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Overcoming Resistance. If I can do it, you can as well.

the Swisspreneur

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This thread has been created to hold myself accountable and to show you, dear reader, that you as well can create a life full of freedom, love and fulfillment.

I am not going to litter it by writing about the thousand negative thoughts that plague me every day and I am not going to give you an update on my latest self-destructive behaviors. I have come to realize that the more room I give these negative forces, the more legit and threatening they seem to become. In the end, it is only what you do that counts.

And this is why I will only speak of my actions here.

That does not mean that I am not going to adress problems like procrastination, a raging mind or destructive habits that you most likely are also plagued by. But when I do, I will not only talk abut the problem but present you with a solution that worked for me.

This is what you can expect if you follow this thread for the next 365 days:

1. Updates on measurable habits and goals - once a week
2. Problems that slow down my growth and their respective solution - whenever I have found a satisfying solution or insight

I will not post anything other than than. I believe that our attention-span and time is extremely limited and I don't want you to waste your precious time by reading commonsense-wisdom in this thread. That beeing said, let me (re-)introduce myself to give you something you (maybe) can relate to.

My name is S (obviously not my real name), I'm 18 and I live in switzerland. I have finished my "Matura" this summer - google it if it interests you - and am currently unemployed. Sort of.

Since two years, I have spent a great amount of my time working on different projects. One is a community for young Swiss Entrepreneurs and the other is a hybrid made up of a digital agency and a plattform, on which young people can share their talent as freelancers. I won't give you more details on my projects (unless specifically requested) since this is a thread dedicated to mindset and commitment, not everyday business problems. I can say just so much - up until now I have not generated any relavant income and I now face a potential insurance-case with 17K on the line - at least this last incident finally gave me the kick in the a$$ I desperately needed.

I have derived great joy from my work on these projects but since I left school, the lack of an external timetable and the pure freedom of choosing what I want to do every single day, have shown to be more of a roadblock than a booster for my sucsess. I became weak. Worked less. Slept longer. Wasted a great deal of time online, mindlessly browsing YouTube or Instagram.

In the words of Steven Pressfield, Author of "the War of Art" (this book encapsulates my problems extremely well) - I gave in to resistance. Hardcore. To a point where I avoided opening my laptop just because I didn't want to see what tasks I had set myself the day prior.

I can write hours about all my petty problems but in the end you all know what I'm talking about. We all face the same devil - just in varying intensity and wearing different capes. So in short, here's what I'm working with:

- No secure & steady income
- Almost nothing in savings
- Very weak work-ethic & self-discipline

Here are the fixed stars that will guide my decisions to change that in 2K19:
- 100K turnover with the agency/plattform business - not speaking profit here
- 10K private savings - irrelevant if from the business or from other work
- Covering my living costs 100% myself - to relieve my parents

These are the treats that await me this year if I stay on track:
- City-Trip through Europe or Adventures in Greece with my best friends
- My own office away from home

---

My journey begins with regaining important momentum and self-trust. I know what I'm capable of. I just have to show it to myself again and again. So what am I going to measure from now on?

1. Hours worked on my business and other income-sources (the goal are at least 40 hrs) - I will do this with an App called "aTimeLogger" for Android combined with "Rescue Time" on the Mac.
2. How much I made and how much I spent (the goal is to have a surplus each week) - I will do this with an App called "Money Manager" for Android.
3. How many times I visited the gym or ran more than 30min straight (the goal are 3 heavy exercises each week) - I will write this down in a small notebook.
4. How much time I spent entertaining myself with TV, YouTube, Instagram, 9Gag and the like (the goal are not more than 10hrs of "bad" entertainment) - again "Rescue Time" and "aTimeLogger".

All these goals might look small to you. But they will be the cornerstones of the self-believe necessary to become a successful & accomplished human beeing - showing myself that I am able to be consistent & disciplined is worth more to me than pure Gold!

My future posts will contain more information as to HOW I increase/manage my income, create and sustain discipline. In the end it's all about caging that little monkey inside your head. Better be quick. He will turn into King Kong if you feed him to much.
 
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Joey El

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... I now face a potential insurance-case with 17K on the line - at least this last incident finally gave me the kick in the a$$ I desperately needed.
<snip>
3. How many times I visited the gym or ran more than 30min straight (the goal are 3 heavy exercises each week) - I will write this down in a small notebook.

Welcome back;) In "Unscripted " MJ describes these shocks as FTE's...best wishes for your case.

You have found good solutions so far... I was weak 10 years ago and 3 heavy lifts each week also improved mental/overall overcoming of resistance.

Looking forward to the next 52 updates.

PS would you re-read Pressfield..? curious if he's worth the time after reading(and applying) most other biz-related mindset stuff
 

the Swisspreneur

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Welcome back;) In "Unscripted " MJ describes these shocks as FTE's...best wishes for your case.

You have found good solutions so far... I was weak 10 years ago and 3 heavy lifts each week also improved mental/overall overcoming of resistance.

Looking forward to the next 52 updates.

PS would you re-read Pressfield..? curious if he's worth the time after reading(and applying) most other biz-related mindset stuff

Thank you for your comment Joey :)

Can you tell me more about your experience with FTE's? How did they show themselves? How did you combat them (other than exercising)?

I would definitely re-read Pressfield. It's one of the GOAT's!
 

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Welcome aboard. I think your strategy of going for the "small" victories to build a foundation is the correct one.

I think it's a fundamental principle in life that "like attracts like". By which I mean that once you get some success, success tends to come more naturally. On the other hand, when things go awry, they tend to slide downhill quite quickly.

Best to get on the good side of that principle, and stay there.
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Update #1 - 03.01.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= 12
Money made / spent = 470/220,70 (christmas money, not from business)
Exercise = 1,5hrs running + 47 min running and medium caliesthenics (20 pullups, 80 pushups)
Hours bad online entertainment = 5,5h on Laptop and approx 5h on Smartphone (noticed RescueTime wasn't actually tracking time-on-mobile. Fixed it now.)

Commentary
It's a start. Since I was spending 3 days with friends abroad over New Year's Eve, I didn't have high expectations and focused on enjoying my time with them. What I will focus on now is taking the momentum already created and let it fuel my future execution. Here's what I expect to have done when giving you my next update on Sunday 13.01.19:

Business & Job
- I finished the wireframe for our online-plattform and submitted it to our programmer (Created in PowerPoint - quicker & easier than photoshop i.m.h.o) This will include 20 pages of U.I. and a brief description of all functions.
- I have found a fitting date for a client's shortfilm and all actors/filmers are set
- I have completed a Social Media Marketing Job with my team and submitted the invoice for 2,5K
- I have gained a clear understanding of the ongoing 17K insurance-problem
- I have worked 58hrs in the next 10 days
- I have found a short-term job for 2 months or contacted 20 pot. employers
- I expect a loss of about 250.- since I have some travelling coming up and don't expect the money from the "Instagram-job" to be here by next Sunday. Of that 2,5K about 700.- will land in my pocket since we are three founders and have to pay a young fotographer as well.

Health & Time
- I expect three visits to the gym and one 30+ min jogging session
- My bad YouTube and Instagram time should be not higher than 15hrs totes

Let me know if you want any details.

S'
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #2 - 13.01.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= 92hrs and 10 min in the last 10 days or 9.2hrs per day
Money made / spent = 00.00.- But approx. 1'360.00.- coming up next week / 88.96.- in 10 days.
Exercise = I lost my notebook that I keep track in. No Gym. I didnt reach that goal. My estimate: 200 pushups in 15 min + running over 45 min once. There must have been more but I can't tell for sure.
Hours bad online entertainment = 25h and 44 min on Laptop and on Smartphone in the last 10 days. This makes 2h and 34 min a day. Biggest time-waster is Instagram, closely followed by YouTube. Managment of these two is really hard at the moment. Any tipps?

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- I finished the wireframe for our online-plattform and submitted it to our programmer. The wireframe has been submitted and reviewed. I didn't finish it 100% and invested the time won in getting professional feedback from established entrepreneurs. Gained new insights about the size of the project, which we totally underestimated. I now also know about the importance of an early MVP and "wizard-of-oz" website to get proof of concept before investing in the real plattform. Also reached out to the founder of a business similair to ours and asked him why his company seems to have stopped running. Got no reply yet.

- I have found a fitting date for a client's shortfilm and all actors/filmers are set. Had a call with the client and fixed pot. filming dates. Not 100% clear though, bc. the shoot depends on the weather, which is horrible when setting dates with multiple parties involved.

- I have completed a Social Media Marketing Job with my team and submitted the invoice for 2,5K. Been there. Done that. Invoice submitted. Deal for an extended consultation and monthly Instagram management closed, which brings in an additional 200.00 per month.

- I have gained a clear understanding of the ongoing 17K insurance-problem. I have.

- I have worked 58hrs in the next 10 days. I worked 92hrs and 10 min.

- I have found a short-term job for 2 months or contacted 20 pot. employers. I have applied for two temporary jobs and contacted a part-time-job agency. Need to do more next week regarding finding a 80% job.

- I expect a loss of about 250.- since I have some travelling coming up and don't expect the money from the "Instagram-job" to be here by next Sunday. Of that 2,5K about 700.- will land in my pocket since we are three founders and have to pay a young fotographer as well. I spent 89.00 in the last ten days and received new bills of around 500.00 which I will also have to pay this month.

---

This extended week has been a great start and gave me a lot of momentum which I will use next week. The key is to keep going.

I cannot say where this new discipline is coming from. Maybe it arieses from the fact that the business is actually moving forward at a noticeable pace and that my work has an actual impact on my results at the moment. To all that struggle with gaining momentum I can only suggest the following:

- Find yourself 1-3 friends that are already working hard (they don't allow bullshitting and can actually show you real results of their work). If possible, work with them or start a company together. The external checks & balances through the newly formed social norm "we work hard and this is normal" are priceless.
- Work in Cafés or Hotel-Lobbys. You're much more likely to actually do something productive when you cannot slack off as easily as at home. CoWorking Spaces don't work as well for me as the two locations mentioned above.
- Arrange something compulsory in the morning. For me, these were driving lessons at 09:00. I finished 10:20 and could walk directly into the next Café. The time lost from starting "late" at 10:45 can be regained in the evening.
- Start a progress thread. I have two in place. TFF in written form and a regular "podcast" via Skype with one of my best friends. We record for ourselves and our children but beeing accountably not only to the members of this forum but to another person as well works magic.

--

My most important goals for the next 7 days:
- I have finished our MVP-Landingpage for the client side of our online-plattform
- I scheduled a course with my friends about the legal questions of our business
- A new liability insurance for our company is on its way
- I have submitted three new offers to clients with a volume of 4'250.00 (one-time) and 8'400.00 (yearly)
- I have finished final preparations for two film-projects
- All founders agree on the way our profit is split between the three of us - if possible we have set up a contract
- I submitted our work to one of our clients and started preparing their new Instagram feed
- All bills are payed and the remaining money is set aside in a way that still allows me some personal freedom in everday life
- I have found a 80% job or contacted 5 new employers

Let's see where this is going.

The moment you think you conquered resistance is the one she will punish you the most. Always keep that in mind.
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #3 - 20.01.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= Rescue Time Says 51 hrs and 36 min of non-red-marked online activities. My guess lies between that and 45hrs. Some activities such as Instagram have to be re-evaluated this week bc. I spent some time on it creating our new Instagram Feed and looking for new pot. team-members. It is hard to tell how much of that work really went towards my company but I guess around 85% to 95% did. Not bad. Not too good either.
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 815.00 / 474.10 - first real income from my business
Exercise = Not much. Slacked off. I went skiing for one day and running once. I expect to start working out regularly from next week on. I got myself a new gym buddy. This will work for me.
Hours bad online entertainment = 20hrs and 49 minutes. Dopamine is extremly addicting. More about that in my commentary.

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- I have finished our MVP-Landingpage for the client side of our online-plattform - I have. It now is a landing page combined with a specially designed opt-in page to get them to submit their wishes directly via our webseite. This way we want to test if customers will trust us even if they will only interact with a web-interface and not ourselves.

- I scheduled a course with my friends about the legal questions of our business - I have not. It got lost due to bad time management. I will set it to the top-priorities for next week bc. it is crucial to our business.

- A new liability insurance for our company is on its way - I have met the insurance broker. Got no invoice yet but I consider this done since I can't do anything to speed up the process right now.

- I have submitted three new offers to clients with a volume of 4'250.00 (one-time) and 8'400.00 (yearly) - I have submitted three invoices with an overall volume of 3'750.00 (one-time) and 10'312.00 (yearly). Already got the contract over 3,75K back signed. Waiting for the other two.

- I have finished final preparations for two film-projects - Yes and No. Had a crucial Meeting which wrapped up preparation for one of our projects but I am still waiting on the final go for another. Whatever was under my control has been done.

- All founders agree on the way our profit is split between the three of us - if possible we have set up a contract - We have found a way that seems fair to all but have not yet set up a contract.

- I submitted our work to one of our clients and started preparing their new Instagram feed - I haven't yet submitted the work to our client but expect to do so this evening or tomorrow. The work is done. It only has to be revised by my co-founder and then be sent off. The Instagram-Feed isn't in preparation since we haven't received our final GO! for it.

- All bills are payed and the remaining money is set aside in a way that still allows me some personal freedom in everday life - all personal bills are paid for. My income is too low to allow me the personal freedom in everyday life that I want to create.

- I have found a 80% job or contacted 5 new employers - I haven't. My goal is to support myself fully through my business and I will speed up this process by signing more clients, creators and by working more.

---


I am not quite happy with the ending of this week. I went skiiing with my parents yesterday and spent the evening with some old and new friends that joined my Entrepreneurial Community. I slacked off today and wasted hours on YouTube. This shows me how easily I will fall back into old patterns as soon as fatigue, the comfort of the weekend and a relaxing surrounding are present. I have known this bad feeling of disappointment after loosing grip and wasting time on social media for years now. It's incredible how strongly our brains are wired to avoid any uncomfortable work when beeing presented the opportunity to do so without immediate repercussions.

Since the ultimate goal of this progress thread is to gain the strength to combat resistance and to present you the techniques that worked for me, I will look this re-emerging lazyness dead in the eye before smashing it to pieces once more. In the past, situations of weakness and the following self-doubt lead to me creating new, even bigger goals to crush. This made me feel better and gave me a sense of control. But it is the wrong approach. It is now more important than ever to focus on my current goals and to make them more visible. I will write them down on the whiteboard hanging in my room and focus on the green ones.


- Min. 40hrs work on my business
- Financial surplus
- 3 heavy exercises (gym or running 45min+)
- Max. 10hrs bad entertainment


My other business-relevant goals for next week:

- Signing at least one new client
- Setting up two business presentation with pot. clients
- Hitting up 20 pot. Creators and abserving their questions and actions
- Getting 5 new creator-applications
- Scheduling a legal course with my two co-founders
- Scheduling Social Media Content for two weeks
- If given the final ok, planning a clients Instagram Content for one month
- If given the final ok, setting up everything needed to get 5 objects filmed by our creators


That's it for the week.

S'
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Update #4 - 27.01.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= My guess is around 50hrs
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 0/164.10 - waiting for 500.00 which are on their way
Exercise = Almost none at all.
Hours bad online entertainment = about 16hrs YouTube and Instagram of which around 3-4 hours were researching new creators on Instagram or sourcing for suitable content to post. 12-13 hrs were toxic.

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- Signing at least one new client - I visited two pot. clients which both were positive about future business but none signed a contract right away.
- Setting up two business presentation with pot. clients - I managed to set up 5 presentations.
- Hitting up 20 pot. Creators and abserving their questions and actions - I decieded to outsource that work to one of our creators which has a much higher chance of getting a response due to his large social media following. I am not sure if he has written everyone that I told him to but I guess the majority was contacted.
- Getting 5 new creator-applications - we only got one.
- Scheduling a legal course with my two co-founders - no good legal course has been found and I am reading all relevant material on my own now.
- Scheduling Social Media Content for two weeks - I did.
- If given the final ok, planning a clients Instagram Content for one month - I did.
- If given the final ok, setting up everything needed to get 5 objects filmed by our creators - I have not yet received a final ok.

Let's look at the biggies:


- Min. 40hrs work on my business - YES
- Financial surplus - NO
- 3 heavy exercises (gym or running 45min+) - NO
- Max. 10hrs bad entertainment - NO

----

Overall, I did.....meh. Although the business is moving forward and we have potential clients and enough work to do for now, I consider this week a failure in regard to my personal self-discipline. It didn't go awfully bad - I actually enjoyed very productive hours - but I once more didn't manage to overcome my biggest inner hurdles. Resistance won.

I have a plan how to change this. I won't share it here until it proved itself to be working. Posting about my plans and then not following through feels awful and isn't pretty to read either.

So I will leave you with my normal goals and wish you a productive week :)

---

- Min. 40hrs work on my business
- Financial surplus
- 3 heavy exercises (gym or running 45min+)
- Max. 10hrs bad entertainment

Business Goals:

- Signing a new client
- Setting up three more business presentations
- Hitting up 20 pot. Creators and monitoring their reactions
- Starting to post on a clients Instagram Feed
- Starting Facebook Advertising for a client
- Setting up all legal and organizational stuff to automate a part of our video creation
- Creating a folder-strucutre for all team-related documents
- Setting up a business-plan workshop with creators, my cofounders and my mentor

That's it 4 the week

S'
 

john06

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Hi,

What a great article. There are a number of questions I am intrigued to ask;
1. What do your parents think of your adventures?
2. At such a young age are you planning to attend university while doing this as a side business or skip uni altogether and pursue this full time?
3. The other founders are the same age as you and friends from the start?

Thanks for the thread. I had already kept watch listed on this as I am also in the midst of starting my execution plan (albeit 10 years later than you) and had recently implemented some simple exercise habits when I happened to come upon this thread.
 

XxThelionxX

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I really hope you find what your looking for!

The info is out there you just need to find it. It could take forever to find it by experimenting. So I hope your not doing that!

All in all I'm looking forward to your growth!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Update #6 - 10.02.19

I know that I wrote Update #5 last week.
I thought I knew I uploaded it.
Do your posts sometimes not upload correctly?
Am I hallucinating?

Since I don't take mind-altering substances and have no tendency towards sleepwalking - your guess is as good as mine. Unfazed, I will continue ;)

---

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= Between 45 and 55 hrs
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 0/221.2 - I finished work worth around 1'300.00 and am only waiting for it to appear in my bank account
Exercise = None really.
Hours bad online entertainment = around 15 hrs

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

I think these were my goals for the week:

- Signing one new customer - Almost. I sent specific offers to two pot. clients - they haven't answered yet but I'm positive that they will work with us in some way
- Setting up 3 new discovery meetings with pot. clients - I managed to get 2
- Reaching out to 20 pot. creators for our business - we reached 36 directly and hundreds indirectyl through Instagram-Stories of our creators
- Setting up the Facebook Ads manager for a client - done.
- Creating a clear folder structure for the core team - almost done.
- Setting up 2-3 brainstorming sessions for sharpening our business-idea - done.

---

Even though it doesn't look that bad on paper - the passing week was one of the worst in terms of productitivty. I was travelling to clients two days in a row which inhibited real creative work which takes me at least 2-3 uninterrupted hours during the day. I relapsed, watching YouTube Videos compusively instead of owning up to the tasks at hand. These habits seem to be some form of escape, triggered by me working alone in the home-office and waking up late after staying up to long. Sport suffered as well, since I couldn't convince myself to travel to the gym after an exhausting day. The classical face of resistance.

I am reflecting on these bad habits daily and attempt to change them with the advice of James Clear, Tim Ferris and the like. As soon as I have figured out a way to stop these bad patterns, I will write a step-by-step guide on how you can as well. As a matter of fact, I already started writing. Until then, I will use this forum mainly as a way to hold myself accountable and less for producing content in terms of facing resistance.

If you were expecting more life-advice and tipps, let me solace you with work from the masters themselves:

Grit: A Complete Guide on How to Be More Mentally Tough
If Self-Discipline Feels Difficult, Then You're Doing It Wrong

My goals for this week:

- 50 ColdCalls for my business
- 6hrs ColdCalls for one of my business-partners
- Setting up 2 new discovery meetings
- Finishing & submitting an Image-Video
- Signing the company's insurance-policy
- Setting up everything for another Image Video
- Transferring the folders to a NAS and finish setup
- Detailed wireframe for our web-plattform
- Writing down ideas for a max. simplified MVP-version of that wireframe

That's it 4 the week. Take care and don't beat yourself up to much. At least you're still at it.

S'
 

the Swisspreneur

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Hi,

What a great article. There are a number of questions I am intrigued to ask;
1. What do your parents think of your adventures?
2. At such a young age are you planning to attend university while doing this as a side business or skip uni altogether and pursue this full time?
3. The other founders are the same age as you and friends from the start?

Thanks for the thread. I had already kept watch listed on this as I am also in the midst of starting my execution plan (albeit 10 years later than you) and had recently implemented some simple exercise habits when I happened to come upon this thread.
Hi John06 - thank you for your comment :)

1. They are torn between supporting their young and energetic son and the fear of possible failures and risks of not pursuing a traditional path and the wrong people I could meet along the way. Since I can easily work on my business for 1-2 years and then go to collegue without beeing "too late" (I would be 20-21) they now accept the reality more & more. Steady & growing success surely plays a part in this.

2. I plan on giving the business my all for 1-2 years and then re-evaluate if I want to pursue something else. No pressure on that side.

3. They are the same age and were friends from the start of the business, yes.
 

the Swisspreneur

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I really hope you find what your looking for!

The info is out there you just need to find it. It could take forever to find it by experimenting. So I hope your not doing that!

All in all I'm looking forward to your growth!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you Dylan!

I have all the Info I need for chaning my behaviours and habits. But as they say - knowledge is worth nothing until it hits the ground. This is the hard part as my day-to-day life is quite volatile and doesn't follow a clear routine. I will soon change that since I will be working 100% in the Swiss Civil Service for 4 months. This will give me much needed structure.
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Update #7 - 17.02.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= Around 55 hours
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 0 / 135.75 - I have now pulled off 5 different projects this February and am awaiting our creators to wrap them up. They will make me a combined 2.8K.
Exercise = I went for an 1 hr+ run with a good friend of mine and was skiing & hiking two days in a row. Other than that - no exercise.
Hours bad online entertainment = RescueTime says 9hrs but I feel like it were 15hrs+

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- 50 ColdCalls for my business - I failed. Of the only two days I had available for coldcalls, I pulled off around 10-20 Calls in total.
- 6hrs ColdCalls for one of my business-partners - I managed around 1hr
- Setting up 2 new discovery meetings - didn't happen. But I got two new customers through our online plattform which makes more than up to this
- Finishing & submitting an Image-Video - the creator couldn't finish it and there was nothing I could have done to speed up the process
- Signing the company's insurance-policy - didn't happen. Not enough time & energy.
- Setting up everything for another Image Video - the big reason why the other goals failed. I had a full 2-days Image-Video-shoot with a combined 7 hrs of sleep - great success!
- Transferring the folders to a NAS and finish setup - Folders have been transferred. Setup not yet finalized.
- Detailed wireframe for our web-plattform - I even asked for a first offer by a digital agency which could program the whole plattform.
- Writing down ideas for a max. simplified MVP-version of that wireframe - I did.


---

Even though I had to change my goals and my focus quite a bit this week, it was successful. I surely had my YouTube-relapses and bowed to resistance a few times when it was time to make Cold-Calls but I also stayed up until 6 a.m. one night to finish masks for the image-video shoot and worked 7 focused hours in one piece this sunday. I wrote some important Terms of Agreements, had an important meeting with a potential investor, finished the long planned Image-Video for the hotel, gained 2 new clients and many creators organically through our online-presence. Some very important ideas surfaced and the vision of our business is getting more & more clear.

My goals for this week:

- 1 hr ColdCalls for a business-partner
- 25 ColdCalls for my business
- Getting a second offer for programming the plattform
- Successfully setting up an MVP-Version of our automatisation-processes for Videos
- Finally signing the insurance policy for our company
- Sourcing new informations about the hopes, fears and wishes of our plattform-users
- Two successful brainstorming sessions about further development of our plattform
- Contacting a StartUp-Law-firm for advice

That's it 4 the week. Take care and don't beat yourself up to much. At least you're still at it.

S'
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #8 - 24.02.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= around 60-65
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 0 / 204.70 - My current situtation - I'm waiting for CHF 900 for finished projects, 1.9K for projects that are almost finished, aquired at least 1.45K worth of new projects and have the high probability of closing another 7.8K projects - these are things that I do on the sind, mind you. The slowly growing profit from my main business runs directly back into the plattform.
Exercise = No relevant exercising going on here.
Hours bad online entertainment = RescueTime says 6-8hrs. Pretty good.

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- 1 hr ColdCalls for a business-partner - did 40 min. More weren needed.
- 25 ColdCalls for my business - 0. None needed. Had much more important things to do - like developing a leander workflow for future orders on our plattform
- Getting a second offer for programming the plattform - I did.
- Successfully setting up an MVP-Version of our automatisation-processes for Videos - It turned out that this will take between 2-4 Weeks. I did create a detailed plan for me and my co-founders to do this though.
- Finally signing the insurance policy for our company - Nope.
- Sourcing new informations about the hopes, fears and wishes of our plattform-users - I did. 5 Calls.
- Two successful brainstorming sessions about further development of our plattform - I did.
- Contacting a StartUp-Law-firm for advice - Done.

---
It was a good week. A lot of positive reinforcement that our plattform-based business-idea is on the right track. For the first time I could visualize the potential of this thing. It could really become a Multi-Million-Swiss-Francs-Business. This will take years and dedication. But with a great team, advisors, mentors, supporters, environment, personal health and lots of patience I can see myself building something that will have an actual impact on how young people are introduced into a rapidely-changing working-environment.

What also sparks my positivity are these feedbacks:

- A business owner - who in our first meeting (and without ever approving the quality of our work) - told me that I can put him on the list of potential investors
- A call from a distant acquaintance who told me that his dad (a VC) is in love with our concept and would probably be ready to invest 100k+ if needed
- Skypecalls with plattform-users that haven't even made money through us and are already promoting our idea themselves and are willing to go through hour-long conversations to help us improve our plattform
- Another VC that told me that we could easily raise 100K+ for our plattform, if our current setup continues to work the way it does - even though it runs on 1% of the capacity it could fulfill

It feels great to realize that I am actually working in a young StartUp with an already happy customer-base and lot's of potential. My creative side is already thinking of the numerous way in which we can help young people make more money with their talent.

Now it's time to get serious with the constellation of our team and the division of our work.
I have never felt more ready to take this on. Let's go.


My goals for this week:

- Signing the insurance policy
- Bringing the Alpha Version of our plattform closer towards existence
- Making current customers happy
- Starting 2 website wireframes for my side-hustle-clients
- Starting 1 website for my side-hustle-clients
- Starting ColdCalls for my side-hustle-clients

That's it 4 the week. Take care and don't beat yourself up to much. At least you're still at it.

S'
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #9 - 04.03.19

I'm one day too late because I didn't have my bad YouTube habit under control.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's)= between 30-40
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = unclear, cant' check while I'm writing
Exercise = 2*Skiing
Hours bad online entertainment = A lot. My guess is around 15-25hrs YouTube at least

Commentary and Update on my other goals:
I was in the holidays last week and am struggling to regain my momentum.
YouTube is crushing my discipline at the moment and I have to fight to regain the upper hand. But I will.

- Signing the insurance policy - No
- Bringing the Alpha Version of our plattform closer towards existence - Yes
- Making current customers happy - Nothing important happened
- Starting 2 website wireframes for my side-hustle-clients - 1/2
- Starting 1 website for my side-hustle-clients - he postponed it to next week
- Starting ColdCalls for my side-hustle-clients - he postponed it to next week

----
Me writing this is good. It shows that I can stick to my committments, even when totally not feeling like it.
Had a wonderful workshop with my 2 CoFounders which will help us improve our communication tremedously. This week I just want to stick to my goals and be disciplined.

