Think of yourself as someone with a unique perspective but not unique gifts as many were born before you with the same qualities and similar background. Instead, the reason that people remember a particular individual is based on their personal and authentic power. This type of presence cannot be bought, adorned or assumed – it is earned through consistency, integrity and honesty. You are only as powerful and as humble as your mind creates and as the world perceives.

Authentic power is also not in any hurry – just as you cannot push a river, you cannot rush true power. If you find yourself surrounded by people who are always frantic and insist on your immediate decision, that is a red flag. Applying pressure is a sign of weakness and potentially signals that you are being manipulated.

In fact, the speed at which people move is a direct reflection of their life, lifestyle and personal integrity. Slow and steady may not win the race, but it does reveal who is certain about their power position. And it also makes the race last a very long time which, in business, is really what matters – sustainable revenue and profit for an extended period of time.

Interestingly enough, authentic power can only be experienced in the now because yesterday is a memory and tomorrow is imagination. The present moment is where power lives. If you tell yourself stories and make decisions from your past, rest on yesterday’s achievements, or make decisions based on assumption, projection or judgment, you are living from what was rather than what is today. Functionally, that is the equivalent of driving your car forward while looking over your shoulder.

Throughout the process of creating your business, you will discover that your life is filled with first-time meetings. Abandon all initial judgment as you will gain insight into people only by exposure and continued experience. Pay attention to the impression you make on others as that is your power point in creating a positive connection. Being your best is always a good thing; being transparent about your vision and skills is better.

Key Point: Avoid talking about yourself and your background as a new general habit. Ask questions, be here, be now and be attentive to what’s actually happening in every situation. This means no cell phones or emails while you maintain eye contact and active listening. It can be difficult to develop this skill and to practice it consistently but it is one that will serve you well.

As you are grow your business, make sure that you are going toward something instead of running away from something. All too often people see the development of a business as a way out of a job or financial pressure; the reality of business is that it’s much less forgiving than your current situation. If you want to look good in business but not go to the trouble of actually being good in business, consider another career path. Entrepreneuring is an investment of everything you have to give to it – and it’s not about what it looks like on the surface.

Thinking like an entrepreneur pulls you forward and makes you feel good; thinking you will be escaping something and looking over your shoulder at the proverbial boogeyman will pollute your thinking.

Perhaps more significant is that you must realize that you cannot escape yourself. You are creating your experience and everything counts – everything. Authentic power demands that you take responsibility for what you create on every level as an expression of your personal integrity. Who you are, what you stand for and how you create must be in congruence with positive strength; it becomes your beacon to call in resources, relationships and opportunities that match that frequency. If you are growing a business based on fear or a negative state, you will be transmitting a ‘tainted’ signal and, ultimately, will have a broken business.

The entrepreneurs who have ‘made it’ each had their mistakes along the way; they just don’t talk about it because they are focused on their present reality. They lost money, had big snafu’s, disasters, hardships and some have even cheated to try to get ahead.

However, they consistently share one thing in common – they were persistent regardless of failure. Whether by genetics or conditioning, people are predisposed to be optimists or pessimists. As an entrepreneur, you must know how you are wired so that you can consciously choose your strategies to remain persistent. This is actually one of the real incentives to become an entrepreneur, because the light of authentic power will clearly show you what’s out of integrity.

In Michael Gerber’s book, The E-Myth, he describes the Entrepreneur, Manager and Technician. The Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician will all make decisions using different input but the entrepreneur tends to take more risks and makes decisions more quickly. Bijoy Goswami’s book, The Human Fabric, describes a less clinical definition of the same trinity using the Relator, Maven and Evangelist. Both of these authors have outlined a very important concept – the trinity.

The point here is that there are three individual personas that make up a decision-making core team. Just as a stool with three legs, your core power trinity becomes a stable foundation for the growth of your business. You cannot and should not build a business without all three divergent and complimentary personalities.

You can explore the persona definitions from these brilliant authors on your own but it comes down to creating a system of decision-making based on the vision, potential and reality of the business. Your business is a promise and these three individuals ensure that promises are kept regardless of human factors, weather and acts of God. The very simple system of having these people in place is that you ask questions about the business in unique ways. Which of these statements describes you best?

1. I will share and promote the promises we can make to strangers and friends and be a constant provider of ideas and opportunities.
2. I will determine if the promises are capable of being fulfilled with our resources and at what price.
3. I will manage the promises the business makes until they are completed and the customer is satisfied.

Knowing you cannot be more than one, which one are you? When making decisions, are you knowledge-driven, relationship-driven, or action-driven? Decisions are where the business gets real so you must have a system by which you can make them solid and well-rounded and your core power trinity achieves that.

Your corporate culture needs clear guidelines from which to make decisions and take action. You must know and define your core operating values for yourself as you build the company, cultivate relationships and set the foundation for your business.

Your core values do not come from your ego, which is a conglomeration of conscious and unconscious values and beliefs that represent your assumptions about how life is supposed to be… rather, your core values determine the choices you make, the actions you take and the life and business you create.

An interesting point of information about values is that we often live by the values we inherited from our parents, authority figures and childhood socialization. The irony is that we who have grown up in a culture where freedom is prized above all else are often operating from unconscious or assumed values from someone else. Very few people consciously choose their values, much less build a living for themselves and others based on them.

To know your values, look around you right now – what do you see in the choices you’ve made and the lifestyle you now live? Look at the people you work with, whom you’ve chosen to share a majority of your waking hours with. More importantly, is that what you want for your business or is this moment an invitation to go beyond where you’ve been to create something new?