5 Simple Steps To Achieve Amazing Results In Your Business

I participated in a duathlon last week. It was a 2-mile run followed by a 10-mile bike ride and finally a 2-mile run. After 64 minutes and 35 seconds I was done. I was sweaty and tired. I got a medal (we all did). I know it was an accomplishment. I trained for it. Now here's the part that's hard to admit...it wasn't that difficult.

I'm going to be brutally honest here. I could have done A LOT better. I could have prepared better. I could have been in better shape. If I had, my times would have been a lot faster. I would have been able to go further. I would have felt better when I finished.

Here's more brutal honesty. I did it. I accomplished my goal. I did something that most people don't (note...I didn't say can't). I did it by doing just a little bit more. And despite my success it is absolutely true that my results would have been better had I done more than a little bit more.

What does this have to do with you and your business? All you need to do to produce better results than you are getting today is to do a little bit more. Here are the FIVE things that I did to put in a bit more effort. See what they can do for you and your business.

1. Commit to a bit more time. It doesn't matter where you start from, a little bit more time focused on one thing will bring results. In total I put in an extra 2-hours a week over eight weeks to get ready for the race. Yes, I've been working out regularly for years and yes, I technically knew how to run although hadn't run for about a year. All I added to my routine was about 2-hours a week.

2. Make a commitment and make yourself accountable. My gym was sponsoring a duathlon. I decided to do it, signed up for it and had a deadline handed to me. When you decide to do something for real it gets done.

3. Get support. Build a support team around you that encourages you to do things out of your comfort zone and then supports you as you are working towards your goals. I never would have even signed up for this if one of the instructors at the gym hadn't pushed me. Once I was on board what kept me motivated were partially the extra training sessions they made available and training tips. Even more important were my "workout friends" who I compared notes with along the way.

4. Challenge yourself. I knew that adding this to my schedule (and to my body) would be a challenge. I also knew that it was well within my reach.

5. Do it even when you don't want to. There were days when I had absolutely no desire to get up and run or ride the bike at the gym. I did it anyway.

And here's a bonus one! Take advantage of opportunities when they are presented to you. Sure I could have said, the timing isn't good or maybe next time. If you see an opportunity in your business go for it. Who knows if there will be a next time and even if there is, next time isn't now.

Imagine what would happen if you put in an extra two hours of dedicated work over the next eight weeks. Imagine if you make a commitment to someone. Imagine if you got support. Imagine if you created a challenge for yourself that was within your reach. Imagine if you just did it.

Would you achieve extraordinary results? Honestly, probably not. However, they would be better results than most people get and certainly better results than you're getting today. Where do you want to put in a little extra effort?