Consistent Doing = Consistent Progress
I don’t want to brag :), but I am SO happy with my progress on my business this week! First of all, I took the leap, and I’ve been taking not one, but two online courses simultaneously:
- Courses that Convert by Amy Porterfield – a step by step approach to creating courses that will SELL!
- LIGHTS, CAMERA, BRANDING! by Tiffany Lee Bymaster (aka Coach Glitter) – a guide to being the best you can be at video — whether live or prerecorded.
I know…pretty crazy! But the courses seemed to compliment each other so much and each had specific content that is directly related to the business I’m trying to create, so regardless of the workload, it just seemed right! And can I just tell you…I’m learning SO much! And I’m motivated to do the work, ya know? Before I enrolled in Courses that Convert, I felt like my wheels were spinning. I knew I needed to do something, but I didn’t know what to do first. Since this course was not cheap (around $1000), I gulped when I signed up. But I now know I did the right thing. If I am able to do the work and get this process underway in less time and with less headache and mental and emotional mindgames, I know I can make this business happen and set attainable goals for myself along the way. This feeling is such a good one for me to have, because I know that it isn’t just hype and emotion, but the actual doing of the hard work that gives me perseverance to go on.
So yesterday, after getting my daughter off to school, I finished Lesson 2 of my coursework and decided to just dive in and create my course outline. I was so focused it was unbelievable! I was able to rip out my course outline in less than 2 hours and have a much clearer vision for how I wanted to structure the content! This was a HUGE stride for me and my business yesterday. I had been feeling so defeated, like I just couldn’t get the things done I wanted to do. And all of a sudden, it was SO clear and borderline EASY! Now it was only that easy because I had been laying the foundation and doing the little things that I needed to do leading up to yesterday. But, it was effortless and so rewarding!
Everyone says that, once you get into the habit of exercising, running, practicing or any other kind of discipline, it becomes addictive. You can’t live without it. I never really understood that until recently. I’ve never considered myself to be a runner, for instance, but after months of running on my treadmill every single day — whether it was just a few minutes or a half hour, rain or shine, feeling good or not — I ran! And now I can honestly say, “I love running!” and I miss it when I don’t do it. It’s also opened the door for more kinds of workouts that my body needs and made me not as timid to jump in and try new things. Weird how that happens, right? And very early on, when I began singing, I wasn’t that good. I tell my students this all the time. I mean, I had a raw talent, but it wasn’t anything like what it is now. My teachers had their work cut out for them. Many didn’t even take me seriously. I was refused by some prestigious vocal coaches I wanted to work with, because I wasn’t good enough to work with them. But I kept trying. I kept practicing. I never lost my zeal for learning and trying to find the answers. And even though I never had the “career” I initially thought I wanted to have as a singer, I still went a long way with my voice and can do things I never thought possible when I sing. The same is true for me and my business. What used to be a dread, because it was overwhelming and I just couldn’t grasp all the seemingly endless processes and things to learn, it is now something I can I honestly say I wake up looking forward to working on! From the moment I get my coffee, I find myself drawn to my computer to see what else I can learn or create. This is when I know I’ve formed a habit worth hanging on to. A long time ago, I heard the quote that has been attributed to George Washington, “It’s wonderful what we can do if we’re always doing.”
So there you have it! It’s the doing of the things. Not all at the same time…but day by day by day…that eventually get us to our goals. But just like the doing can take us to our goals, the choice not to do will also take us somewhere. And that somewhere is not a good place for me. And I suspect it isn’t for you either.
Have you ever read the book, The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson? It’s such a timeless and true book about success…in virtually any aspect of our lives. I resurrected this book recently just to thumb through it and get inspired, and I was immediately hooked back in. The premise is simple: do little things every single day and you will get results. Whether those little things are good habits or bad habits, they will eventually have an outcome. The outcome is never today or even tomorrow. Very rarely is the outcome even a week from now or a month from now, but slowly and steadily, progress happens. And that, my friends, is the underlying impetus for me. I know that, if I’m always doing, I will eventually achieve my goals. I will eventually have the life, the voice, the business, the body, or whatever it is I’m aiming for.
