Think #Digital First; Chapter 1: Being The Most Successful You

When I wrote the original Think #Digital First in 2014, I decided to dedicate 7 blogs, talking in depth about each chapter, to give you more of an insight into what the book covered.

Now, three years later; I have written a revised and updated version of Think #Digital First and the content is completely different to the first edition. As you will know, a lot changes in three years in the digital world, and also for me personally.

Over the next few weeks, I want to share with you what each chapter is about, and take you through the personal journey, and digital transformation I went through when writing this book.

This blog is focused on the first chapter, and “being the most successful you”.

Whilst the first edition of Think #Digital First had the same focused, I realised that now more than ever, I needed to create a “lifestyle” that allowed me to have a passion and “want” to work, but also enjoy spending time with my wife, and my baby girl.

Knowing this, I looked back and realised how, along with maturing, my priorities shifted. In my 20s I was passionate about life, and work; making mistakes along the way. In my 30s I tried to settle down, keeping my work and home life very separate.

Now (as I mentioned above) I’m in my 40s. I have the same passion for my work, but am married, with a beautiful baby girl, and merging work and family to give me the “lifestyle” I want.

Being the most succesful you is all about growing as an entrepreneur and investing in yourself. It takes over 10,000 hours to become an expert in your industry and without growing, learning and educating yourself, you will not be the most successful you.

There are 10 traits that I share with you in the first chapter of Think #Digital First that I believe make a successful entrepreneur. I won’t share all 10 with you, as you will have to get the book, but here are just three of the 10 traits that I believe make a successful entrepreneur.

Take Time Out For Yourself

I know how difficult it can be to get caught up in the day-to-day workings of life. Just because you might be doing something that you love, doesn’t mean you’ll love it all the time. I always make sure I have a clear vision for what I want to achieve, and set goals. This not only holds me accountable for what I need to achieve, but also helps me take one step at a time.

Think about how what you do on a day-to-day basis triggers any kind of stress and anxiety, and how you can take time out for yourself to really relax and recharge, so that your business can thrive and you are as productive as possible.

Persevere Through Adversity

There are always going to be difficult or uncomfortable situations in business. Perseverance is one of the most valuable tools an entrepreneur can possess.

I spent 12 months building a new ecommerce platform and then taking it to market. A year later, we’d invoiced more than six figures and I was going out for my seed funding. Three months later I received ￡150,000 investment, valuing my business at ￡1million in less than two years. Just 12 months later, I had to call the liquidators in, and tell my staff, investors and shareholders I was closing the business.

Some of the greatest lessons and life experiences come from being in an uncomfortable situation, when you have to learn from persevering through adversity.

Writing the original Think #Digital First in 2014 was one of the most difficult experiences of my life, and I learnt a great deal from it. I knew that re-writing this book was going to be difficult, too, but because I’d done it once, although there were always going to be bumps in the road, I was prepared.

I remember the day that I and my soon-to-be wife sat down and discussed going through the IVF process in the hopes of bringing a child into this world. We went through some of the toughest moments in both of our lives, but at the end of our journey, a miracle happened.

If something was smooth sailing, it wouldn’t make the successes in the end as great as they are, right?

Be A Planoholic

Realign yourself. Look ahead. Where are you going in the next chapter of your life? It wasn’t until I sat in that car with my mentor that I really stopped to question myself.

More recently, when going through my business growth phase and building two websites (both of which talk to a different target audience), I realised that I had to personalise each user journey. I understood this and reached out to my mastermind community, finding two people who helped me understand where I was going wrong and what to do to fix it.

It was a positive experience and gave me the refocus I needed, to see what was important to me. To coin the phrase ‘intelligence high, emotions low’, I had to commit and make intelligent decisions. Understanding this, and planning my next step, was so important to me, and the growth of my business.

When re-writing this chapter, I did a lot of planning and part of this, was understanding the need from my audience for something more workbook-like. Because of this, I decided not just this chapter, but the whole book that allows you to make notes, and fill out worksheets to help you go through a personal, and digital transformation.

I share with you 12 different ways that doing what I love has impacted my life, and give you the space in the book to talk about, and really take a moment to think about whether you are doing what you love, to make you the most successful you can be.

Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks, for more content about the second edition of Think #Digital First!

If you would like to purchase your copy special edition of Think #Digital First, updated, revised and edited, you can do so here.