Internet Business — Implementation Comes After Planning
Feb 8 by Marcus Hochstadt | Posted in Business
Yes, planning and fine-tuning the “who, what, where, why and how” of your Internet business is vital to its success. But success is unlikely to come knocking on your door anytime soon if you don’t get your feet off the ground and execute that plan of yours.
There are many people out there who are extremely meticulous planners. You know the kind. They’ll draw up a plan so intricate, that it covers every possible detail imaginable, and probably even contains several best and worst-case scenarios plus an odd back-up plan or two. That’s all swell, until they wake up one day a year later and realize they’re still planning while others who started out with them have an up-and-running Internet business—a few of them even a profitable one.
So what’s the catch? The catch is a 15-letter word that we are all very familiar with: procrastination. It’s that torturous battle to get things done on time, or done at all. That e-mail you never get down to answering, that e-book you simply “haven’t had time” to write, that potential client you’ve been meaning to contact. It’s that Internet business plan you still haven’t implemented.
Why do people procrastinate? Is it because they’re lazy or because they lack the will power? Surprisingly, in most cases, it’s neither of those. Procrastination is usually a symptom of being a perfectionist.
Take our meticulous planner for instance: he gets a brilliant idea, he puts incredible effort into outlining his execution plan, but somehow, the plan just never seems good enough. So he puts his thinking cap back on and continues to plan, hoping to do so until the outcome is perfect. By definition, the perfectionist never achieves perfection.
The result is, as I call it, a vicious circle of planning-thinking-planning. He rarely actually executes the plan for fear of not doing it right, or for fear of rejection. He’s afraid of feeling helpless, powerless or disappointed if things don’t go smoothly or straight up. He might even be afraid of getting negative feedback from other people.
To err is human and nobody is perfect. And so, we must learn to forgive ourselves more for our mistakes and learn from them. Get started no matter what—despite those fears. You can always fine-tune at later stages.
Stand up before everyone else. Jump over a hurdle in lightning speed so a thought of “should I or not” doesn’t have a chance to occur. Kick butt fear of rejection by having confidence front and center in your mind. Confidence beats every fear.
One beauty of the Internet is that it is an ever-evolving and versatile environment, where many issues can quickly be resolved. It’s learning curve is steep and you will master many obstacles in a short period of time. Every expert started out as a novice at one point in time.
A good technique to curb procrastination is making a list of your goals and then utilizing The Power Of Deadlines. Also, have a look at Brian Tracy’s short yet powerful video I posted the other Sunday. Giving yourself a pat on the shoulder once in a while would be beneficial too (instead of damaging words and thoughts about yourself.)
But most of all, be brave, understand your fears, and get over them. If you do that, you’re well on your way to starting your very own successful Internet business. Or…
How often do you postpone?
How do you handle perfectionism?
How about fear?
What are your plans for overcoming daily hurdles?
—Marcus Hochstadt
3 CommentsPermalink Tags: action, deadlines, procrastination, progress
How Does “Trying” Work?
Jan 18 by Marcus Hochstadt | Posted in Challenges
How often do we use the word “try”? Things like…
“Thanks; I’ll try that.”
“Let’s try this out and see how it works.”
“You better try this instead of that.”
How does “to try” work? Here’s an example…
Try to grab a glass of water with your right hand. It’ll work if you’d just try. ;-)
The result… You either do grab the glass or you don’t; there is no try. (”Try” does sound softer though, doesn’t it?)
Here’s a hint: When you try you start the vicious circle of thinking-planning-thinking. The word “do,” on the other hand, is a lot more powerful (yet carries some sort of a commitment with it, right?). So let’s reword the above a little…
“Thanks; I’ll do that.”
“Let’s do this and see how it works.”
“You better do this instead of that.”
Does sound better, doesn’t it?
Now, take a look at the words you choose throughout the day. How often do you use the word “try”? How much more power would you give your mind when you’d use the word “do” instead?
Well, why not simply try do it to see the results? ;-)
—Marcus Hochstadt
2 CommentsPermalink Tags: acting, action
Education Or Entertainment?
Jan 12 by Marcus Hochstadt | Posted in Business
Do you buy Internet business related products for education or for entertainment?
I figured there are two kinds of people in the Internet Marketing world… those who buy products that educate them and bring their Internet business to the next level, and those who buy products so they can read, listen to, or watch how something works. Then they talk about it (perhaps,) but put it on the shelf fairly quickly (after a couple hours or days) and without considerable action.
The first group is of those whose Internet business improves and thrives. The other group, the majority, is of those who are kind of addicted to buying product after product after product because “this one is different.” They think the product launch they’re following right now would really be THE key to succeed online. But once the dust and excitement of the product launch disappears their motivation and commitment (if there was any) vanishes as well.
It seems to be a hobby for them to collect products in their shelves and hard drives; to feel great to own this and that expensive item. But do they actually do something with the gained knowledge and tools?
Those who boost their Internet business are those who take at least one ingredient from a product or tool they purchased and put that into action IMMEDIATELY no matter what. They are eager to get the results it is supposed to bring. They wanna know if the product or tool delivers what it promised on the sales page. They care less about the actual cost of the item but about the positive effects it will bring to their Internet business.
They repeatedly look for ways to improve their bottom line.
Here’s a challenge…
Are you… no, to how many Internet Marketing newsletters are you subscribed to? I mean those that are merely set up to sell you something based on that Free Report you downloaded the other day, or the low-priced product you purchased the other night and they now want to sell you more, more, more in the upcoming weeks and months.
Take a look if you took any action based on what you purchased (other than thinking, planning, thinking, and planning.) If not, I encourage you to unsubscribe from those lists where you just read and purchased but did not do anything aside from staying within the vicious circle of thinking and planning. Focus on those that really teach you something; those where you found yourself putting something into action in order to bring your Internet business to the next level.
Or are you subscribed to a couple lists only to pick gems of wisdom that improve your productivity and profitability? If so, I congratulate you. You’re well on your way (but you know that anyway. ;-)
The key is to not slap yourself for all the purchases you did but to ACT upon it.
Go through the products and tools, one-by-one. Yes, pick only ONE for now, then start developing ideas based on what you read, listened to, or watched. How and what can you implement to your own Internet business? What do you think needs to be improved?
Do that; NOW!
–Marcus Hochstadt
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