Take Sheryl for example. She wrote:

“I work fulltime in a day job and then part time trying to get my home based business profitable.  With the amount of training with my new business and running a household and a day job, I find myself scattered all over the place and not progressing as fast as I need to – help!”

Hi Sheryl,

I’ve been there and it is indeed an interesting balancing act. When we are stressed, it is so easy become scattered and unfocused. I haven’t met anyone who has been 100% immune to this dilemma.

Some of the strategies that have helped me and my clients when we get into that space is to remind our loved ones–especially the ones we live with–of our vision. Stating our requirements and boundaries in a loving but decisive way is another “must communicate.”

Ask them to give you the space and time you need to realize that vision daily but also include giving them your undivided attention as a gift to all of you. Open communication and supportive environments are so important.

If you can take some conscious “Sheryl” time for at least an hour a day–even if you don’t think you have time, just doing something you love, whether if it’s being out in nature, reading a good book, journaling (one of my favorites!), exercise (I get so many ideas when I’m exercising!), etc., it will make all the difference because down time is still productive time as you’re recharging your batteries.

Also, be patient with the process and yourself (I know–easier said than done!), and have faith that as you’re consistently doing something every day moving you toward you goals, the baby steps will add up, and the freedom and autonomy you seek will be the reality rather than the wish.  Celebrate the small wins daily!

And remember: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” -Mark Twain

* * *

Next Thursday I will address another submitted challenge so stay tuned!

What!??!

Okay, let me explain what I mean by that and you are welcome to disagree! Many who know me have heard me say that you should outsource those tasks that you hate to do and don’t do well (or even those tasks you do well but hate to do).

But what if something you’re really passionate about doesn’t turn into a strength until you give it the discipline, effort, and devotion to turn it into something you’re eventually great at? After all, many people like this quote:

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most people succeed because they are determined to.”

–George E. Allen

While I applaud the Strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment–the first one that was outlined in Now Discover Your Strengths was great, but this one is much better!–I read something in the accompanying book by Tom Rath that actually hit a nerve.

Do you remember the story of Rudy Ruettiger, the young, groundskeeper at Notre Dame’s stadium? His physique wasn’t quite the football flavor, and he certainly didn’t have a natural talent for football. He spent most of his days overcoming a weakness by practicing and practicing and practicing and eventually triumphed.

Rath implies that those days could’ve been better spent focusing on strengthening a strength rather than overcoming a weakness. His maxim is: “You cannot be anything you want to be–but you can be a lot more of who you already are” versus the familiar, “You can be anything you want to be if you just try hard enough.”

But what about the psychological benefits during the journey–especially if you’re passionate about the end result?

Here’s why what Rath said hit a nerve with me: The entrepreneurial bug hit me at 10 years old and I had a ball and made some cash doing all sorts of fun activities using my “kid charm” to get it done, and then took a hiatus in terms of true implementation until 2003.  I didn’t make a ton of money as a 10 year old, but I was having the time of my life!

Truth be told, when I got back into the entrepreneurial fold in 2003, I made more mistakes than money and didn’t really get into a groove until after I hired a coach in 2004 to show me where I was blocked (one big culprit was the “M” word…no, not ‘marriage,’ silly, ‘marketing’! ).

I was always awesome at academics, technology, teaching, and creating.

Marketing? Not so much. 

But marketing is such a pivotal part of being an entrepreneur. And I’m still not a master at marketing compared to some, but I do know it’s something I have to have my fingers in even if I would prefer to outsource that task.

There were other things my coach and I discovered together back then that was making my road to entrepreneurial success a real challenge–despite entrepreneurialism being a huge passion of mine–and those things are worthy of another blog post some other time.

But let me ask these two questions for now: Should you detach completely from something that is not a natural strength in the overall scheme of things even if you’re really passionate about it (my lack of entrepreneurial mojo in 2003 as an example) or go for it anyway because you’re so determined to succeed at your passion?

And if you decide to go for it (i.e., being an entrepreneur) and find out that the weakness you have is something many experts say you should be a part of anyway–marketing in this case–do you farm it out completely, or do you have a role in it?

What say you?

]]> https://ultimateleveragesuccess.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=89 5 https://ultimateleveragesuccess.com/blog/?p=80 https://ultimateleveragesuccess.com/blog/?p=80#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:07:58 +0000 Carol Dickson-Carr http://ultimateleveragesuccess.com/blog/?p=80 I truly wasn’t in the mood to read another “Business How To” book, but when Scott Bradley sent me a review copy of Mike Michalowicz’s The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, I was honored. When people take the time and money to send out a complimentary book, I will not let it sit on the shelf. I will most definitely read it. I figure a guy younger than me who’d already founded three multi-million dollar companies could probably teach me a thing or two.

Mike’s Target audience is actually young (age 18-26ish) entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs (with a sense of humor!) who are at the beginning stages of getting their businesses off the ground, but even as a Gen-Xer who has been in business for five years as a productivity and small business coach, I was engaged from start to finish.

Mike’s tell-it-like-it is approach cuts out the fat and gets right to the meat regarding your passions, belief systems, vision, mission, purpose, funding (and how to hang on to your equity!), accountability, and team without having to shell out a lot of upfront cash or create an elaborate business plan. His calls-to-action at the end of each chapter are quite appealing as well.

He discusses in depth the only “Three Sheets” you’ll ever need to succeed in business if and ONLY IF you implement and be consistent in your efforts (and he even shares the templates in Word format for these three documents on his site http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/ in the resource section).

Have an open mind if you’re not one for bathroom humor and metaphors because you will completely miss the point if you don’t, I promise you. Even if you’re not a beer drinker or a party animal, there is an immense amount of wisdom joined with all sorts of practical strategies and tactics to go with the suggested tech tools (many of them free) to get you off and running or improving on your existing business.

And if you’d like to listen to him share some of his strategies today (12/17) at 3pm ET, please feel free to listen live and participate in the chat at http://blogtalkradio.com/Productivity-Talk. If you can’t be there live, it’s okay. Just grab the MP3 from the archive whenever you get a chance.

Hope to see you there, and I hope you buy the book!

Carol Dickson-Carr
The Productivity 3.0 Professor