Are You Sabotaging
Your Own Success?
In speaking with one of my in-laws
recently, he told me where he was in putting together an information
product he intends to sell on the web. It's a great product that will
fill a niche of a target market with money (very important), and it
will, indeed, probably make him a lot of money.
If he ever stops talking about it
and actually does something, that it.
He first mentioned the idea to me
back in 1998. I won't say what it is, but I immediately liked the
idea and told him as much at the time.
The problem? It involved writing.
As in seat-in-chair, pen-to-paper kind of action. It would take a
couple of days to churn out and probably be about 20-30 pages, tops.
But once it was done, it would be done. He could then sell it over
and over again.
Putting those words on paper turned
out to be an insurmountable obstacle of the Mount Everest variety. It
never happened. He simply would not sit and write. Since it was his
idea and his business, I kept my mouth shut...for a while.
After I read Make Your Knowledge
Sell! (http://myks.sitesell.com/nifty.html)
last year, I suggested that the process might be much better
demonstrated on a video tape instead of written out on paper. He
immediately warmed to idea, and started putting the wheels in motion
to put the thing together. He found the cameraman, the tape
duplicator, the web site designer, everything. He was ready to roll.
That was this time last year.
Is the product on the market? No.
Has the first frame even been shot? Nope.
Is he making money? Of course not.
Why?
Because, like so many people, he
got stuck on the starting line. You know the type. They get
everything down on paper, they've researched names, places, cost, and
feasibility. The ka-ching, ka-ching of the cash register is faintly
playing in their heads. But some unnamed thing keeps them from taking
the final step to bring their dreams to fruition. An invisible
obstacle, too large to overcome.
What could it be?
Fear of success? Fear of failure? Both?
It's hard to define, but I
understand it. In fact, I have suffered from this plight many times.
If something comes together "too easily", I'm not
thankful...I'm suspicious. "What am I missing?" I wonder.
"What have I overlooked?"
In our house, it's called "the
curse of the procrastinating perfectionist." It's basically a
pre-disposition-genetic, no doubt--that has you putting off what
needs to be done until you absolutely HAVE to do it. And then
expecting the end result to be nothing short of perfection.
If there's a deadline, it will get
done. If there's not, it won't.
Now I must confess that I never
really gave the matter much thought growing up, as this was standard
operating procedure in our house. Have company coming at noon? Start
cleaning the house at 10:30. Have a dance recital Friday night? Start
pressing the costumes just hours before the show. Have a term paper
due Monday morning that you've known about for six weeks? What's the
rush? Start Sunday at 9 pm.
It wasn't until I got married and
moved away from home that it became obvious that there were other
ways of doing things. Not everyone rushed, breathlessly, to the
finish line. Some people got things done way ahead of time. Others
didn't do them at all. Still others would charge forward with great
enthusiasm, then go back later to pick up the missing pieces-or not.
So what does all of this have to do
with making money?
Because how we approach routine
tasks in life is pretty much how we approach our work or business
enterprise. And for many, it can mean the very difference between
success and failure.
Take a few minutes to review your
own behavior patterns. Do you like to leap before you look? Jump in
when it's fun, jump out when it's not? Roll with the punches-or
obsess over every detail?
Whatever your situation, you're not alone.
In her book, "Personality
Plus", www.niftybusinessideas.com/r/personality.htm
inspirational author Florence Littauer details the four major
personality types that people possess. Each succeeds in business in a
different way, just as each fails for specific reasons.
-
The Choleric knows it all.
"There are two ways to do anything; my way, and the wrong
way." He's quick to act and judge, but slow to accept blame for
bad decisions. (On Your Mark, Go!)
-
The Sanguine looks for the
fun. "Is it boring here, or does any one else want to
PARTY?!" Because of her infectious enthusiasm, she can rally
support for any cause. But if things get dull, it's
"sayonara" Sanguine. (Get Set, Go!)
-
The Melancholy is a
perfectionist. "Now let's not rush to any conclusions until we
have all the details." If you need a clever, detailed strategy,
ask a Melancholy. Just don't expect him to act on anything until he
has all the facts. (On Your Mark, Get Set, Get Set, Get Set...)
-
The Phlegmatic is easy going
and does things at her own pace. "Whatever. I'm easy." Slow
to anger and slow to judge, the Phlegmatic is also slow to get
excited because basically, she hates change. If you want her to do
something, you have to give her a good, sound reason. (On Your
Mark...You Know, On Second Thought...)
Florence does a much better job at
explaining these than me (she's also a Sanguine, which makes for an
entertaining, memorable read), but I think you get the point. Once
you understand what "makes you tick," you can pinpoint
those behaviors that are causing you to sabotage your own success,
whether you realize it or not.
It's one thing to possess
unproductive personality traits when you have a boss, a job
description, deadlines, and a regular paycheck; it's something else
again when you don't have any of those things. Like the dieter who
sneaks chocolate when she thinks no one is looking, you can always
consciously decide NOT to do what's required to fulfill your
entrepreneurial dreams. Recognizing the negative patterns and nipping
them in the bud could be the key to overcoming them and turning
frustration into triumph.
So are you sabotaging your own
success? Here are some clues that you might be:
1. Jumping into a project or
enterprise before fully understanding what you need to do.
2. Undertaking a task that you know
you'll probably abandon as soon as something more interesting comes along.
3. Allowing yourself to get so
sidetracked by details that you lose track of your objective.
4. Put off getting started
indefinitely because things are really just fine the way they are.
If you see yourself in any of
these, you're probably sabotaging your success.
Analyze the situation for a moment.
Peel back the layers to determine just what it is that's keeping you
from your goals. Are you afraid of change? Do you lack
self-confidence? Are you afraid what people might say? Own up to it,
whatever it is, and work through it so you can move forward.
Success isn't some unattainable,
elusive thing. It's there for the taking. All you have to do it take
the necessary, appropriate steps.
Because once you do and get on with
your life, you'll kick yourself for not getting started sooner.
Good Luck! |
