Strange time in which we live.
At my age, I’ve lived through most of life’s ups and downs. And believe me when I say what we’re experiencing today is new to me. I marvel at how many of us are handling current situations rather well.
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Sadly, today’s c
onditions have many in a funk. It is in our nature to be positive. And all living organisms have but two basic motivations: survive and reproduce. That’s it.
Our universal life of wants is self-created. That is not in our DNA. Because we’ve had many years of great prosperity, some cannot deal with the peer pressure imposed by society. It is not enough to say, “suck it up,” or “cowboy up.”
All of us get into a funk once in a while. By that, I mean the ‘business blahs’ when you’d rather be anywhere else doing something different or nothing at all.
What to do? What to do?
There is great value to reading The Power of Positive Thinking. First published in 1952 that book is translated into more than 40 languages. There are many self-help books and podcasts available to us today. The Power of Positive Thinking helped me through many difficult life situations. I find it of great value creating customers for my business.
Positive thinking cannot pull you through tough times unless you believe you can make it. However, I don’t want to get too involved in discussing visualization exercises. But it is true you can achieve more by visualizing success.
Here’s an example from a book by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, also written many years ago. Psycho-Cybernetics introduced Maltz’s views that people must have an accurate and positive view of themselves before setting goals. Otherwise, they will get stuck in a continuing pattern of limiting beliefs.
The revolutionary book has been a best-seller every year since 1960. And there is also a best-selling list of companion books sharing more details to cure the inner self-image scars. They teach you to heal the inner self. And not rely on just the way others see you.
Your self-image is important when creating customers. If you are not positive in your thinking that is transmitted by your attitude and communication. Think of the walking dead in business. Those expecting layoff or termination develop an aura others sense. And people like that are usually manifesting internal understanding they should be released.
Because good things seem to come to those expecting success we marvel at how “lucky” they are. Luck has nothing to do with it. But some people seem to have the ability to will good results. And that is due to preparation, not a mysterious power. Their power is in the preparation.
Psycho-Cybernetics at Work.
30 high school athletes were taken to a gym where each attempted 10 shots from the basketball court foul line. The results of each were recorded. And the athletes then spent the next week preparing for another round of tests.
One group of ten practiced each day at the gym. Another group of ten athletes did nothing. The last group spent time each day visualizing the act of taking a foul shot in detail.
When retested the group that practiced in the gym improved on their original score. There was no change in the group that did not practice or visualized the process. However, the visualization group improved more than those practicing in the gym.
I introduced my son to visualization and he greatly improved his Little League baseball batting average. And my wife uses visualization to stay on top of her skeet and trap shooting. Most athletes use visualization techniques to improve their performance. That’s especially true for Formula 1 and other race car drivers.
Our Nature
Success is in our nature. Remember the two primary motivations of living organisms: Survive and Reproduce. Our problem is simply we’ve given in to other motivations. Peer pressure is the greatest of all. We give in to our peer group without thinking about it.
Our family, friends, school mates and others in our lives mold us away from DNA-driven motivation. In difficult times we react using the tools that got us where we are. Those tools are frequently flawed and prevent us from acting with the strength we are born with. We adapt our nature to be accepted by one group or another.
Our nature from birth is to please. The lucky among us look to ourselves first. They are not selfish. They are following their nature. The rest of us want acceptance. That spills over into our professional life along with our personal.
The desire for acceptance skews our personality. I believe it makes us unoriginal. And it is our originality driving our success. We must give up what we are to be all we can be.
Focus on what you want to achieve. Understand the goal. But focus on the process. Find your mentoring system and learn the process.
Simple Solutions
Understand the nature of change. Do not make yourself crazy. Relax and accept ideas new to you. Get back to the basics of who you are. Take advantage of your instincts. Or simply “follow your gut.”
As children, we instinctively know what is right and what is wrong. Over time society strips that away. Not everything is okay. Just because your tribe does something does not make it okay.
Reclaim your instinct and learn how to deal with obstacles, not of your making.
Problems may interfere with our online business thinking. They contaminate our mental processes. We don’t take care of business. We give in to easy distractions.
When that happens do something, anything, as long as it relates to your business. Don’t clean your desk or play with email. Attack your ‘to-do’ list with energy and don’t worry if what you are doing is good or not.
Whatever you do for your business is pretty much okay as long as you do something. And do it now. Of course, I don’t mean setting a fire or trashing your computer. That’s silly. I mean doing something, anything to move toward your goals is okay.
And you should do it. You need to do it.
New Thoughts
My mentor said, “If it is worth doing it is worth doing poorly.” In other words, do not let the fear of a mistake keep you from doing something. Do not worry about being perfect.
I was told by a psychologist friend, “Most people don’t know what is okay. They never reach their full potential. By holding themselves back because they do not know what is okay.”
So, here are some tips to help you know that in business just about everything is okay. Let’s use writing a blog as an example.
- Write a series of blog posts now. Just start key stroking into your word processor what is on your mind. Write and write without rereading, editing, or taking a break. Let the thoughts flow. You will be surprised how much you can transcribe in an hour and with simple editing you have two, three, or more posts within that one writing session.
- If you have trouble putting your thoughts on paper get a voice recognition program like Dragon and talk your thoughts into text. This allows you to speak as to a friend. Speak like telling a friend about your business and why you got into it. I often use Dragon software but prefer keying in my words. In junior high school, I learned what we called touch typing when very young and can type faster than most people. I like to see the words come together on a page. Whatever works for you….do it and do it now.
- Ask for help when really stumped. Most of us making money online respond well to people who try to solve a problem on their own before waving a white flag. Researching an answer is more involved than looking up my email address and asking me. Give it a try. You will be amazed at what you learn along the way.
- Rinse and repeat. After taking action do it again. Make action a habit. Laziness is a habit easily broken. Force yourself to action. Many overweight people gain pounds eating when they are bored. They would shed unwanted body weight with an activity that absorbed their thoughts completely. No boredom, no eating. Simple. The same is with business. Notice how time flies when fully engaged like when having fun?
- Focus – focus – focus – focus. Writing a successful blog means writing about your passion. Do not write about my passion or copy someone else. Write about your passion. Ben Franklin wrote, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.” I have that posted above my computer screen and work hard to achieve either choice.
- Keep a list of problems. Sometimes we just cannot think of the first words to put on paper or our computer screen. Whenever you encounter a business or work problem write a simple one-line description of the problem. Then when you get stuck look at your problem list and write a solution for one or more and make each solution a blog post.
- Look at your customer. Keep your customers and clients in mind. What do they want to know? What problems do they need help solving? Use comments posted on your blog to generate ideas for future blog posts.
Always Focus on Customer Wants and Needs
Many years ago I worked for a technology company that spent tons of money developing a solution for a problem not considered a problem by customers. It was a nifty device that brought crowds to our trade show booth. That device-generated no sales.
Make sure you know what your customers (readers and followers) want to know. Or what they want to have in their tool kit.
Good luck with your work today and remember the purpose of business is to create customers.
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