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One Little Step – advice for wantabes and newbie entrepreneurs

RazorCut

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I just wanted to offer a little encouragement to some of the lurkers here and those, either not yet in a position, or too fearful (for whatever reason) to move forward in their dreams.

For a wantabe entrepreneur this forum is amazing (and for the rest of us too of course). MJ has created something very special here. He is the gardener. He has cleared the land and tilled the soil. Provided safety from pests and shelter from the worst of the elements. He then planted the seed and watched it grow, and grow it has.

There is such a wealth of information in this garden and even more if you are willing to part with a few bucks to gain access to the walled garden called the INSIDERS (and you would be mad to miss out on what is available there).

You are fortunate to have before you EVERYTHING you need to get your business dreams off the ground. Here you are surrounded by entrepreneurs from all walks of life and all stages of success. From new start-ups to seasoned serial entrepreneurs and everything in between. Some start out motivated by money, some from a need to show to others they can be a success but all start from the deep-seated desire to choose their own destiny.

If you too have this desire you owe it to yourself to make a start, for the one thing you cannot buy in this life is its most precious commodity of all - time. Every day that goes by is a day that you will NEVER see again.

You can follow threads here that take you from inception to extraordinary success (and I encourage you to do so) but please don’t live your life through the success of others. Do not allow their success to act as a substitute for your own. See the path they have shared as a trail they have cleared so as to make your entrepreneurial journey easier and quicker. Use their successes as a catalyst to feed your own.

Remember YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE THE TRAILBLAZER. Do not think massive action is always required. If circumstances do not allow (or you do not have the confidence) then start off slow but START.

Immersing yourself in this forum, listening to motivational podcasts, reading self-help books is all well and good but is a total waste of your time and energy unless you TAKE ACTION.

JUST ONE LITTLE STEP – that is all I am asking you to take. One little step each and every day towards your goal. That thing that keeps bringing you here, that small spark of fire you feel in your belly. One little step will move you forward, it will help you gain confidence and momentum. It will show you that the path may wind but when you turn the corner it is still there for you to follow. One little step will help you realise your dreams.

Not sure what that first step should be? ASK for advice. This is not a book, it is a living breathing entity. Ask and, like magic, answers will appear. You don’t have to heed that advice but I encourage you to give it great consideration as there is a lot of hard earned wisdom here. That wisdom was earned with a lot of sweat, time and money and it is yours for the asking FREE. Don’t feel comfortable starting a thread on a public forum? Then reach out to those you admire first with a Private Message, just be respectful of their time. I wish this resource was available when I first started out 20 years ago.

So whatever is holding you back let it go. Remember it’s ok standing on the side-lines as a spectator but it’s much more fun to be on the field playing the game. You owe it to yourself so take off your coat and come join us.
 
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RazorCut

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How are you progressing? Are you managing one little step?

Ask yourself at the end of each and EVERY day "Have I progressed? Have I moved forward today towards my ultimate objective?" Even if it is just 10-15 minutes of research on the PC, a quick phone call or email during your lunch break at work, if you have been productive you have moved forward. The trick is to do it daily.

When you can lie back in bed feeling satisfied that you are moving forward don't you sleep better? I know I do. I also know that I find this simple technique extremely hard at times. I end up doing nothing for days then killing it in one day so I can feel satisfied that 4-5 days without action have been more than made up by one day of total dedication so I then come back out ahead in my mental weekly tally. Keeping score with myself helps me move forward.
 

RazorCut

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Driving forward

Reading another thread recently about someone’s inability to take action made me realise that many people end up using this forum and other business related forums and books like another form of Facebook.

They spend hours and hours engrossed in one thread after another then kid themselves into thinking that as they are reading up on entrepreneurship they are moving forward. But that is ALL they are doing. READING. Does that sound like you?

I will say this once again:

“Immersing yourself in this forum, listening to motivational podcasts, reading self-help books is all well and good but is a total waste of your time and energy unless you TAKE ACTION."

