Almost a third of 2011 has passed and I have one question for you:
Have you achieved everything you had planned to (so far)?
In the vast majority of cases, the answer will be “NO!”
So, as a small business blogger, you know what you want and you have all these good intentions, right?
Update your blog, get a new theme, write a blog post, create your first product, start a joint venture…
Perhaps even more personal like…lose weight, gain weight, stop smoking, start exercising, get a new job, earn more, find a partner…
Gain weight?
Yes, that’s right gain weight.
Anyone know someone who would like to gain weight?
I do. My wife. She would love to put on a few kilos but she can’t. No matter what she eats, she never puts on weight. The bitch! And if you are reading this, darling, I love you.
So back to all these good intentions and plans.
So, why don’t you start some of them? As a small business blogger…you want to succeed, right?
I tell you why.
Because you don’t really want to achieve them. Honestly, you don’t. You think you do but, believe me, you don’t. Otherwise you would have started by now.
The ONLY way you will achieve your goals is if you are naturally passionate about them. That passion is deep inside you.
You can’t make the passion up. You have to want to achieve your goals so much you will do anything to achieve it.
Maybe you have started, have you?
How easily are you distracted?
You are on a diet and you are invited out to the fancy new restaurant in town. What picture does that conjure up in your mind? What words does your inner voice say to you?
“You must go, the food is wonderful and you can always exercise a bit more the next day”
Or
“Remember you want to be slim. Don’t go”
A good friend of mine used to smoke. He decided to give up. He could no longer afford to smoke. Within one day he had given up. No cutting down, no patches, just 20 a day to none. He has not smoked for 21 years.
His passion and determination for not smoking was bigger than the benefit he got from smoking.
So what are your goals?
Do you really, really want them?
Use these ratings:
1: being “not too sure if I want it”
through to
10: being “NOTHING is getting in my way, absolutely NOTHING, my sole purpose is…”
And on a scale of 1 to 10, rate your passion on each of your goals.
Any 9 or 10’s?
Yes, then that is great. You can only succeed.
Anything lower than a nine then you are not going to ever reach your goal. I hope I am wrong and let me know if I am.
Anything lower than a 9 and you will be distracted, you will find excuses not to do things, you will easily be knocked off track and I guarantee one thing:
“You’ll start tomorrow”
How much have you achieved this year? As much as you expected?
Please share your views in the comments below.
P.S. Picture of my wife, Joy (just for Dennis!)
First of all, it needs to be said that I find close to nothing more annoying than people who want to GAIN weight. I’m sure your wife is a lovely woman, don’t get me wrong, but seriously, who wants to gain weight? In short, I’m just jealous 😉 I could not agree more, though, that a natural affinity/passion for something is what will ultimately lead a person to achieve their goals, short- and long-term. If you’re not doing something for the ‘right’ reasons, you’ll never do it well, or at least not for long.
Petra
My wife can eat anything and does little exercise but she is very slim…well perfect!
So I’m jealous as well!
Andrew
I would love to disagree with this entire post – but I simply can’t. Throughout my life I’ve known people who say things like, “oh, I’ve always wanted to live on a ranch”…and I said, “ok, move in” and they so, “oh, no, I couldn’t do that”. I said, “sure you can – there’s a room for you and I’ll use my truck and trailer and get others and we’ll help you move”.
Having removed all obstacles (how, where, when) they “just can’t”. Oh I see. They didn’t REALLY “always want to live on a ranch”. That is just something they tell themselves but didn’t actually want to do in reality.
So THAT is the question: do you REALLY want to blog for a small business. If the real answer is an emphatic YES! then you need a plan. Lucky for you, Andrew offers one – his Income Blogging Guide could work for you – and there are many other bloggers like me willing to send you traffic and support your efforts (but you have to ask).
Exactly, Gail!
Just like those who say, “I’d like a million dollars”.
Ask them what they would do with it and other than travel (or perhaps a new car / house)…they don’t know.
Thanks for the shout, re: my course.
Andrew
I think that many small business bloggers fail because they don’t plan accordingly. They have the passion and drive, but they may not see the direct benefit from blogging and send their resources elsewhere. They may have a goal of “increasing business” but either aren’t sure how blogging will get them there or have had lackluster results with it in the past. It’s up to people like you and me to show them that blogging can be a great tool in their arsenal.
Great post and very motivating!
Courtney
I agree…many have the goal of “increasing business” but aren’t sure how to.
So they should break the goal down into small ones and the first goal could be ‘find out how to increase business’!
Andrew
Wow this year’s going fast, I still remember 31st December, and i was writing my goals to achieve this year. I think they need to be relooked at, but your right, besides having Passion for your goals, it’s also setting the right mindset so that you stay focused and don’t drift away from your goals.
Wasim
Time is flying by…I agree.
I tend to make monthly goals. That way each month I know what I have to achieve.
Andrew
Seriously excellent post! Also, your service here really interests me, I’ll pass it along! One point in particular is that Google is seriously pushing for grading their search results based on ‘good quality websites’. With this clearly being the future of search engines, it is of the utmost importance that you have passion and dedication to your blog if you want it to succeed. Thanks for the post!
Jon,
For any small business owner I would recommend having a blog and you are right about the future of blogging and Google.
Blogging does take a lot of work…but small business owners can easily outsource the creation and running of it.
Andrew
As a blogger, I am frustrated that my blog progress quite slowly.Little traffic, no income, I need to speed things up
David,
What are you going to do to speed things up?
Andrew
Self sabotage has always been my thing. I don’t know why or where it comes from, but it’s a nasty bugger to deal with.
Btw, that wife better be hot. LOL
Dennis,
My wife is very hot!
I added a picture in the post – just for you!
Andrew
LOL thanks for the label.
Ya know, immediately following my submit I thought, oh man I hope he gets the joke. lol
Yeah…I got it but still wanted to add a pic!
Andrew
Discipline is harder when you’re self-employed because as a business owner, no one else is around to whip you into shape. Complacency also plays a big role into why we can’t seem to make the changes we want.
I agree…being your own boss can be hard at times.
Andrew
Motivation isn’t enough, and sometimes I wonder if passion isn’t enough, either. It takes discipline, and honesty with yourself.
Delena
Delena
Agreed!
…and action!
Andrew
Put me into the lucky basket. I’ve achieved a lot this year – and most of it was due to good fortune – the rest was due to my hard efforts.
In a percentage wise, I’m about 70% done with my goals for 2011!
Ayden
70% – that’s brill!
Sounds like you may need to review your 2011 goals and add some more!
Andrew