Harvey Mackay Academy's Blog

dream business

Want to build your dream business, but not so sure how to do this without losing your mind? Or maybe you’ve heard a similar voice in your head that goes something like this, “Hey, is this your mind? I just found it in the gutter. Do you want it back?”

Once upon a time, I lost my mind while building what I thought was the business of my dreams. Turns out, one of my businesses became a real nightmare not long after I sold it. Then I lost my business, my cash flow, all my money, and worst of all, I lost my way. This is what happens when you lose clarity and confidence to build the business or career of your dreams.

Have you ever lost your mind or your health? How about all your money? Hopefully, you didn’t lose your way, and if you did, you learned how to quickly bounce back.  If you’ve heard me conduct a recent keynote speech or workshop then you probably came here to get the free checklist I promised to give you.

Included in this article is a free download of my “Return On Life Assessment” which is a ten-point assessment you can use as often as you’d like to train your focus on being happier, healthier and wealthier as a human being.

Download your free copy of Cliff’s “Return On Life Assessment” now.


Want to build your dream business, but not so sure how to do this without losing your mind? Or maybe you’ve heard a similar voice in your head that goes something like this, “Hey, is this your mind? I just found it in the gutter. Do you want it back?”

Once upon a time, I lost my mind while building what I thought was the business of my dreams. Turns out, one of my businesses became a real nightmare not long after I sold it. Then I lost my business, my cash flow, all my money, and worst of all, I lost my way. This is what happens when you lose clarity and confidence to build the business or career of your dreams.

Have you ever lost your mind or your health? How about all your money? Hopefully, you didn’t lose your way, and if you did, you learned how to quickly bounce back.  If you’ve heard me conduct a recent keynote speech or workshop then you probably came here to get the free checklist I promised to give you.

Included in this article is a free download of my “Return On Life Assessment” which is a ten-point assessment you can use as often as you’d like to train your focus on being happier, healthier and wealthier as a human being.

Click here to get your free copy of Cliff’s “Return On Life Assessment” now.


One of the most popular workshops and keynotes I conduct is called, “How To Build Your Dream Business Without Losing Your Mind.” The entire premise of my program is that you can indeed have the life and work of your dreams if you commit to it and use a process that virtually every successful organization uses in one way or another. My process for strategic action planning is called, “Clarity – The Strategic Blueprint for Leadership & Business Success.” TM If you heard me teach or speak, then you learned the fifteen essential elements to become a better leader and build a richer, more successful business.

It’s also true that what you heard me teach during my workshop or speech has a single underlying fundamental discipline that sets all world champions apart from everyone else. If you missed this key point during my time with you, here it is again: The scientific, underlying secret to how Clarity and other strategic action planning solutions work is a focus on a proven process instead of only the outcome or goal you seek to achieve. In other words, if you focus on the “form” you maintain as a leader and team, and you truly want Olympic-winning results like the South Korean archers and golfers, you will succeed over time using the Clarity solution.

How is it that most businesses fail badly in the first ten years? It’s roughly 70% of us blow it before we make it big in business. Why? It’s the choices we make as leaders, and wrong focus, plus 10,000 things that can and often do go wrong despite our best intentions as leaders.

Clarity is my life’s work. I’ve used it to start, self-fund, grow and sell my own small businesses – what I know today as the business of my dreams. If it works for me, it will work for you. But maybe you’re not sure what your dream business is all about. My program is all about helping gain clarity on this very thing!

As I tell everyone when I speak, Clarity works best for small, lean-minded organizations. Even big organizations can “act and think” small, lean and focused on the process of working like a true, championship team.

Okay, you have to sit through one of my online classes, workshops, or bring me into your organization to walk you and your key people through the fifteen principles that power your business to get high-ROI sales and marketing results. But since most of you reading this DID hear me teach or speak, then here is the checklist from Part 2 of, “How To Grow Your Dream Business Without Losing Your Mind.”

The premise with Part 2 of my presentations is always about how we remain resilient and powered by our purpose as leaders, especially when we seek to build the business of ourdreams. It’s the personal side of making a difference, an impact, as a the leader you seek to be. It’s about what to do if and when you break down mentally or physically from the stress, anxiety and trauma of being a leader; being human. We agreed when I spoke that most businesses fail, and that all humans fail, crash in one way or another, and we’re compelled to rebound and make a comeback bigger than before. This checklist is about being the best You, Inc. you can be so you can actually be a great leader for the long run

I open Part 2 of my programs addressing this as “the business of your life.” Plan it like you do the business of your dreams. I suggest you prepare for stress before you meet it. This is the inner game of being resilient as a business leader. This becomes your strategy, and a vision for You, Inc., then your strategic action plan, and all of this helps you show up at work as a better human being and leader.

Choose your leadership mindset wisely. Heck, this is your life. Know your purpose as a human, which is to make a difference with your unique gifts; your superpower. Keep your purpose aligned with what you do when you go to work every day. You must learn to embrace change and learn how to reprogram your subconscious mind when you get stuck.

