Why Being Busy Doesn't Make You A Better Entrepreneur

Are you pulled away each time the phone buzzes, the calendar chimes or Facebook calls?

Do you keep putting things off?

Owners who suffer from the disease of distraction have created their own disorganized environment.

Such as, flashy studio equipment, multiple screens, the latest Facebook features, and every marketing gimmick that comes across their news feed.

Most entrepreneurial types get bored with routine.

Boredom is an occupational hazard and shows up when we have acquired the mastery necessary to take the business to the next level.

Influencers tend to get restless and need constant stimulation.

This is when they start looking for the “new thing” that will spark feelings of momentary satisfaction.

They end up creating more offers, opening more locations, launching new brands or hiring more people and they grow too big too fast.

This is the perfect storm for great loss and endless chaos.

Excellent entrepreneurs have learned that even though ideas start businesses, attention makes them successful.

They have also experienced that “shooting-from-the-hip” decisions no longer suffice.

One’s mental attitude and one’s physical environment are as closely connected as twin sisters.

The effects of my own environment so influenced me that I was forced to make the decision to sell out or let the business fail.

As I reflect way back on my first business, the front end of my business was booming but the back end, the glue that held everything together, was missing.

I literally sat down on the side of my bed and looked out my bedroom window, overlooking the ocean, and thought to myself,

"Is this how I want to live my life?" "I am exhausted & overwhelmed."

I thought to myself, "If owning a business is like this then I can't do this the rest of my life."

I stopped, sought out help, took an honest assessment of the entire business and took responsibility.

This was when I discovered the magic pill for success... and I took it.

I found this magic pill to have an irresistible power and quickly learned that anyone can take it.

It releases the power to make more, be more and, in some instances, improve one’s physical well-being.

It will give you opportunities for better positions in life for which you are fitted.

Through the aid of the magic pill the world’s greatest inventions were birthed.

It has been the unseen promoter for all great geniuses of the present and past.

Suppose you are a business owner, in a service provider role, and you want to scale your impact and leave a lasting legacy.

The magic pill will help you attain it!

It will turn failure into success and gloom into joy!

You ask – “What is the magic pill?”

I will answer with one word – Focus!

Now let me define focus as I am using it here.

It is the ability to organize your knowledge into a plan of action that is sound and workable.

More so... it is the ability to control your thoughts and direct them to a definite end.

How did I learn to harness the power of focus to drive my results and live with time freedom and predictably sustain my profits month after month?

It would take days for me to tell you all the details of how I do this. However here a few for you to consider as you develop more focus.

1. Start with a definite end in mind.

Suppose your prime ambition is far above your present situation in life.

So what? You are entitled, no you are commissioned, to aim high in life.

You owe it to yourself and to everyone who will be touched by your life to set a high standard for yourself.

Working from a definite end will save you the wasted effort which the majority of people expend trying to find their life work.

Most owners start a business and the only goal they have is to make “x” amount of dollars in “x” amount of time.

Having this as your primary target will surely sink your ship.

Owners who set objectives based on giving high value to a group of people in the world. While aiming to be better people as they are serving others these are the owners that become the gold standard in their industry.

Successful businesses do not set out to make money. They set out to solve a problem. This direct approach to delivering value brings them the highest return on their investment.

There is a problem that you can solve better than anyone else in the world. Search until you find out what that is, make it the object of your aim and then organize all your forces to attack it with the belief you’re going to win!

To emphasize this principle, that drives focus, I need to clarify with one important point - to shore up achievement, one’s definite end in life must be backed up with desire.

2. Create a burning desire.

Napoleon Hill said, “Nothing has ever been created by an extortionary leader that was not first created in the imagination, with great desire, then transform that vision into reality through focus!”

Science has proven, leaving little room for doubt, that any deeply rooted desire will saturate the whole body and mind and literally transform the thoughts we think into physical reality.

If what we desire and what we are thinking are not in alignment, then our brains will win every single time.

Owners who are not getting what they want are looking for the obvious problem to their downfall. They are looking for something they can address and that makes them feel in control.

For example, they will buy new tools, build a new website, hire a graphic designer, hire new people or join another group. When they fail to make the amount of money, they want they give in or give up.

They conclude that they aren’t a “marketer”, “they “aren’t good at sales” or say, “I have not chosen the right “niche”, so I need to move on to something else”.

Some leaders are successful as long as someone else is doing the work they “aren’t good at” or “don’t want to do”.

Some owners are successful in spite of all hell coming at them!

Which one do you choose to be?

If you want to leverage burning desire, then stop focusing on what you don’t want. Like, “I don’t want to be poor”, or “I don’t want people to think I am a failure”.

Picture in your mind an oil lantern. When lit, it gives sight to the one who is holding it, as well as anyone close by. It illuminates their path where they can clearly see where to go next. When the lamp goes out, they are helpless to move without the risk of great danger.

The lantern is your definite aim. It holds everything that is valuable to you as an owner. Through it, you can see the world more clearly.

The oil is your burning desire. It is the fuel to bring your chief aim to light. It’s what brightens your path so you can walk it with confidence.

Just like there is not an endless supply of oil in a lamp that is filled to the full once, you have to refill your definite aim with a burning desire to keep it shining bright.

To access the storehouse of desire available to you requires that you understand the role ambition plays in your success.

3. Stoke your desire with ambition.

Ambition can get a bad rap for its effect on mental health especially when it’s connected to high standards of achievement.

Ambition can be learned.

However, most “self-help” guides on ambition focus on achieving balance.

Striving for “balance” is a bad idea and only makes ambitious people make bad decisions that lead them to destruction.

Synergy allows you to combine ambition with those activities that will help you deliver your highest value to your clients and your life without compromising yourself or your goals.

Ambition, as I know it, is keeping my convictions high in the services I offer by saying, “no” to anything that would dilute my credibility.

It’s not about getting more. It’s about who I am becoming in the process.

Ambition gets me out of bed and keeps me asking hard questions that allow me to serve clients, friends and family better.

If my zeal leads me away from my convictions I quickly stop and re-focus on the reason I am ambitious anyway.

If boredom sets in, I can revisit my passion and daily activities and see what is out of alignment.

Ambition helps me correct as well as set the course for my destination.

Focus is not easily acquired without the companions of ambition and desire.

The ability to focus is nothing more than a matter of control of your attention.

This post was not written as an argument, nor as a subject of a debate. It is your right to accept it, altogether or in parts, or you can reject it. Whatever you want.

If you found this valuable let me know!