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Failure by design

by Darrin Bentley
4 replies
In the VERY short period of time I decided to fully commit to IM as a business, I have quickly learned quite a few things. These forums (and many others) are GREAT resources to "learn" what you need to do in order to be successful. There are SO many generous people out there who share their insights and knowledge, and do it from a genuine place.

Sure, there are probably twice as many scam artists out there but if you have 1/2 a brain, you start to see through it quickly.

Which comes to my reason for this post. This forum has SUCH a diversified crowd and I think THAT is where the gold is. Seeing all the continued, "How much do I have to do in order to make (insert figure here)?" or "Can I make a million by doing (insert...whatever here) is VERY educating. You realize that there are SO many people that continue to chase something they will never find!

It's almost like a drug addict looking for that perfect fix! They will never find it because they are addicted and don't even know it.

I think I have found out one of the biggest secrets that contribute to failure in this (or any other) business. What to know what it is?

FOCUS (or lack of it)!!!!

If you pick a method, WHATEVER method, and actually work it, you will learn FAST what works and what don't. The actual work required for WHATEVER method you choose is NOT difficult!!! It's the decision to choose that method then putting it into action.

However, when you are spread out across MANY different methods and have NO gameplan, you start to get overwhelmed! I'm talking from experience because I am in that place now. THAT, in and of itself is enough to deter someone to quit!

I am a bright guy and have accomplished many great things in my life. Without a plan, your like a fish flapping around on the beach. You can SEE the water, you know where the water is and most importantly.....YOU WANT THAT WATER, but you can't get to it.

It takes a VERY disciplined person to achieve success when left to their own devices. It's NOT easy when the only person you are held accountable to is yourself.

So, besides having a good business plan in place (which imo is ESSENTIAL), I think time management is almost equally important. Set up a schedule and STICK TO IT! I'm sure everyone of you guys/gals (who I'm relating to with my post) have cell phones with a stop watch.

USE IT! Make a careful schedule and allocate an hour to "this" and an hour to "that", etc. Alarm rings, on to the next task!

There might be one or two people who read this and say, "Yeah, that makes sense....I'm going to do that" and be in the same exact place a week from now.

This will be my last post today because I have WORK TO DO!! Wishing anyone with doubts a LOT of success today!!!
#design #failure
  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    Hello Darrin and welcome to the forum. There are many attributes and behaviors that contribute to success and either total failure or ineffective results. Of course focus is one of them.

    I would add, or suggest, to look deeper if lack of focus is a problem. Like so many other similar "problems," lack of focus is a tangible result of underlying issues. Something's going on that causes a person to lack focus. A similar example, and a problem area for many people, is procrastination.

    Procrastination results from underlying issues such as various kinds of fear. In many cases fear naturally produces avoidance behavior. But then one has to ask what is being avoided and why. There's a thread here about procrastination with a link to an insightful and articulate post about one man's struggle with extreme procrastination. As you can imagine, maybe, his personal issues and struggles are deeply rooted and difficult to overcome. Procrastination is just one result, though.

    I know from considerable personal experience the path to overcome many "issues" on the surface, ie lack of focus or procrastination, is going deeper and within. Gaining a solid understanding enables people to address the root causes in a more effective way.

    Maybe this thread, and my post, are more fitting for the Mind Warriors sub-forum.

    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    Time management and the ability to focus is really what makes or breaks it for most people. Far too many people jump from "method to method" and give up too quickly. Build a plan, stick with it for a few months, and see where you are.

    Also, if you don't treat working from home like working a typical job, it's hard to succeed. Doing a few hours of work in the morning followed by slacking off won't work. I'm up every day at 5:30am and start working around 6:00am. I like to wrap things up in the late afternoon and give myself an 8-10 hour day with some reasonable breaks throughout. I tend to scale it back a little on Saturday and try to take Sunday's off for the most part. (Aside from answering my emails in the AM.)

    And a lot of people actually make the mistake of working TOO MUCH. Which can severely burn them out. (I know this from experience.)
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  • Profile picture of the author devonm
    dang, you hit the nail on the head. I learned now to focus my butt on Youtube as I had one success, one of many future successes there. I got my butt back in gear and turned out 4 videos in the last 18 hours. Thank you for "rubbing it in" correctly.
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  • Profile picture of the author cajtrixie
    Originally Posted by Darrin Bentley View Post

    Set up a schedule and STICK TO IT! I'm sure everyone of you guys/gals (who I'm relating to with my post) have cell phones with a stop watch.

    USE IT! Make a careful schedule and allocate an hour to "this" and an hour to "that", etc. Alarm rings, on to the next task!
    I always have a hard time responding to this statement. XD

    On one hand, I agree ENTIRELY! Allocate a certain amount of time and move on! Most people have not quite developed the self-control needed to know when they can fudge this rule, so just stick to it!

    On the other hand, I schedule my day by the 15 minute mark everyday (and have done so since college), and if there's one thing that I've learned over time, it's that a schedule never stays accurate for long! Something always comes up, things take longer than expected (or shorter, if you're lucky!), and things change constantly.

    So, I'd say that you need to make a schedule and stick to it... until you're experienced enough to know when "another 5 minutes" will ONLY be another 10, and when you can tell the difference between the importance of adding time to one project over another.

    Also, always remember that when your schedule takes longer than planned, that time is coming from somewhere! Make sure to add buffer periods into your schedule just in case. Sooner or later (probably sooner!), you'll be glad that you did! XD lol
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