Now, let’s dive into the checklist of things you can do to change your body, mind, spirit, and life as a high-performance leader.

  1. Who do you hang around? Your network of relationships always ties directly to your net worth, how much you are actually worth. Like attracts like, unless you’re a magnet.
  2. How can you breathe better? Discover the breath of life and learn to breathe like a pro.
  3. How can you be more mindful? What you observe changes what is observed. Observe yourself being you. Become far more aware of who you are, and how you engage with those around you, especially as a leader.
  4. How can you learn to meditate? Get over your head trash about trying it and failing. Can you count to ten and match to your inhale through your nose, then exhale softly through your mouth? Practice this. There is no one way to meditate.
  5. When will you love to walk? Walk more. It gives you 90% of the benefits of running without the impact and chance for injury, pain.
  6. Will you pedal downhill? There’s a reason life insurance companies offer bicyclists discounts on life insurance. The actuaries know people who ride bicycles live longer, and this is good for them because they can collect your insurance premiums longer. Win-win!
  7. How can you add resistance? Weight resistance that is. We lose muscle mass as we age, we lose a lot. But we can manage our “real age” by lifting weights and adding weight resistance training to our workouts. Always work with someone who knows how to coach you, or take this on at your own risk. Be wise about your health. Listen to your body. What we break down gets stronger for a reason!
  8. How can you learn to love practicing Yoga, Tai Chi, or Qigong? This is all about moving energy, finding the flow of life within. As within, so without.
  9. How can you eat more premium fuel? Walk through any airport and look at how well we feed ourselves. We are what we eat, then who we hang around. See #1 on your network. This is all about conscious and unconscious choices. See #13 on head trash.
  10. How can you learn to sleep more deeply, and heal while you sleep naturally? Take the Sleep Doctor Quiz by Dr. Michael Breus, read his book, or hire him to coach you directly because he’s one of our friends, and he’s world-famous because he’s the best in his field.
  11. How can you be more grateful? Add gratitude to everything you do. Put the word into your daily life visually, maybe use it as part of your passwords you type in every day a million times. Foster your attitude of gratitude and watch it change your brain and life.
  12. How can you be more caring as a leader? Clearly, the world will be a better place when we are more civil and polite, caring, with each other. The Golden Rule is one we can all remember, but practicing it is up to you. Compassion counts.
  13. How can you smile and laugh more? Yes, we all know laughing has a healing quality, and it can also be highly contagious. That’s a good thing if you’re experienced it. This is about training yourself to focus on being happy by laughing. This starts with practicing how often you SMILE. Smile often. Smile hard!
  14. How can you serve others more? We are genetically-predisposed to helping other humans. It’s why we feel good when we are of service to others. Whenever I find myself “bummed out” I find a way to be of service to someone else. Try it. You’ll like it.
  15. How can you learn to journal? Journaling alone in the early mornings, being contemplative, praying often, acting with an attitude of gratitude has changed my life. Even if this sounds goofy, learn to journal. Real men journal! It works when ya work it. If you don’t believe me, Google the keywords “the neuroscience of journaling for better health and wellness.” See for yourself.
  16. How can you get rid of your head trash? We all have it. You can learn to reprogram your subconscious mind. I often use the example of how we feel about salespeople, or worse yet, the terror most people hold unconsciously and consciously about being a salesperson. The way to do this is to learn how to use self-hypnosis by hiring and paying a qualified therapist or coach who specializes in reprogramming the subconscious mind where about 90% of your thinking horsepower actually lives.
  17. How can you be more coachable? To whom are you most accountable beyond yourself? How do you know you’re doing the best job possible if you’re only holding yourself accountable for how you show up as a leader? Being coachable and investing in yourself is key.

There it is – A list of 17 healthy habits you can learn to practice every day. Is it possible to take all of this on at once? No. Don’t put that pressure on yourself.

Why not put more pressure on yourself? Because you want to shift your leadership mindset, and the words you use, to show up as a more clear, confident, transparent, happy, healthy, wealthy, giving and successful leader.

When you practice this process for yourself, You, Inc., and you practice strategic action planning for your business or where you work, you will be on the path to building the business and life of your dreams. And you will always be prepared for the mental, emotional, and physical ways we show up as human beings being better leaders at work.

Got a question or comment? Post it here and we’ll be sure to respond!

P.S. Here’s a great example of how focusing on the form of leadership and action planning you do as a team can help you get world-championship-winning level results in your business and your life. The bottom line is we must learn as leaders to focus on our form and the process of empowering our people with inclusive, diverse, consistent, strategic action planning.

About the Author

Seven-time, New York Times best-selling author of "Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive," with two books among the top 15 inspirational business books of all time, according to the New York Times. He is one of America’s most popular and entertaining business speakers, and currently serves as Chairman at the MackayMitchell Envelope Company, one of the nation’s major envelope manufacturers, producing 25 million envelopes a day.

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