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I know I'm not alone in my struggle to find the motivation I need to actually FOLLOW THROUGH with something to make my fortune. I have desire, I have reasons, I have know how, I have the tools, I have this awesome forum for inspiration and support…I know I have everything I need, yet I still struggle. Why?
This was the question on my mind when I fell asleep last night. I woke up at 4:10 am this morning and could not fall back asleep because I think I know what I'm missing...
Right now I’m lacking that Obsessive Feeling.
I can’t seem to come up with that business idea that gives me that unquestioning confident feeling that my idea…
I know what some people will think, “this guy just fears failure...but he shouldn’t fear failure because it’s part of the process. You never really fail, it’s just another step towards success.”
While this is true, and fearing failure should not stop you from doing “something”, what I’m talking about is the obsessive feeling of confidence you get when you know something WILL happen, you cannot fail, you will MAKE it happen!
So the question becomes...how do you get to that point, how can you get that Obsessive Feeling?
When you read between the lines in some of the progress threads you can see this confidence. There is a thread on the Inside right now by @GIlman entitled Building a SaaS Business from the Ground Up...
Insiders Building a SAAS business from the ground up
I read through it last week and it’s clear this guy has the confident feeling I’m talking about, and it’s clear to me that he will succeed because of it. I am sure he will succeed because he has that passion right now, the feeling that he is onto something, the right thing that will lead to his success...it has become his ONE Thing...it consumes him. Obsession might be the best word to describe this feeling.
I’m sure MJ had this obsessive feeling when he built his business. You can see it in other progress threads as well like @AllenCrawley ...
Insiders-GOLD The Building of a Brand and a Product Centered Business [Progress Thread]
... @Vick
[INSIDERS] My New Project - 8 Eyewear
...and others. You can also see it missing in other threads, and they’re likely to fail because they don’t have it.
I know this obsessive feeling, and I want it again. I had it 20 years ago when I built a business that succeeded for a while but ultimately failed because it did not meet the 5 fastlane commandments. A family friend of ours bought a duty free store just over the border in Michigan. He was looking to increase foot traffic for his business and I had an idea to help him. I created what we called The Beer Club which was essentially a loyalty membership. I sold annual memberships that entitled members to a further discount. At the time I was just looking to make some extra money and this was the ticket. I became “obsessed with the idea” and couldn’t sleep at night because I had so many ideas going through my head about the possibilities. This is the “obsessive feeling” I’m talking about. I built the membership up to 500 members and was taking in around $65,000 a year doing it, as a side income. Like MJ, I bought books and learned new skills to automate my business. I knew nothing about programming but I was determined to automate the process of sending out reminder letters to members when their membership was about to expire. I bought MS Office Pro and learned enough Visual Basic to get the job done. It took a few months of reading, writing code, testing and improving until I finally turned the trick. I was able to turn mailing out weekly reminders from a job that took up my entire Monday into a job that took 30 to 60 minutes every Monday, and most of that time was stuffing the envelopes, stamping them and getting them to the mailbox.
The point of that story is that I went through that stage of “feeling obsessed” about my idea...it was my ONE Thing and I was determined to make it work. That Obsessive Feeling is what I’m searching for now.
As a side note, can you see why that business didn’t get me my financial freedom? Which of the Five Fastlane Commandments did it violate?
The Commandment of Need - it met this one, there was a need, a market of people looking to get their booze as cheaply as they could.
The Commandment of Entry - it met this one, I had the exclusive rights to run this club and service the need (market).
The Commandment of Control - this was the big one. Ultimately the owner of the Duty Free Store had the control and when he decided he no longer wanted to sell at a discount, he pulled the plug (after 5 years mind you, so I did alright with this for a while).
The Commandment of Scale - another one it failed. I could only serve the local market and could not expand any further.
The Commandment of Time - it met this one. I had it down to 30 to 60 minutes of work a week to make around $1,200...not bad for a side gig.
I’m bringing up the Commandments MJ lays out for us because I think they’re essential to getting that Obsessed Feeling about a business idea, and that is the point to this post. I want to discuss and figure out how to get to that point of feeling obsessed with your idea...so that it becomes your ONE Thing, all you think about all the time. That’s what it takes succeed big.
If you have an idea that meets all five of the Commandments, the chances of getting that obsessed feeling are much better, so that is definitely a place to start.
I almost posted this on the Inside...why...because I spend the majority of my time there. I changed my mind and decided to post this is the general forum because I'm sure if we can come up with some answers it can help a lot of newbie’s along with those of us who have been at it awhile but are still struggling. If you’re not on the Inside yet I would definitely encourage you to get in there. While there’s lots of good info to be had here, there’s much more on the Inside and most of the really knowledgeable people spend the majority of their time in there. It’s worth it, trust me.
