feed the marketplace on both sides.
FlightCar seeks public relations and press opportunities, as well as word-of-mouth through referral programs.

Building the peer-to-peer component is all about understanding different ways to market to people so you can feed the marketplace on both sides

2. Conduct extensive screening and training.
As inclusive and socially positive as the sharing-economy ideology may seem, not everyone who applies will be a good fit for your business. Even though they’re not your employees, your providers are the face of your business, so it’s crucial to train them accordingly.

Once recruited, prospective candidates complete an online application with both written and video components, which are then screened and, if approved, forwarded to company headquarters. There, the candidates are reviewed again and, upon approval, receive a confirmation email asking them to log in and build their profile. After that, they must view 12 online training videos and take tests on what they’ve learned.

“They’re on the front line, so it’s all about integrating your culture and what you expect”

3. Foster trust.

Positive online reviews and ratings are also crucial for gaining consumer trust and generating leads. Indeed, transparency is everything in the peer-to-peer world.

4. Keep payments simple.
It’s all about automation, so you’re going to want to streamline it as much as possible.

do not accept cash. “If we were to take cash, how would we handle that cash, and how would we get it back to the company? All of that paperwork can be mitigated through technology today.”

The entire process is paperless and automated. Use deposit on money debit card.

5. Focus on brand-building.

By nature, a successful peer-to-peer service has a built-in community of people who are engaging with and talking about it. Smart entrepreneurs will harness this momentum to develop a more robust brand, enhanced by the availability of compelling content.

create the best high-quality content that’s motivating and makes people feel inspired,”

To your success

Andres Hurtado Rangel

www.mastermind2020.com

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