Friday Progress

This week I have two choices.

Think of it as a week that was not successful

or think of it as a week where progress was made. But not always in the places I expected.

I have always thought of myself as someone that see things as either black or white. I still do.

Either things are
or they are not.
In my world things are simple.
And I don't think I am alone.

Here in the UK there is a tv programme that is called FitFarm and it is one of those "reality" shows that follow a bunch of obese people locked away at this fitness farm in an attempt to loose weight.

I admit that I watch this show. It is on during my "break" time, but I also find that a few home truths are revealed to me.

For Instance, one of the female participants is always upset after she's had her weekly weigh-in as she never looses as much weight as the other females. Yet Shelley had the lowest weight when she came in and she still is the slimmest of them. But because she compares herself with the pound for pound loss of others, she can't help but feel a failure.

So how she ... I want to say define success, but I'm not sure that's right. I guess in order to determine how successful she has been, she needs a reference point. So I guess the first revelation I have because of this show was that how I feel about my achievements have everything to do with the frame of reference I am choosing to measure my progress against. And choosing the wrong one can have a big impact on my attitude.

The other revelation I have had on this show is that attitude makes a difference. The people that are the happiest in there seem to be those that try to help the others by giving them encouragement, support and councel. They also compare themselves only with their past self: "The person I am this week is lighter than the person I was last week".

Hmm - I guess my two revelations are two sides to the same coin really.

The defeatist group of people would call my week not successful because I did not achieve all the goals that I had set out:
- write on my ebook 30 minutes per day.
- Offline marketing project goals
and so on.

However the positive group of people would recognise that progress has been made.

I can not deny that I have not worked on my ebook 30 minutes every day. But I have managed to add a full new chapter.

My Offline marketing project has hardly moved, but I am always thinking about it, and I have also some ideas that I need to formulate and tie it down. There are some clear tasks and a couple of clear deadlines that I have ahead of me which I have identified this week.

I could certainly benefit from focussing my efforts a litte more.

The less positive participants would say that the apparent lack of success was because I have had the flu for the last week or so. Or that obviously I couldn't have forseen the problems with the phonelines on Monday. Or that My wife suggested we'd go and see a film at the same time as another conference call was on.

The guys that are doing really well would focus on the positive side of things. They look for reasons to celebrate success.

In spite of my flu I have still been able to write a full chapter of my ebook.
I am learning things about myself and about the world every day.
I am learning it from sources I would never have considered relevant.
I actually made the decision to NOT participate in the second conference call this week because the subject matter was on a subject that isn't really directly relevant to my business YET.
I made the decision to choose to spend the evening in the way that contribute most POSITIVELY to my family and my life.

Want to know a secret about my past life?

- I used to be a Kleeneze rep.

and before you knock Kleeneze - look at your expectation of it.
Kleeneze is not about catalogues.
Kleeneze is not about MLM.
It is not about People either really.
It is about YOUR ATTITUDE to success.

What makes a failed Kleeneze rep? In your opinion?
I have yet to meet ANYONE that has tried Kleeneze,
put out all their catalogues for at least 4 weeks
and failed to collect orders for MORE than what it cost them to set up their business. ( imagine if you could do that with a franchise! )

Now, for all of you that didn't get turned off by my little rant read on:

But the people I have spoken to that have quit have done so because they had bought in to the idea that in order to be considered a success they have to build teams and make lots of money. And they felt that they could not achieve that sort of success.

Some also gave up because of all the obstacles thrown in their way - competition, out of stock, rain or worst of all - DOGS!
( I met one man at a company meeting once who had the tip of his index finger bitten off by a dog - and he was still doing Kleeneze - how's that for dedication? )

Anyway. I am not selling Kleeneze anymore. It was a simple decision of looking at my rate of return for the time I invested and for us it was no longer worth it.

And anything I have learnt something positive from I have to consider as successful because it has contributed to making the me of today be better than the me of the past.

And in conclusion I move on to the me of tomorrow.
The main thing for me to concentrate on this next week is to increase the productivity of creating my ebook. I'm aiming to have it finished by the time I go to the UK netmarketing seminar on the 24th. 14 Days. I am supposed to spend 30 minutes a day. I will increase this to one hour. 8pm to 9pm every day.

I will create a task list for my offline marketing venture today, and make progress on at least one of those tasks every day.

I also need to keep an eye on my focus. It is very easy to get distracted by all sorts of other things.

There are also 3 or 4 conference calls to consider joining over the next 2 weeks. I will have to see how they fit in with my business needs but I should really attend at least one of them.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice Easter.

Cheers
Jon ( still progressing )

=Every Day In Every Way, I'm getting better and better=