The 3 Things to Do Right Now as an Entrepreneur

An article by Peter Diamandis

In the midst of this global pause, during which many of us are under lockdown in our homes for likely 60 days, this is a perfect window to:

There are two key pieces of advice here:

First, if you haven’t digitized your business yet, now is the time!

Figure out what processes, assets, products or services you (or your company) currently implement in an analog fashion and figure out how to digitize them.

Once you digitize them, you’ll be able to dematerialize, demonetize and democratize your products and services. What does this mean?

• Think: The Digital Camera digitized film;
• Think: Netflix digitized Blockbuster;
• Think: Google digitized the library;
• Think: Zoom is digitizing in-person meetings.

Second, if you’ve got a product or service that is not doing well, now is the time to kill it.

Once you bury it, you can then take these resources — cognitive, monetary, and human capital — and focus them on a digitized version of what you’re delivering.

60 days (of “sheltering at home”) is enough time for you to create new habits that will stick with you for the rest of your life.

Consider habits that serve your health, which in turn aid in strengthening your immune system (now a global focus in the epidemiology limelight):

• SLEEP: Maintain a regular sleep schedule, whereby you’re getting at least 7 hours and targeting an optimum of 8.
• Exercising every day. One app I highly recommend is the Johnson & Johnson 7-Minute Workout, and it’s free!
• Meditation: For meditation, I often use Sam Harris’s app, or Calm. By creating and maintaining a meditation practice, you’ll see a considerable reduction in your cortisol levels, thereby reducing stress on your immune system.
• Diet: Right now, I’m heavily focused on intermittent fasting, focusing my eating between about 4:30pm and 8:30pm, and fasting the majority of sunlight hours. I’m doing this 5 days per week, but even doing this one or two days a week is highly beneficial. The data is clear: intermittent fasting increases vitality, energy levels, and your mental clarity.
• Family Traditions: How about creating traditions with your family? What conversations have you never had with your brother, your daughter, your spouse, or your elderly father that could teach you something new about them? Craft new traditions, engage in storytelling, and be intensely curious…. Odds are, you’ll uncover surprising experiences, opinions, and wisdom you never knew someone had.
• Quit Smoking: Finally, if you’re a smoker (or vaper), now is the time to quit. There’s never been a better excuse to hunker down and stop the habit (particularly as it increases the severity of a COVID-19 infection).

It always stuns me that the vast majority of us let years and even decades pass without ever discovering subjects or hobbies for which we have a natural affinity.

Whether it’s architecture or astrophysics, learning new things isn’t just a temporary activity. It’s an invaluable ritual that keeps us cognitively sharp and turns us into lifelong students.

So pick 3 books that you’ve had on the back burner to consume.

Or dive into an online course that covers a technology you know nothing about (if you’re a member, the Abundance Digital portal spans everything from 3D printing to virtual & augmented reality, and includes digital coaching from me).

Or find a docuseries on a totally foreign subject matter.

Your MINDSET is everything!

A negative mindset will never lead to a positive life.

The human brain is wired to look for danger. And when we see danger, it puts us on red alert, clouding our mindset.

So consider taking a diet from the news (or viewing it in moderation), and focus on the positive things, both gratitude and your ability to reinvent your business and build new skills.

We live in a time wherein we can solve any problem, and our collective action in tackling this pandemic is giving rise to tremendous resilience.

In the weeks ahead, I hope you maintain your safety, health and an abundance mindset. I truly believe we are heading towards a hopeful, compelling and abundant future for humanity.

Please share this message of hope with your friends and family. We need some data-driven optimism to counter 24/7 doom and gloom!

With deepest gratitude,

Peter Diamandis