A lot of people have asked me the same thing recently and it’s becoming an obvious trend at the moment and that’s starting a project and within weeks, if not less starting a new one leaving the original project which is usually some sort of website idea to flounder and go stale, then ultimately die.
I have a ton of different ideas floating round me all the time, some I’m dying to start but unless they can be linked in with this site I don’t pursue it, now I could be restricting my growth here and missing opportunities but the way I look at it is if I did pursue them it would be sacrificing this site, something that has well over a 1,000hrs of work ploughed into it.
Now lets focus on my current projects just a minute to go you some comparison to what I believe is too much and what’s more than achievable;
- Site
This site remains the priority, so I’m still working on making it the core of the business. The 20/7 Rule has now been released and getting great reviews. TheInfoPreneur BootCamp will be released soon which will be a small membership system in which I work along side you for focused results in half the time.
- Books
Currently have three books on the go, the first two are Military style novels, the third is a marketing motivational workbook which is complied of re-written posts from this site with added information and help to make sure you have all the tools to move forward, that’s going to be called ”Motivated As Hell – The WorkBook”.
Now all this accumulates to a lot of hours worked everyday, but it’s absolutely worth it. Now to my point of focusing your energy to actually make sure you can get your work done without falling into the trap of kidding yourself you have to ”just check this” or ”I wonder….”
For those of you who are familiar with fire arms, you will completely understand what I’m about to talk about, but for those of you who haven’t ever seen an actually firearm up close and personal this will hopefully trigger (ha ha excuse the pun) something inside you;
The barrel of a rifle has swirls from top to bottom, those swirls are called ‘Rifling’. Now if a rifle didn’t have rifling, when you pulled the trigger and the hammer hit the pin, which then strikes the percussion cap of the round (Bullet) that round would still be sent through the barrel at an incredible speed, but as soon as the bullet left the barrel it wouldn’t be travelling straight and true and in most cases would miss the target despite it’s incredible velocity.
OK got that? No rifling (swirls) the bullet would still be quick but wouldn’t have any stability. So that must mean the rifling gives the round stability right? Yes absolutely right, but how? Well the rifling spins the bullet as it’s travelling up through the barrel, it spins the bullet at such speed that when it exits the barrel it cuts through the air giving it stability and true direction.
So now we know how a bullet gets the best possible chance of hitting it’s target despite forces like cross wind, temperature difference, rain trying to force it off it’s current path, but how can we apply that to our own work ethic?
I have spoken a lot on here about focus, for some the message hit home, but lets try it a different way. You want you’re business to bring in cash right? You want your website to actually turn into a business that brings in revenue right? Well start working on things that will achieve that and stop working or pretending to work on things that don’t help you achieve the core business.
I understand a lot of people reading this will have affiliate sites and networks of websites all working for each other and this rule still applies to them too, only work on ideas and projects that help your business, but here is the trap I think a lot of people fall into and that’s finishing current projects once they get slightly difficult and turn to projects that are in the easier stages of development.
How many of you have unfinished ebooks or ad networks you have signed up for and never really got started with, or have the ability to have people sign up for your mailing list, but aren’t doing enough to actually promote it? If you are reading this paragraph and thinking; ”oh my god that’s me” Then start re-focusing on what will actually build your business or build your website into a business, otherwise you’re talking a good fight without ever getting into the ring.
Just like the rifling in the barrel of a rifle you need to have structure and stability to what your goal is. Determine your goal, then breakdown (actually write it down in a electronic document or on a scrap bit of paper) what is going to allow you to achieve it, then stick to it!
What does everyone think?
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Interesting rifling analogy and as so often, you’ve inspired me to get myself into gear. THIS is why I come here!
Excited about the three books, loving the military ones so far and impressed with the sheer effort you’re putting in.
.-= Mo “Mad Dog” Stoneskin´s last blog ..I always struggle to find a fifth element =-.
Think you found your niche mate
.-= rob sellen´s last blog ..Google a mass of contradictions? =-.
Gonna bang you an email
Ok mate, anytime…
.-= rob sellen´s last blog ..Make money online from one of these 95 niches =-.
Hey man, Great.
Plans. I pray all your dreams come true.
Keep the fire burning James.
Yeah brother it’s a fire you have got to keep fuelling that’s for sure
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..OK Time To Get Into The Trenches ! =-.
