The Greatest Mistake I Made Last Year

My Greatest Mistake of Last Year

Today’s post is about something I have struggled with on a regular basis.

At the end of each year I like to take some time to reflect upon the past year in hopes of improving the next year.

Although I was able improve on some things during the past year, I feel that I still failed in one category the past year…

And that is FOCUS.

Consider the simple fact that photographs are clearer when they are in focus. When they are out of focus, they are blurry and indistinct.  The same applies to our businesses and our lives in general.

It always amazes me how unfocused people are (myself included). Ask someone to describe what they really desire and 90% of the time, you will not get a clear description from them. It is blurry and indistinct. Full of generalities but no specifics.

To counter that you need to visualize the outcome clearly and distinctly in your mind. It must be ‘in focus’; that is, the components must be defined, clearly seen, envisioned.

Mark Twain once said, “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”

Too many of us tend to focus on lack and limitation and not on abundance and potentiality.

The funny thing about life is that it is strikingly full of distractions. Here you are, focused on some purpose or goal and then this incredibly intrusive thing pops up.  And ‘Poof’ all your focus has disappeared.

It is so easy to lose that focus and get distracted as ‘life gets in the way’.

‘Shiny Object Syndrome’

Over the year, as in past year, I continued to suffer from the ‘shiny object syndrome’ although to a much lesser extent than I have in the past.  I am a sucker for a well written sales page and all those psychological triggers.  And because of that I still bought too many products that I was going to go through later or use at a later date.

I have somewhat weaned myself off the constant treadmill of buying the latest products and have only bought into certain products that will help me achieve my goals and plan to go through them in their entirety before buying another product.

Commit yourself to use what you buy.

Go through the courses you buy. Put the training into action. And not just for a couple of days but use it for a sustained campaign. In doing so you will find out one of three things…

  1. The method works (Great, you can keep using it)
  2. The method doesn’t work (Well you still learned something, it doesn’t work.  Does that mean that other products from the vendor don’t work – possibly.  I would really think twice about buying from them again.)
  3. And lastly, it kind of works but you don’t enjoy it (So why do something you hate?  Put it aside – you will still have learned something from it.)

With so many great ideas and opportunities that come your way while working on bringing your best idea to life i.e. your business, but until that happens, keep a running “Great Idea/Opportunity” list where you can keep a record of these items for future attention.

When those distractions arise, ask yourself this one question, “Will this bring me closer to my goal or take me further away from it?”  If the answer is that they take you away from your primary goal, learn to say ‘no’.

Spending Way Too Much Time Consuming News

And then, once again, one my greatest mistake was spending way too much time consuming news.

Internet Marketing ProfitsOf course it was important to stay up to date on the pandemic, the lock downs and the impact on the greater community.

However, I feel that I could have limited my consumption a lot more than I did.

I’d tune in for updates on the  situation and then end up wasting a considerable amount of time, hours and days, watching the soap opera that is American politics. Watching it on TV, reading web pages, posts, comments and, well, you get the idea. It was consuming me. And I am not alone.

I then read an article about productivity that showed me quite clearly that I had very little, if any, control over the outcome of almost everything I was spending my time on. Even regarding Covid-19. All I could really do was to limit my exposure to others.

However, when it came to the hours of news I was consuming, practically all of that time was being completely wasted.

Staying Informed is a Slippery Slope to say the least.

Sure, it’s important to stay informed and knowledgeable about current events, but it is easy to simply get carried away and waste far more time than imaginable.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty, the only way for the average person to maintain some sanity in this news-by-the-second environment, is to limit your exposure. This is particularly true with regards to political news.

Convert Wasted Time To Creative Time

When I reflect each year on how I spend my time, it helps me redouble my efforts.

Taking a hard look at myself and my habits allows me cut the nonsense almost completely out of my schedule, and move on from my mistakes.

That allows me to utilize all that ‘recovered’ time more creatively. It lets me create new products, increase my income, and most importantly, help more people.

I’ve decide to improve my websites, improve my marketing and drive more traffic to my offers.

What About You?

Let me ask you this… will you take a closer look at what you’re doing day in and day out?

Examine not only your habits, but your mindset as well. It could be a real eye opener, or even, dare I say it, a life-changer as it was for me.

It’s fine if you find mistakes (past or present!) that are holding you back from reaching new levels in your life. That’s the idea of this reflection – taking a step back and looking at yourself objectively.

And then take action to change the pattern that is holding you back.  It does not have to carried out in one big hit but rather as a series of small steps. Each of them moving you towards your goals and away from the things that are holding you back.

Let me know whether you have found the above useful.

Resources

Go to IMWarriorsedge.com for the following:

Online Courses:  All our training is delivered online meaning it’s easy for you to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office.

Latest Strategies:  Our courses are updated on a regular basis which means you receive the latest information and strategies in the industry.

Expert Trainers Our trainers are experts in their field and have many years in experience allowing you to leverage their education.

To your success,

Alain

Biz-alchemy.com

IMWarriorsedge.com

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