So….What Action Are YOU Taking Today?

Whatever you are doing have a great weekend and strive to move forward.
 

RazorCut

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Have you tried and failed or failed to try?

The first one can be forgiven. In fact it can be applauded so long as you learnt from it but didn’t let it create a limiting belief in you. This community is where we learn to try and try again until success. But not in a stupid way. The height of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. You have the ability to learn from failure, identify the areas that need adjustment or improvement (and that could even be the total concept), redefine and recreate.

Whether you are making adjustments or starting over from scratch keep batting. You can’t win the game from the side lines.

Now we come to failed to try. If you are here reading some of the thousands of information packed posts it is because you feel a pull, a need. You are a kindred spirit. You are in the ball park. However do you really want to be on the pitch or are you happy up in the stands?

Is this visit here just an occasional itch you need to scratch? Does reading a few posts relieve that itch? Allow you to think you are making progress? Is it the medicine you need to help you into thinking you haven’t failed to try?

If you haven’t hit the GO button yet is the reason valid or is it just an excuse? Don’t fear starting, fear how you will feel in a decade from now if you don’t start.

LifeHacks recently run an article entitled ‘21 Regrets You Don’t Want to Have in Life’

Here are the first 3:


1. Not taking action on your dreams.


2. Letting excuses or people derail you from your dreams.


3. Waiting for the “perfect” time.


Food for thought perhaps?

See you on the pitch.
 
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Jam Wheel

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Agree with a lot of these posts. Case in point - I have an entrepreneurial buddy I picked up a month or so ago. She doesn't have a business background, but when we got together this last week to chat she had already started her snowball. To her it was as easy as "pick up phone and make one phone call". I asked how she knew who to call, and she didn't she just reached out to someone in the area she was looking at and made contact based on a similar background (same nationality). One call has led to another and another etc.

It was an inspiring conversation and now we have a Monday morning email to lay out the 5 things we are doing this week with a project, and a check in (in person or via email) to go over what we have achieved during the week and any hurdles.

You are right though, any time progress is made I certainly feel a lot better. If I don't make progress and have just been thinking in circles, thats when I get frustrated and upset a lot of the time. Its easier to take 15 minutes to do one thing than have a 3 hour pity party :p
 

RazorCut

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It was an inspiring conversation and now we have a Monday morning email to lay out the 5 things we are doing this week with a project, and a check in (in person or via email) to go over what we have achieved during the week and any hurdles.


That's brilliant, great accountability and a solid sounding board to bounce idea's off and stay motivated. I have a friend I chat with most days that works in a similar way.
 

RazorCut

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I haven't checked in here for some time. I’ve pretty much been off grid sorting out a bunch of personal/family stuff that I needed to clear in order to move on.

All these issues, stress and problems really killed my routine, and I knew it would. It was like driving the freeway and seeing a bill board in the distance. I knew the board spelled trouble but I knew I couldn’t turn off or turn around, just continue heading towards it. All I could control was my speed of approach. Have you ever felt like that?

I knew these problems were going to dominate my day and night until I had cleared them from my path. The worries and doubts that crept in at night killed my sleep pattern. My sleep pattern killed my 5am start and my 5am start killed my progress (or severely handicapped it).

But this is all right, I knew it was on the horizon and I knew that I was the only one capable of dealing with it. It’s a crater in the road but I had the luxury of knowing it was there.

Have you hit an obstacle in the road? Has that steered you off course or has that halted your entrepreneurial journey altogether? Did you get back on track or has it caused you to ditch your dreams for good?

Part of what helped me get through my problems was the thought of being back on a smooth surface once more. Seeing that bill board from the rear view mirror getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared altogether, almost like it never existed.

This week I’ve got back to the 5am start again. I’ve been productive again. I’m moving forward. I’m building rather than fighting fires. That is a wonderful feeling. One of accomplishment and great satisfaction like a hit of endorphins. Those feelings act like a catalyst spurring me on to progress further so I can get another hit of this drug called success.

