A little bit about me

If you’ve found my blog here on my website, the chances are that by now you’ll know I’ve written a book called The Fourth Moon. It’s a narrative-driven book that provides a practical, step-by-step guide to achieving sustainable success that any business can follow. It uses a powerful metaphor based on famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei – and his discovery of the four moons of Jupiter – and challenges business owners and teams to adopt a fresh approach by viewing their business through a new lens.

What you may not yet know is how I identified and honed the principles of success that I draw on in The Fourth Moon, which is why I thought I’d use this blog to tell you a little bit about my own personal entrepreneurial journey. 

My first foray into the world of entrepreneurship came when I was six-years-old. There was an orchard in my neighbourhood and the owner paid me for gathering windfall apples - a fixed price for each fruit crate filled. I quickly developed a taste for commerce and lawn mowing, car washing and can recycling businesses followed - each venture playing its own special part in setting me on a pathway that would ultimately see me coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs to business success.

Having earned my Bachelor of Commerce degree at Melbourne University and a post-graduate Chartered Accountant qualification, my introduction to the corporate world came first as an accountant with major international accountancy firm Deloitte, then later as a Business Services Manager with leading firm Pitcher Partners.

I honed my business skills for a decade as an accountant working with publicly listed and private companies before leaving the world of accounting to pursue my dream of running my own business – embarking on my personal journey to The Fourth Moon if you will.

I entered a partnership in start-up Melbourne-based recruitment agency, Caden Consulting, and our fanatical focus on best-practice operating systems and exceptional customer service earned us one of Seek’s Australian Recruitment Agency of the Year Awards in 2003 and saw us featured in Business Review Weekly (BRW Magazine).

That same year I enjoyed my first taste of the publishing world, writing articles for Better Business Magazine, Chartered Magazine, and my first forays into the media arena as an interviewee on audio business programs for Michael Schildberger’s Business Essentials.

In 2003 I sold my share of Caden to my business partner and embarked on my next journey; establishing Business Influence, a consultancy dedicated to dramatically improving the performance of small and medium businesses through consulting, coaching & mentoring.

My coaching and mentoring was based on four tried and tested universal elements of business success — Strategy, Implementation, Maintenance, and Leverage. My passion lies is helping clients develop clear strategic direction, improve productivity, build leading teams, significantly increase profit and business value; all while enhancing the work-life balance of the entrepreneurs behind those businesses.

With twenty-five years’ experience successfully navigating my own personal journey to success, I have a keen eye for identifying what makes successful entrepreneurs and businesses tick, a passion for work-life balance, and a keen desire to share this elusive formula with other business owners which is where my book, The Fourth Moon, comes in.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Turn off Pause and press Play on Implementation

In Part 2 of this Four-Part Series on Sustainable Success, I introduce the Second Moon of Implementation - Europa. 

Following your initial journey to the First Moon, which is often euphoric and motivating, you and your team might think ‘what’s next?’ You’ve been brave and daring in developing a new strategy for the business and understandably feel quite proud of yourself. 

In my book, The Fourth Moon, I talk about Europa, the Second Moon of Jupiter, being the smoothest object in our solar system. It is thought to have twice the water volume of earth so it also very fluid. 

Implementation must be smooth and fluid.

Smooth, because something is not implemented until all the kinks are ironed out. For your strategy to be smooth, it must be implemented correctly.

Fluid because your strategy won’t necessarily be implemented correctly the first time, or even the second time. Fluid thinking allows you to accept initial failure and be fluid in your commitment to return to implementing a technique or discipline again until it ‘sticks’. 

So Second Moon thinking is about being smooth and fluid – it’s all about doing. Actions talk. 

“By denying scientific principles, one may maintain any paradox.”
Galileo Galilee

I often talk about the phrase “knowing isn’t doing”. People respond to advice around their business with “I know that” or “Yes, we’ve heard about that.” But knowing about something is completely useless if you don’t do it.

Examples of “knowing isn’t doing” are endless. We know that we need to do our staff reviews but we don’t always do them. We know that we must implement and attend our internal meetings but we allow these to be cancelled or not run properly. We know about workplace discrimination but don’t follow our policies. We know about back-up procedures around our computer systems, yet fail to attend to these systematically and consistently.

