I’m not really sure how I’m trying to use this blog at the moment, so pretty much it’s just going to be my open journal as I work on starting a business.
My passions lately revolve around Clickfunnels (really sales funnels in general) and Facebook ads. I’ve joined a lot of groups and I consume a lot of information on that front. I’m trying to tie those passions with my desire to contribute in a positive way to both my family and my community, so I’d like to work with local businesses building sales funnels and helping them develop more leads for their business.
I’ve known that this is where I want to focus my efforts in a side-hustle for a while now, but I keep going around in circles not really making much progress. To really figure this out, I decided to just ask myself “Why?” repeatedly until I get to an answer that is really meaningful to me. I’m going to attempt to turn off my own personal editor as I freewrite here, but I also want to take some time and explain my answers in some detail as well.
Worst case scenario, someone reading this later that wants to help entrepreneur’s start businesses will have valuable insight what goes on in someone’s head that’s spent thousands of dollars on courses, but hasn’t gotten the result they’re aiming for (yet). I’m going to try to get to the root of my problem by asking myself WHY at least 5 times.
Problem: I want to start a business, but I’m having a hard time following through with material I’ve purchased.
Why?
Answer: I have a hard time following through because I’ve purchased 30 different things and they’re all different.
Explanation: I think this is probably a habit many other entrepreneurs (or wantrepreneurs) have as well. We’ve got so many emails coming in with free opt-in offers about doing this or that. We’ve paid for courses and workshops ranging from $7 to several thousand. Worst case, we even purchase without even trying to complete the information. Best case, you’re here after purchasing something, taking massive action, and you’ve got so much free-time built into your lifestyle design you want to see how the other half lives. I’m just kidding.. here but most likely you’re similar to me and somewhere in between those two extremes.
So… Why?
Answer: I have a hard time following through because there’s no sense of urgency.
Explanation: I’m a huge fan of Tony Robbins and one thing of his that’s always stuck with me is that if you’re not getting the results you want from the action you’re taking, it’s because it’s not a must. People don’t do what they SHOULD do.. they do what they MUST do. That’s easy to type, but it feels much harder to put into action. Tony has a lot of techniques he offers to combat this, and now that I’ve come to this realization I am going to revisit some of those tactics to help bridge this gap. Keep an eye out for a future post on how I’m going to try to Dicken’s Pattern myself outta this hole.
Before I jump into my third “Why?” I want to give a shout out to someone else I am a huge fan of. Russell Brunson has mentioned a few times that if you’re passionate about something and you genuinely have something of value to offer the world.. it’s your moral obligation to get out there and offer it to people. That hits home with me in this scenario because despite being plagued with impostor syndrome and often feeling like I don’t really have much to offer the world, I am pretty good at things when I put my mind to them. In his book Expert Secrets, he did a pretty amazing job striking a cord during his first chapter when he was talking about exactly this subject. Check out the beginning of Secret #1 in his book to find out more. So, at the end of the day I may not be an expert in sales funnels and FB ads, but I’m definitely not worthless in this regard. If your goal is to create a living doing this, you don’t have to be the best, you just need to be one or two steps ahead of someone else and reach back and offer them a way to get where you already are.
So again… Why?
Answer: I have no sense of urgency because I’m working a day job that’s offering me a lifestyle beyond what I ever really thought possible.
Explanation: Three years ago, I had just graduated college. Originally, I went back later in life because I had ‘topped out’ at the job I took straight out of high school and wanted to be ‘valued at work for my mind and not the physical labor I can do’. It cracks me up because at the time, that’s exactly how I justified ditching my day job and going back to college full time. I won’t speculate on how legitimate that excuse was, but fast forward to the end of college.
The first job I secured after graduating was making the same income as my days slinging wrenches. I will tell you, that situation was rough for me. It was about this time, I started listening to a lot of podcasts and really started getting into Tony Robbins material in a pretty hardcore way.
