“We’re busy doing nothing working the whole day through”
The simple truth…
Being an entrepreneur is hard.
Sometimes it feels like you’re stuck on a treadmill. That no matter how hard you run, you never seem to make progress.
Yet, while the gym eventually closes, and the treadmill comes to halt…
You the entrepreneur must keep going.
You can’t stop.
With your head down, you keep marching on, thinking… “If I can keep going for just a little longer… I’ll make it”
But when you raise your head…
You realise that you’ve been travelling for weeks without making progress.
Ahhhh…. It’s enough to make you scream!
Now, I’ll be honest with you….
There are still days when I feel my time is wasted. However, there’s fewer and fewer of these ‘lost’ days.
Why?
Well, I made a few key changes to my approach…
1) I moved from a consumption first-approach to an asset first approach
This means that instead of spending my time on many low-value tasks. I spend my time on big assets building tasks, like writing and publishing my book.
Assets are things that last. They aren’t going anywhere.
Even when I’m dead, my book will still exist.
Examples of assets:
- Book
- Audio book
- Evergreen online training programme
- Website (that actually drives leads/sales)
- Podcast
- Scalable product design (e.g., ipod)
- Mailing list of 1000 engaged CEOS
In contrast, cold-calling leads or posting on Twitter are consumption tasks…
— Tasks which require frequent and continual work
— Tasks whose value doesn’t sustain over time
— Tasks which don’t create a big impact for you or your business
(NB: I’m not saying that social posting has zero value. I’m saying that it has questionable value… you must question if it’s worth it to you.)
2) I committed to my asset building
If I hadn’t committed to my book it would never have gotten written.
There are no shortcuts to building valuable assets. It’s hard work… but it’s hard work with a pay off.
For example, it took me a looooong time to write my book. But it’s already paying off, as I’m getting booked for speaking gigs at huge conferences.
3) I took action
I turned up everyday and hit those keys on my keyboard… even when I didn’t want to.
IN SUMMARY
If you feel like your time is being wasted.
Stop consuming stuff and being consumed by tasks.
Start asset building.
