Passion Alone Won’t Cut it

I’m always amazed when I talk to an entrepreneur who claims they are extremely passionate about what they do, but for whatever reason they continually sabotage their success.

Sabotage happens for a number of reasons, with the most prevalent being fear of rejection. Sabotage happens by continually putting time into busy work. It can happen by not putting enough effort into sales calls. It might occur by not having a clear plan of action on how to build one’s client base and revenues. Then again, it can happen as a result of constantly giving away one’s services.

Not that there’s anything wrong with occasionally donating services, but if this puts the company at risk, it’s a form of sabotage.

What’s Your Bottom Line?

The bottom line is this; if your bottom line is not healthy, you may need to evaluate what you’re doing that could be sabotaging your success.

Last year I worked with a client who hired me to help her get on track with growing her service based business.

Her greatest challenge was knowing how to streamline her efforts to accomplish more in a shorter period.

Like many people, she is busy all day long, but not necessarily productive. When we evaluated how she used her time, it became apparent where the holes are in her day. I made specific recommendations on what she could do.

Initially, she was very excited about making changes, but within a couple of days, she was back to her old ways.

Are You Willing to Change?

There’s a saying, “In order for things to change, I must change.”

A primary reason people hire a coach is to change the way they are doing things to be much more productive.

If you hire a coach and continue to do things the same way you’re wasting your time and money. You’re also wasting the coaches time. Truth be told, coaches want their clients to succeed.

It can be very frustrating when we work with a client, invest a considerable amount of energy and time and then they continue to do things their way.

Hour of Power

I recommended the client implement a process I’ve been using for my own productivity for years. It’s called, The Hour of Power.

The Hour of Power, when used right, can be an incredibly productive time for you. Usually happening in the first hour you are in your office, during this hour you do only those things that monetize your business. What this simply means is this; any activity during this hour results in bringing money into your business.

• Lead generation
• Follow up on leads
• Product creation
• Email promotions
• Proposal writing
• Product launch

Total Honesty

The process can be somewhat tricky in that busy work is not necessarily monetization work. This is where complete honesty comes in.

For example, if someone is always in the product creation phase, but never launches, then product creation is a time waster rather than a good use of time.

Another example is when someone uses their phone calling time to touch base with family and friends. Nope! That’s not what the Hour of Power is used for.

Recently, one client proudly sent me her list of what she did during her first Hour of Power. She had at the top of the list, “Catch up with my Facebook messages.”

“That is NOT a productive use of time,” I immediately told her.

Why? Because nothing was done to bring money into her business. What she did was create busy work, not money-generating activities.

Discipline with a Capital D

Here’s the deal; building a successful business takes discipline. Anyone who tells you otherwise is likely not running a successful business.

There are things you must be willing to let go of and other activities you absolutely must incorporate into what you do on a daily basis.

Ready to implement your own Hour of Power?

1. Commit to an Hour of Power for the next three days. The reason it is only three days is to make it manageable. If you commit to much more than that you might convince yourself it is more than you can do.
2. Spend the first hour of your day 100% focused on revenue generating activities. This means you do nothing for that hour but what’s in front of you to make money. No email, no social media, no watching cute videos, nothing.
3. You may need to set your alarm to get up an hour earlier than usual in order to complete your Hour of Power activities.
4. Keep track of what you accomplished over the three days during your Hour of Power.
By starting your day with only those activities that add revenue to your bottom line, you will be amazed at how quickly things can (and will) change. But again, you must be completely honest about what you are doing.

One way you can keep track of your time is with a timer. There are a number of different types you can invest in, but the key is to use whatever you get.
It’s also a matter of letting go of the time wasters (and being really honest about that) and incorporating money makers.

If you’re not sure you will stick with it, enlist the help of an accountability buddy. Still not sure? Then maybe you’re not serious about wanting things to change and you’d prefer to keep lying to yourself.

Where do you find yourself lying about how productive you are? What needs to change for you?

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