I realized pretty quickly that my mindset was all kinds of jacked up. Going through TR’s material and really flooding my life with the type of mindset I wanted to create rapidly changed my career trajectory. I kept searching for other jobs that would make me more money. (You may see the problem with only that goal, but I didn’t at the time.) With my newfound mindset shift, I was able to find them.
I found one within a few months that offered me an over 40% bump in pay. I was blown away and so I took that job.
If I could get that, why not go for more? So I did, and within a few more months I had another offer on the table. This time it was over a 30% bump (about 89% from where I originally started).
This was starting to get silly to me, so I kept pushing the limits… and again, I had an offer on the table for about 18% more. That last one doesn’t sound like it was that big of a deal, but negotiating that position broke me into the six figure range.
The craziest part of this whole thing? I haven’t been ‘happy’ at any of these positions. I’m good at what I do, but I’m not passionate about the work. It’s been my dream my entire life to work for myself. I’ve set the bar pretty high in this circumstance to create a business that can support the lifestyle I’m trying to offer my new family.
I don’t say any of that to brag or to complain. I only say it to explain that for someone that grew up eating hotdogs and mac-and-cheese, I’ve already come a pretty long way. At the time, I thought more money was the answer. I used to fuss about ‘gurus’ that would say, money doesn’t buy you happiness.. but it’s true.
That’s all fine and good, but really.. Why?
Answer: So I have an amazing (financial) lifestyle, but I’m missing key pieces to the puzzle which I didn’t realize I needed to value at the time.
Explanation: We all have different reasons for wanting to get into business. For many of us, whether we want to admit it or not, it’s often because we think owning our own business can make us rich. I think I grew up wanting to own a business for that very reason. When I was younger, I thought money was the most important thing because I was in such a great family environment, those needs never really surfaced.
I’ll admit, I still want to be able to make a very comfortable living owning my own business, but there’s so much more to it now. This actually leads me into my answer for the final “Why?”.
So really, at the core of this whole question.. “Why?”
Answer: The pieces that were missing were fulfillment and relationships.
Explanation: I didn’t realize it at the time, but even as an introvert.. I feel the need to connect with people and build relationships.
In fact, I have always felt the urge to serve and help people. It’s one thing that’s always been part of who I am.
In my day job, I think this is one of the reasons I end up getting ahead. I constantly try to put myself in others shoes and ask “What could they need?” or “How can I exceed their expectations?”. I often find my calendar booked with co-workers asking me to teach them how to do this or that. In many ways, those meetings are the highlight of my day. I get a lot of fulfillment knowing that I can help someone learn something or do something they couldn’t do before.
Overall though, those parts of my day are small when I look at time spent in that place of personal fulfillment. The idea that really pulls me towards owning my own business is the idea that I could create a life around serving and giving aide to other people. I believe it was Zig Ziglar that said, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will surely get what you want.”
This needs to be the thing that motivates me and drives me. Deep down it is, but too often we can get caught up in what our website looks like, or our Facebook status. At the end of the day, if you can help enough people get what they’re looking for, you’re well on your way.
So as I realize I’m likely to push two thousand words in this post, I still feel it’s important to recap the answer to these questions and see if it really does make sense. This also servers as the “too long didn’t read” (TLDR) recap.
TLDR: My problem is that I’m an aspiring entrepreneur that has purchased multiple courses for building online businesses, but I haven’t made any real progress in any of them. Why is that? After some soul searching through this post, I realize that I’m not using the material to create meaningful value to others.. and therefore I’m not getting fulfillment out of the process myself.
Now, I know I just laid a lot of information about myself out on the page there, but I really meant it when I said I feel the urge to serve and help people. My hope is that someone will stumble across this post someday that needs it and will have the courage to reach out. I do a great job listening and offering some useful advice.
If you’d like to chat, leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to follow up. If you’d like more from me, be sure to subscribe below and join my email list. You can unsubscribe at any time, and replying to those emails is a great way to start a private conversation if you’d prefer to go that route.
EDIT: This post needs some readability and SEO love, I’m aware. I’ll go back and edit it later to improve those areas, but for now.. Action.
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