You will fall over from time to time on the Second Moon, and implementation will not always stick the first go. When things inevitably don’t work the first time, you and your team will be tempted to claim that the new techniques and disciplines don’t work and that you should return to your old ways. Don’t allow yourself to fall for this trap. It is a rookie mistake and one repeated by businesses that never achieve success through their own stubbornness and inability to embrace change. 

My challenge to you is to ‘turn off pause and press play’ in regard to Implementation. Implementers win!

If you haven’t signed up for your free Giveaways that include videos on Implementation, sign up in the top right hand corner here www.darrenkbourke.com and you can log in (orange Login button) to access them under “My Content”.

Next is Part 3 of this Four-Part Series in which I will introduce the Third Moon of Ganymede where you will ultimately Maintain your strategy. 

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Sit Sit Sit, Walk Walk, Don't Wobble

There are variations on this ancient Zen proverb, but they all mean the same thing.

If you are going to sit, sit and do nothing else.

If you are going to walk, walk and do nothing else.

But whatever you do, don’t wobble.

What does this mean?

The Zen Masters could only have imagined how crazy we would be in the future multi-tasking and checking-out from being in the moment.

While I’m not into tattoos, it might be useful to have this tattooed on the back of our hands to remind us to focus on a single activity.

We speak to people while checking our email.

We look at our laptop when people are talking in meetings.

We check social media during a meal.

We jump in and out of various platforms while writing that important report.

Are we missing out on the richness of life experience?

Are we short-changing our skills and ultimate success through a lack of absolute focus?

Do we have depth and meaning to our relationships as a result of concentrating on the person we are currently with and nothing else?

The busyness of modern life and the 24/7 world around us has hijacked our ability to focus.

The pressure to attend to more tasks in less time has created a generation of zombie multi-taskers who have lost the ability to just sit.

Or just walk.

So we wobble.

And wobbling is neither sitting nor walking.

And achieves no beneficial purpose.

Imagine how much your performance would increase if you were to focus 100% intently on one activity.

Imagine how your relationship with your partner or family would deepen if you were to engage in focused conversation with them.

Imagine how your business relationships would flourish if you engaged people holistically offering your full attention and good grace.

Imagine how amazing you could be at your most important work when undistracted and focused like a Zen Master.

Let’s all make a commitment to adopting focus in our busy lives.

Set some rules for yourself in being in the moment and conducting one activity purely and exactly.

You might see some big things from this one little change.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

How 'Strong Opinions Loosely Held'​ Can Improve Your Management Meetings

I heard a great quote on a recent podcast from highly successful tech entrepreneur Marc Andreessen.

The position Marc adopts in meetings and discussions is to have ‘strong opinions loosely held’.

The idea is to hold very strong opinions that you argue about passionately until someone else presents a counter-argument or perspective that forces you to reassess or even change your opinion.

A willingness to hold your strong opinion loosely allows you to change your opinion when a better one is presented.

This may seem counter-intuitive but I think it deserves greater scrutiny.

‘Strong opinions strongly held’ would appear to be the default position adopted by business owners.

But here’s Marc’s take.

Hold an opinion and table it…..strongly.

When an audience presents a stronger argument, many business owners adopt a combative stance to defend their opinion.

The thought of surrendering their idea risks a prick to their professional ego. They fear looking weak or dumb in changing their view.

Marc suggest you only hold on to your opinion weakly, so that when a better opinion or perspective is presented, you simply let go of your opinion and adopt a new one.

A better one.

Or maybe the right one.

And here’s the safety net.

If you are not presented with a different perspective, a better argument or new facts – hold on to your strong opinion.

You don’t have to let it go if nothing better is presented as an alternative.

Marc and his business partner Ben Horowitz role play arguing the opposite opinion every time they review a business concept or investment opportunity. They stay in character and have fierce animated debates (some would say heated arguments) until one of them either gives up or changes their opinion.

This is a great tactic to instill and adopt within your management team. 

Trial it for a month and see if this leads to better decisions.

Darren

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Adopt a Morning Ritual to leverage success in your small business

Have you got a morning ritual?

I know. You’re busy.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell you to adopt Anthony Robbins’ 5am sauna and ice bath sessions followed by two hours of meditation and yoga.

What I’m recommending you do is adopt a simple achievable addition to your Monday to Friday routine.

