From Passion to Profit: Chronicles of Building a Successful Business Part ii

Starting a business episode two

This is a tough one because I did not do well at all, but I want this to be a nice accountability booster as Dwight Schrute once said. I just returned from vacation and had a great time, but unfortunately, I was not prioritizing my business. It still just doesn’t feel like a real thing. Just something I am pouring time into that won’t amount to anything. Poor attitude but sometimes that is just how I feel. I am trying to get marketing streams up and running but I didn’t even get close to doing what I needed to do. I had 5 goals to hit last week, and I will state my progress later but if you can tell by the tone of this writing that I did not do very well. It is very difficult for me to restart the wheel. Not only do I have to restart the wheel, but another problem has also arisen. The shiny object has appeared alongside me to pull me from my goals. An “easier” business, a “more fun” business. Of course, this is just the grass is greener situation. This “newer than new” business will always look more exciting today but two months in, a lot of shininess wears off and I will notice that it isn’t as fun as I thought. Several sections will be boring like I am feeling today, stuff that doesn’t inspire me to get things done and that’s going to happen with any new business. I just need to get back in the swing of things and get back to at least 10 hours a week working on the business. I think I got 4 or 5 last week which just isn’t enough. 

Now, let’s review our goals from last week:

1. Create Facebook page.   

Progress: Unfortunately, I couldn’t even make the time to get this done, even though it only takes about five minutes. FAIL

2.    Create Tiktoks

Progress: Another fail. It has been 10 days since I posted, and I haven’t gotten one draft to post. This is a big problem with the way I tick because I get overwhelmed and start to show signs of learned helplessness. This is the lovely psychological issue where I don’t think I can get it done so I just do nothing. I have a lot of doubts about my idea. Is it even feasible? I don’t know, I have never done this before. I need to just get that mindset away. It sucks feeling like that, but I really need to just have some faith and know that I CAN do it but just need to make progress. At the moment I see a 100-foot wall in front of me. That creative block. Once I start moving in that direction, I know it will begin to shrink and not be a problem at all. Fear and anxiety are great emotions to have. It keeps you from getting eaten by a bear or run over by a car. But a failing business that I haven’t even given a fair shot? That is just silly.

3.    Create Blogs

Progress: I didn’t say post blogs last week so can I say, yes? I have three to four rough drafts ready to be edited. In a perfect start up I would like to put two blogs per week out and I have two weeks of content ready but once again the task to post is not one of my favorite things. To edit, get a thumbnail and post just doesn’t fire me up like other activities. I would like to have several weeks of content sitting in the barrel ready to post when I don’t have that extra fire to keep going. Especially when I start having more responsibilities at work and in college. Or maybe even personally.

4.    Engage

Progress: Fail. I’m trying to have a little grace for myself due to vacation week but my goodness I feel like I laid a goose egg across the board. Which doesn’t feel good and has let doubt and a new shiny object has come along to cloud my judgment. 

5.    Learn marketing

Progress: fail. A very easy thing to play in the background while running, doing chores, or anything to at least get some ideas to better the marketing streams. I haven’t done anything in that category and spoiler alert, I still suck at marketing. Probably will for YEARS. But the consistency of hanging in there has been longer than ever before. I have hung in, taken the punches, and gotten right back up. Typically, I give up when a shinier object comes into play but I am going to try my best to stick in it.

Goals for this week 6/2-6/8

I think it’s pretty easy to see what the goals are for this week. Just copy and paste from last week. 

What issues need to be solved?

Doubt and creative block. I need to understand the power of now when it comes to creating content. I can pump out a piece of content in 10-15 minutes currently. But right now, it feels like a huge task because I’m just not in the zone. It’s hard to get excited to pump content when you are talking to a wall and hope people see it. Marketing is very important that I just haven’t built up yet.

The Big Shiny Object

Not boring. New. A better idea. The grass is greener is a problem that usually begins if I get too much time without working on my project. My brain loves to constantly be involved in a project and it will come up with random stuff to occupy itself. It looks better right now but in two months I will see all the tedious parts of this new project. All businesses have boring parts to them and when you don’t know them it just seems like all upside. So. How will I get this itch scratched without messing up my goals for the week? I am going to try a new strategy. Once I hit my goals for my business that I SHOULD be doing like two hours a day and all goals hit I will move on to working on the other “more” exciting project. I hope that will not only excite me more through boring parts for two hours, but it will also show that the grass isn’t greener. I am not sure if this will work. No idea. But this new new idea would be seasonal only and could be a very fun niche I’m passionate about. I need to understand that the person who chases two rabbits catches none. I need to be strong and have those boundaries where it doesn’t bleed over. I think it will be a good idea if I don’t make it a priority and in my spare time, I can chase it a bit. NOT A PRIORITY! I have to say that again for myself. I do hope it will help focus me on more boring stuff to try to finish my goals for the week so I can play in my sandbox with a new shiny object. Again. After I hit my goal of two hours worked per day. Will reassess next week but it doesn’t sound like a bad idea. If it doesn’t work out and I can tell it’s affecting my performance in a negative way I can pull the plug. 

I am typing this blog up and I have an idea to jumpstart my tiktok making. So should have a couple made very soon! Wooooo. See you next week.