3 Keys to Staying Free, Personal Effectiveness

#1. to do lists

Realizing how far you’ve come and gradually taking responsibility for your success. I personally use two tools for creating lists: Trello and Notion. The first allows me to visualize almost all of my writing over the past five years, because I’ve made a habit of creating a Trello card every time I start writing a newsletter, blog post, or book chapter. (…)

#2. Keep evidence of encouragement and praise from peers

(…) Developing a professional network is a key skill for any entrepreneur for many reasons, including getting rid of impostor syndrome. Contrary to popular belief, being a networker is not something you are born with or come naturally to. It is learned. (…)

Since the creation of LiveMentor in 2012, I have maintained a Dropbox folder called “Sweet Memories”. This folder originally only contained screenshots of motivational emails from more experienced entrepreneurs like Pauline Dementhon. (Drivy, a peer-to-peer car rental platform) or Nicolas Brusson, founder of Blablacar, a leader in the use of cars. This file has been enriched with encouragement of a different nature over time (for example, feedback from people who have trained with us), but through the research necessary to write this book, I realized that in the first three years of LiveMentor, I only met entrepreneurs who I had a hard time considering myself as equals. I saved the encouragement of “peers”.

Write down the verbal compliments you receive in your notebook or take a screenshot of the written feedback. Above all, try to centralize everything, it will be your personal gold mine. I recommend doing this exercise continuously. (…)

#3. Feel the impact of their work

Not a natural for business creators, beware! Contrary to what you might think, it is not natural to feel the impact of your work when you start a business.

However, it is one of the main motivations to start a business! But in the last few years, with the help of entrepreneurs who have accompanied them, we have seen a stark gap between intention and reality. [Voici] 4 solutions to leverage your influence as an entrepreneur.

> Set up automatic satisfaction surveys

(…) An entrepreneur blocks emotionally when asking his customers for feedback, so there is an interest in automating the collection of satisfaction. Are you an e-merchant with a site on Shopify or WooCommerce? For example, you can easily integrate an email tool like Mailchimp or ConvertKit to automate the sending of an email referring to the satisfaction survey in Typeform a few days after the order. A freelancer managing clients on Trello can build a similar system (as a trainer, coach, etc.). There’s nothing more fantastic than seeing feedback come to you naturally to get you out of your head and out of your impostor syndrome.

> Ask customers for feedback directly

(…) It is important to ask for feedback without waiting. Especially for entrepreneurs in the health or training world (such as therapists or coaches) who need to balance relationships.

> Trust a community

To benefit from the continuous discussion and not be alone in your head! (…) What does the daily life of an entrepreneur who can rely on his community look like? It is impossible to stay in your head and your inner demons:

– You receive suggestions from your community about new products, activities or services and thus feel supported in your strategy;

– we see members of his community supporting each other, proud to be at the beginning of these exchanges;

– we are asked to organize meetings reserved for community members, we finally see the trust given to us in the leadership role.

(…) Creating a community is the tool I’ve used most to get out of my head in recent years. By taking care of our members, we stop taking all our worries on ourselves. 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says, “If you feel penniless, help someone.” (…)

> Find the equivalent of (Awesome) manager

What is the role of the manager? Rather, if all companies realized the importance of this role and created the basis for the growth of managers, what should the role of the manager be? The answer is simple: develop the person and help him to overcome the blockages (for example, a possible impostor syndrome).

By default, the entrepreneur is alone and does not receive a manager as a bonus to Kbis from the Chamber of Commerce. Therefore, we must seek help (…). And this help can take several forms: a paid coach, a partner, a shareholder, a mentor as part of a training course… There is no universal answer and each option has advantages and disadvantages. Only one thing is important: don’t be alone!