“A Business Lesson from a Ten Year Old” by MaryEllen Tribby

A couple of months ago, before the school year ended my 10-year old daughter Delanie came to me and said “Mom, I really want my tennis game to improve this summer. By the time the tennis academy starts up again in August, I want to be the best one.”

So hubby, Delanie and I had a conversation on how we were going to make that happen. After we talked and outlined the steps we believed would elevate her game, Delanie decided she wanted a contract with us detailing the steps we discussed.

You see Delanie is well aware of the financial commitment that hubby and I are making to help her accomplish her goal of ultimately becoming a professional tennis player. She understands that this goal requires attending one of the best tennis academies in the country (and she is still in need of private lessons two to three times a week, fitness training and mental training several times a week too).

She also realizes that along with the financial commitment from her parents, there is a huge time commitment from us as well – driving her to and from all of her tennis training efforts.

The devotion to her sport and her desire to achieve more was pretty impressive. After all I don’t believe this was “typical” behavior from a ten year old.

However, it was her innate understanding that she would be more successful by being held accountable through her contract that quite frankly left me flabbergasted!

The Importance of Accountability

You see it is a well knew fact and statistic (but one that Delanie is NOT aware of) that people who have accountability partners are 65% more successful than those who do not.

It has also been proven that those who have developed good habits and routines are likely to meet their goals more often and faster.

And here’s the funny part, certain routines and habits do NOT alter for age or gender. Meaning many success habits are exactly the same for a 10 year-old girl striving to be a professional tennis player as they are for a 35-year-old man striving to be President of the United States to the 50-year-old entrepreneur or business owner striving for a more profitable business.

Here is a list of just some of the items Delanie committed to in her contract:
• Journaling everyday
• Practicing 6 days a week
• Getting up early every day
• Working out 6 days a week
• Eating healthy everyday (she is allowed one small soda a week 🙂
• Reading every day about her sport
• Working on mental toughness every day
• Adhering to her tournament schedule

Since Delanie will not be turning professional in the next year or two, we put milestones in her contract that she desires to achieve within the next 6 to 12 months.

By accomplishing these milestones, she will continually grow and improve and be ready for the next level of her game and goals.

Do you see how you can take the above and mirror it for any goal from growing your business to losing weight?

The Success Indicator

There are certain core characteristics that I have identified from years of working with and learning from some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world.

These include people like Richard Branson, Steve Forbes, and Mark Ford just to name a few. And guess what, they all get up early, work out and eat healthy.

But there are many more characteristics ultra-successful people have. That’s why a few years ago I created The Success Indicator Infographic.

And boy-oh-boy did this infographic go crazy viral. It has been shared, liked, tweeted, and reposted over 500,000 times.

Get your Success Indicator Here!