The Entrepreneurs Library
5 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Hal Elrod
Who is Hal Elrod and what you can learn from him:
Hal Elrod, known as “Yo Pal Hal,” started hosting his own radio show at age 15. When he was 20 he was hit by a drunk driver. He was clinically dead for 6 minutes and in a coma for 6 days. Doctors told him he may never walk again. Today, Hal is an ultra-marathon runner.
Hal is the author of 2 of the most acclaimed books on Amazon, regularly appears on television shows all over the country, and is one of the most popular life coaches today. Here are 5 lessons that all entrepreneurs can learn from Hal Elrod:
1. Responsibility is not to Blame Others
The first thing you need to do to start reaching your goals is to accept responsibility for all areas of your life. It is impossible for you to determine the course of your life when you are placing responsibility on someone else. When someone else is to blame for the current situation we find ourselves in, we often become passive. But when you accept the responsibility of getting yourself out of that situation, you reclaim power over your own life.
Many people hesitate to claim responsibility because they assume that they have to accept the blame for that situation as well. But responsibility and blame are two different things. Blame identifies who is at fault. But the fact is, it doesn’t mean why you find yourself in any given situation. What matters is that you commit to finding a way out of it. And that is responsibility.
2. Be Proactive not Reactive
It is only natural for people to be very emotional about a new business that they are starting. This venture makes up a large part of your life and it only makes sense that you would feel very strongly about it. But when we allow our emotions to dictate what we do, we become reactive. This always puts us one step behind. Instead, we need to be guided by our minds, which makes us proactive.
“The number one cause of unfulfilled potential is never deciding that now matters more than any other time in your life.” – Hal Elrod
When we make emotional decisions, we choose things based on what will make us feel good right now. No business will ever succeed if it is built on such short-sighted goals. We need to take the long term view of everything. It may require sacrificing short term pleasure for long term happiness and success. Before making any decision, take a step back to review the consequences of each choice objectively.
3. Reach Out and Help Out
One thing that is true of all great leaders is that they help other people reach their personal and professional goals. When you focus on how you can help others, you will find yourself receiving countless offers of help in return. The more people we help, the more influence we will accumulate. This directly translates into more success.
If you help people get what they want, you will be much more likely to get what you want. Far too many entrepreneurs treat competitors like the enemy. The fact is, the market is almost definitely big enough to accumulate your company and theirs. Partnerships and friendly cooperation are the building blocks of success.
4. Learn from Your Mistakes
Everybody has bad days. It’s just a fact of life. You will encounter obstacles and setbacks in reaching your goals, some of them of your own making. Unsuccessful people use these bad days as an excuse for future failures. Because yesterday was bad, they are running behind today and that negatively affects tomorrow. With this mindset, they create a whole series of bad days out of one mistake.
Successful people, on the other hand, learn from their mistakes. They own up to their bad choices and use them to grow as a person. They refuse to let one bad day turn into two. Instead, they seize the opportunity to analyze what led them to that bad day and study how they can avoid repeating it in the future. The difference between success and failure is not the number of mistakes you make, but rather how you react to those mistakes.
5. Push Through Fear and Embrace Risk
Doing anything for the first time is uncomfortable. It’s often at least a little scary as well. It is perfectly natural to feel fear when you are beginning a large project. That fear does not mean that this is a bad idea or that you are not ready to start something. It just means that you are trying something new and unfamiliar.
Fear paralyzes. The best way to combat fear is with action. Once you actively begin pursuing your goals, the fear will fade away. It is when you stand still and allow the fear to overwhelm you that your goals elude you. You don’t have to deny the fear or pretend that you don’t feel it. But you do have to move ahead through it.
More Information About Hal Elrod
Preview The Miracle Morning with Hal Elrod himself
Buy The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod on Amazon today
Visit HalElrod.com to learn more about Hal and his story
Visit MiracleMorning.com to learn more about the book and get 2 free chapters
Follow Hal Elrod on Twitter and Facebook
Have you read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod? If so share your thoughts in the comments below:
Cody Faldyn
Cody is a blogger, social media specialist, graphic designer, and the Marketing Evangelist behind The Entrepreneurs Library. With a long time passion for personal growth, Cody helped create a website and podcast with the intent to educate aspiring entrepreneurs on the latest and greatest books on business growth and personal development.
