The Power of Stillness for Entrepreneurs

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How often do you take time off simply to rest? Do you carve out moments to recharge and find stillness before the daily whirlwind begins? If you’re a successful entrepreneur who doesn’t prioritize rest, you may be heading toward burnout. Today’s featured guest is an entrepreneur who’s created several noted frameworks for business owners, empowering countless individuals to elevate their businesses.

Gino Wickman is an entrepreneur, content creator, and most notably the founder of Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). Through the years he’s noticed highly accomplished entrepreneurs tend to feel unfulfilled in what should be the highest point of their success. This happens when they forget the fundamental purpose behind building a successful business: to create a fulfilling life. In this episode, you will gain insights into achieving success while maintaining fulfillment in both your professional and personal life.

Gino has created many business frameworks but EOS is what he’s best known for and is used by hundreds of thousands of companies around the world. In his new book, "Shine," Gino explores the idea of achieving success while maintaining balance and fulfillment in life. This is something many entrepreneurs often struggle with and may not even realize it.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Why business success isn’t enough.

• Breaking work cycles.

• 3 discoveries to free your true self.

• The ten disciplines.

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Sponsors and Resources

E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service. Check out Gino Wickman on the 2 disciplines every agency owner needs.

The Missing Piece: Why Isn’t Business Success Enough?

With a track record of thirty years working with entrepreneurs, Gino realized that, even though he has been helping them create thriving businesses, many of his clients continued to feel unfulfilled. This is something Gino himself can relate to and what led to him to creating his latest framework centered on helping entrepreneurs master both their inner and outer worlds.

Many people achieve remarkable success but continue to feel unfulfilled or unbalanced, even if they have more money than they know what to do with. Attaining external success and continuing to struggle with finding purpose and feeling empty on the inside is common for business owners. This underscores the need to nurture our inner selves in addition to focusing on external achievements.

In our fast-paced and achievement-oriented society, it’s easy to get caught up in the pursuit of external success and validation. However, without a strong foundation of inner fulfillment, external achievements can feel hollow and unsatisfying. That’s why prioritizing self-reflection, self-care, and personal growth is essential to cultivating a sense of inner peace and fulfillment.

Breaking the Work-Hard and Hustle Cycle

After selling EOS Worldwide, Gino found himself in a remarkable position, engaging in work that he genuinely loved. This newfound contentment revealed to him he had been operating under a belief system based on non-stop work since age fifteen. Back then he committed to work hard and build an empire around what he thought would make him happy.

Now, years later, it finally hit him that he had been enduring the unhappiness created by his work obsession and the feeling of safe and contentment after the sale is what helped reveal this pattern. He realized it was time to work on his inner struggles and find true fulfillment.

Just like Navy SEALs commonly experience trauma once they are safe at home, entrepreneurs often find that their inner demons come to the surface when they are not focused on a task or goal. These moments of stillness and introspection present an opportunity to confront our fears, insecurities, and past traumas, and ultimately free ourselves from the burdens that have been holding us back.

To deal with this, Gino recommends meditation, which many people reject fearing that the moments of quiet will evoke past trauma. Nonetheless, Gino believes there is a need to let this stuff come up, to shed the layers of armor you’ve built up, and to free yourself. Achieving this freedom is what will allow individuals to make a real impact on the world and become much more creative.

3 Discoveries to Free Your True Self

Some people think that growing and selling your business brings freedom. However, Gino presents a different perspective, advocating for three transformative insights that can help you unlock your authentic self while enhancing your energy, impact, and inner peace.

1. Recognize and accept that being driven is part of an entrepreneur’s DNA and wiring. Acknowledging this helps you navigate the ups and downs of that drive and recognize the impact it has on your mental, physical, and emotional well-being.

2. All decisions are made out of love or fear. Understanding the motivations behind your actions will help you make more conscious choices that align with your true self rather than your ego. This awareness can help entrepreneurs break free from patterns of fear-based decision-making and move towards a place of love and authenticity.

3. Know it is possible to be BOTH driven and have peace. This may seem contradictory at first, as many driven individuals equate drive with a constant state of hustle and striving. However, finding peace does not mean losing drive; in fact, it can enhance it. At this stage of his life, Gino has everything he’ll ever need; nonetheless, he’s more motivated than ever. By letting go of the need to constantly be in motion and finding a sense of inner calm, driven entrepreneurs can tap into a deeper source of motivation and creativity.

The Ten Disciplines

The next step after embracing these discoveries is how to implement them into your life. In this sense, Gino emphasizes the transformative power of shedding everything that isn’t the real you. He encourages entrepreneurs to let go of societal expectations, comparisons to others, and unnecessary tasks or responsibilities that do not resonate with their core values and passions.

The 10 disciplines outlined by Gino provide a roadmap for achieving this state of authenticity and include:

1. Tenure thinking

2. Taking time off

3. Knowing oneself

4. Being still

5. Knowing one's 100%

6. Saying no often

7. Avoiding low-value tasks

8. Preparing nightly

9. Organizing one's life

10. Practicing humility

     

Following these disciplines, anyone can begin to strip away the layers of conditioning, false beliefs, and distractions that prevent them from living in alignment with their true selves. For instance, knowing your 100% is a step that will help you pinpoint the perfect amount of effort you’ll need to create something amazing as an entrepreneur. Also known as the work container, this measure should answer how many weeks of the year and hours per week you can work to reach your maximum output without going over or under that measure. One extra hour over that measure may lead to burnout while one hour less might mean you’ll start to get bored.

The key to finding this magic number is to start experimenting with how you manage your time. Instead of deciding you’ll only work three days of the week as of tomorrow, start reducing your working hours little by little and see how you feel, how your energy levels change, and whether or not you’re still able to handle your workload. The perfect balance will allow you to manage your energy while making as big of an impact as possible. 

Learning to Sit Still Without Guilt

Do you find it challenging to sit still? If so, you may struggle because your mind is preoccupied with tasks and responsibilities that are piling up, making it difficult to take a moment to reset and recharge.

What does ‘stillness’ mean in this scenario? It means four things: meditation, prayer, contemplation, or journaling. The idea behind this daily exercise is to set aside time to just stop and let your soul catch up to be present and aware.

For his part, Gino recommends dedicating thirty minutes each day to simply sit in silence. As simple as that sounds, it’s hard for driven entrepreneurs. If this is your case, just try starting with 10 minutes every day and slowly work your way up to 30 minutes. Being constant with this practice will allow you to feel more present, aware, energized, and creative, which will benefit every aspect of your life, not just your performance as an entrepreneur.

Why 130 Days Off Could Boost Your Business

Just like sitting still can be a challenge for entrepreneurs, taking time off can be even harder. However, Gino recommends business owners take at least 130 days off a year, which may seem like a lot if you’re used to working long hours and prioritizing productivity above all else.

Personally, Gino has taken the month of August off for the last twenty-five years and is a big believer in the power of a sabbatical. He insists these days off must be days when you do not think about work at all.

By taking time off, we allow ourselves to rest and rejuvenate, which can lead to increased creativity, productivity, and overall well-being. It allows us to step back from our daily routines and responsibilities, gain perspective, and come back with a fresh outlook on life.

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