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The "boot camp" of starting a new year for your business, was, of course, a metaphor. We spend much of our lives working "at" our business and jobs, instead of being engaged "with" the meaning and purpose of the activity we undertake.  This is true, especially so, when the nourishment of business, cash flows, new sales, ongoing productivity and loyal customers seem to be waning.

So with our boot camp, the emphasis wasn’t so much on what you were going to physically accomplish, but the new awareness you would gain. What we really wanted you to do was sit back and think about your business – realizing with the right amount of determination and a good plan, you could transform it.

We hear about getting a "personal best" a lot.  I think that every company, every entrepreneur and every member of an entrepreneurial team, can be get a "personal best" and achieve a great things - both tangible and intangible.  It’s a personal best just knowing that, as a business, and individual or both you are growing.

I was climbing one of the highest active volcanoes in the world over a decade ago.  Going for the summit I was overcome by pulmonary edema (the excruciatingly painful form of altitude sickness where the body's lungs literally fill up with the body's fluid - a kind of internal leak into the lungs.)  I was slowly drowning at 18,000 feet in my own body's rejection of this altitude.  The only cure is to get down to a lower altitude and FAST. Fortunately, I lived.

As I climbed down my climbing partner Bill called out to me loudly, "Tim, you've done your personal best, we'll be back."

I wondered after I finally collapsed, what the meaning of this was, this "personal best" Bill had seemed so proud of. I wondered why the heck I was in Ecuador in the first place attempting this summit?!

Of course, today, when I look at businesses and entrepreneurs, I often reflect on this event.   We don't always know why we try something new, why we push ourselves out of our comfort zones, or those of our businesses, and move into unknown territory.  When we do, we discover more of our perspective - whether we succeed in reaching our summit, or find we must retreat and reflect before we kill our businesses or ourselves.

The idea of the boot camp struck me like this: if a company, team or entrepreneur wants to succeed, how better than to take the first step?  You wouldn’t go climb a mountain without some training. I know that even the best training in the world won't guarantee your success, but you will definitely go nowhere if you never take that first step.

So if you took any steps, like those outlined in the suggestions from my boot camp, perhaps you have begun to move toward a new personal best. Taking the first step is the point - "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

I will be, in the coming weeks and months honing in on these steps and how we take them with the Four Pillars Process for success.  The first pillar is about being in The Zone - where you function at your personal best. The second is The Huddle - where you meet with your best customers and coach your team to work with them. The third is Time Out - like base camp where rest and reflection is critical. Finally, the fourth pillar of success is Re-Group – the place you are where you take what you know to plan your next strategy or continue from your previous personal best.

In the next few weeks, I will be in Europe at CeBIT, tackling a new summit for The Connected Market Coach and 1to1Real.  I will find out how the world outside North America reacts to being Connected.  I’ll be there, furthering and creating new global connections through our Connected Market technology, 1to1Real and our platform.

I’ve spent the last decade designing a system for entrepreneurs and small businesses, that must make hard choices every day, wear different hats, and provide exceptional customer connections to survive, much less succeed. My focus has been in delivering a technology solution that will allow businesses to create better connections, get into their unique and best Zone, work more effectively in the Huddle, have the information they need to make Time Outs effective beyond endless meetings and Re-Group every 90 days to know exactly what worked and what didn't - so they can know where to go next.

It is not easy or quick to build a platform that works and thinks according to the Four Pillars of Success, but, we have done exactly this with 1to1Real and we are seeing businesses succeed with the tools and the knowledge of the Four Pillars daily.

So, if you followed along with our business boot camp, congratulations.  I will be going into more detail about the Four Pillars to keep your momentum going.  If you didn't take any steps, don’t give up!  There is no time like the present to start working on your personal best.

For more information on the Four Pillars, workshops and guidance, visit us and sign up for a workshop that fits your goals. We guarantee, you’ll reach new summits and create a new personal best for your company, your customers, your connections and your team.

See you at CeBIT 2011 in Hannover, Germany.

Picture:  Mindaugas Danys