Photo by Ali Yahya on Unsplash
What makes some people successful in short order, while others struggle to meet the heights they dream about? It’s something I wonder as I walk my own entrepreneurial journey. I often ponder on the question first posed by Peter Thiel and repeated by countless other writers, entrepreneurs, and personal development gurus:
“How can you achieve your 10-year goal in 6 months?”
It all boils down to one thing.
Results.
The better and faster your results, the faster your progress. The thing is, the way that most of us work right now is a testament to our results. Persons who can get results and perform consistently — day-in, day-out — will eventually be successful. Why? Because they can do what others only dream about. There can be hundreds of thousands of people in one field, but the cream rises to the top. I recently read a post by Sinem Gunel on how she was able to make up to 10k a month in writing, no doubt most of it on Medium. She published 20–35 stories a month for almost an entire year. My initial response was, yes, that what it takes.
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I’m not one to talk.
I, too, struggle with consistency and understand how difficult it can be. The world throws different things at you. Your family, your loved ones, and job demands your attention. Yet, you still have to do the work required every day to reach where you want to be.
So how do you get better results? You need to set an environment where you can create a consistent output with the time you have. Even if that time is a couple of hours a day, you need to draw the maximum effort possible. That effort compounds and starts to spin like a flywheel. It may take some time, but the results will be worth it. I’ve noticed when I do these 3 things my results and my output is exponentially better.
1. Starve your distractions.
When you sit down to work, whether it’s one hour or 8 hours, you have different things vying for your attention.
- Your phone.
- Email.
- The refrigerator.
- Social media/YouTube.
- Current events.
- Boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/kids.
- Porn, Netflix, and video games.
- The dishes in the sink.
- Figuring out what to eat.
And so on. If we’re incapable of starving these distractions, we will not achieve any results. If we sit to work and we are distracted every 15 mins, catch ourselves slipping, then go back again, essentially we’ve done only 15 minutes of work in a given hour. You need to starve these fires of oxygen.
Lock yourself in a room with your phone (and smartwatch) outside. Block all your web pages, except those essential to work. Negotiate with your family for the block of time undisturbed. It’s going to suck. Like a drug addict detoxing, you won’t know what to do with yourself. But since all you have to do is work, you’ll eventually get to it. And you’ll surprise yourself with what you achieve in that timeframe. If you can do this for at least 6 months, you’ll be years ahead in any endeavor you’re pursuing.
2. Work on one thing at a time/session.
Even with that focus, you can use the work itself to become a distraction by jumping from one activity to the next. What can happen is a lot of busy work and no real progress. Even before we starve our distractions, we must decide the one thing that we’ll be working on that could push us forward that day/session. With your mind locked in on that one client, content, funnel build, or service delivery, you will actually produce more than trying to wear different hats in one work session.
3. Stay the course.
As I’m learning this year, self-employment and entrepreneurship are by no means linear. This month, I can rake in serious cash. The next month, just a few pennies. Despite that, I’m required to provide the same consistent service and result. This can be demotivating and can easily make us jump to the next shiny object.
The thing with success is that it needs to be courted. It must see that you’re committed and you’re no flake. It will give you just a little bit to keep you interested, to test your mettle. Most will leave and go do something easier or run after other temptations. But if you stay, it will reward you well.
So stay the course. Don’t get your head turned. The grass is not always greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it. Starve the distractions and channel the focus into one thing for as long as you can. The rewards will be more than you dreamed.
Final Thoughts
Success is difficult because most of us are unable to follow this process — and trust it. This is a world that profits from our lack of focus, so we must resist. The distractions will be there when we return. If we don’t get results, what will also be there is the life we don’t want for ourselves. At least one day per week, start starving distractions and staying the course. It’s the only way.
