In this country, in these times, we have access to everything we need to be healthy, wealthy and wise. Even in the worst economic times, someone is increasing in health and wealth. So, what’s getting in the way?
Maybe you are getting in the way.
Ready for some tough love? Here are some common stumbling blocks on the road to success.
1. Wishing and wanting. Do you have a written list of goals? When you write down what you want to be, to do and to have, you hurdle a big stumbling block.
Mark Victor Hansen – the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” author – suggests you write a list of 101 goals, from mild to wild. Why not? Those who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. Get going and get specific.
Break the goals into monthly, weekly and daily to-do lists.
You know this. Quit wanting things to be different. Make it different.
2. Brainy guys get paralyzed. I love Bill Rosenberg, founder of Dunkin’ Donuts, and Ray Kroc of McDonald’s. These guys – no offense fellows – were not geniuses. Have you read their autobiographies? They were adequately intelligent.
The smarter the people, the more likely they are to set up stumbling blocks. The smart set can imagine so many ways that things can go wrong. They see every possible future scenario.
They can see all the imperfections in a plan. So, they end up doing nothing. No plan is perfect enough.
Sheesh. It’s called paralysis by analysis. Do you suffer from it?
If so, dumb it down a little. Take action in light of uncertainty. Passion and enthusiasm trump smarts every day.
3. Laying blame. If you blame the economy, customers or competitors – stop already!
What difference does it make? Consider this: If the source of your problems is outside of your control, quit talking about it.
Do what you can do. Lay out a plan of action, and execute the plan. Assess your results, tweak the plan, and keep moving.
4. Denial is not a river in Egypt. Denial is when you know something, but act as if you don’t. A friend called me for advice regarding an employee who is currently on workers’ comp leave.
After a few minutes of complaining about this employee’s poor performance, and possible insurance fraud, he told me the employee was expected to return to work in a few weeks.
“Wait a minute,” I said, “do you want him back?”
So often, we waste time on actions that are 100 percent counter to our goals and plans.
It’s hard enough to make decisions when we don’t have much information.
Don’t waste time on decisions you already have made. Wade through the denial.
5. Adding to instead of taking away. You won’t be successful simply by doing more.
Keep a time card for a week and jot down everything you do. How much TV do you watch? How much time do you spend discussing what you are going to do instead of just doing it? How about Internet shopping, searching or video games?
According to the 80/20 rule, you get 80 percent of your production from 20 percent of your efforts. This leads us to the all-time biggest stumbling block:
6. We continue to do that which doesn’t work. Review your time card. Stop doing that which isn’t contributing to the realization of your goals. Want to grow your company?
If after five, 10 or 50 years, you are still not where you want to be, who you want to be, you might try doing things differently.
Stop creating the stumbling blocks – jump over them. At the very least, take a leap.
Ellen Rohr is an author and business consultant who offers systems for getting focused and organized, making money and having fun in business. Her latest book is “The Bare Bones Biz Plan.” She can be reached at ellen@barebonesbiz.com.[[In-content Ad]]
