Focus your vision, set your goals and take action.
That is the only formula for success. Whatever it is that you may want to accomplish, taking action is the difference between reaching your goals and floundering in stagnation until ultimately failing.
Action though, is only the first step. Repeatedly taking action with consistency will lead you to your dreams.
Sometime in early 2012, I committed myself to write this post on a weekly basis and I haven’t missed one since. When I relaunched Entrepreneur Architect in December of 2012, I introduced the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast and took action to publish an episode once per month. This past January, twelve episodes later, I stepped the podcast up to once per week and published my 26th consecutive episode this past Thursday. The 57th edition of the Entrepreneur Architect Report, my free weekly newsletter, was delivered via email to my subscribers this past Friday morning.
“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle
Every week, whether I am overloaded with responsibility at Fivecat Studio and exhausted from a long week or enthusiastically energized to take things to the next level, every week I ship. I get it done. I am determined to succeed. I have been consistent with no excuses (well, maybe a few excuses, but I ship anyway).
This consistency is showing returns. During the past 16 months, page views for this site have improved from a few hundred to more than 25,000 per month and it’s growing quickly every month.
I work hard with everything I share at Entrepreneur Architect. I want it to be the best it can be. My vision is to make Entrepreneur Architect an influential force in the profession. I have a goal to build Entrepreneur Architect into a profitable enterprise that will help sole proprietors and small business architects build better businesses. Together, we’ll turn this profession around, one Entrepreneur Architect at a time.
As we grow, become more influential and financial goals are met, the site will improve and more resources will be launched. Small firm practice will never be the same.
Share your thoughts in the comments below. What do YOU want to accomplish? What are your dreams? Focus your vision, set your goals and take action… consistently.
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Photo Credit: Shutterstock / iQoncept
I notice that much of your content lately is about your producing content. I started following because of your content that was about doing a better at the business of architecture.
When are you going to refocus on the business of architecture. More important to me as a reader is the quality and usefulness of the content than the quantity or frequency of the content.
You have had a few great posts and they were very helpful, particularly liked the combined agreement/proposal. Looking forward to more useful posts.
Thank you for putting yourself out there.
John. Thanks for the note. Have no fear. I have more actionable content focused on building your architecture practice coming up. I try to keep the subjects varied in order to keep the blog interesting. I appreciate you leaving your thoughts with me. I value your opinion. Thanks.
Thanks for the reminder that focused intentional effort pays off. I’m coming up on nine months at the helm of Thousand Story Studio and am doing a bit of soul searching. I believe it’s time to (re)focus my vision.
Thanks for setting such a fine example.
Collier, your passion is for storytelling. Pursue your passion and you may be surprised how it all leads back to architecture.
Mark, you’re doing a fantastic job! I don’t know when and how you find the time to share your thoughts with all us architects out there! It’s amazing, believe me, every week I check out this post and I’m curious what you will come up with. Thank you for such an amazing endeavor!
Mark, consistency is truly key, and when you hear it out loud or typed, it sounds easy, but is full of depth. It may sound obvious when spoken, but it reminds me of a story about abstract painting: Kid says to his mom when they are in a museum of contemporary art “why is that painting in a museum? I could paint that.” Mom says, “but you didn’t, now let’s go get ice cream”. First of all, terrible mom, but kind of true. Just because it’s obvious, doesn’t give it any less weight. For your podcasts or blog posts, it would be nice to hear a bit more in-depth about networking, which I think is an enigma to many starting out. You’ve touched on topics in previous podcasts that have been quite helpful, but maybe something more like a road map to local and regional networking techniques. As if day one, here I am, my only contacts are a few family members and some old colleagues, now what? Thanks again
Thanks for your commitment and consistency Mark. Speaking from experience, this simple formula that you’ve laid out is one of the hardest for any of us to actually follow. It’s as simple as “Just Do It” until we start thinking about it, rationalizing, procrastinating and not doing it. Thank you for your inspiration, actionable advice and setting an excellent example for all of us to aspire to.
Mark, your posts are always inspiring. This is a good reminder that consistency and focus pay off. Thanks for sharing!
Mark, i read your posts and they always motivate me to keep plugging away. One of my goals is to increase my business
new clients by 40 to 50 % this year through targeted social media and focused marketing and trying out new methods and avenues to market my established architectural practice in the San Diego Metro Region. Social media is huge.
I am in the process of going on Houzz, and getting a Facebook page and finding out new ways to approach the business of architecture. Thank you many times for sharing your passion and knowledge to all of our peers. The expanding construction economy in the US is gaining momentum and now is the time to market , plan and move forward. I am going to try several new ways to market my firm with improving construction industry.