Ten Things That Make Your Business Ten Times Harder - Christine Kane

“Complex is easy. Simple is hard.”  – Ken Segall

Warning:  What you’re about to read may seem ridiculously simple.

It is.

But here’s the thing.

I meet business owners every day who make things hard on themselves.

Sometimes it’s about actions. Sometimes it’s inactions. Sometimes it’s a bad habit. Sometimes a mindset.

All transformation starts with awareness.  So, here are ten things that make your business ten times harder. See if any of them apply”¦

1 – No Vision-Time

If you don’t take time away from your business for visioning and thinking, it’s easy to become a reactor, not a creator.

A business is dynamic and organic.  (So are you!)  Shape and create your business by taking time out for planning and visioning your desires and new directions.

2 -TOO much Vision Time!

Some people are forever analyzing and planning, afraid of doing the wrong thing or of failure.  At some point, you must take action.  Just know that failure is only failure if you give up!

3 – Waiting for Discovery

Book deals.  Hit records.  Getting on Oprah. A huge IPO.

Hey, great things can and DO happen all the time in life. However, waiting for something to “happen” is a surefire path to frustration.

You have a relationship with your business. It’s wildly cool.  But like any relationship, it requires attention and action.

Waiting for that big event – much like waiting for rescue – is a sign that you’re afraid of the claiming own power!

4 – The “Field of Dreams” Business

“If you build it, they will come.”

Really? I can do that, and everything else will be taken care of?

Well, sort of.  There IS truth in that famous line.

But too often, people think it means, “All I have to do is hang my sign – and the world will rush to my door.”

This can lead to disillusionment.  That’s because “building it” is not a one-time thing!

Here’s another way to look at it:

“If you build it they will come.  But if you build it and market it, they’ll pay you!”

5 – Making Problems a Problem

Donald Trump advises something that contradicts every positive thinking tenet out there.  He says to expect problems.

Yes, even if you’re a mindset junkie!

Glitches, hiccups, snafus.  Hey, they happen.  Too often, we let problems paralyze us, and steal our time and emotions.  Successful people expect “problems,” and always put their focus on finding the solution!

6 – Taking Numbers Personally

Much of business is a numbers game.  Sometimes the numbers are low. Sometimes they’re high.

Numbers are just numbers.

(They are not – as your inner success-prevention committee wants you to believe – the Universe’s way of telling you that you should give up and get a job at The Cheesecake Factory.)

7 – Waiting til You “feel like it”

Business owners often put off their marketing until they “feel like it.”

Which – let’s face it – is never!

Marketing works best as a system.  Robert Middleton says, “Marketing is not only about being known, it’s about not being forgotten.”  In other words, you must systematize your marketing processes so they become habits.  That way you won’t ever have to dread it!

8 – Wading in CRAP

Is this you?

Every now and then, you realize you’re low on clients.

You react.

You go on a marketing/cold-calling binge.

You fill your schedule.

Then, you panic!

For months, you can barely breathe!

You definitely can’t hire someone (who has the time?) – and you can’t do any marketing. (ditto!)

Sure enough, it shifts.

The projects end. The clients are gone. Suddenly, your calendar is empty.

The cycle begins again.

I call this the Cycle of Reactivity And Panic.  (C.R.A.P.) It is one of the unhealthiest habits out there.

You must set your business up so that the flow is constant and automated! (And yes, this IS possible!)

9 -  Waiting for Status

All too often, we wait to “deserve” the spotlight.  We hope for enough status, letters after our names, or training before we’ll make the slightest move toward a bigger opportunity.

News Flash: No amount of outside status can create worthiness.  Success happens when we take chances and play bigger, regardless of outside status.

10 – Not Investing in Your Growth

Every successful entrepreneur invests time and money in herself and her business. She attends workshops and teleseminars. She hires coaches.

Too many of us go it alone. This leads to limited thinking, isolation, and burn out.

When an opportunity arrives, don’t ask: “How much does it cost to do this?” Ask instead: “How much is it costing me NOT to do this?”

 

Do any of these things apply to you?

Tell me which one – and tell me how you break through the pattern!

 

 

9 COMMENTS ADD A COMMENT
  • Jonas Ezeanya

    It’s always dificult to break out of a pattern once it’s established. Finding that critical amount of energy to burst through is even harder as we typically go into “maintenance mode” (inertia)when things seem to be going well. As for me, I identify with No.7 particularly.

  • Beryl

    Great blog Christine. What a truly interesting mix of a person you are! These are the kind of topics we like to ‘swim in’ at Wired For Success. Keep sharing please!

  • Dionna

    2, 6, 9 and 10……I need to get over myself. I am a hyper analyst…it’s a downward spiral. My biggest problem, tho is that I feel like I’m trying to do this all alone, which means I’m in my head A LOT……I am greatly energized by meeting with peers over coffee and getting a lot of my stuff out in just a conversation- great article- thanks, Christine (as ALWAYS!)!!!

  • Ana Melikian

    Today I specially need to hear #7 (Waiting til You “feel like it”)

  • Janelle

    Thanks for this Christine! The one that applies to me is taking my numbers personally. I’ll have a great month and then when I don’t have a great month the next month I sometimes make it mean that I’ll never have a great month again or ask, “What’s wrong with me?” How I get out of it is to look at my average month and to notice that I have had great success in the past and there’s no reason I can’t do that now. I also say to myself, “You’ve been here before, you know what to do next, so just go and do it.”

    • Christine Kane

      Hey Janelle! Ah, yes. The voices of the ol’ committee! Gotta just let them chatter – and know that your business is much much bigger than they are! (And more real!) You’re doing great!

  • Jen Uteda

    Great article! I relate to #1 now, but have lived the others too at various times. I often get caught up in my business without taking a breath and thinking of where I want it to go next.

    • Christine Kane

      Hiya Jen – Yes, that’s so common. (That’s also why I wrote the post two weeks ago about keeping a business journal! It’s really just giving yourself clarity time!) But from where I stand, you’re doing fabulously, my friend! 🙂