The last thing I want to do at 5:30am is get out of my warm bed, put on a pair of running shoes and either hit the pavement or hit the gym. After all, why mess up a perfectly good night’s sleep by doing something that seems to be pure punishment to my body.
And as I run along the lonely road with only the sound of my iPod and my shoes hitting the pavement I can’t help but notice there are not too many people up, doing what I’m doing, at an hour when even the roosters are still asleep.
But with your workouts, as with your business, showing up is half the battle. And showing up consistently will help you achieve the results you deserve.
Leo Tolstoy was credited to say “I don’t love writing but I love having written.”
Updated, this can say “I don’t love working out but I love having worked out.”
What happens after, as well as what happens during the process, makes it all worth the effort.
This morning at the gym, I realized how working out and building a business have much in common. I remembered an article in Forbes magazine which noted that many top female CEO’s also played sports.
There’s a reason for that…let’s talk about some possibilities.
Core Strength
Think about your body for a moment. You have a few appendages (arms, legs, head) which are pretty important in their own right, but holding it all together is your core. Your core helps keep you balanced and protects your spine. It’s a no-brainer that your core muscles must be strong.
So what’s the core of your business?
Is it the actual product or service that you deliver (the appendages) or is it the inspiration and mission that drives the business. While the value you deliver is important for creating revenue; the mission and core strengths of your business keep it strong.
Flexibility
The first thing people focus on at the gym is building muscle. Face it, you have all these cool looking machines, rows of dumbbells, and images of muscle bound dudes (and dudettes) staring down at you from the walls. Of course you’re going to lift hard to build and shred and sculpt the body of your dreams. After a tough workout, the last thing you want to do is slow down and stretch. I mean, you only have that magic 30-minute window to down a protein drink and feed your muscles, there’s no time to ensure you remain flexible.
However, if you stick with that theory too long you’ll find it harder to jump out of bed in the morning because of stiffness, aches and pains, and you’ll be more likely to injure yourself. All because you are not flexible.
Did you know that many football players now incorporate yoga into their training? As it turns out, stretching and flexibility are pretty important.
This is true for business, too.
When you first start out you’re probably going to focus on one thing. Going fast, going hard, and getting to profit as quickly as possible. Nothing wrong with that because you’re essentially building your business muscle.
But at some point you may notice some growing pains, plateaus, and set-backs. This is normal. And it’s at this point that you must be able to stretch your creativity, expand your horizons, and have a sense of flexibility so you can see opportunities around you.
Why? Because when you first start out, you don’t have a clue what you’re capable of. You may have one goal in mind and then find out that something even greater can be achieved.
Be flexible enough to recognize it.
Patience
Most people stop working out or quit a fitness goal because they don’t see instant results. One day of running five miles will not prepare you for the Boston Marathon; one set of squats will not give you toned, sexy, cover girl worthy legs.
What does work is doing the right things consistently over a period of time. Even small daily changes have a cumulative effect over time. So you have to be patient, track your successes and celebrate each step of your journey.
What also works is planning a course of action that gives you fast results (to keep you motivated) so you can build from those early successes.
When starting your business online, you really don’t have a clue what you can achieve, how fast you can achieve it, or everything you need to do to make it happen.
Start with an action plan, fully work that plan and based on the results decide if you should keep going in that direction or make a course adjustment.
For example, if your goal is to achieve 10 leads a day and you develop a system to attract those leads through building opt-ins on your blog (as mentioned in the BlogBuilder Blueprint) by leveraging YouTube traffic then you know you need to create videos and all the necessary front-end and back-end components of that sales funnel. Putting the pieces together takes time. Implementing the strategy takes time. Tracking the results takes time.
By “time”…I don’t mean years, but I do mean a few months.
In the gym, 90 days of the right actions get results and you will see changes and improvements along the way.
Same with your business. Set a reasonable amount of time to reach your goal, work the system, track the results, see the improvements, and make adjustments as needed.
You have to notice what’s working and that takes patience through awareness. After all, lifetime fitness is a far more desirable goal than a one-and-done go back to what your life looked like before kind of plan.
Nutrition
What goes into your body is just as important to overall fitness as what you do on the outside.
All the running in the world will not give you optimal health if you smoke a pack or two a day and live off a diet of chips and beer. Most people know this.
What many people don’t realize is that nutrition accounts for about 80% of your fitness results. Think about that for a minute.
What if you could improve your results, achieve your goals quicker, and increase the likelihood for lasting results by putting the right combination of nutritious food and supplements into your body? Would you do it?
Probably!
This is true for your business as well. What you consume on a daily basis either helps or hurts your business efforts.
- What are you reading?
- Where are you spending time?
- Who are the people in your life?
- Where is your focus?
- Where are you expending energy?
- What are your thoughts?
- How are you unwinding?
- Who do you seek advice from?
What you allow into your life will determine how successful you are. Period. If you find you have toxic people, habits, or activities in your life then you must take action to correct that.
Sometimes it means clearing out the cupboard and getting rid of anything poisonous; sometimes it means making some adjustments to “health it up” a little; and other times it means you need to add something completely new that you haven’t tried yet so you get the right information to catapult your success.
Your Workout Plan
Those who are most successful with their fitness goals have a plan. They have a workout routine, a meal plan, and often they will get a trainer (their expert) to jump start their results
So, what’s your plan?
Each person’s plan will look a little different because every business is different. And your plan will evolve over time as you meet your goals and set new ones. It’s a very fluid process which is one of the reasons I love business building and marketing so much!
However, for an online business there are some things that remain constant no matter what your industry: You need traffic, conversions, and content to support those goals.
The Next Step for Your Online Business is…
If you’re looking for a little direction, here are three options:
BlogBuilder Blueprint:
I created this course for the new-ish online business owner. I’ll take you by the hand with tutorials to set up your blog and your opt-in pages for effective list building (the life blood of your business), and then direct you in creating content for your site. If this sounds helpful, learn more by clicking here.
One-on-One Coaching for Writing a Book:
Because so many people email me for writing advice, I set up the opportunity for one-on-one coaching. Writing a book can be an incredible gateway for additional business opportunities. I’m not sure how long I will leave this open because of my own writing and personal schedules. If you are interested in some writing coaching, check out that opportunity here.
Video Marketing (and more):
The easiest way to drive traffic to your site and build rapport with your customers is with video. However, there is a learning curve because “video” can seem daunting. Click Here to lower that learning curve for video!
As always, I would love to hear what you’re up to. Email me directly at: [email protected]
Until next time….
Dawn
