I can not stress how pivotal it is that you be honest with yourself. Every business needs a person who can be depended upon and not someone who misjudges their ability to the detriment of the group. Consistent accomplishment is always praised higher that wild speculation.

An alternative to this is to have someone you trust take the role. If you’re too close to the project, it’s always preferable to have someone else give you their opinion of how to trim the fat. So long as you listen to that person you will most likely be doing the right thing, even if it hurts to modify your work. Never underestimate the importance of a fresh perspective.

With each new step along the path to building your empire, you must be able to look at the steps before, whether they were forward or backward, and put what you have learned into effect. Only by looking back are we able to move forward.

What have you learned from your mistakes, and how are you going to implement the knowledge in the future?

“The man who moves a mountain does so one pebble at a time.” – Confucian Proverb

I’ve tried to remember this as I’ve grown my brand and my businesses. Anyone that knows me knows that I started on the bottom; my best friends and I made hats in my house in Hollis, Queens. I personally traveled across the US to cities like Philly and Detroit with icons like LL Cool J and RUN D.M.C., and sold my own products piece by piece. Those were my pebbles, and I’m still moving my mountain.

It is often difficult to see the greater significance in the mundane tasks, but it is within these tasks that you will find the ability move your own mountain. What pebbles are you moving today?

“Goals!” is an amazing book, and should be in the library of anyone that wants to succeed, whether it is in business, or life in general. I’ve had a lot of people tell me how this book has helped them immensely, and I know it can do the same for you. Make sure you check it out.

The Shark Tank has been a great platform for some people with amazing ideas to actually take action. Nothing can be accomplished if you are unwilling to take the steps necessary to accomplish your goals.

Of course, this is business, and most of the time taking action comes with a certain amount of risk. For me, taking a $100,000 mortgage on my house was the action that allowed to me start my business and to begin growing it into what it is today, but if I failed, I could have lost my house and had nothing. Not every action will come with this great a risk, but the only thing worse than failing – is not trying.

What are you willing to put on the line to see your dreams come true?

This is my motto; the words I live by. The status quo will get you nowhere. Everyday I think about the fact that there is someone out there working hard to have what I have earned, someone willing to put in the time and effort that it takes to succeed, and if I’m not working harder than that person, I have no place in business.
If you want to succeed, you must adopt this attitude. You need to work longer, fight harder and sacrifice more than your competitors, and then go even further. No one ever said it would be easy, but when you win it’s all worth it.

What are you going to overdo today?