I encourage you to push on through your trials and tribulations. I hope this post helps you to find a way back on track or helps you stay true to your dreams when you hit a rocky patch.

Have a great weekend.
 
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MoneyDoc

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I haven't checked in here for some time. I’ve pretty much been off grid sorting out a bunch of personal/family stuff that I needed to clear in order to move on.

All these issues, stress and problems really killed my routine, and I knew it would. It was like driving the freeway and seeing a bill board in the distance. I knew the board spelled trouble but I knew I couldn’t turn off or turn around, just continue heading towards it. All I could control was my speed of approach. Have you ever felt like that?

I knew these problems were going to dominate my day and night until I had cleared them from my path. The worries and doubts that crept in at night killed my sleep pattern. My sleep pattern killed my 5am start and my 5am start killed my progress (or severely handicapped it).

But this is all right, I knew it was on the horizon and I knew that I was the only one capable of dealing with it. It’s a crater in the road but I had the luxury of knowing it was there.

Have you hit an obstacle in the road? Has that steered you off course or has that halted your entrepreneurial journey altogether? Did you get back on track or has it caused you to ditch your dreams for good?

Part of what helped me get through my problems was the thought of being back on a smooth surface once more. Seeing that bill board from the rear view mirror getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared altogether, almost like it never existed.

This week I’ve got back to the 5am start again. I’ve been productive again. I’m moving forward. I’m building rather than fighting fires. That is a wonderful feeling. One of accomplishment and great satisfaction like a hit of endorphins. Those feelings act like a catalyst spurring me on to progress further so I can get another hit of this drug called success.

I encourage you to push on through your trials and tribulations. I hope this post helps you to find a way back on track or helps you stay true to your dreams when you hit a rocky patch.

Have a great weekend.
You are truly inspirational.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

OperationMyWay

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I knew these problems were going to dominate my day and night until I had cleared them from my path. The worries and doubts that crept in at night killed my sleep pattern. My sleep pattern killed my 5am start and my 5am start killed my progress (or severely handicapped it).

But this is all right, I knew it was on the horizon and I knew that I was the only one capable of dealing with it. It’s a crater in the road but I had the luxury of knowing it was there.

Just came across this post and wanted to thanks for putting it out there RazorCut.

All of it was great, but I pulled the quote out above because it really resonates with me at the moment. Sometimes it feels like I am making zero progress because I don't have a business up and running yet outside of my consulting which is the epitome of trading time for money. In hindsight, looking back over the past two months I have built out my own 5 am routine which is allowing me to take steps, however small, towards goals that are finally starting to become clear. I believe this is happening because like you I have also become better at seeing the problems on the horizon and when they come I know I am the one who has to deal with them. No excuses, no self pity, just trying things to improve my situation until I am back on track.

What I am trying to say is even though I don't have a tangible business just yet, I am starting to see habits form that are pushing me closer in that direction. If I can just keep building and optimizing my time off my base routine I know I can create something that will really be helpful to others while also fulfilling my goals. Just have to be patient and recognize the progress already made. This post definitely made me open my eyes a bit and be thankful I am further along now than I have ever been, so thank you for that.

Cheers
 

RazorCut

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You are truly inspirational.

Thanks Doc, thats kind of you.

I have built out my own 5 am routine which is allowing me to take steps, however small, towards goals that are finally starting to become clear. I believe this is happening because like you I have also become better at seeing the problems on the horizon and when they come I know I am the one who has to deal with them. No excuses, no self pity, just trying things to improve my situation until I am back on track.

The one thing that has helped to get me back on track has been the fact that I had previously built a routine, a chain of habits. Good habits that, just like yourself, allowed me to resume taking forward steps on a daily basis. I can clearly see that if I had not had that history of formed habits it would have been so easy to just give up and I think this is what happens to a lot of would-be entrepreneurs when they run into difficulty, a sticking point or a hurdle. The going gets tough and it becomes easier to quit than push through it because they have not yet disciplined themselves in building strong habits.