This can be implemented in just simple 7 steps. In 30 minutes you are done.

Let’s go.

1. Get up 30 minutes earlier than you normally do. Commit to this Daily Routine.
2. Download the Headspace App and get the starter-pack 10 minute meditation series. 
3. Start your Morning Ritual with a 10 minute guided meditation session on the Headspace App
4. Do 10 minutes of stretches. I recommend Campbell Gold’s 5BX which consist of 5 basic exercises developed for the Canadian Air Force and published in 1961. Just 5 static stretches that can be done anywhere with no equipment. Alternatively, Tibetan Rites are great.
5. Follow your stretches by completing a single page Daily Journal. Allocate 10 minutes for this. List 3 things you are grateful for. List 3 things you want to achieve today. Mix them up. Make them small and big. Include your business and personal life.
6. Shower and enjoy a high protein breakfast.
7. Seize the day.

That’s it.

I’d love to hear your experiences in adopting this routine.

Darren

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Look at your Strategy through a new lens

In Part 1 of this Four-Part Series on Sustainable Success, I want to introduce the overarching metaphor outlined in my book The Fourth Moon.

In the book, I use a powerful metaphor around famous Italian Astronomer Galileo Galilee’s discovery of Jupiter’s Moons. His discovery of four moons orbiting Jupiter disproved the long held belief that the planets revolved around the earth when they of course revolved around the moon. This discovery led to huge turmoil as the leaders of the time fought to hold on and protect their existing paradigm with the earth as the centre of the cosmos.

Holding on to an existing paradigm that doesn’t deliver you sustainable success is just as crazy as the Italians wanting the planets to orbit the earth. Like Galileo, I encourage you to pick up a more powerful lens that magnifies your view of your business. Look through a new lens and adopt a new paradigm for success.

The four moons in the metaphor represent the four stages on your journey to sustainable success – Strategy, Implementation, Maintenance & Leverage. These will be introduced in this Four-Part Series.

Each moon represents an important stage in your journey and requires the abandonment of old habits that no longer serve you and the adoption of new forever disciplines that will take you to new levels of success. The key to the metaphor is the understanding that you need to not only visit all four moons, but to re-orbit them consistently over time as you periodically change your business strategy.

Expanding on the metaphor leads us to the First Moon of Io (the moons are referred to as Jupiter’s Moons or the Galilean Moons with each having its own name).

The first of Jupiter’s moons, Io, represents Strategy in the metaphor. The planet Io is the fourth largest moon and most geologically active object in the solar system with over 400 active volcanoes painting the surface in numerous shades of yellow, red, white, black and green. It is quite fitting that Io is so big and geologically active because so is Strategy. Strategy is vast and is the foundation of our vision. Our Strategy pulls us between the other three moons of Implementation, Maintenance & Leverage.

First Moon thinking around Strategy is about thinking really big and being active.

Business owners typically object to being challenged to devise and document their strategy. Claims such as “It’s in my head” or “Everyone here knows what we are trying to do” are classic objections from time-poor and exhausted business owners who feel they don’t have time to stop and define their strategy, let alone document it.

“What a waste of time” and “We’re too busy” they shriek in denial.

But these objections generally are a smokescreen used deftly to distract them from the need to look at their business calmly, objectively and honestly.  Fear and uncertainty often lies beneath the surface, leading to defensiveness around being challenged to assess their strategy. To see the truth.

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” 

Galileo Galilee

So why do you need to look at your strategy through a new lens?

Because the current one isn’t truly alive and working optimally for you. You must constantly review, develop and document your strategy regardless of how long you’ve been in business. If you don’t, you risk being one of the multitude of business owners that bounce along in a constant blur of chaos and mediocrity. 

Without a clear strategy you will never achieve the rewards you deserve from your entrepreneurial skills, risk-taking and endeavor. 

Stop and think about this question for a moment.

Why would you intentionally spend time, money and resources – effectively your life’s work - on implementing an inferior strategy? 

Take the first step now and allocate some time to reviewing your Strategy and documenting it in a Strategic Plan (or Mission Plan as I refer to it in my book). A great Strategy starts by defining your Top 5 Goals for the year ahead. I call these Mission Goals.

Next is Part 2 of the Four-Part Series in which I introduce the Second Moon of Europa where you will Implement your strategy.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke