Open your mind
When I talk about things I might compare them to online situations but in truth, these things can be applied to many aspects of our lives. I prefer tactics that work in more than one place.
If you understand who you “really” are, and you realize to reach goals it takes discipline and ambition…how can those two be applied? They do actually work together. Let’s look at a common non-blogging example.
In college (undergrad and Master’s) I “knew” my personality. I was excited when a class started but about halfway through I was bored to tears, ready to move on to the next thing. The pain was excruciating if I already knew the material. I knew that my grades would drop because I was bored. Irresponsible I realize but hey, I’m being honest here. So what did I do about it? I used my strength…I sprinted.
In the beginning while excited, I looked at the syllabus to see what could be completed early. Usually I would have about 80% of the work done by the third week of class which, ironically, is when my interest would start to decline. While everyone else worked on assignments as they were due, I was coasting through the end of the class. I would be editing a paper while everyone else was writing it. Because I already digested the material I had better insight to problem areas. It worked, I graduated with honors for undergrad and my Master’s thesis was chosen as the best of the class by my peers. Would that same strategy work for me now? No, because school in general would not work for me now. I don’t want the structured commitment - and realizing that it would be unwise for me to enroll or enter into a arrangement where I would be confined to doing something that requires a strong commitment and set times when tasks would have to be completed. At this point in my life I value hard work and flexibility. May as well be honest about it right?
See, it ties together nicely sometimes.
Technically, I did a mini-sprint in the middle of a long-distance race but the balance worked out in the end. I sprinted in the beginning and coasted in the end, giving me the ability to sprint again if needed.
Most people don’t do that unfortunately. Flipping back to online examples how many times have you seen someone jump into a blog, a business, a partnership or even a social site with enthusiasm that excites people, only to see them spent a couple of months down the road, enthusiasm drained? How many sites are on the web that promised daily content and they do not update daily? What went wrong? Many times, unrealistic expectations and goals throws the best made plans awry. I think these people had the best intentions, just unrealistic goals.
How do you counter that? How do you improve upon that? What can you do to make sure that doesn’t happen to you? It would suck if you didn’t have the endurance to get that man/woman you wanted, the promotion you think you deserve or maintain the success you achieved. What can you do?
Well, most times it boils down to one principle thing: your frame of mind.
david # —
Interesting idea. I think that in many ways people “sprint” when they start a blog because they’re excited at the possibility, not recognizing the likely reality. Then, as you say, reality doesn’t meet their expectations–they receive little traffic, little adoration, little profit–and they get out. I think it happens in most other areas of life as well.
Tyme # —
I agree. They are very excited in the beginning, realize the work involved and it kills the joy. I must admit I’ve been guilty of it myself at times, more with hobbies than business.
karmatosed # —
I like to think of the perception of myself as a constant changing thing. I treat life as evolving and make sure that I check things including my blogs and business participations. If something is not holding my attention or being worked on I have to make the choice if it fits anymore - not easy to do but you really need to check as you and anything you do is evolving.
Personal checking is something that I am a great believer in and take this onto the projects. The assumption that it’s a race is also something I’ve tried to put on hold. I try to see the long haul and work towards that. I’ve long ago given up on instant gratification from blogging. The blogs I had that were based on this always failed. I like to see what I am doing and access it periodically, if it doesn’t fit then the ‘break or evolve’ decision has to be made.
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