The Enemy: Self- sabotage

[sonny_1080]

So here I am... first day of starting to sell life insurance from my house as an independent contractor to pay bills, subsidize my internet business, and build an insurance agency.

I walk my dog; super pumped to get to work, and as soon as get closer to my front door, it hits me... "maybe I should do my dishes first."

And that, ladies and gentlemen... is my public enemy no. 1:

SELF-SABOTAGE - putting stuff before executing needle-moving actions; delaying action-taking; procrastinating.

It's easier to say "yeah I could only make a few calls because I had to clean my house" rather than "I made a ton of calls and didn't sell anything."

Fear of failure. So what did I do?

After being able to observe the inner head game, I just jumped into it. Boom, 2 sales made and another 1 lined up... on day 1.

How do you guys deal with your head trying to rob you of your success and riches when it is presented with discomfort?

 

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[Kevin88660]

So here I am... first day of starting to sell life insurance from my house as an independent contractor to pay bills, subsidize my internet business, and build an insurance agency.

I walk my dog; super pumped to get to work, and as soon as get closer to my front door, it hits me... "maybe I should do my dishes first."

And that, ladies and gentlemen... is my public enemy no. 1:

SELF-SABOTAGE - putting stuff before executing needle-moving actions; delaying action-taking; procrastinating.

It's easier to say "yeah I could only make a few calls because I had to clean my house" rather than "I made a ton of calls and didn't sell anything."

Fear of failure. So what did I do?

After being able to observe the inner head game, I just jumped into it. Boom, 2 sales made and another 1 lined up... on day 1.

How do you guys deal with your head trying to rob you of your success and riches when it is presented with discomfort?

If you cannot get productive at home try doing work outside.

Find a Starbucks place, buy a drink and spend at least 6 hours there.

Distraction at home a real issue.

 

[sonny_1080]

If you cannot get productive at home try doing work outside.

Find a Starbucks place, buy a drink and spend at least 6 hours there.

Distraction at home a real issue

Made $2,300 in my first 16 hours (split between day 1, 2, and 3) working at home!

 

[Kevin88660]

Made $2,300 in my first 16 hours (split between day 1, 2, and 3) working at home!

My point is when you are in a cafe/library there is no option of washing dish or walking your dog.

 

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[WJK]

How do you guys deal with your head trying to rob you of your success and riches when it is presented with discomfort?

1. Routine. Have roughly the same routine every day and you won't get lost in the weeds. Map out your prime times to work. Then sit down and work. See #2 to figure out what to work on...

2. A, B, C to-do list. A list items are where the money is. Bs must be done to support the A list. C items are everything else. Limit your list to the only items you can reasonably do within your time frame.

What a B item? For example, I must keep up with the bookkeeping in order to keep my business running. But, keeping up with the bookkeeping isn't an A-quality prime-time player on my list. That activity doesn't directly make me money so it's a B item support activity.

And I have a comment... Long lists are only sexy to people who like to hoard and people who are masochists. To the rest of us, they are painful reminders of all the stuff we can't do or possibly get done within our time frame. I work really hard to limit the length of my to-do list to fit within the hours I'm gonna work on it.

3. The 20/80 rule. It is up to you to identify what your 20% items are. Then do them religiously each day. Only do them during your prime times. See item #1. Monitor your process and see when your 20% items change. And, boy, will they change over time. It's up to you to make sure you're still on target.

4. Trick yourself. If all the necessary items from your B and C lists are done in advance during your prior "downtimes", you won't have anything to distract you from your work.

Do your dishes before you go to bed. Clean up your messes as you go through your day. ( It only takes a moment to tidy up and put things away. And the less stuff you have, the less you must make tidy. I tend to be minimalist.) Lay out your clothes the night before. Do your laundry on the same day or evening each week. Finish your jobs all the way. Don't leave a bunch of "dropped shoes" projects lying around do later. Simplify everything in your life. The simplest answers are the most elegant, direct, and straightforward.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

So here I am... first day of starting to sell life insurance from my house as an independent contractor to pay bills, subsidize my internet business, and build an insurance agency.

I walk my dog; super pumped to get to work, and as soon as get closer to my front door, it hits me... "maybe I should do my dishes first."

And that, ladies and gentlemen... is my public enemy no. 1:

SELF-SABOTAGE - putting stuff before executing needle-moving actions; delaying action-taking; procrastinating.

It's easier to say "yeah I could only make a few calls because I had to clean my house" rather than "I made a ton of calls and didn't sell anything."

Fear of failure. So what did I do?

After being able to observe the inner head game, I just jumped into it. Boom, 2 sales made and another 1 lined up... on day 1.

How do you guys deal with your head trying to rob you of your success and riches when it is presented with discomfort?

Sounds like you already nailed it and should keep doing what you're doing - just bigger!

 

[Johnny boy]

You aren't solving that big of a problem.

I can get insurance in like 5 minutes and everyone I call will answer the phone and follow up with me, and most of the quotes will all be around the same price unless someone wants to win the race to the bottom and make no profit, and there's little to distinguish between different companies because they all are offering the same thing and it's just a middleman business.

You are in the same boat as all of the other dropshippers, real estate wholesalers, bloggers, and even MLMers.

The problem is that these industries bring in new people in the same way, someone PITCHED you the idea and you were romanticized by it. You did not come up with anything or notice underserved demand with your own eyes. You did not see a real need and then went about thinking of how to fulfil it.

If you were trying to find life insurance for yourself and found that it was impossible to get a quote, or no one would give you a quote online, or all of the quotes were 3x what they should have been and you knew you could offer it for much less to others, or any other legitimate reason to believe that you would have some advantage by going into that industry, then you would likely do well. But that's not what happened because anyone that uses google can get a competitive quote on life insurance very quickly. Hell, I can enter in my info into a calculator and get matched with a list of quotes instantly. It was the very first result I found too. It's as easy as you could make it.

Either way, I hope this business of yours teaches you a bit about sales and having thick skin, those things will be the true return on investment.

 

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