Are You Getting Caught in These Traps?

Why is it that some people seem to achieve success online in a relatively short time, while others flounder for years and never seem to quite hit their stride? Could it be for one (or all) of these reasons?

1. No Definitive Plan

Not having a clearly defined goal and a plan to help you achieve it, is perhaps the biggest stumbling block you can place in your own path. It means that whatever you do is aimless, isolated and not attached to any bigger picture. It's basically a waste of time.

A plan gives you purpose, direction, something to shoot for and is crucial to helping you figure out what actions you ought to take on a daily basis to develop your business and bring your plan to life. If you are going to build something that could change your life, it helps a lot to have a clear image of what it's supposed to look like.

2. Social Media and Email-itis

You spend way too much of your day in your email inbox and your favorite social media hangouts, following what others are doing and promoting, and not nearly enough time doing things to move your business forward.

But, since you have no constructive daily agenda to follow, you easily get caught up in the "shiny thing" syndrome and end up chasing your tail. To break that cycle you need to develop the discipline to organize your time in a way that maximizes your productivity. It's the only way to affect meaningful change in your life.

3. Not Protecting Your Dream

Everything begins with a dream. But before a dream can take root and grow into flaming desire that ignites focus and action, it must be carefully nurtured and protected. It must be safeguarded from your own doubts, fears and self-destructive behavior. And that's your last line of defense.

Don't be surprised to find out that friends and family members will challenge you for daring to be bold. Some will suggest you should be "more realistic" and should scale back your expectations. Usually that's because they don't have any dreams of their own to occupy their attention and energy.

You can avoid much of this pressure by keeping your dreams to yourself. Only share them with people you trust who support your ambitions.​

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If you can sidestep these 3 traps from the outset of your online career, you greatly improve your chances of creating momentum and yielding encouraging results in a surprisingly short time.

Hermas

 

Hermas,

Thank you. You hit the nail on my head a couple of times with this superb post.
I'm printing this out and posting it over my desk.

Bless you,
April

 

A good post Hermas
.
1. Totally agree, if you don’t have a plan how do you know if you’re on the right track, getting closer or further from your goal or if you need to change things.

2. I agree here too, trying to build an online business with Social Media puts you in the most competitive market on the planet, everyone thinks it’s the short cut to success.

You can’t beat word of mouth, so it doesn't matter how many friend you have on FB etc. If you don’t know them well enough to pick the phone up, they are just a name and you need to spend time getting to know them well enough so you can pick the phone up.

This is outside most peoples comfort zone which is why they will never make the big money. We do business with people we like, believe and trust, time spent developing this is time better spent.


3. This is the big one, till you can develop an unshakable faith in your products, opportunity and self you will always be vulnerable to dream stealers and still be looking for the 'right' opportunity even though you may be in it.

Let me explain what a dream stealer looks like: They can be family members, friends and sometimes we are even married to them.

 

Oh I agree Hermas....those emails and social media will take all our time if we let it! Which reminds me btw, I should be off this forum surfing conversations and be back at doing my work!!!!

 

Social Media and Email-itis seem to be very contagious. It is so easy to get distracted by fun things when you are trying to work online.

I absolutely love your post Hermas! Protecting your dream and having a plan are absolutely essential as well. If you have a dream (or even a goal), I think that makies it easier to remain focused and avoid Social Media and Email-itis.

 

Great post Hermas! Holding onto the dream is what keeps me going.

While I agree that planning is a good thing, sometimes too much planning is a trap all on it's own in a couple of ways. Some plan so much and want to get everything perfect before they put anything out there. Waiting for perfection takes a long time and you could begin to make money before everything is perfect. This can stop one from taking action as there are many perfectionist among us.

The other downfall of too much planning is sometimes if we have a plan so set in our minds, we block other roads or possibilities or we simply will fail to see them when they come up. My original plan was to do one on one coaching in my niche. Had I not opened to other options, I would not have the residual income of the paid members area of my forum that surprisingly to me, has really taken off. Now my coaching takes place in a group as opposed to one on one. My plan has changed midstream many many times.

I can't even count how many people have told me to get realistic and said I was chasing a pipe dream.

 

Your points are very well made, Robin.

Over planning can be as harmful or worse than not planning. Trying to account for every probability when mapping out a plan is a flawed approach, because it ignores the possibility of situations cropping up that are unpredictable and beyond one's ability to control.

The plan should serve as nothing more than a framework, a skeleton, an outline, a template, a series of dots that may need adjusting from time to time. It is simply a guide. The "holes" in the plan are to be filled in from your own reservoir of knowledge, experience, resourcefulness and courage.

That's when your ability to make decisions, take calculated risks, your intuition, commonsense and "luck" all come into play to help you connect the dots and bridge the gaps. It's here that you'll likely make mistakes every now and then.

But it's supposed to be that way, just so that you can figure out ways to avoid repeating those mistakes, thereby improving yourself and strengthening your odds of succeeding.

Hermas

 

I think we're all guilty of these traps. Stay focused and keep out distractions. Have a plan and focus on it until you get there!

 

That's what's holding me up is the whole picking the phone up and calling... I have 8 people in my leads box that have requested that I call them for an interview... and I have phone fright...need to get past this some how...

 

I am from the Bob Proctor school so decide what you want and write it down. The how will come and it will give you the energy to realize your goal. Believe and expect to get there and you will. I can strongly advice to see the you were born rich videos on either my personal site or youtube.

Personally I have a goal in place that I have the desire to accomplish and I do not need anything but get on with it. Negative energy is to be avoided along with fear, doubt, disbelief and so forth. You have a business and are moving towards abundance and prosperity. Where do you want to be? The good or the bad side of building one?

 

You could get over the phone fright syndrome by role-playing with a friend.

First, be clear on the objective you want to achieve, then write down the main questions you need to ask to get you to your objective. Anticipate questions and objections that may come up, and then figure out how to respond to them without losing control of the interview. And go from there....

Fear comes from not knowing exactly what to do in a particular set of circumstances. Allowing yourself the opportunity to test the waters and go through the process in a role-play situation, helps to break down the anxiety and builds your confidence.

Then when you are feeling more confident, get on the phone and just do it.

Action is the stake you drive through the heart of fear.

Hermas

 

I think I am guilty of not setting goals. I am at a stand still right now. I actually put in a lot of time promoting my business but, It is still not taking off like I thought it would. I use so many social resources' but no luck. The great thing about this is I refuse to give up. If I continue doing what I am doing eventually it will pay off. I have faith.

 

Here's something that KILLS people's business online:

I think that most people are just lazy when it comes to learning everything that they need to learn about online marketing. They try one avenue and when they don't get the results, then just QUIT.

In 11 years online I learned that you need to test things and see what works best for you because while one strategy may work really well for one person, there is a good chance that it will not work for others.

Not every place that you try to advertise online will work. I can tell you that. You just have to persist and see what works for you as a marketer and what doesn't.

 

That is true. When I first started with my online marketing system I was so excited. The person that I came in under really didnt tell me much. Once she got paid for bringing me in, I was not able to contact her again. So, I was frustrated and almost stopped doing it until I took the time to do the research. I got all the training I needed from the web site they provided. There are still some things I still need help with and I have found alot of people willing to help.

 

Think of it like this, to build a business is similar to building a house. You need to have a plan that you must following. The foundation is the most important step in a plan whether it is for a house or a business it is still the same. When the foundation is laid according to the plan then phase 2 can begin, the structure. Day by day you can begin to build your way to the top. Just stick to the plan.
There will be challenges to face but I think without these challenges we as humans will not know the limits that we can achieve.