I truly believe that a positive routine and habit pattern is the secret of success. You become like the Terminator, you can be knocked down but nothing can keep you there. You just keep getting back up and heading towards that goal.

Thanks for sharing, I'm sure others will appreciate it too.
 
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RazorCut

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I have been posting occasionally on this thread to try to encourage Fastlane members to go from being a wantrepreneur to an entrepreneur. To get out of the habit of procrastination dressed up as planning and research and a hundred other bullshit titles and just get something done and move forward. Forward motion creates momentum and momentum, once sufficiently built up, is very hard to stop.

Anyway I have neglected this self-imposed duty of late as I have been so busy doing rather than planning that I haven't had much free time to spend on the forum. However I wanted to post an article that a friend in a Mastermind I'm in shared.

If you can take some time to read and absorb this I think you will find it extremely rewarding and insightful. I will even forgive you using this reading time as procrastination if you take action at the end of the article. I got a lot out of it for sure. In fact I may create a new thread to promote it further:

Enjoy:

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/05/19/10-overlooked-truths-about-taking-action/
 
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Andy Black

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Great article. Thanks for the share.

Reminds me of a line I think about all the time:

"Tell me what you've done, and I'll tell you who you are."
 

RazorCut

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Great article. Thanks for the share.

Reminds me of a line I think about all the time:

"Tell me what you've done, and I'll tell you who you are."

Now that would make a good tattoo.
 
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Andy Black

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Lol. Indeed.

I will settle for the T-shirt instead though.

Notice how it's not "Tell me what you're going to do".
 

Andy Black

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Awesome.

I like the way you formatted it to read differently from a distance:

EX3dhif.png
 
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RazorCut

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RazorCut

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@Dwight Schrute It truly is all it takes. Just little steps. You don't HAVE to set the world alight - little and often really does works. But it also creates a habit for success and that can turn addictive and then you really CAN set the world alight. Take your tshirt, there are people making hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars a week from Teespring. Those profits can then be utilised to build a great idea or sustain them while they write that best-selling novel or invested in a property venture or a hundred other things. Anything can start from a tshirt idea.

I stared a business that I ran for over a decade by borrowing the coins from my kids piggybank for a few days. And I doubled their money when I put it back.
 
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tafy

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Loved that article, thx man
 

Even Steven

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Thanks for posting that article @RazorCut. His point about systems over goals really hit me because that's what I've been struggling with lately. I've been so worried that this or that idea won't be big enough to achieve my long term goals that I couldn't even get moving on anything.

I just stood there looking at all the possible roads I could go down and thinking "I have no f***ing clue which of these, if any, will take me where I want to go."

It finally hit me that I have to stop worrying about how big an idea will end up being. Especially when I haven't really accomplished ANYTHING yet.

So I decided last week just to pick an idea that seems good to me, something I've been wanting to use for myself for a while, and put my focus on achieving my daily goal of working consistently on it.

How big it ends up being isn't even the biggest point right now. I need to develop the habits of working consistently and completing something.
 

Andy Black

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Thanks for posting that article @RazorCut. His point about systems over goals really hit me because that's what I've been struggling with lately. I've been so worried that this or that idea won't be big enough to achieve my long term goals that I couldn't even get moving on anything.

I just stood there looking at all the possible roads I could go down and thinking "I have no f***ing clue which of these, if any, will take me where I want to go."

It finally hit me that I have to stop worrying about how big an idea will end up being. Especially when I haven't really accomplished ANYTHING yet.

So I decided last week just to pick an idea that seems good to me, something I've been wanting to use for myself for a while, and put my focus on achieving my daily goal of working consistently on it.

How big it ends up being isn't even the biggest point right now. I need to develop the habits of working consistently and completing something.
Exactly.