BGLefty
This was the question on my mind when I fell asleep last night. I woke up at 4:10 am this morning and could not fall back asleep because I think I know what I'm missing...
Right now I’m lacking that Obsessive Feeling.
I can’t seem to come up with that business idea that gives me that unquestioning confident feeling that my idea…
- is what I’m supposed to be doing
- will succeed
- is worth my time and effort
- etc...
I know what some people will think, “this guy just fears failure...but he shouldn’t fear failure because it’s part of the process. You never really fail, it’s just another step towards success.”
While this is true, and fearing failure should not stop you from doing “something”, what I’m talking about is the obsessive feeling of confidence you get when you know something WILL happen, you cannot fail, you will MAKE it happen!
So the question becomes...how do you get to that point, how can you get that Obsessive Feeling?
When you read between the lines in some of the progress threads you can see this confidence. There is a thread on the Inside right now by @GIlman entitled Building a SaaS Business from the Ground Up...
Insiders Building a SAAS business from the ground up
I read through it last week and it’s clear this guy has the confident feeling I’m talking about, and it’s clear to me that he will succeed because of it. I am sure he will succeed because he has that passion right now, the feeling that he is onto something, the right thing that will lead to his success...it has become his ONE Thing...it consumes him. Obsession might be the best word to describe this feeling.
I’m sure MJ had this obsessive feeling when he built his business. You can see it in other progress threads as well like @AllenCrawley ...
Insiders-GOLD The Building of a Brand and a Product Centered Business [Progress Thread]
... @Vick
[INSIDERS] My New Project - 8 Eyewear
...and others. You can also see it missing in other threads, and they’re likely to fail because they don’t have it.
I know this obsessive feeling, and I want it again. I had it 20 years ago when I built a business that succeeded for a while but ultimately failed because it did not meet the 5 fastlane commandments. A family friend of ours bought a duty free store just over the border in Michigan. He was looking to increase foot traffic for his business and I had an idea to help him. I created what we called The Beer Club which was essentially a loyalty membership. I sold annual memberships that entitled members to a further discount. At the time I was just looking to make some extra money and this was the ticket. I became “obsessed with the idea” and couldn’t sleep at night because I had so many ideas going through my head about the possibilities. This is the “obsessive feeling” I’m talking about. I built the membership up to 500 members and was taking in around $65,000 a year doing it, as a side income. Like MJ, I bought books and learned new skills to automate my business. I knew nothing about programming but I was determined to automate the process of sending out reminder letters to members when their membership was about to expire. I bought MS Office Pro and learned enough Visual Basic to get the job done. It took a few months of reading, writing code, testing and improving until I finally turned the trick. I was able to turn mailing out weekly reminders from a job that took up my entire Monday into a job that took 30 to 60 minutes every Monday, and most of that time was stuffing the envelopes, stamping them and getting them to the mailbox.
The point of that story is that I went through that stage of “feeling obsessed” about my idea...it was my ONE Thing and I was determined to make it work. That Obsessive Feeling is what I’m searching for now.
As a side note, can you see why that business didn’t get me my financial freedom? Which of the Five Fastlane Commandments did it violate?
The Commandment of Need - it met this one, there was a need, a market of people looking to get their booze as cheaply as they could.
The Commandment of Entry - it met this one, I had the exclusive rights to run this club and service the need (market).
The Commandment of Control - this was the big one. Ultimately the owner of the Duty Free Store had the control and when he decided he no longer wanted to sell at a discount, he pulled the plug (after 5 years mind you, so I did alright with this for a while).
The Commandment of Scale - another one it failed. I could only serve the local market and could not expand any further.
The Commandment of Time - it met this one. I had it down to 30 to 60 minutes of work a week to make around $1,200...not bad for a side gig.
I’m bringing up the Commandments MJ lays out for us because I think they’re essential to getting that Obsessed Feeling about a business idea, and that is the point to this post. I want to discuss and figure out how to get to that point of feeling obsessed with your idea...so that it becomes your ONE Thing, all you think about all the time. That’s what it takes succeed big.
If you have an idea that meets all five of the Commandments, the chances of getting that obsessed feeling are much better, so that is definitely a place to start.
I almost posted this on the Inside...why...because I spend the majority of my time there. I changed my mind and decided to post this is the general forum because I'm sure if we can come up with some answers it can help a lot of newbie’s along with those of us who have been at it awhile but are still struggling. If you’re not on the Inside yet I would definitely encourage you to get in there. While there’s lots of good info to be had here, there’s much more on the Inside and most of the really knowledgeable people spend the majority of their time in there. It’s worth it, trust me.
BGLefty
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