The Best Advice You Could Ever Get about Business
From time to time, my image gets circulated around on Facebook because I bought a certain book (I liked the book – I’m not avoiding the name of it or the author because I have anything negative to say). So, I’ll get message requests and friend requests because people don’t think I’m a real person. I just demolished a 2-pound bag of chicken nuggets. I can assure you – I’m very real.
The questions I get asked are if I really used the methods in the book and if I would recommend the author’s book and other products. The short answers are yes – I did use and benefit from the method and no, I wouldn’t recommend anything besides the one book.
That’s because the author does what most of us do…repackage our material and keep selling it. I’m not upset about it. I just believe that if you are new to business and you don’t have $4,000 to drop on a seminar because then you can’t make rent, pay your bills, and eat…well, you shouldn’t feel pressured into spending money you don’t have; especially since there’s a $20 way to get the same information.
Then, after talking with people for some a while about my experience (because I’m not in a traditional sales job although what I do very much means that I have to sell myself and my ability), I get asked for my best piece of business advice. So, here it is…
The Best Advice You Could Ever Get about Business
The success of your business is directly correlated to your time management skills and your self-discipline. Yeah, I know…those two “dirty words.” Those two concepts separate out people like me who make a living from the comfort of my house and people who say “no one can make a living by writing – it’s impossible.”
It’s not impossible. It’s just that most people don’t want to take responsibility for themselves and their businesses. At the end of every day, moving your business forward (and it’s not an overnight situation…there’s NO SUCH THING AS AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS) is about your self-discipline. It’s about taking action and following up and through.
I tell people that outside of regular business hours, you must find when you’re most productive. Use that time to buckle down and work your business. Turn off the television. Put down your phone. Turn off your notifications. Work. Facebook, Twitter, IG, whatever you waste your time on (and that time does add up) will be there later.
You Gotta Ditch the Excuses
If you want to be successful, you have to ditch the excuses. I hear, “I get distracted easily,” from so many people. Well, congratulations – your social media habits have conditioned your brain to expect instant gratification. If you want to be successful, you gotta ditch the excuses. You’re distracted because you’re tired, not properly hydrated, not eating the right nutrition, and because you don’t want to work on something that you know will take time. Yet, the longer you allow it to set, the less you’ll believe you can do it. So, you have to ditch the excuses and dive in.
And if you don’t? Don’t tell me that it can’t be done because YOU failed. Because I’ll just sit here and cry into my money that I earned with the exact same 24 hours in a day that you have… (and yeah, I’m a mom and a wife…)
