Empire builders, there’s no real secret to success. But if you want to know what makes the most difference, it’s this: your habits. The simple fact is that whatever you achieve in life will be the direct result of the things you do, day after day. Once you understand that life is the cumulative effect of your habits, then it becomes REALLY important to have the right ones, and that means setting deliberate and realistic daily habits.
Today I’m going to share something that I like to call BUILD, which are the five habits I do every single day. Following these habits over the last eight years has helped me build a business empire and become a millionaire. But these habits are not just about making money. In fact, one of the things that will really help you be successful in life is to become a well-rounded person. The realistic daily habits within BUILD allowed me to focus on key aspects of my businesses. But it also helps me excel in the other aspects of life. So how does BUILD work?
B Stands for Body: “How did you take care of your body today?”
Being unhealthy means you get tired more often, you’re less productive, and you have a harder time concentrating. Are you going to have what it takes to build an empire in that state? I don’t think so, and that’s why health is so crucial for being successful.
The way I use the BUILD system is to sit down each quarter (or every three months) and come up with specific goals for each habit. In the case of the Body habit, your goal can be anything that you know will be excellent for your health. You might take a 45-minute walk, drink a green smoothie, or lift weights. It all depends on what works for you, which is what makes this system highly adaptable. Switch up your goals every quarter so that you can keep pushing yourself and make progress with your overall health.
What I recommend, and what I do, is keeping track of your daily habits in a physical notebook by writing BUILD at the top of the page each day. Once you’ve accomplished the goal for your Body habit, you get the great satisfaction of circling that B each day. What that means is you’re taking care of your body and creating the foundations for success.
U Stands for You: “What did you do today that you wanted to do?”
Again, you really need to create a well-rounded life if you want to be successful. This goal is all about avoiding burnout and making sure you have the time to enjoy hobbies or interests.
Right now, my You goal is to get back into golf. This is a sport that I used to love years ago, but I had stopped at some point and kind of forgot about it. But now I’m back to playing golf at least once or twice a week and absolutely loving it. Your You goal might be playing chess, learning a new language, playing video games, or literally anything else. Give yourself permission to enjoy doing something you really want to do every single day.
I Stands for Income: “Did you do something to make money today?”
This one is obviously key, and it will look totally different depending on where you are with building your businesses. When I was getting started, the goals for my Income habit were all about making sales. It was literally “Did I make $1000 today?”.
My Income goals have changed so much since then because my businesses have grown, and now I have a whole team. At this point, I’m guaranteed to make money because I have a really solid foundation. That means the goals for my Income habit will now revolve around the broader picture of everything that I do with my team, like developing new ideas and building up the systems and processes that we’ve already put into place.
Keep in mind that this goal can also be something that relates to making money in the future. Doing something that’s really going to help push your business forward definitely counts!
If you’re just getting started with your business, you really just have to be honest with yourself about what are the best ways to institute this habit for your unique situation. I talk a lot about the important realistic daily habits for building income inside our Ecommerce Empire Builders Academy, including what I call The Daily 6 and The Daily 3. This is something I cover in the first module of the course, so make sure you check it out!
L Stands for Relationships: “How did you make business relationships that can help your empire?” AND “How did you take care of your family and friends today?”
Obviously, there are two kinds of relationships here, and they’re both essential parts of your realistic daily habits — and your life. When it comes to your professional relationships, you’re just not going to get very far if you don’t network with other individuals that can help grow your business. So try:
- Reaching out to an influencer who promotes products in your niche
- Making a strategic contact at a conference
- Hiring someone to help you with certain tasks
- Something totally different that suits your business
You should always be thinking about how to make and improve the relationships that can help your business.
And then we get to relationships that are even MORE important, which include your family and friends. The BUILD system is truly designed to give you a well-rounded life. The money will come, but you definitely don’t want it at the expense of not having good relationships with the people closest to you. Make it a daily habit to spend that quality time with them, even if it’s just sending a quick text.
D Stands for Development: “How did you develop yourself today?”
Learning is how you grow, and it should definitely become a daily habit. Personally, I love reading. My development goals will typically be reading a book or going through some sort of useful online course that can help me sharpen some skills.
There’s really an endless number of ways to develop yourself through realistic daily habits. But the most important thing is that you have to actually implement whatever you learned.
For example, if you’re reading this, or you’re watching a video on my Youtube channel, that’s great. But are you going to actually incorporate these habits into your life and do it consistently? Because otherwise, it doesn’t even count.
In general, development only works if you take action based on the things you learn. Remember that your time is, by far, your most valuable asset. If you learn about these realistic daily habits but never do anything useful with that knowledge, then it’s pointless to even learn about them. If you learn about my dropshipping hacks and never use them in your business, it’s pointless to know about them. Even worse, I just took your most valuable asset! Don’t allow that to happen.
Make sure the time you spend on development is really providing value for you. Yes, even when it comes to my own content. Don’t just consume it for the sake of consuming it. DO something with it. Otherwise, it’s really just a distraction from your goals, and that’s the opposite of what I’m trying to do here.
Consult With the Pros
There’s so much more to learn about building a sustainable, profitable online business, and I’m here to teach you everything I’ve learned. Get started with your empire by taking this free Ecommerce Empire Builders webinar! You can also see more advice and dropshipping strategies on my YouTube channel.