...

This is an interesting and related article: http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html

Here's the part I think is relevant:

I think the way to use these big ideas is not to try to identify a precise point in the future and then ask yourself how to get from here to there, like the popular image of a visionary. You'll be better off if you operate like Columbus and just head in a general westerly direction. Don't try to construct the future like a building, because your current blueprint is almost certainly mistaken. Start with something you know works, and when you expand, expand westward.
 
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RazorCut

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Thanks for posting that article @@RazorCut. His point about systems over goals really hit me because that's what I've been struggling with lately. I've been so worried that this or that idea won't be big enough to achieve my long term goals that I couldn't even get moving on anything.

I just stood there looking at all the possible roads I could go down and thinking "I have no f***ing clue which of these, if any, will take me where I want to go."

It finally hit me that I have to stop worrying about how big an idea will end up being. Especially when I haven't really accomplished ANYTHING yet.

Wow the lightbulb has lit up! The problem with so many choices is it can easily end up paralysing you into complete inactivity. Congratulations on getting past that, I don't think people realise how big a hurdle it is unless you have experienced it for yourself (boy, have I been there).

You are so right, it makes not a jot of difference right now about how big your fledgeling will grow, all it needs to do is get you into activity which will start the momentum building up.

Whatever your new business idea know that you may well be doing something totally different in 5 years time. If you look at a cross section of long term successful entrepreneurs you will note that very few of them are running the same business they started out in. You learn, you grow, you fail forward. Ambition takes hold. As your experience, confidence and contacts grow you will see new possibilities, new opportunities and therefore new horizons.

Everything has a start. That first business is a catalyst for everything that comes after it. It's your Big Bang and can take you to extraordinary places whether it is as successful as you hoped for or not.

Good luck.
 
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Andy Black

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From http://jamesclear.com/goals-systems

James Clear: Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead.

We all have things that we want to achieve in our lives — getting into the better shape, building a successful business, raising a wonderful family, writing a best-selling book, winning a championship, and so on.

And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific and actionable goal. At least, this is how I approached my life until recently. I would set goals for classes I took, for weights that I wanted to lift in the gym, and for clients I wanted in my business.

What I’m starting to realize, however, is that when it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things.

It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems.

Let me explain.

The Difference Between Goals and Systems
What’s the difference between goals and systems?

  • If you’re a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day.
  • If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.
  • If you’re a runner, your goal is to run a marathon. Your system is your training schedule for the month.
  • If you’re an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a million dollar business. Your system is your sales and marketing process.
Now for the really interesting question:

If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still get results?

For example, if you were a basketball coach and you ignored your goal to win a championship and focused only on what your team does at practice each day, would you still get results?

I think you would.

As an example, I just added up the total word count for the articles I’ve written this year. (You can see them all here.) In the last 12 months, I’ve written over 115,000 words. The typical book is about 50,000 to 60,000 words, so I have written enough to fill two books this year.

All of this is such a surprise because I never set a goal for my writing. I didn’t measure my progress in relation to some benchmark. I never set a word count goal for any particular article. I never said, “I want to write two books this year.”

What I did focus on was writing one article every Monday and Thursday. And after sticking to that schedule for 11 months, the result was 115,000 words. I focused on my system and the process of doing the work. In the end, I enjoyed the same (or perhaps better) results.

Let’s talk about three more reasons why you should focus on systems instead of goals.

1. Goals reduce your current happiness.
When you’re working toward a goal, you are essentially saying, “I’m not good enough yet, but I will be when I reach my goal.”

The problem with this mindset is that you’re teaching yourself to always put happiness and success off until the next milestone is achieved. “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy. Once I achieve my goal, then I’ll be successful.”

SOLUTION: Commit to a process, not a goal.

Choosing a goal puts a huge burden on your shoulders. Can you imagine if I had made it my goal to write two books this year? Just writing that sentence stresses me out.

