The Top 7 Excuses That Are Holding Back Your Small Business Success

Do you have bad habits in your business? Are there things you repeatedly do just out of habit? You know you could be holding yourself back from success but you continue making excuses. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote by Tony Robbins, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

Bad habits and excuses go hand in hand. If you want to kick your business up a notch but you’re allowing excuses to keep you stuck, have a look at the following list.

 

These are the top 7 excuses business owners use to justify their inaction and how you can turn that around to achieve the success you strive for:

1. I don’t have the time. A lot of us procrastinate by getting lost in busywork because it’s easier. These are activities that take up time but are not producing results. By managing your time well and prioritizing, you can ensure that you make the time for that important project.

2. I’m too busy. Similar to the above but rather than procrastinating you are multitasking to the point of accomplishing nothing. Try single-tasking. Focus all your energy on the task at hand. You will make fewer errors and achieve better, faster results.

3. I’m afraid it won’t work. Fear of failure can be immobilizing. Make a list of ideas you’ve dreamed of putting into place in your business, but haven’t because you’re afraid. Take action in small steps and celebrate each small success along the way. If things aren’t working, do it differently knowing that you’re learning and improving with each experience.

4. I’m afraid it will work. Success can be scary because it means things will change. You will have new and probably more responsibilities but remember you have more to gain than lose. Keep doing what works to create long-term success.

5. I’m making enough. We are creatures of habit and become comfortable with the status quo. However, it is crucial to get outside your comfort zone and come up with new ideas for your business. Volunteer to speak at the next networking event. Perhaps the regulars know you socially but do they really know what you do? There are probably at least one or two fellow business owners in the group that could benefit from your product or service.

6. I’ve always used ‘X’. Loyalty may not always be a good thing. Does it take your webmaster 2 weeks to make a small change to your website? Perhaps it’s time to look for someone more efficient. Don’t let loyalty hamper your success.

7. What I’m doing is working. In this case, maybe all you need to do is keep doing what works and add to it.

So if your desire is to have something greater, what’s stopping you? Choose one of your bad habits and create a new one. It is said that it takes 21 days to change a habit. That’s not long really. So put yourself up to the challenge. Start today and a month from now your world will be better for it.

Perception Is Everything When It Comes To Time Management

Why is it that when we have to complete something in record time we are able to, however, when we have one week to complete the same assignment, it takes us a full 7 days? I came across an article lately discussing time management with a reference to Parkinson’s Law and our perception of time. Parkinson’s Law is defined as follows: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Interesting concept.

Time constraints are motivators that work for me both personally and professionally. Think about it and you can probably come up with a couple of instances where you were under the gun and performed brilliantly. With deeper concentration you can attain the same results or better in a shorter period of time. Try it:

• Block out some non-interrupted time to work on something. You can identify your most important tasks of the day and pick one or begin work on a long term goal.
• Make the goal achievable but challenging and schedule it into your calendar.
• You may need to set a timer to help you focus.
• Turn off distractions such as email and phone. One interruption can mean up to 20 minutes to get back to what you were doing.
• Aim for completion of the goal, not perfection.

Note: Never struggle with anything for more than 15 minutes. Take a break and come back to it with a clear mind.

By focusing all your energy on achieving the task at hand, you increase your chances of completing it. Single-tasking means you will be more focused, make fewer errors and achieve better results.

Do you have a larger goal you need to achieve? Break up your goal into smaller portions. For example, think how much closer to completion you will be if you write 5 pages of your ebook every day. As Henry Ford once said: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”

Make the time you spend working as effective as possible.

5 Reasons Why You Should Discover The Wonderful World Of Fiction

Reading is one of my all-time favourite activities and something I have rediscovered recently. I love finding a quiet space and losing myself in a novel. I’ve missed this little escape in my day. Now my girls are big enough to choose their own books from the library, it gives me the chance to browse through the selections and pick some of my own reading material. Not the “How To Grow Your Home Based Business in 5 Easy Steps” manuals, which are all well and good, but that’s still business. I’m referring to the wonderful world of fiction!

As entrepreneurs we need to find more balance. We often spend way more than our fair share of hours in a day thinking and doing business. We must switch gears and stimulate other interests.

Here are 5 reasons why you should make time for the joy of reading:

1. It allows you to single-task. Have you ever read and re-read a paragraph or a page in a book over more than once because your mind is elsewhere? Multi-tasking is not an option when it comes to reading and comprehending what you’ve read. You cannot cook dinner, allow your mind to wander to your to-do list, or have a conversation. You have to bring yourself back to the task at hand.

2. Learn something new – even when reading fiction. All good writers invest time to research their story. They include details, essential facts and statistics that give their stories meaning and create a reality we can recognize and be drawn to. They also use personal observations and quotations giving a story authenticity. You will gain some genuine new information that may indirectly affect your business.

3. Escapism. As entrepreneurs, we spend so much of our day dedicated to work. Reading fiction can be magical. We go places in our minds that we may never experience in reality. Or we may uncover our next travel destination!

4. Practice being present. This is related to single-tasking but takes it a bit further. You need to clear your mind of the 101 other things going thru it in order to be aware of what you’re reading. If you find your mind wandering to something you need to do, bring yourself back to the present and focus on what’s going on right now. Being present takes practice and is an incredibly useful skill in all aspects of work and life and increases your enjoyment of the here and now.

5. It’s a forced break. Because we are drawn away to another time and place, a good story gives our minds a break from what might be going on in our own reality. Time away is a good thing – we usually come back refreshed and often with a new perspective. We may be inspired by new ideas picked up through something we’ve read. Somehow answers seem to ‘find us’ if we’re open to it.

So, my question to you is this? Have you read anything good lately? I hope so and would love to hear about it!