HINT: LOOK IN THE MIRROR
Which do you want to hear first, the good news, or the tough news?
In your own business, you don’t have to punch a time clock, you don’t have to answer to anyone… you have no boss. That’s the good news.
In your own business, you don’t have to punch a time clock, you don’t have to answer to anyone… you have no boss. That’s the tough news, too.
Many of us enter the world of Internet marketing for the freedom it represents:
- freedom to work when you want,
- how you want,
- and with whom you want.
- Freedom from oppressive corporate structures and strictures.
- Freedom to work from home–to work for yourself.
Ahh–there’s the catch, those last two words: for yourself.
That freedom is at once the beauty and the challenge of the business. The truth is, you do have a boss, after all–but this is only true if you acknowledge it to be so and act on it.
Actually, that’s not quite it: it’s not you that is the boss, it is your plan.
Your plan runs your business; you are your plan’s employee.
Additionally, having a plan alone is not enough.
A plan is worth nothing unless you have a commitment to follow it.
Here’s a great way to measure the power and effectiveness of your commitment:
What happens when Murphy drops in to visit? Time and time again, I’ve seen people have the best of intentions for the week, only to have an “unexpected emergency” (is there any other kind?) completely scuttle their week. That doesn’t work. Unplanned things always come up. If you were drawing a paycheck at a conventional job, how often would you just not show up for a week because the bathroom flooded or your family came to visit?
Of course, life happens; if the four hours you’d planned on spending on your business today got suddenly sabotaged by a houseful of kids unexpectedly home with the flu, the glory of this business is, you have the flexibility to accommodate that.
Having commitment alone is not enough, either.
Commitment without a practicable plan to be committed to is simply good intentions (the kind that makes for good paving but not necessarily for desirable destinations).
Your commitment needs to have the right object. Can you, for example, say, “I am committed to having the next three people I talk to join my business”? No; it doesn’t work to be committed to a specific result, because you cannot control what others will do.
What you can be committed to, what you can control, is your actions.
You can be committed to a plan of action–to what you will do.
Here’s a thought… The first time you don’t complete your committed action plan, you are fined with all the proceeds going to charity. The second time, you are not fined–you are fired. Washed out of the program. Flunked. No Refunds.
Guess how many will actually flunk out? On average, 45 percent. Nearly half of all the people who pay good money to join a good program, with the full foreknowledge of its requirements and the rules of the game, and with all the best intentions in the world to do the work, don’t.
It’s safe to say that well over half of those who start a home based business are not committed to their business.
When I look at those I’ve worked with in my ventures, I’ve discovered about the same statistics. It is even somewhat predictable who will succeed and who will flunk out.
Those who take their business seriously and hold themselves accountable with practical, tangible, and measurable weekly goals have much greater success.
Those who let circumstances control their lives and have no real commitment to their own business eventually quit. They may feel the business really didn’t work FOR them, but in reality, they never worked THEIR business.
So, what’s the difference between those who succeed and those that fail?
Their boss!
Those that are succeeding have a boss – themselves, their plan, and their commitment. Those that fail have NO boss – circumstances rule their day, they have no plan, and have the commitment of a Kamakazi pilot on his 39th mission.
“When you discipline yourself to do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.” — Zig Ziglar
