Have you ever heard of the five ‘I's? They are key elements that are found in the most successful businesses around the globe—but how exactly do they impact a business and how can they be utilised to drive success?
The five key factors to driving success within a business, known as the five ‘I's, are: intention, innovation, insights, influence and implementation.
In this modern society of increased information gathering and increased content provision, focusing energy and investing time in these factors will deliver increased income over time.
Information to income
Some people, like myself, cannot get enough information. Whether this is by attending workshops, masterclasses, mentoring sessions, conferences or reading articles, information is there to be lapped up. I always thought that there must be a direct correlation between the amount of information collected and an increased revenue. How misled I was. It cannot be denied that the latest techniques and technologies need to be kept abreast of to ensure the best possible care and results are offered for patients. Yet, why did this wealth of information not transfer in proportion to the wealth I was creating? I had it wrong.
» In the aesthetics industry, competition has never been so rife among fellow medical professionals … we need to stay ahead of the curve, find new innovations and approaches and keep evolving «
Back in the 1970s, where certain information was scarcer, the more information you had equaled the more income you earned. There was no Google—just imagine that. Commonly, this was referred to the information economy (Castell, 2009). Therefore, it made perfect sense that the more information you had, the higher one's income would be, and when technology came along (especially ‘smart phones’), everyone would become overnight income generators.
Herbert Simon, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, warned that the growth of information could become a burden. He explained, ‘information … consumes the attention of its consumers … a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention’ (Festré and Garrouste, 2015). Information is now no longer scarce, so this raises the question of why our incomes have not reciprocated with this growth of information.
More information does not equal more income
Over the last 30 years, I have been an avid studier of successful people from every industry. I have read their autobiographies, their published books, their blogs and attended their workshops. I have been fully immersed in what makes certain people succeed when we live in an age where all the information that we could ever want is freely available to access on the internet, in bookstores and at conferences. It is never about just information; if it was, we would all have perfect bodies, the most successful relationships and impeccable businesses. In the US, the number one category in terms of number of books sold, is diet, health and fitness (Gough, 2019), and yet it has one of the worst obesity problems in the modern world.
Becoming more successful
The five ‘I's that make the difference have been narrowed down below.
Intention
Before embarking on any quest for new information, it is important to query personal intention: why is this new information needed and what will be done with it once it is gained? This should be done before any book/journal is read or a conference/workshop attended.
In Steven Covey's (2004) book, The 7 habits of highly successful people, he writes about starting with the end in mind: including the end intention, outcome and result wanted from embarking on this task, project or workshop etc.
Five questions should be asked:
Time is precious. Having a clear intention is important so as to be time-effective, and when in the process of absorbing this new information, this intention should be at the forefront of mind. Armed with this, the correct and right amount of information to fulfil the intended desire will be acquired for success.
Intention is critical in all aspects of our lives; for example, in the following scenarios and what is aimed to be achieved within them: marriage/relationships, health and fitness, family relationships, finances and life in general.
Innovation
In the aesthetics industry, competition has never been so rife among fellow medical professionals, as well as among the non-medical community. It seems that anyone, medical background or not, can attend a 1-day training course and begin to offer aesthetic products and services, with the majority of the public being none the wiser about their qualifications or capabilities. We need to stay ahead of the curve, find new innovations and approaches and keep evolving. In this situation, the only constant is change.
» Most aesthetic practitioners have attended enough workshops and conferences to have listened to and seen enough information. Now, when attending such events, one or two insights that will make a massive impact on a business should be sought out «
In Carmine Gallo's (2010) book, The innovation secrets of Steve Jobs, he segments his principles into seven secrets:
Insights
When stepping into a learning experience, looking for information should not be the primary goal. Insights should be. Most aesthetic practitioners have attended enough workshops and conferences to have listened to and seen enough information. Now, when attending such events, one or two insights that will make a massive impact on a business should be sought out.
Insights are a necessary part of transformation. Its obvious when you see it—just like getting a joke. One of my most powerful insights happened years ago when, during a mastermind programme, someone said to me, ‘we need to treat the cause of ageing, and not just the consequence’. This transformed how I approached my patients' concerns; it was so obvious—but that is how insights work.
Insights have been branded for several years and, therefore, there is confusion as to what an insight actually is. In actual fact, there are four types of insights, which are broken down below:
Influence
It's a fact: either you are influencing someone, or someone is influencing you. The psychology of influence and how this can be used to best serve patients needs to be understood. Readers may worry that this could be viewed as unethical—‘I don't want to influence my patients into doing something they do not want to do’. However, these influencing skills will be used in the best interest of patients. These skills are also necessary to inspire and motivate patients.
As mentioned, we are either influencing or being influenced, and this started at a very young age; for example, influencing our parents to give us treats or stay up late. Influence happens in every day of our lives.
Implementation
Sloppy success is better than perfect theory—implement immediately and do not worry about it being perfect, just make a start. No one learned to walk immediately, everyone started crawling and progressed. So many professionals are witnessed beginning in aesthetics and waiting for their brochure to be word perfect or their website to have every image aligned correctly. No—start treating patients and the rest will come. It is important to get momentum and some income, then to invest in the brochure and website.
No one gets in their car before a long journey and says, I'm only leaving my driveway if all the traffic lights are green’. Roadblocks and diversions along the way are a risk of getting in the car and driving away. Deal with hurdles as they come along.
We need all five I's in conjunction to make us more successful. Tony Robbins, a personal development guru sums it up nicely with his RPM formula (Feloni, 2015), which is about the: