Do you feel stuck in a rut? Overwhelmed or uncertain? You are not alone! A lot of agency owners feel the same way. If you need help finding clarity or getting focused, check out this episode. This is the perfect time of year to look at where you’re at and where you’re headed. Get re-energized and meet your goals in the new year. In this episode, we’ll cover: 3 characteristics you need to build a successful agency. Finding clarity in your agency life. How to find and keep your focus. #1 thing holding you back. Today’s guest is Aaron Walker, successful businessman and life coach at the third business he’s built, View from the Top. Through his mastermind, Iron Sharpens Iron, Aaron helps people be their best selves and how to carry that into their professional lives. Aaron’s passion in coaching and today he shares with us some advice and nuggets of knowledge on how to take that first step towards clarity and success. 3 Characteristics Necessary To Build A Successful Agency Lots of us who are out there trying to build our agency and make a name for ourselves are creators/developers, not maintainers/managers. This can be where the problem is: you can’t get clarity. Today we have more opportunities than ever before. It paralyzes us and clouds our judgement. The overwhelm can even cause a leadership crash. That is why you need to have: Determination, Tenacity, Grit to persevere. Be Organized and Intentional to lead. Most importantly, you need FOCUS. With that focus you also need consistency. If you aren’t willing to devote two years to your venture, don’t even start it. Stay focused on the long game and do what you set out to do. Every. Single. Day. Aaron shares a little phrase his mom used to say to him, that he hated, but now is part of his mantra: “Can’t couldn’t do it, and Could did it all.” You know, inspiration isn’t forever, it’s really about finding your purpose -- that thing that gets you out of bed every morning. That’s what is going to keep you going. How To Find Clarity In Your Agency Life For entrepreneurs, a lot of our clarity is muddled by constantly looking over our shoulder, wondering if we should have done that other thing instead. Stop worrying if the grass is greener on the other side and realize the grass is greener where you water it. Realize that you will never get to a point where you will feel a sense of security, so stop looking for that. Instead, fill yourself with confidence. The first step is -- you gotta launch. Whatever it is - just do it. As my friend Ian says, “Version done is better than version none.” He’s so right! You need to realize that it’s never going to be perfect, so just take that first step and go from there. You will figure it out. Once you find your purpose, it will help bring you clarity. Your purpose will become the thing that really drives you, steers your ship and it’s guides your decision-making. When you start doing this, then you will find your significance. How to Find and Keep Your Focus First, if your focus is on making money, then it’s not going to keep you focused long-term. You need a purpose for that! Sure, there’s definitely a portion of our focus that is tied to money. If it weren’t of any importance, we’d be giving everything away for free. It’s not wrong to want to make money, just make sure you own your money and your money doesn’t own you. You can, however, use money and finances as a measurement tool, not based on how much you make, but on the fact that if people are paying for the products/services you provide, then you’re helping people and are providing a valuable resource. Besides, if you gave your stuff away for free, nobody would pay attention to you. It’s the same thing if you underprice yourself. By underpricing, you will cause people to undervalue what you provide; thinking what you have to offer isn’t very good because it’s too cheap.