10 Disciplines To Help Driven Entrepreneurs Find Peace and Shine

Working with driven entrepreneurs has been my life for over three decades. It is one of my greatest joys. I happen to be one myself.

Being a driven entrepreneur is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that we are the creators of most things on this planet, we have superhuman stamina, and we are superheroes who save the day. Many people depend on us to solve big problems.

The curse is that we do a lot of damage to ourselves and our relationships—emotionally, physically, and mentally. We tend to leave a black trail behind us.

Over the last 30 years, I have created five pieces of content to help driven entrepreneurs get everything they want out of their businesses and lives.

1. Entrepreneurial Leap: For entrepreneurs-in-the-making
2. Rocket Fuel: For Visionaries to find their Integrator counterpart
3. EOS/Traction: To help entrepreneurs run their business like a Swiss watch
4. EOS Life: To help entrepreneurs live their ideal life
5. The 10 Disciplines: To help entrepreneurs manage and maximize their energy, impact, and inner peace

These five pieces of content help entrepreneurs manage their drive in the external world, climb the mountain, and succeed by every outer success metric—having a great business, people, money, stuff, and accolades.

I’ve experienced the need for all five pieces of content firsthand as an entrepreneur building my businesses. I simply taught the world what I needed most.

A New Discovery

In the last four years, however, I’ve made a new discovery.

I’ve now witnessed many entrepreneurs make the climb to the top of the mountain, ring the bell, and ask, “Is this all there is?” They feel unfulfilled, incomplete, empty — like something is missing. Reaching the destination that they’ve worked so hard to get to doesn’t feel the way they thought it would.

I’m speaking firsthand here, as I had this same experience less than five years ago.

I’ve written a new book with my co-author, Rob Dube, called Shine: How Looking Inward Is the Key to Unlocking True Entrepreneurial Freedom. Rob is a former EO Detroit member, speaker, author, and proponent of mindful leadership and silent retreats.

Rob and I teach 10 powerful disciplines that help you to not only maximize your external impact on the world and give you unlimited energy but also create a foundation to make space and time in your life to go inside to that scary place (that we, the driven, avoid by distracting ourselves with our workaholic ways) and find inner peace.

The 10 Disciplines

Here are each of the 10 Disciplines, followed by an impactful action to take that will give you the full benefit and transformative result of implementing them in your life:

Discipline #1: 10-Year Thinking

Shift your mind from short-term thinking to thinking in 10-year time frames.

Discipline #2: Take Time Off

Take 130 days off per year and don’t think about work the entire day.

Discipline #3: Know Thyself

Be your True Self 100% of the time, 24/7/365.

Discipline #4: Be Still

Sit in silence for 30 minutes every day.

Discipline #5: Know Your 100%

Decide on and commit to the perfect number of hours per week and weeks per year that you will deliver your impact to the world.

Discipline #6: Say No … Often

Say no to everything that doesn’t fit into the first five Disciplines.

Discipline #7: Don’t Do $25-an-Hour Work

Never do anything you could pay someone $25 an hour to do.

Discipline #8: Prepare Every Night

Before your head hits the pillow every night, document the next day’s plan.

Discipline #9: Put Everything in One Place

Pick the one place where you will capture every idea, commitment, thought, action item, and promise.

Discipline #10: Be Humble

View yourself as an equal to every person on the planet.

What I discovered is that you can go inside, let go, shed, and heal all that is preventing you from fully being your True Self, feeling peace, bliss, fulfillment, and satisfaction. And by doing so, you will greatly increase your creativity and intuition and make more of your decisions from love and not fear. As a result, we, the driven, become better spouses, parents, partners, friends, peers, customers, and employees, making an even bigger impact on the world.

I learned it is possible to be driven and have peace. It’s not one or the other. And the beauty is that with peace, you won’t lose your edge and drive. Just the opposite—it gets even stronger.

The time is now. The world needs entrepreneurs now more than ever. In this next era, however, let’s be healthier entrepreneurs and make an even bigger impact on the world, while doing it with inner peace. We have the reach and ability to elevate the world.

Rob and I will show you exactly how to do it. Take the True Self Assessment to see how free your True Self really is. We are introducing you to a simple, practical way to shed your layers and shine. And tune in to our new podcast, Shed and Shine.

I am living proof. We are walking this path with you. Join us on the journey.

For more insights and inspiration from today’s leading entrepreneurs, check out EO on Inc. and more articles from the EO blog.