“My philosophy is that, not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”~Oprah Winfrey

 

Let’s have an honest “heart-to-heart.”

What are you doing today that is preventing you from becoming who it is that you aspire to be in the next chapter of your life?

I know, that’s definitely an intense, thought-provoking question.

But honestly, at a certain point, we have to ask ourselves this question to get to the next level… to become who it is that we want to be. I garnered these deep realizations after attending the Chase for Business Conference in Detroit last week.

I was tremendously excited and thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with Chase and be a correspondent for their Detroit conference. With more than 550 people in attendance, the Chase for Business Conference showcased the historical impact that entrepreneurship is making on Metro Detroit and throughout Michigan. Comprising of more than 61,000 small businesses as well as ranking #4 in the U.S. for its amount of minority-owned businesses, Detroit is coming back in an epic way, and this renowned event highlighted this undeniable fact.

During the conference, I was able to take in so much wisdom from the incredible encounters and interviews that I had with individuals like world-renowned motivational speaker and entrepreneur Mel Robbins; accomplished entrepreneur and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas; epic entrepreneur and ABC’s “Shark Tank” investor Daymond John; bestselling author and spiritual guide Deepak Chopra; as well as Maverick Carter, entrepreneur and business partner of LeBron James.

Throughout the conference, I could not only feel my mindset shifting, but I could also sense the mindsets of the other attendees shifting. Chase structured the event in such an inspiring way that demonstrated its strong commitment to empowering, listening to and helping business owners, like me, with our unique needs so that we can bring our business dreams into reality. I could have never guessed that attending this conference would have powerfully moved my soul in the way that it did.

The conference renewed my mindset and helped me to realize:

To become the “future” person who we aspire to be, not only do we have to completely alter our entire mindset, but we also have to forcefully choose a mindset of greatness.

This means that in every action that we take towards reaching our goals, we have to make the choice to be great and to leave mediocrity behind. We have to be willing to do everything that we don’t want to do nor feel like doing so that we can ultimately become the person who we’ve always aspired to be.

Harsh truth? Yes.

Needed? You bet.

You see, many of us know life is too short to be anything less than who we were meant to be. But how many of us are actually living this out…daily?

How many of us are choosing to do the things that we don’t want to do in order to get to where we aspire to be tomorrow?

The reality is, most of us are constantly waiting for the “right” time, making excuses, being too comfortable, feeling inadequate, being scared of failing, making “someday” every day, and the list goes on.

Don’t feel bad, I’m guilty of doing some of these things, too.

But then I always have to face this fact: I’m the problem.

We’re all ultimately becoming the problem… to ourselves. 

As Mel Robbins has said, “Who is the problem? Who is the solution? You are. You can still move forward when you’re not ready… Your mind, your history, your past, you will always have a million excuses not to do it, not to feel like doing it, not to believe in yourself… Don’t wait to do something. That is the biggest mistake you can make.”

Yes, it is the biggest mistake, because we are truly the makers of our destiny.

 

WATCH MY INTERVIEW WITH MEL ROBBINS:

 

Instead of making a to-do list to improve your business, @melrobbins says to ask yourself: “Who do I need to be?” Watch and learn more from Mel with @AshMWill at #ChaseforBiz Detroit. pic.twitter.com/QSU8PIPUX5

— Chase for Business (@ChaseforBiz) August 14, 2018

 

Lately, as I have been taking in what I learned during the conference, I have grasped that how we respond to situations is completely and entirely our choice. We are the only ones responsible for our life and who we ultimately become.

Whether we choose to see the greatness within us and to bring it into existence through the actions that we take is entirely up to us. It is up to us.

We have to stop waiting for our greatness to just “show up” in order for us to believe in ourselves and instead, just move forward in acting to become who we aspire to be. As Mel Robbins has emphasized, “The only thing that matters in your life and in your business are the actions that you take. The more consistently you take action, the faster you will start to believe in yourself… It all starts with action.”

To help you and me to start truly living out the greatness within us, here’s a list of 10 life-changing business rules that I gathered from the Chase for Business Conference in Detroit. I hope they inspire you:

 

Rule #1

“Don’t allow old patterns to dictate how you act. Commit to being different to be happier.”

~ Mel Robbins

 

Rule #2

“Have the courage and clarity to demand and get what you deserve.”

~ Mel Robbins

 

Rule #3

“At the end of the day…your life is yours. Listen and calibrate your own ideas.”

~ Mel Robbins

 

Rule #4

“Your life is an infinite loop of the things that happen to you and how you react… that is the secret to life. When you master that, you master everything.”

~ Mel Robbins

 

Rule #5

“You got to have persistence you got to have a little guile, you got to have a little knowledge to navigate the stream…”

~ Isiah Thomas

 

Rule #6

“The critic is not always wrong. People saying ‘no’ to you is not always bad. You just have to come back and get better.”

~ Isiah Thomas

 

WATCH MY INTERVIEW WITH ISIAH THOMAS:

 

Persistence, guile and knowledge of the market are keys to success for #smallbiz owners according to @IsiahThomas, speaking with @AshMWill at #ChaseforBiz Detroit. pic.twitter.com/Tl8jz6NF6w

— Chase for Business (@ChaseforBiz) August 14, 2018

 

Rule #7

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”

~ Deepak Chopra

 

Rule #8

 “The point of business is to improve the quality of life and to make someone else happy.”

~ Deepak Chopra

 

Rule #9

“Responsibility must be taken, it can’t be given. As long as you understand that, you will be successful.”

~Daymond John

 

 

Rule #10

“Always remember that you are the brand.”

~Daymond John

Remember, greatness is a choice.
 

You have everything within you needed to tap into it. Don’t wait to tap into it; start today. You are one decision away from a better life.

 

Note: This post is sponsored by Chase for Business. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Ashley M. Williams and RIZZARR.