As I have observed Clay Clark, one thing really stands out with the business coaching clients he coaches. They are bored. Wait! Hold up! What are you talking about? I am serious. You see, when you do the right things day after day to grow your business, it becomes boring. When you do these boring things every day consistently, then you eventually find the success that you have been wanting. The secret is that there is no secret. Clay has coached his clients to success by knowing the boring daily activities that they must do to get to succeed. He holds them accountable to these things and they eventually become successful, every time. It’s so funny to watch a business coaching client when they get to their goal because it is almost the same story every time. The entrepreneur has hit their target but is used to the grind, and now doesn’t know what to do with their time. They get bored and start looking for something new.
If you are always looking for the new, then you can’t learn how to develop the discipline of doing the right things day in and day out.
Awe the new! Why are we so addicted to “new”? It doesn’t matter what area of life you are observing, people want new things. They want new homes, new cars, new clothes, new sales, new graphics, new shows, and new spouses. In fact, since I have been using the word “new” so much, I now want a new word to use. Hmmmmm. It is a doom loop. It is a loop that most entrepreneurs find themselves in and can’t get out of. It is just another reason why 96% of businesses fail within the first 10 years. If you are always looking for the new, then you can’t learn how to develop the discipline of doing the right things day in and day out. I had a friend last week ask me how to get into a healthier physical shape. I simply responded by saying, “The same way that anyone does, you eat fewer calories than you burn and you exercise consistently.” I could tell that wasn’t what my friend wanted to hear. He wanted to know about the latest fad diet that could get him into the “shape of his life in just 30 days” or whatever other crazy things are out there. Successful people do the opposite of this. They don’t live their lives in search of the new. They build their lives on a foundation of disciplines that work and then build themselves to a place where they can have the freedom to create the new.
You see, that is the key. You have to build yourself and your life to a place where you can pursue the new. Once a business owner hits their time and financial goals by following the proven path and doing the boring daily activities required to get there, then they can have the time and financial freedom to do whatever they want. As an example, Clay Clark and his business partner, Dr. Zoellner, have built many multimillion-dollar businesses. They have consistently done the boring, daily tasks required to get where they want to be, and now they have arrived. They have the time and financial freedom they have been working towards. Now that they have arrived, Clay chooses to invest his time into business coaching businesses because it is what he WANTS to do. He can do whatever he wants and this is what he wants to do. Dr. Zoellner chooses to spend his time investing in new businesses and traveling because it is what he WANTS to do. When you build a life on the foundation of boring disciplines, you will work your way to a place where you have the freedom to do what you want.
One important thing to note, when you get to this point, you had better know your goals. If you do not know what you are working towards, then you will get to this place and experience the “entrepreneur sewer”. The entrepreneur sewer is the place that entrepreneurs get to when they find themselves with time and financial freedom, and they don’t know what to do with it. A lot of times they feel purposeless and find that their business coaching life stinks. If you don’t know what you are building towards, then take the time today to figure that out. You obviously have the freedom to change these goals as you grow and get closer to time and financial freedom, but make sure that you at least have something you are working towards. Maybe you want more time with your family. Maybe you want to travel. Maybe you want to start a business that may not make you money, but that you love. Maybe a combo of all of these things. Take the time to look into your future and write down what you want your life to look like after you gain time and financial freedom. Really go there mentally and picture yourself with nothing that you have to do. What do you want to do? What are your goals?
Knowing this information and having a clear picture of what you are working towards will help fuel your drive to stay consistent with the boring disciplines each day. When you wake up in the morning make sure that your goals are clearly written in a place where you can see them and remember them. Everyone has good and bad days/ These goals will help to drive you to make forward progress no matter how terrible a day maybe. This is called your “why”. Studies show that of the people who end up lost in the woods, the ones that survive are the ones that know their why, acknowledge that they are in a challenging situation, and do what they can to make forward progress. The biggest factor there is knowing your “why”. It is the driving force that gives you the willpower to keep going. In business, sometimes you are going to feel like you are lost in the woods. You may wonder if you are even going to survive. If you take the time to know your why and stay focused on that while consistently accomplishing what you can control, the daily disciplines, then you will get to success. Once you get there, then you will get to experience the boredom of success.
