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- Do Feelings Create Actions Or Do Actions Create Feelings?
Do Feelings Create Actions Or Do Actions Create Feelings?
“I don’t feel like prospecting right now. I’ll go check out LinkedIn and network there for an hour or two until I get that tingling feeling for the phone.”
“I’ll finish my marketing campaign later. I’m just not feeling it right now. I’ll go sort through some Tweets for an hour or two and get inspired.”
“Things are just hard right now. I’ll work on building my business later. I have to get my taxes done anyway.”
“I’m not alone in feeling this way, you know? Don’t think I’m wimping out. I’ll get my head back in the game next week. I’m sure things will work out fine. I have a little cold. I think I’ll take a nap.”
There’s a reason martial artists deliver a battle cry / yell (Kiai or Kiyop) when they deliver a blow. There’s a reason you don’t mess with the Texas Aggies 12th Man. There’s a reason LSU fans and players go nuts when they hear this song (wait for the horns to kick in at the 18 second point.)
Actions create feelings. If you don’t feel like prospecting or marketing or writing or doing whatever is necessary to build your business do these four things:
Shut up and do it anyway. Babies need their diapers changed. Clogged toilets must be unclogged. The Sun must revolve around the Earth (at least according to 20% of stupid Americans that I hope don’t work for you). Businesses in a capitalistic economy must advertise, market, prospect, promote themselves and close sales to grow. (See “How Well Do You Do What You Do When You Don’t Feel Like Doing What You Do?“)
Once you did what you needed to do analyze why you don’t like doing whatever it is that’s holding you back.
Are you lacking the skills to do it?
Can the skills be learned in a timely manner?
Can you affordably and effectively outsource it? Whatever you suck at should be outsourced every time, all the time.
Are you lacking the energy to do it?
What is your pre-work routine?
Do you allocate enough time to do what needs to be done?
Have you given enough thought and focus to what needs to be done? (Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance)
Do you have the right tools to do what needs to be done?
What is your daily / lifestyle routine?
Do you sleep enough or do you stay up late watching movies and 90210 reruns and playing video games?
Do you eat right or do you still think Doritos and Oreos with light beer is a complete meal?
Do you exercise 3-5 times per week or have you let yourself go with the excuse “I’m not in bad shape for a 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 year old”? (My second favorite is “I’m not out of shape. Round is a shape.”
Are you following your life’s purpose?
If not then you’ll be faced with these challenges forever.
Figure out how to do what you love or at least enjoy, even if it means you’re making less money.
Develop a plan to outsource that which you truly hate and suck at.
Implement a plan to create a business, not a service.
When you own and run a “service” you have to be there all the time to do it. Doctors, dentists, attorneys, CPAs all provide a service and while most are paid well to provide that service they must still be there doing what it is they do to keep the money rolling in.
When you own and run a business you can implement processes and systems that run for you day and night to free you up to do what you want to do. Check out “It Takes More Than a Big Smile, a Good Idea & a Twitter Account To Build a Business That Lasts” for some inspiration on getting this done.
Now that you’ve read this post what will you get done in the next hour? Today? This week? Start small. But start. Just like going to the gym or eating better, you’re always glad you did it after you got it done.
Make your list and attack that which you hate the most first, even if you don’t feel like it. Like Zig Ziglar says, “If you gotta eat a frog, there ain’t no use staring at it.”
If you need more help growing your sales, check out the following resources scattered around this site and a few others I operate, such as:
Good Selling