But we do this to ourselves all the time. We place unnecessary stress on ourselves to lose weight or to succeed in business or to write a best-selling novel. Instead, you can keep things simple and reduce stress by focusing on the daily process and sticking to your schedule, rather than worrying about the big, life-changing goals.

When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time.

2. Goals are strangely at odds with long-term progress.
You might think your goal will keep you motivated over the long-term, but that’s not always true.

Consider someone training for a half-marathon. Many people will work hard for months, but as soon as they finish the race, they stop training. Their goal was to finish the half-marathon and now that they have completed it, that goal is no longer there to motivate them. When all of your hard work is focused on a particular goal, what is left to push you forward after you achieve it?

This can create a type of “yo-yo effect” where people go back and forth from working on a goal to not working on one. This type of cycle makes it difficult to build upon your progress for the long-term.

SOLUTION: Release the need for immediate results.

I was training at the gym last week and I was doing my second-to-last set of clean and jerks. When I hit that rep, I felt a small twinge in my leg. It wasn’t painful or an injury, just a sign of fatigue near the end of my workout. For a minute or two, I thought about doing my final set. Then, I reminded myself that I plan to do this for the rest of my life and decided to call it a day.

In a situation like the one above, a goal-based mentality will tell you to finish the workout and reach your goal. After all, if you set a goal and you don’t reach it, then you feel like a failure.

But with a systems-based mentality, I had no trouble moving on. Systems-based thinking is never about hitting a particular number, it’s about sticking to the process and not missing workouts.

Of course, I know that if I never miss a workout, then I will lift bigger weights in the long-run. And that’s why systems are more valuable than goals. Goals are about the short-term result. Systems are about the long-term process. In the end, process always wins.

3. Goals suggest that you can control things that you have no control over.
You can’t predict the future. (I know, shocking.)

But every time we set a goal, we try to do it. We try to plan out where we will be and when we will make it there. We try to predict how quickly we can make progress, even though we have no idea what circumstances or situations will arise along the way.

SOLUTION: Build feedback loops.

Each Friday, I spend 15 minutes filling out a small spreadsheet with the most critical metrics for my business. For example, in one column I calculate the conversion rate (the percentage of website visitors that join my free email newsletter each week). I rarely think about this number, but checking that column each week provides a feedback loop that tells me if I’m doing things right. When that number drops, I know that I need to send high quality traffic to my site.

Feedback loops are important for building good systems because they allow you to keep track of many different pieces without feeling the pressure to predict what is going to happen with everything. Forget about predicting the future and build a system that can signal when you need to make adjustments.

Fall In Love With Systems
None of this is to say that goals are useless. However, I’ve found that goals are good for planning your progress and systems are good for actually making progress.

Goals can provide direction and even push you forward in the short-term, but eventually a well-designed system will always win. Having a system is what matters. Committing to the process is what makes the difference.
 
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Bellini

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Let’s talk about three more reasons why you should focus on systems instead of goals.

1. Goals reduce your current happiness.
When you’re working toward a goal, you are essentially saying, “I’m not good enough yet, but I will be when I reach my goal.”
The problem with this mindset is that you’re teaching yourself to always put happiness and success off until the next milestone is achieved. “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy. Once I achieve my goal, then I’ll be successful.”

Choosing a goal puts a huge burden on your shoulders. ... Instead, you can keep things simple and reduce stress by focusing on the daily process and sticking to your schedule, rather than worrying about the big, life-changing goals.
When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time.

This is brilliant. I have often felt that burden but was never able to articulate why.

Thanks for sharing.
 
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RazorCut

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I was going to post this to a new thread but thought it was a good fit here (which I have once again neglected when I took my sabbatical from the forum).

Anyway, I've talked to quite a few people over the last few years who work in the many fields of construction. They seem intelligent, articulate and skilful and they all had a thing in common. They always moaned that they felt underappreciated, underpaid and also under pressure to achieve results in unrealistic time frames (then blamed when the 'job ran over').