I said all that today, because I want to encourage you, friends. If you are struggling, feeling down, feeling defeated, feeling OVERWHELMED, just know that your consistency in the doing will pay off. Your perseverance when times get hard and you wonder why you’re working so hard will eventually lead to something you can be proud of and feel good about! I also wanted to encourage those, like me, who have a very limited amount of time and resources to accomplish your goals. This may not apply to everyone reading this, but I can say that it takes a Herculean effort on my part to do a n y t h i n g of significance. And I’m talking about even getting laundry folded or a room vacuumed. I have 3 young children ages 8, 5 and 3 currently as I write this post. And up until last month, I had a full time job at Apple. And for years, I never knew how to carve out time to actually create or make something happen for my business. I felt trapped — and even paralyzed — like my hands were tied and there was nothing I could do. Ever feel like that? Like you want to make something happen, but overcoming the odds against you just feels too hard and exhausting to even begin? Well, I can relate.
It actually wasn’t until I quit my job that I realized how much time I had had prior to working — time that I didn’t even know I had! You know that old folk tale where the guy complains that his house is too small and prays for a bigger house, so the next day, he acquires a roommate, and then two cows, and three goats, and 10 chickens (I’m probably getting this wrong because I have a terrible memory about stories), but the gist is that his house was filled up with all these things, and when he finally got rid of all these things after a month of living with them all, he all of a sudden had the HUGE home he desired (and he probably enjoyed the smell of it again too)! I find this to be true for me. I had ALL this time that I didn’t know I had before I worked full time. Then I worked full time and had no time at all — not even enough time to SLEEP. So now, I’m not working full time and I feel like I have SO much more time available to create the business I want because I know what it was like not to have any time. Does that make sense? I hope so!
So, if you don’t feel like you have any time to create the business of your dreams and make the kind of progress you want to make with it, maybe it’s just time to reassess what’s on your plate. Do you have too many goats and chickens and cows lurking around? Do you have time you don’t even know you have? What if you got up a couple hours earlier? What if you went to bed a couple hours later? What if you took advantage of a sitter a couple days a week or took a break from social media or t.v.? I know there’s no ONE FORMULA FOR ALL, but here’s what my work schedule currently looks like:
Tuesdays – Fridays
- 4:15am – wake up and drink coffee 🙂 and have some quiet time
- 5:00am – start working (either in my home office or at a coffee shop, since they open at 5am and my house can sometimes be crazy in the morning)
- 7:00am – eat breakfast and help get my kids ready for school (if I choose to stay home)
- 8:00am – work out for 30 minutes and shower
- 9:00am – get my daughter ready for her preschool
- 9:30am – 11am – get back to work and start working on my courses
- 11:00am – grab a snack and take a walk or do something I need to do around the house
- 11:30am – work on my social media sites and wrap up day’s work
- 1:30pm – pick up my daughter from preK
- 2:30pm – pick up my sons from school
- SPEND REST OF THE DAY with my family!
Now, I’m totally not suggesting you get up at 4am! (actually, I kinda am) But that works for me, and I can tell you that I don’t miss the sleep! Sure, I go to bed earlier than most people (usually around the time my kids go to bed) on those nights before I work, but I have other nights where I don’t. The point is, I made a shift in my schedule that automatically carved out a time for me to work. Even if my kids were home — which they will be in the summer — I can still carve out this early time from 4am to 9am and spend the rest of the day with them without having to hire a sitter most days. That’s 5 hours a day!!! Who knew I had that kind of time??? And sure, it takes discipline to get up at that time every morning, but you know what? I’m addicted. I’ve done it for so long now that my eyes automatically open at that time and I couldn’t sleep much later if I tried.
I just want to encourage you and help you find time for yourself and for the things you want to do. If you don’t start actually carving out the time and doing the things you want to do, how can you ever know what you are capable of? What’s the Dave Ramsey quote? “Live like no one else NOW, so you can live like no one else LATER.” And that’s what this is all about: making necessary sacrifices now in order to build the business of your dreams. The sacrifices won’t last forever. And truthfully, they won’t even feel like sacrifices, because you’ll know where you’re headed. Ya just gotta start. Now. Go on…No buts!
Please comment below and tell me how you’ll carve out extra time for yourself and your business this week.
Look forward to hearing from you!
xoxo,
Amy
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