That's it 4 the week. Take Care.

S'
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Update #10 - 10.03.19

Back on time.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = between 35-40
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 700/192.60
Exercise = jogging over 30 min once
Hours bad online entertainment = 14 - 25 hrs YouTube & IG I guess, my tracking app is faulty at the moment

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

I hadn’t laid out my goals last week because it took me quite a lot of willpower to even write at all. I wanted it to be done as quickly as possible.

Once you have gained negative momentum, slacking off and procrastinating on important tasks get very easy. This is nothing new to me. I was here before. Even though I managed to do an almost ok. amount of work, my own standards of at least 8 business-related hrs per day weren’t met. Attempts for betterment are crushed by the comfortable bubble of putting off things.

I’m only 1 week away from the beginning of 4 months civil service, which will mean 40hr-workweeks + around 5-10hrs commute per week. A totally new situation for me. I’m looking forward to the clear time-table and obligations from which I can’t just walk away. It is very likely that my 4 year-long Gym habit can be reignited much easier when my day is structured by external necessity. Just like in highschool.

What strikes me is the inconsistency of my workdays when I don’t have any meetings and work from home. Even the slightest discomfort or urge for a quick break on YouTube can mean the end of any productive attempts. This lead to the following thought:

I know that I can work hard. I know that once momentum has been gained and triggers for bad habits have been removed, procrastination vanishes. Doing the work feels good. I feel on top of it. I’m in control. But as soon as I relapse and slack off – this positive drive can disappear quickly. Beeing the Co-Founder of a StartUp with a lot of potential requires my best self. It requires thick skin and discipline. I’m not going to become that person when I continue to sit at home working, alone.

What I need is an office in which I can work with other people that are engaged in the company as well. Only when I have this environment of likeminded and hard-working peers, my engine will be able to drive full throttle for a long time.

This is why, after completing my civil service in summer, finding an permanent office space filled with other enthusiastic founders will be key.

What is your experience with working from home? Especially in your 20ies?


----

Not writing down any goals for this week was an act of weakness.
Let’s not repeat that.

The goals which will elicit the most resistance for completion next week:

- Completing the pricing pages of 8 different services on our alpha-plattform
- Completing my first ever taxation-form for last year
- Making all important payments
- Going to the gym 3 times


That’s it 4 the week

Take care

S’
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #11 - 18.03.19

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = around 50hrs business related activities
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = CHF 500.00/200.00
Exercise = 1 time in the gym
Hours bad online entertainment = I guess around 15-20hrs in total, my tracking app still is faulty

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- Completing the pricing pages of 8 different services on our alpha-plattform - Done.
- Completing my first ever taxation-form for last year - Done.
- Making all important payments - Not yet possible - have to wait.
- Going to the gym 3 times - No.

--

I am stoked. Tomorrow's the first day in civil service and I'm looking forward to a thight schedule and a more disciplined version of myself. It is likely that the regular waking and sleeping hours combined with commuting will trigger my old gym habit (there's a gym on the way that I can go to after work) and will help me focus on the essentials.

My business goals this week:

- Landingpage for the Creators
- All pricing and offer templates done
- Automated E-Mails set up


That’s it 4 the week

Take care

S’
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #12 - 25.03.19

One day late bc. of YouTube on Sunday Evening.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = Around 30-40 hours max. business & money making related activities
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = Lost track, around 150.00?/Awaiting at least 1'500.00 for next week
Exercise = Gym once.
Hours bad online entertainment = Around 7-12 hrs - tracking app re-booted but still faulty. Less than usual bc. of civil service but still an unhealthy amount in my free time

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- Landingpage for the Creators - Done.
- All pricing and offer templates done - Pricing done. Templates not yet.
- Automated E-Mails set up - No. I am waiting on a friend to do it with him.

--

Thank god I am in civil service now. The clear structure gives me the general conditions for disciplined work in my free time because there is much less room to F*ck around and procrastinate. It still happens but I'm on a good path and feel very happy right now. The enforced digital detox while working is good for my brain.

The flipside: I get less done bc. there is much less time to get things done. Working in the evening is hard bc. I don't sleep enough and 8-9 hrs of constant focus on the children I'm working with is draining. Waking up earlier will be the solution - but I have to go to bed earlier as well.


