"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." - Stephen King
Photo by Igor Ovsyannykov on Unsplash
The internet is saturated with gurus touting their amazing ability to cut through all the chaos of running a business the old-fashioned way... hard work, long hours, sweat and stress.
Stop me if you've heard this one- There's an easier way now.
Just try any of the following:
A simple 12-Step Program to Earn 6-Figures in 6 Weeks!
Get 1,000,000 followers in 30 Days!
Create Viral Content in 24 hours!
Be an Instagram Celebrity and Influencer, and get paid to wear bikinis in Maui!
Photo by Daniel van den Berg on Unsplash
Yeah, right. It doesn't work that way. Never has- never will. Sure, there are a handful of success stories that break the mold, but most people simply lack the desire to work hard enough to become great. We tell ourselves we're willing to do anything, but the moment a challenge presents itself- BOOM back to our comfort zone.
Some of the best advice I've received came from a long-time friend, mentor and coach. He told me that if I simply stopped trying to learn the next big thing... stopped chasing that shiny new offer that promised easy success... and instead I focused my energy on applying everything I've already learned, I would be more successful than 90% of the people I meet.
Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash
It was some of the best advice I'd ever received, and even better than that- I applied it (which is not something I tend to do when we receive good wisdom).
Customize a business plan and laser focus your efforts on seeing it through. Be intentional about finishing on top. And most importantly, stop waiting to make sure things are perfect- they won't be.
So true! It’s taking me a long time to embrace this philosophy! Still not quite there, but getting closer! Thanks for the post!
Absolutely Brett- it’s ridiculous how much time we can waste chasing the things we think will save us time and money. There is no shortcut to achieving true greatness.
Great points. One of the things I've noticed in working with smaller businesses recently (having mostly done corporate business consulting before that) is that the main thing I always have to do with the small ones is to take things OFF their plate. They're just trying to make too many different things work at once.
I definitely see that focusing is the most important thing for them to do! Thanks for this article. Just followed you.
Great point! This is a problem for so many small businesses and it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of options for trimming the fat off your “to do” list nowadays. Thanks for the follow!