Since I was 13, I’ve been interested in psychology.
So much so that I began studying medicine back in 1980 in order to become a psychiatrist.
Do I know much about psychology today? Ha, no, probably not. Sadly, it’s impossible to find time and energy to deal with all interests, right?
In this week’s newsletter, that is one of the issues I’m going to talk about: time and energy.
But there’s more. We’re going to go deep down the rabbit hole and explore the darker side of mankind.
Maybe you’ll read things you don’t like.
Hopefully, you’ll read it anyway, then give me all the fingers you like.
This is going to be tough love. With focus on love. I do this to help you, nothing else.
I know that I have some very successful marketers on my list. This newsletter is not for you.
This newsletter is for you if you have not yet found success online. Maybe you haven’t even started yet.
Let’s go over a number of reasons why you haven’t seen success yet. And by the end of the newsletter, I will reveal the real reason to you.
But no cheating! Read or skim the text first. Otherwise it won’t make sense to you anyway.
Time
Out of 24 hours a day, you need some sleep. Probably between 6 and 8 hours.
That leaves between 16 and 18 hours… Remove 10 hours if you have a job outside of your home, then we’re down to 6-8 hours.
Out of those, you need to bathe, cook, eat, shop, take care of family, see friends, walk the cat/dog/turtle.
Will 3 hours per day be enough? That depends on your situation.
We’re down to 3-5 hours now. Per day.
How you spend those hours matter. But it’s unlikely that you can spend them all working in a business, because of … energy.
Energy
While we all have 24 hours a day with no way to bank hours, energy is limited, too.
You can get more energy by eating healthy (that includes NO sugar, not even juice or fruit) and by getting a good night’s sleep.
Another hack I learned that worked for me was to postpone the first cup of coffee. I used to drink coffee and water first thing in the morning. Now I drink two big mugs of herbal tea first before coffee.
Where I crashed at 2 pm before, I can now work until 5 or 6 pm without problems. And without taking a nap.
But energy, or lack of it, is an issue.
Speaking of lack…
Lack of focus
Did you know that I became an affiliate already in 1998? I have an Amazon ID to prove it. It doesn’t end in -20 like everybody else’s.
I started my first money-making list in 2003 (March).
And I’ve written eBooks and made courses since … 2002 I think.
WHY AM I NOT A MILLIONAIRE TODAY?
Because of lack of focus.
He who hunts two rabbits and all that…
It’s hard to focus when you have many interests. And online, there are so many fun things to do – and I’ve done most of them.
Not only are there all those golden opportunities for quick wins (the bright shiny objects). But there are also genuine ways to make money.
Ways that people do succeed with, like:
- blogging
- site flipping
- publishing books
- creating courses
- doing affiliate marketing
And on and on the list goes.
Lack of focus is a real issue. Not an excuse.
Let me get back to that point in a moment.
Excuse, you said?
You’re frowning now.
You don’t even have three spare hours per day.
You’re not watching (much) Netflix, and you hardly spend more than maybe 30 minutes a day on social media. We’re supposed to have a social media presence, right?
So time is not an excuse for you.
Neither is lack of energy.
And as for focus… You don’t know what to focus on because there are so many things you could do.
Excuse, I say
Let me prove it.
A while ago, I surveyed my fiction writer list. It turned out that 50% of the 50 persons who replied complained about not having enough time.
This problem concerned both people who had yet to write their first book and people who had already written and published several books.
So I fixed that problem.
Happy writers, right?
Let me get back to that.
Another problem I heard from writers was that people disturbed them and didn’t take No for an answer.
I fixed that problem.
Happy writers, right?
Nope.
When it came to showing the solutions to both problems, I got one unison reply:
SILENCE.
Only one person found it worth it to solve the time problem. And only around five found it worth to solve the disturbance problem.
At first, I was puzzled
These writers had complained so much about these problems. Why didn’t they want to solve them?
Then it dawned on me.
They didn’t want to solve the problems because that would leave them without an excuse not to write.
Why would they want an excuse?
We humans are strange. We have safety protocols built into us, which aren’t always in our best interest.
One of them is the one that will keep status quo for any price. Change is dangerous.
This inner part of you will rather see you keep starving, keep being miserable than risk change. Because at least for now it knows that you’re safe. You’re alive and you’re safe.
What could happen if something changed?
DANGER! DANGER!
So a part of you will want things to stay how they are. No matter how they are.
Systems are easy
Everybody who makes money online say the same:
It’s easy.
It’s not hard work.
It’s work, it’s consistency, it’s systems and automation.
But it’s easy.
Here’s an example. Mark’s system HAS to be simple, because he cannot work on or in his business all day.
Mark only works around 30 minutes per day, and most of his “work” takes place in his favorite café.
Lucky Mark. This could be you.
Dare the change!
Skip the excuse.
You have what it takes.