My business goals this week:
- Launch the first alpha version of our plattform


That’s it 4 the week

Take care

S’
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Update #13 - 02.04.19

Two days late. What a discrace.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = Around 20 last week.
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = 0/around 150.00 - I slacked off tracking expenses. Made over CHF 1'000.00 this week so far bc. of a finally paid-for service I provided last month.
Exercise = 2 times in the gym.
Hours bad online entertainment = Between 18 to 20 hours of mainly YouTube and Instagram

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

Launch the first alpha version of our plattform - we postponed that one because we had too many unfinished things. I didn't meet all my goals of developing it further last week and generally slacked off too much.

I already typed out many complaints about my situation right now.
Not worth your time. Not worth mine either.

Get up and just keep doing stuff.

--

My business goals this week:

- Finishing the order & fulfillment process for the online plattform
- 1 hour of ColdCalls for another company
- Final pricing, packages and references for each service our creators are offering
- Less than 10 hrs of YouTube in the next 5 days
- At least 30 hrs of work on my business ALONE in the next 5 days

That’s it 4 the week

Take care

S’
 

the Swisspreneur

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Update #14 - 09.04.19

Again two days late. This time I could have an excuse. Got knocked down in the club on saturday, went to the hospital on sunday and didn't/couldn't work on monday.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = Around 20 - 25hrs I guess
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = none / 76.00 Credit Card + 91.70 Debit = CHF 167,70 - I did work worth around CHF 250.00 this Week but it hasn't arrived yet. I have noticed that many of my "income" statements are grounded on feelings when the money will come. From here on, I will always look at my bank statement first.
Exercise = None I can remember.
Hours bad online entertainment = 5 hrs 15 min YouTube, 3h 56 min Instagram = 9hrs & 11 min of which around 7-8 hrs will be wasted time

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- Finishing the order & fulfillment process for the online plattform - made progress, not finished
- 1 hour of ColdCalls for another company - got done 2 hrs
- Final pricing, packages and references for each service our creators are offering - didn't do that
- Less than 10 hrs of YouTube in the next 5 days - done.
- At least 30 hrs of work on my business ALONE in the next 5 days - no.

--

I can't quite figure out what is going on. Am I just becoming a lazy, complaining dude or do I face some real issues regarding my motivation and work? I have developed a habit of putting things off that is getting worse over time. YouTube is just its ugliest manifestation. I can't remember the last time when I have exerted a respectable amount of willpower to do something despite feeling off or having other, more fun short-term options. It seems as though I have thought myself that I can life like this without feeling real repercussions. Over the long run my business will fail, my relationships could suffer and I will find myself caught in a downward spiral. I know that.

My business goals this week:

- Final pricing, packages and references for each service our creators are offering
- Finishing the order & fulfillment process for the online plattform

That’s it 4 the week

Take care

S’
 

the Swisspreneur

Contributor
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Feb 28, 2017
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Update #15 - 21.04.19

Skipped last week.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = 28 hrs
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = none / CHF 489.25 - awaiting 1.2K
Exercise = Jogging for an hour
Hours bad online entertainment = 15hrs Instagram & YouTube

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- Final pricing, packages and references for each service our creators are offering //on it - dug into it and figured out that there are some very important legal questions to be answered properly before I can finish this task
- Finishing the order & fulfillment process for the online plattform //my teammates are on it. I've done my part.


--

YouTube is a bitch. I'm still moving forward though. That's what counts.

--

My business goals this week:

- Get an appointment with an accountant to answer all legal questions
- Move forward with the plattform
- Organize the most important things for an upcoming retreat I'm hosting
- Get 35+ hrs work into the business or income producing activities
- 2hrs + workout
- Less than 10 hrs YouTube


That’s it 4 the week

Take care <3

S’
 
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the Swisspreneur

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Feb 28, 2017
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Switzerland
Update #16 - 28.04.19

Back on track.

Hours worked on business or other income producing activities (IPA's) = around 35 hrs
Money made / spent (personal income/expenses) = none / CHF 265.00 - still awaiting 1.2K and around 3K civil service income
Exercise = None.
Hours bad online entertainment = 4hrs 32 min YouTube

Commentary and Update on my other goals:

- Get an appointment with an accountant to answer all legal questions - Yes.
- Move forward with the plattform - Yes.

- Organize the most important things for an upcoming retreat I'm hosting - No.
- Get 35+ hrs work into the business or income producing activities - Yes.
- 2hrs + workout - No.
- Less than 10 hrs YouTube - Yes.

--

I consistenty put in 4-6 hrs of work in the evening after civil service.
The key is to get to my working-spot (a café or hotel-lobby) ASAP after finishing civil service and starting with work almost immediately. I get on fire by listening to "opportunity cost" by G-Eazy and momentum does the rest. It is the act of starting that is hard. Continuing working ain't.

--

My business goals this week:

- Finishing all site-templates for my web-plattform
- Changing & finalizing the accounting process of the plattform
- Putting in 35+ hrs again besides civil service
- Go jogg for over an hour once

That’s it 4 the week

Take care <3

S’
 

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