Business is merely a small, yet important part of your life.
Sometimes it is all too easy to get consumed by trying to make your online business grow, and there are some things you need to take into consideration when creating and running your own business…
- Creating and running your business is a journey, not a race
- There are certain phases you will go through with your personal development as you and your business progress along side each other.
#1- Has your life been filled with upsides, downsides, struggles, and triumphs? Has your life been an even-keel experience for you?
If you’re like everyone else on this planet, it probably hasn’t…
Therefore, you need to accept the fact that there will be triumphs and glory and despair and frustrations with your particular business.
Knowing this and believing it can actually set your mind free because it could dampen any frustrations you experience with your business.
Business owners tend to worry about each and every aspect of their businesses, especially if they’re one-man (or woman) shows…
Sole proprietorships are more often than not just jobs with an LLC or corporation or some sort of legal entity attached to them.
The reason for this is sole proprietors tend to get caught up with doing almost everything themselves and a lot of time is wasted.
The beauty of having your own online business is:
- There’s a lot of automation that can be included in your virtual real estate empire (SEO, email marketing, affiliate programs)
- The low-cost of entry into the online business world makes it easier to succeed (but also attracts a higher percentage of unrealistic dreamers.)
- It works 24 hours a day, even while you’re sleeping, unlike the offline world where there are dedicated hours of business
- It’s a challenging and rewarding experience whereby even non-business-savvy folks can make it through sheer persistence
There is a story (true) that I like to tell my clients when I see the time is right for them to learn this particular lesson…
I ran 2 Boston Marathons and completed them, but it pretty much destroyed my knees. The goal wasn’t to get a good time, merely to finish…
Life is much like a marathon, in that you keep on chugging away until you reach that finish line.
If things are going rather poorly for you, you might consider quitting or dropping out or being complacent and this leads to you not reaching your goals.
When I was taking psychology courses in high school and college, they often mentioned the concept of self-actualization. To me, this terms basically means “reaching your full potential” as a person.
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If you don’t meet and overcome obstacles, you will not grow as a person.
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If you don’t try to break thorugh comfort zones you will not grow as a person
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When you do overcome obstacles, you realize that you’re a pretty tough cookie
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When you do break through comfort zones, you may realize you were being complacent and that it really wasn’t as hard as you thought it was (looking back with 20/20 hindsight)
When I ran the marathons, I never thought I wouldn’t finsih.. That idea never actually occurred to me and that’s an important concept to absorb…
To know I didn’t quit… realizing that the thought never occurred to me… those are the true rewards of running a marathon.
I’m definitely not the fastest marathoner who ever ran/walked the Boston Marathon, and not an elite runner, but it was the journey that was the reward…not the race, not the time, not the name in the local newspaper, not the congratulations from family and friends…
The reward was revealed to me between miles 1 and 26.2… 
Running your own business is much like a marathon, too
You don’t have to be the best to get to the finish line…
There are times where you will want to quit…
There are times you wonder why the heck you ever wanted to do this in the first place…
It is so easy and immediately gratifying to quit when you feel like it, and that’s where you need to take an assessment of yourself.
Do you want the easy way out whereby you gain a little by doing a little, or do you want to grow by leaps and bounds by forging on ahead through the toughest of times, when you rmind and body are working against you?
In life, everyone experiences their hardships and we all move on, and in business there are certain stages you will go through.
Sometimes it takes getting burned numeorus times before you realize some important lessons.
Your mistakes are valuable lessons that can help you and your business grow in tandem…
However, if you go through life and business with Mind Wide SHUT, and not Mind wide OPEN, then you’ll never learn anything.
You need to be aware of the lessons and teachers that surround you daily…
One of my greatest teachers is currently 9 years old. He has taught me more about life than any book, person, movie or whatever…
Because I watched a young child grow, I learned what true happiness can be…
Young children act like “babies” sometimes when they give full vent to their emotions, but they’re also incredibly resilient because of this…
When we were all children, we breathed the way we were supposed to, by filling up the stomach area first, then the chest with air..
As adults we un-learn this all-too-important every day habit and most of us end up breathing shallow chest filled breaths of air. The older and “smarter” we get, the more damage we do to ourselves, it seems.
Why are children so resilient, and why are they able to move on so quickly?
They give full vent to their emotions, leave nothing on the table, and move on with feet skipping…
If/when you get frustrated with your business or your life, experience that moment in time with mind wide OPEN and learn from it…
Ask yourself if there’s a lesson to be learned and absorb the lesson…
#2- The phases of personal and business development…
You start with a compulsion- to earn money, time freedom, finacial freedom etc…
Answer this:
Would you rather earn 100k a year doing something you enjoy or 300k doing something you don’t enjoy?
Money does not equate well with happiness, and sometime shaving money is the cause of much UN-happiness.
Many people will tell you that you should not go into business purely for the expected monetary gains, but that is half-assed advice. IF you’re no tin this for some sor tof expected income generation, then you might as well expect to see ZERO income generated!
Here’s a common thing I see pretty often…
People start the online business “Cuz they want to make some money” and don’t really care how they do it…
Then they realize that there are challenges to be faced if they are doing something they enjoy or if theyre doing sometihng they don’ tenjoy.
So when you’re told by someone to stop thinking about how much money you’re going to make, remember that it’s best to do what you love, or like, because your enthusiasm for what you’re doing is what will help you overcome your obstacles.
Why are doctor’s offices staffed predominantly by women?
Why are construction workers predominantly men?
Because those jobs and business speak to their unique talents and it’s what they like to do. They can go into many other fields that could pay them more money but we all just want to be happy, not rich, so we end up doing things we enjoy….
Some evidence to that fact is me.. I have a criminal justice degree but “fell into” marketing and teaching because that’s what I truly enjoy doing.
That’s why a lot of people graduate form college or get degrees and end up doing something entirely differnet with their lives.
That’s why a lot of people start their online businesses with a “pure” , sole desire for income generation for the sake of income generation.
They didn’t know they’d have to find out for themselves that their original intentions were a bit mis-guided and only experience in certain fields and industries will eventually guide them into doing something they truly enjoy doing.
The second phase is whereby you realize you don’t enjoy the focus being just on earning money, but you want to help others since you realize hat you can get paid for doing something you really enjoy doing
My family sees it when I interact with my son and little nieces and nephews and they want me to become a school teacher…
However, what they don’t realize is that teaching is only one of my strengths, and that marketing, business development, and coaching are other skills I have, too.
So, I found my niche, and probably just like you, I started out with a desire for gobs of money, then switched over to just wanting to enjoy doing what I do, and the “secret” to your happiness with your business is to find a mixture that works for you…
Again, that’s why the journey is the reward, not finishing the race…
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Daniel McGonagle
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Welcome back Dan! Good to see you blogging again. And as always with purpose in your mind and spirit in your heart.
The way I see it, the end of the race is only the beginning of something new. So it is the journey of life that makes all of what we do worthwhile. I strive to face each day with that sort of positive and in-the-moment attitude to appreciate all of the blessings that come my way. BTW. Happy Thanksgiving to you.