Adventures in Lifestyle Design from a Path Less Traveled
The Most Important Decision You Need to Make About Your Business
Danger! Cliche Alert – This blog post contains references to Anthony Robbins and Napoleon Hill.
So, I’ve been noticing a few things lately.
There’s really one key decision that you have to make about your online business that will really determine whether or not you’re going to succeed.
If you chose to approach it from one angle, the odds are stacked against you, and there’s a pretty good chance that you’re probably not going to “make it.”
If you chose to approach it from the other angle, you’re much more likely to actually succeed no matter what happens.
What is this key decision?
It’s the choice between whether your online adventures are a hobby or a serious endeavor.
Sometimes when I work on mindless stuff that doesn’t require a lot of heavy-duty mental thinking, I like to listen to things and feed the old noggin.
Well, the other day I was listening to some Tony Robbins and I heard something I never heard him say before that really resonated with me.
He has this distinction between “musts” and “shoulds.” I could probably explain it with lots of words, but why not let him do it for me :)
[Edit: Apparently, I cannot embed this particular YouTube video, but you can watch it on YouTube here. Just promise me, you'll come back and finish reading this post!]
Napoleon Hill even wrote about this when talking about burning the ships so that you have no option but to succeed.
So What Does This Have to Do with Your Website?
Well, if you approach this from the mindset of the hobbyist, you’re just testing the waters. You’re maybe not sure if this whole “online thing” will work.
You approach with caution and suspicion. You’re not willing to devote yourself to it and you demand that it prove itself to you first. You’re willing to maybe spend a day or two dabbling in it, but, dang it, if those hundred dollar bills don’t start flying out of your computer screen (like in that cheesy stock photo you saw) after a week, then it obviously “doesn’t work” and you’re going to give up.
You probably know that you should be building links, you should be collecting emails through an opt-in form, you should be trying to sell stuff…
…But you know. Life gets in the way. So you put it on hold until things die down at work. Or until the holiday season is over. Or (the biggest death-nail of all) you learn more and gather more information.
However, if this is a serious endeavor, your mindset is much different.
You’re not wondering “will this work?” You instead must make it work.
This is the kind of mindset that people like me have, who are virtually un-employable. There really is no Plan B here.
This isn’t something that we do because we don’t like the rush hour commute to work. This is something that we do because we need to pay the bills and we have dreams of eating more than Top Ramen for the rest of our lives (though the beef picante flavor is actually quite tasty).
The question isn’t “will this work?” but instead it’s “how can I make this work?”
Here’s the Part with Some Mental Voodoo
The second question presupposes that it is somehow possible to “make it work” and it focuses the mind on finding solutions.
The first question fills the mind with uncertainty and doubt about whether it’s possible and focuses your thoughts on all the reasons it won’t work.
Now which mindset do you think is more likely to produce action, results, and (more importantly) money?
If every step you take is filled with doubt and hesitation, it will take you significantly longer to do anything (if you even do anything at all). And when you do take action it will be so cautious and small that it will probably be ineffective (kind of like asking out a really hot girl by approaching her in a nervous and mumbling way).
If you assume that it is possible to make money online (some way, somehow), and you not only should find a way to make it work, but you must make it work… Then your mind will find ways to make it work. Even if you try things and they fail, you’ll keep trying again and again until it starts to pay off.
So, which mindset do you have about your online business?
Is it something you’re just doing to “see what happens”? Or is this something that you must make work no matter what?
If this is just a hobby for you, today, I challenge you to change your “shoulds” to “musts” and treat this online business thing like a serious endeavor.
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Hey Clayton, I think i can recall Tony saying this but it wasn’t one of the things that stuck in my mind. Was it on Personal Power II?
Anyway it’s true what you are saying. Most of the times we tend to jump into new projects uncertain if it will work out in the end,then we make decisions which aren’t firm and concrete. Personally, I need to learn the difference between stupidly diving into things assuming that they are the magic bullet and other real paths that will do good for my online business. At the moment i seem to be a master at jumping into the stupid things and then getting serious about something that won’t work, which leads me no where.
Great post!
@Kian, Hey you’re in Singapore, right? This was actually from a seminar that Tony did in Singapore (I think…)
Yeah, it’s easy to start new things and to jump in, but I think the real power come in follow through. Getting distracted by the “new shiny thing” is easy, but to actually follow through on that can be tough. Who knows, maybe those courses that don’t work actually do if you apply yourself 100%. That’s how I found success with the affiloblueprint course :)
Hey Clayton, I’m actually not in Singapore, although I travel there all the time (was there a few months ago)! Thanks I am definitely learning how narrowing your focus can do so many good things in your life. It can be challenge to do though!
“your standard is to accept where you are” and “we always make it harder than it needs to be” how true!
You see it so many times, whether you are trolling through IM forums or life in general – the attitude of “I can’t do this because ….” Those that succeed have the ability to change that to “I HAVE to do this because ….”
Rach
PS – Nice to see you back dude :)
@Rach72, Thanks, with any luck I’ll have a bit of breathing room to actually take care of this blog from here on out :)
PS: It it just me or are you more busy than you’ve ever been in your life these days?
No its not just you – it seems that the more I tell myself that I can do, the more I am actually doing ….! At least now it is an enjoyable voluntary busy rather than a ‘life throwing things at you’ busy :)
Fantastic post, Clayton!
Now that I think about it, I had that experience just in the last few days. Most of November, I kept telling myself that I SHOULD work on my novel. But in the last few days (especially the last day or two), I changed it to I MUST write, and I was able to reach my goal.
Thanks for the reminder!
@Grady, Thanks, but I’m afraid, I’ll have to defer credit on this one to Tony Robbins :)
Well i am serious but success is still far far. Let hope good for next 6 month. I did made some goals for 2012. Let see, i will work hard.
@Rahul, That’s great that you’ve already made some goals for 2012! I’ve got some myself, but I haven’t quite mapped them out just yet. I’m sure with a little work, we can both reach our goals :)
[...] Top Ramen is started to grow on me, I have decided that I’m going to earn a decent living online no matter what it takes in [...]
Awesome post Clayton. Just checked your blog after a long time..the design has changed and also the posts keep getting better! Good stuff
@Anurag, Thanks. I was so choked with too much work that I didn’t have much time to write here for a while, but now I’m back at it :)