Nathan Hangen

Guest Post Friday: Being Smart, Sacrifice, and Avoiding Shortcuts

This is the first submission for what I”ve decided to call “guest post Fridays,” which is my way of sharing the work of awesome bloggers without changing my current posting schedule.

If you’d like to submit a guest post to be considered, use the contact form above.

This guest post is written by James, The Infopreneur, who happens to be a writing machine and a very hard worker. Read his blog and then follow him on Twitter.

Question:

Who here has a job?

Regardless of whether part-time or full-time, I’m betting that most people reading this will have a job of some sort.

Now, who here wants to leave that job and make there living from the comfort of there own home via the Internet? Of those that said yes, how many of you can’t do that until you are actually earning enough to leave your job?

*raises hand*

I want to spend more time with my family instead of working a 60hr week on the road driving my truck. Most of us aren’t chasing the million dollar dream, we would be more than happy to replace our wages by working from home.

But, the majority of us chasing the dream are in a permanent catch 22. We can’t make enough money because we don’t have the time and we need to make money in order to have the time to make money, one big vicious cycle.

So how do I plan on breaking this pattern?

Building Phase

I am building my site while I am working, so essentially, I’m doing it on someone else’s dollar. It’s the best way to do it by far…you build a site, a community, and eventually a product list while you maintain full time employment.

This takes the risk out of it, but you still need to stay focused at work, as it’s your employer that is paying your bills. If you get in the mindset of wishing every minute that you can leave your full time job, then you become filled with negative vibes, which will come through in the work that you are doing to build a business. By all means, get that dream and realize it, but stay focused at your full time job until the day comes you can hand in your notice.

The last thing you want to do, especially if you have a family and mortgage is cash it all in before your business is producing income for you. Take your time and build the foundations to build a solid platform which you can pile bricks onto without fear of them falling over.

Sacrifice

I’ve talked about sacrifices before on my own blog…you need to make them simple!

Time watching TV, nights out partying, and even gym time all needs to be reduced to give you more time to work on your business model or site. How much time could you save in your daily routine if you tried?

In my case, I couldn’t squeeze any more time out the day but since I’m on the cusp of monetizing… I’m happy for the time being.

As I said, I work a 60hr week and probably work on average 4-6hrs a day on the site, so all in all I work around 100hrs a week between my full time job and the site.

That is a hell of a lot of hours, but it will be worth it and I can see results already.

Think about how much TV you want to watch, how much time you actually spend visiting websites and chat rooms, or how much time you spend playing FarmVille on Facebook.

If this is more than 5 minutes, have a serious word with yourself and get working on your goals and dreams. Think about it this way…sacrifices right now free up time later on.

If you have a dream, it isn’t going to be handed to you, know why? Because everyone else knows they have to chase it and they already have a head start on you…they left the starting blocks strong so you have to catch up now.

By all means read information that will help and motivate you, but if you read too much you will fall on your face well before the finish line.

Remember the Fire

Did you start your site a few weeks ago…or even a few months ago or longer?

Do you sometimes lose your way and not update the content for a while or not work on producing new products?

Remember back to the very first thought you had about your website or business. What made you want to start it…why did you have that compulsion to say “I’m going to do it?”

Go back to that initial feeling and keep that fire alive. Fire will drive you on as fast as your body can carry you, so keep in mind why you are doing it.

Listen guys…a website, business, or blogger falls by the way side everyday for whatever reason, just the other day a good friend of mine has decided to take a long break from it all.

Burnout is an issue, but I always say it’s only an issue if you aren’t 100% meant to be doing it, if you’re not passionate about it, or have too many things pulling you in different directions.

I have a stack of ideas, not just online ventures but patent ideas too. Do I do anything about them? Hell no, my site is my only business priority at the moment, how can I expect to make a success out of three websites if I haven’t done one yet.

This is my point…you need to focus on your objective and you absolutely need to put the hours in.

Do it on someone else’s buck, but make sure you do it, no lottery tickets are round the corner, no rich distant relatives you don’t know about, just you and your own drive will get you to the top.

I’m a complete dumb ass, the original dumb ass if you like. I have an IQ of 94 and no qualifications to talk about, but I am motivated and street wise…well, I know for a fact that hard work pays off.

As a final thought, think of it this way…you know those sponge quick shine things you can get for your shoes to make them look shiny and clean? Clean shoes in seconds, right?

So why would anyone use actual brushes and polish?

I’ll tell you why…because the polish nourishes the leather. It protects it and provides a deeper and longer lasting shine. Get your brushes out and start working, no such thing as a quick shine in real life.

Are you about to break the cycle?

If so, tell me…how are you doing it?

James Richmond is a hard working, ass kicking, ex-military blogger that writes about building online businesses. You can also find him on Twitter here.

Image Credit

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• There’s Never Been a Better Time than Now

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