They were all capable of setting up on their own earning 2-3 times as much as they did working for 'the man'. They always talked about leaving and striking out on their own. This notion of working for themselves was strong in their minds but there was always a stumbling block that held them back.

One didn't have a driving licence. Another didn't own any of his own tools even though he was a carpenter (the boss had paid for all of them). Another said he didn't have 'enough experience' even though he produced better work than lots of self employed craftsmen out there.

They all had this Achilles heel that was holding them back.

I hadn't seen them for over a year then bumped into them in the city one day. They were all still working for the same boss. The one guy now had a licence so was driving the works van. Another had bought some tools himself. The other still didn't have 'enough experience' to go it alone. They all had the same complaints and were still threatening to set up on their own.

They had all taken little steps in that year since I had last seen them. They had all progressed, got better at what they did and made more contacts. They were all more than capable of making a living on their own terms for far better money and conditions than they were currently getting.

They had all taken little steps that had moved them forward to a potential new life. What they lacked may have been a F*ck This Event which would have pushed them over.

What it showed though was that if the discomfort of the unknown (starting your own business) is perceived to be greater than the discomfort of the known (working for 'the man') then the known will win out every time. It is what happens to so many people in life that settle for mediocrity when they could have had so much more.

Don't let this happen to you. Don't let the discomfort of the unknown hold you back. Find a way through little by little, step by step.

Don't give the best years of your life to building someone else's dreams. Build your own.
 

JG17

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Thank you for sharing this @RazorCut, always appreciate your advice. I'm certainly at the start of the best years of my life, gotta keep building.
 

RazorCut

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Thank you for sharing this @RazorCut, always appreciate your advice. I'm certainly at the start of the best years of my life, gotta keep building.

Thanks James. You are so lucky to be at the start of your journey at a young age. Exciting times ahead for you. Keep building. :thumbsup:
 
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NMdad

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Anyway, I've talked to quite a few people over the last few years who work in the many fields of construction. They seem intelligent, articulate and skilful and they all had a thing in common. They always moaned that they felt underappreciated, underpaid and also under pressure to achieve results in unrealistic time frames (then blamed when the 'job ran over').

They were all capable of setting up on their own earning 2-3 times as much as they did working for 'the man'. They always talked about leaving and striking out on their own. This notion of working for themselves was strong in their minds but there was always a stumbling block that held them back.
I've seen the same thing before I left a job I'd had for 8 years. My FTE was a bad boss--which was ironically one of the best things that every happened to me. Fast forward years later, and while I'm not on the fastlane (yet), I earn 3x what I was paid at that job. A lot of my former colleagues from that job are still there and look to be lifers--or have gotten laid off.

Daily action, no matter how small, was what built a new life for me. I just need to keep doing daily actions that'll move me onto the fastlane--instead of staying comfortable with where I'm at.
 

RazorCut

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I've seen the same thing before I left a job I'd had for 8 years. My FTE was a bad boss--which was ironically one of the best things that every happened to me. Fast forward years later, and while I'm not on the fastlane (yet), I earn 3x what I was paid at that job.

So true. And it is not hard to earn that sort of money once you get past the hurdle of forgoing the job that you have fooled yourself into thinking provides all that security.

A lot of my former colleagues from that job are still there and look to be lifers--or have gotten laid off.

That reminded me of @Vigilante post about the nurse:

Sidewalk - Standing Still As Life Passes By


Daily action, no matter how small, was what built a new life for me. I just need to keep doing daily actions that'll move me onto the fastlane--instead of staying comfortable with where I'm at.

The common Garden Snail can travel at a speed of 0.03 mph. At that rate that would make a tortoise seem like a race horse in comparison. Even at that tiny rate of movement it could travel over 63 miles in its short life span if it didn't stop.

Daily action is compounded. It can be a very powerful thing.
 

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