The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Travel Entrepreneurs

1. Stretch - Don't ever get comfortable. Don't ever stop learning. Realize you can always do more. Stretch yourself by having a voracious appetite for books, doing things before you feel ready, and always listening to the quiet voice of desire (not the loud obnoxious one). The most effective way to stretch yourself is to hire a mentor. Think about yourself as a slinky. If you hold each end of a slinky in your hands, you can stretch the slinky as far as your arms length. But, if you give one end of the slinky to someone else, you can stretch the slinky far more...maybe 2 or 3 times more. That's what a good mentor does for you.
   
2. Set Clear Intentions - I used to go through life by default. It's so empowering to sit down, a few times a year, and map out what you want in life. It's exciting when it starts to happen. For example, my business partner and I talked about attracting billionaires for clients. We talked about this for at least 18 months. And then one day, a billionaire showed up. Then another one. Then another one. Talk about empowering! You can control your destiny...but you need to give clear direction. Make a habit of setting clear intentions on a daily basis.
   
3. Seize Opportunities - one of the greatest lessons I learned is that once you set an intention, the path to your goal will NEVER be illuminated at once. Instead, what happens is opportunities show up. You have got to be willing to seize the opportunities, even if it feels uncomfortable. In fact, the path of entrepreneurship is mostly uncomfortable, because if you are feeling comfortable, it's time to move forward.
4. Surround Yourself with a Supportive Tribe - I did NOT grow up in an entrepreneurial family. In fact, my father had 2 jobs during my entire childhood - for which I eternally grateful. But that means that I was navigating this entrepreneurial world solo. You can't do it alone. You need support. You need to surround yourself with people who "see" you more than you see yourself. People that will cheer you on when you are seizing opportunities that scare you to death. People that will lend an ear when you feel you can't do it anymore. People that will celebrate with you...because they GET how meaningful those successes are. People that simply understand without you having to explain.
   
   
5. Stay Focused - As creative types, we entrepreneurs get very distracted by bright, shiny objects. But that is only going to hurt you in the end. Be disciplined with your focus. You can't chase two bees at once. Pick one thing and focus on it until completion. Then move on.
   
6. Skin in the Game - A recent college study found that people are FAR more likely to expend effort to avoid losing a dollar than they are to gain a dollar. In other words, people will move mountains so they don't lose money, but are much less motivated to make money. As a business owner, the purpose of your business is to make money. But because of this natural human behavior to get comfortable and not have as much incentive to make money, putting skin in the game changes this dramatically. Now, all of a sudden, you have a new, bigger motivator than simply making more money to move your business forward - the fear of losing money. I have seen this with myself and many clients - the moment they put skin in the game, they do things they never dreamed possible. It's amazing and very exciting.
   
7. Surrender - Surrender is NOT giving up. Surrender is taking your focus off your fears, or as Lynn Grabhorn (author of Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting) calls them, your "don't wants." Realizing that you've been rowing your boat upstream, surrender is the moment you let go of the oars. The moment you take your focus off your don't wants and let go of the oars, you release the resistant energy that's been preventing all your wants from flowing to you. Surrender is taking focus off your fears and putting focus on your expectation of your dreams and goals. Surrender is bringing the power, perfection and peace of presence into your life and believing that there is a higher source who will take care of you. It's releasing the worries, anxieties, doubts and fears and knowing that all is well.