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Can You Train Your Mind to be a Relentless Optimist? (Desert of Desertion)

Anything related to matters of the mind

JDE

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I am currently in a phase of my business right now that MJ called the 'desert of desertion'. I'm putting in the work, I'm putting in the money, but there's little positive feedback yet as my business has not been fully launched.

Anyways I've recently found myself looping on 'what if's' like what if this money and time were all for nothing, what if it doesn't turn out to be a sustainable business, etc. Now I know that worrying is essentially like praying for what you don't want, but I don't know how to change.

I used to be relentlessly optimistic and all of my focus was on what I wanted, and when I looked to the future I got excited. There was no space in my mind for what I didn't want, no space for worry, my focus was exclusively directed towards things going well. Now I'm not sure how this got flipped but I'm now focusing a lot on what I don't want, and when I look to the future it's stressing me out - I know I will get the work done either way but it would be a lot more fun of a ride with a more optimistic mind.

My question to you guys is - how did you guys overcome this focus on worry and what-ifs? How can you train your mind to focus on the potential and the excitement rather than what could go wrong? I've heard of people using visualizations, hypnosis, writing goals down, etc but I'm wondering if any of you have first hand experience?
 
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Andy Black

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I am currently in a phase of my business right now that MJ called the 'desert of desertion'. I'm putting in the work, I'm putting in the money, but there's little positive feedback yet as my business has not been fully launched.

Anyways I've recently found myself looping on 'what if's' like what if this money and time were all for nothing, what if it doesn't turn out to be a sustainable business, etc. Now I know that worrying is essentially like praying for what you don't want, but I don't know how to change.

I used to be relentlessly optimistic and all of my focus was on what I wanted, and when I looked to the future I got excited. There was no space in my mind for what I didn't want, no space for worry, my focus was exclusively directed towards things going well. Now I'm not sure how this got flipped but I'm now focusing a lot on what I don't want, and when I look to the future it's stressing me out - I know I will get the work done either way but it would be a lot more fun of a ride with a more optimistic mind.

My question to you guys is - how did you guys overcome this focus on worry and what-ifs? How can you train your mind to focus on the potential and the excitement rather than what could go wrong? I've heard of people using visualizations, hypnosis, writing goals down, etc but I'm wondering if any of you have first hand experience?
Off the top of my head:

1) I’m not sure if the desert is pre-launch. If you’re worrying pre-launch then try and get some small and early wins. Getting feedback and seeing progress helps keep us going.

2) What can you do to make a sale this week? Don’t dismiss this question. Think about it. At the very least see if you can get people to raise their hand.

3) Maybe you’ll get a different result from the one you’re hoping for, or maybe you’ll get a learning instead? Either way you’ll be more experienced.

4) Maybe see everything as a series of tests? “I wonder if people this ad will work?”, “I wonder if people will buy this?”.

5) Remember that “Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.” What’s the problem you should be solving?

6) Confidence comes from taking action (and also getting feedback).
 

Alferez

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I'm in the same path.

What I'm currently doing is trying to sell BEFORE building the solution.

So I got an idea from a real pain point, and for that I'm doing ads and see if the market is willing to pay for this solution.

What may help you to keep going is to VALIDATE your idea in the market first.
 

Kevin88660

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I am currently in a phase of my business right now that MJ called the 'desert of desertion'. I'm putting in the work, I'm putting in the money, but there's little positive feedback yet as my business has not been fully launched.

Anyways I've recently found myself looping on 'what if's' like what if this money and time were all for nothing, what if it doesn't turn out to be a sustainable business, etc. Now I know that worrying is essentially like praying for what you don't want, but I don't know how to change.

I used to be relentlessly optimistic and all of my focus was on what I wanted, and when I looked to the future I got excited. There was no space in my mind for what I didn't want, no space for worry, my focus was exclusively directed towards things going well. Now I'm not sure how this got flipped but I'm now focusing a lot on what I don't want, and when I look to the future it's stressing me out - I know I will get the work done either way but it would be a lot more fun of a ride with a more optimistic mind.

My question to you guys is - how did you guys overcome this focus on worry and what-ifs? How can you train your mind to focus on the potential and the excitement rather than what could go wrong? I've heard of people using visualizations, hypnosis, writing goals down, etc but I'm wondering if any of you have first hand experience?
As long as I keep my downside limited and risk what I can prepare to lose I am okay.

What I worry is being stuck in an endless pit. Throwing time and money at an idea that is wasting your resources.

If I am in your shoe I will put a hard limit on time and monetary investment. By this time and after spending X amount, I don't see the result I want I am out.

Once you have carefully defined the loss and accept the potential inevitable loss, then all that left to focus is the potential upside.

Overtime you will become better at recognizing opportunity and having better execution skill, so worrying about what could go wrong and therefore put a hard cup on one venture/project is not a bad thing. You are saving money and time for the next venture.

Have non-business income. Recognize Business Opportunity that offer good reward to risk ratio. Invest time and effort but put a hard cap and the potential loss. Once the loss threshold is reached without sufficient positive feedback, exit and look for next opportunity. Rinse and repeat.
 
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Itizn

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In my case, I have an audience built but no product yet. Frustrating, but on the other hand that's a major piece of the pie out of the way.

You probably have a comparable accomplishment you're overlooking.
 

Alferez

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In my case, I have an audience built but no product yet. Frustrating, but on the other hand that's a major piece of the pie out of the way.

You probably have a comparable accomplishment you're overlooking.
So can you confirm that your idea is validated? If so, have you thought about business model?

Why are you not able to create that product or what are you solving right now?
 

Johnny boy

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I know I will get the work done either way
You don't need anything else. You wishing it to be more fun is trivial at best and entitled at worst.

Positivity and negativity in business are a funny thing. I am incredibly negative because I have seen how many ways things can fall apart, and how often people overestimate things. I am also incredibly positive because I have seen how fast things can take off and how often people underestimate things. So I am somewhere in the middle where I assume most things will go wrong, so I give many ideas many chances because some of them will go right.

I think of something...

"It probably won't work"

And then I do it anyways.

My business is running along...

"I can think of like 20 ways for things to go wrong"

*Prepares for them and continues on*


You are scared is all. Fear is in your mind. You think a new business shouldn't be scary. Your expectations are just too high. It's often terrifying and that's perfectly okay. Do it anyways.
 
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JDE

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1) I’m not sure if the desert is pre-launch. If you’re worrying pre-launch then try and get some small and early wins. Getting feedback and seeing progress helps keep us going.

2) What can you do to make a sale this week? Don’t dismiss this question. Think about it. At the very least see if you can get people to raise their hand.
I really appreciate the feedback, I'll try and implement something like this. I liked the idea MJ talked about where instead of writing one enormous book all at once with no feedback, he would chop the pieces into blog posts. This made it more psychologically manageable because it wasn't just one enormous task, and allowed him to get feedback actively as he went.
If I am in your shoe I will put a hard limit on time and monetary investment. By this time and after spending X amount, I don't see the result I want I am out.

Once you have carefully defined the loss and accept the potential inevitable loss, then all that left to focus is the potential upside.
This is awesome advice, I've actually given myself a 6 month period to hammer this out, with a backup plan if it doesn't work as expected - this has definitely helped.
I think of something...

"It probably won't work"

And then I do it anyways.

You are scared is all. Fear is in your mind. You think a new business shouldn't be scary. Your expectations are just too high. It's often terrifying and that's perfectly okay. Do it anyways.
Cheers man this is awesome.
 

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