Excellent analogy James. This is really what people need to do. Focus on their website as a business and ignore the distractions. Easy said, but so often difficult to do.
The trouble for most people is working out what the distractions are, when in reality they only need to do a very small bit each day to move the ebook/workbook/webpage design forward.
Doing a bit every day will get big results.
.-= Matthew Needham´s last blog ..Video: customer service =-.
That’s exactly it brother, an hour a day say writing 500-1,000 words would get a lot done!
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..8 Probloggers Answer The Ultimate Question =-.
Interesting comparison mate. Can definately see where you are coming from
.-= Phil Johnson´s last blog ..You really can have everything you want! =-.
Thanks brother
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..Quick CommentLuv Fix If Your Link Doesn’t Show =-.
James,
I learn more and more every day about the power of Focus. It like for a long time everyone talked about Multi-tasking, however I feel that multi-tasking has gone to way of the Hartford Whalers… Instead of multi-tasking laser focus of the task at hand and be great at that task seems to lead to much more successs…
Thanks,
Ryan H., http://www.ryanhanley.com
Hey man, you absolutely have to have focus in what you are doing. For me people talking about multi-tasking actually phrase it wrong. Yeah you can absolutely take multiple projects on but you need to be able to finish them too
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..Jealousy Only Destroys Your Chances, Not Theirs =-.
I like what all you’re doing here and I feel having a vision of what you want and having the drive inside you to go for it is what it all comes down to. You can have everything in place but no reason to go for it and it’s dead. You can also have all the reasons to go after it but nothing to go after.
Great post brother!
.-= Eric´s last blog ..My Best Blogging Tip =-.
hey man thanks brother, did you get me email?
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..8 Probloggers Answer The Ultimate Question =-.
That’s funny, because I was just saying yesterday that I need to work harder and stop reading so many posts. Stop reading and do more. Put in double hours to achieve double the results. I’m off to work…
Good to hear man, make sure you tear it up!
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..OK Time To Get Into The Trenches ! =-.
I’m about to step up my game, James.
Fasten your seatbelt.
Not going into details. I will say if there is stuff you need to read and understand on Website In A Weekend… now is a really good time to do that.
Oh yeah, leave a comment or two while your digging around in the archives. =)
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Mailbag: Looking for recommendations for promoting cornerstone content =-.
That sounds exciting brother!
Well some really nice thoughts here and you have rightly said about books. Thanks for sharing this post and I missed a lot of your quality posts but will surely read it now.
hey if you need any help just give me a shout, over 300 posts on here now lol
Great analogy! Very inspiring post James. Keep up the great work.
Thanks brother!
.-= theinfopreneur´s last blog ..OK Time To Get Into The Trenches ! =-.
I also think that placing your notes in a place where you frequently see them would help you focus on your tasks. This is what I do, and somehow I am able to give the right amount of attention to more important work.
.-= Julius´s last blog ..How to Caption Videos in YouTube =-.
I know people who have done this in the past and it works a treat for them for sure
Now you make me want to go shooting. Haven’t been in quite a while. I too am trying to figure out my life and my blog and how to make some cash. I recently found some leather diaries at WalMart on clearance for $1 each, I bought several and now I keep one with me all the time to track my goals and schedule for the week in a way that hopefully will work for me. then maybe I can get a spacebar that works correctly….
.-= Justin Matthews´s last blog ..My Stellar Review of the Gymboss Timer! =-.
Ha ha,
I think you hit on something there will walmart, they would have made a loss on those diarys. But with everything else marked up so much it’s rare that people would just buy the thing they make a loss on, usually they buy more items. Maybe that system could be applied to put sites?
I always look at the clearance stuff at walmart when I go to get milk or bread. It works both ways, in retail they use the loss leader model all of the time. They take a very small profit or even a loss on items to get people in. they all do it at christmas time. Think of the stores that sell a DVD player for $10 knowing that you will buy 4-5 DVD’s to go with it. There are those sites that use the signup with my mail list and I will give you a free ebook and then market my products to you like crazy. It is basically the same thing
.-= Justin Matthews´s last blog ..Of All The Books…. =-.
Great post buddy.
I’m currently working on 2 big projects and am finding the more focussed I become the easier it is for me to create.
Keep up the good work