more discipline?

[kinimod]

I'm in need of some advice.

I know that one of my flaws is a lack of discipline. I have made it through life doing things half assed and lacking discipline but I can't complain as far as how far I have come.

I know that in order to get to the next level I need to correct this major flaw of mine but I have yet to find anything that I can point my finger to and say that what I’m doing is giving me more discipline.

I have tried to come up with a routine and try to stick with it on a daily basis and for the most part I have been able to, but what else can I do?

Any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.

[Greenguy]

It may should childish, but you could set goals for yourself & reward yourself if they are attained - like set a goal to not go out partying tomorrow until you build 3 new free sites & if at the end of the day you only have 2, go to bed

[ClubPro]

Yeah, and I could use this advice myself, too,
and I hope it works out for your self-improvement (good luck).

[Netpiddler]

Hi kinimod |hello|

This post might sound like an excerpt from some cheesy self-help book, but here is my take on the subject and you can decide whether it makes sense for you or not...

Your situation is not an uncommon one regardless of the industry but it is particularly common in ours - especially if you happen to be doing the work alone...

It all boils down to motivation. I know that sounds over simplified but it is true. I have been going through some health issues lately and I didn't go to the hospital until the pain was too great and my kids starting getting upset. Pain was my motivation - physical pain from the illness and emotional pain from seeing my wife and kids so upset and concerned about me. My doctor was rather "blunt" when he told me it would have been fatal had I not come in to the E.R...

Where am I going with this? If you read about me here you will find with all the work experiences I had that my initial motivation came from:

1. Anger
2. The desire to create security for my family in the event I am no longer around to provide for them.

When I made my first sale for a whopping $1.47 ($2.95 trial with 50/50 recurring) and I partied like a crack whore with a winning lotto ticket... I had some positive feedback for my efforts!

This kept me motivated to keep going. Success truly does breed success.

On the other hand you have those webmasters who struggle to make sales with regularity. When there is no positive feedback or reward for your efforts then it gets hard to stay motivated.

They watch their stats all day hoping to see something - anything - in those stats to serve as some pay back for all the hard work.

But this is a long term business and everything you do must be with the long term firmly in mind.

(Just remember that taking shortcuts and going for the "fast buck" is what gets so many webmasters a shortcut right out of the business.)

When times start to feel rough and motivation seems at times lacking - then you need to find something about the consequences of NOT doing what needs to be done that makes you sick to your stomach:

1. Working for some asshole when they want you to including holidays and weekends...
2. Having to get up and go to work when you are so sick you think you are dying...
3. Barely seeing the wife and kids or not being there to help with homework or attend sporting events with them...
4. Getting a tiny check for all your hard work and sacrafices...

Hell I almost puked just typing those!

Maybe you are more motivated by pleasure than pain. Find something you want - a guitar, a trip, a new car, a new house. Find exactly what you want a put a picture up above your monitor or save it as a desktop wallpaper so you see it each day...

Like Greenguy said - set some small goals. 2 sites a week. Then maybe 3... Consistency will do you more good than sporadic building and submitting. Once you meet those goals throw your own party - hell post an announcement here, you will get tons of congrats and encouragement!

Finally, those that make comfortable livings in this great biz of ours do so because they are both willing and able to do what most people won't or don't know how.

Find a coach or partner to help keep you going. Attend On The Bench with Mr. MaryLou.

Chat with me each Wednesday from 5-7:00 pm EST in the FLASHCA$H IRC Chats.

And don't be afraid of doing what you have done here - ask for help anytime you think you may need a shot in the arm!

By the way, all of the hard work and effort I have put in over the years feeding my empire fed my family when I was unable to work for most of this past month or so.

Feeding my empire also fed my family when there were serious health problems in my family last year. My empire will continue to feed my family when I am gone.

How do you think we would have made out had I not commited to paying the price day in and day out these past years?

Hell I have even worked with one fellow in particular that was confined to a hospital bed - yet he continued to work away on his laptop as much as his health allowed. Talk about heart and guts!

So I ask you kinimod, if that guy can work on his empire confined to a bed what might be your excuse now for not doing what needs to be done?

I hope this helps!

- Netpiddler

[T Pat]

Originally posted by Greenguy
It may should childish, but you could set goals for yourself & reward yourself if they are attained - like set a goal to not go out partying tomorrow until you build 3 new free sites & if at the end of the day you only have 2, go to bed

What's Childish about setting goals
I've been in one form of sales or another for years and would probable be living in a cardboard box if not for goals and fear of starving
Goals make it easier to pick the phone up for one more call or knock on one more door
I find it very hard to stay focused on one thing at a time in this business, it's just super easy to go off on a tangent over an e-mail or a new discovery or an Idea that suddenly pops up so I set mini goals with rewards something like build a gallery or submit a free site to
or answer all e-mail and get a reward when done, rewards are simple can be I'll go make a sandwich when done or I'll get to go scan through the GreenGuyandJim Board or take a puff off the peace pipe.
I go through this process
Set the goal
Decide on a plan of action
Decide on the reward
Bigger the goal the bigger the reward and all "big goals" are broken down into mini goals with mini plans of action and mini rewards
I'm itching to go to Tijuana but my next trip is a reward for a big goal, by chasing that carrot dangling in front of me I can stay focussed on what needs to be done.
I don't beat myself up over not accomplishing goals, I just take mental notes as to why the goal wasn't accomplished and then reset or scrap the goal
An Example I set a goal to build 10 free sites in October. I only built 8, I spent allot of time this month redoing the horny beaver and Tijuana-Tonight getting recoded has sucked up allot of time so no biggie, my free site goal for November is 10 with a reward of a weeknight in Tijuana if accomplished.
Here's another example of a goal
Goal: I want my picture taken being handed a Buddy Christ by GreenGuy and Jim in Las Vegas
Plan Of Action: say hey to new members (if like 10 lurkers a day post to the I'm new thread I'll have plenty of posts)
Reward:

[swedguy]

Make a schedule!

I have tried:
9am-12am: do this
12-3: do that
3-4: .....
But it didn't work for me

This way worked much better for me. I have 8 columns, Monday - Sunday and 1 for the week

Monday
Add x links to LL
Build 1 free site
Submit 1 free site
Build 1 gallery
Submit 1 gallery
Add 3 new ads to ad rotator

Tuesday
......

Week
Add 5 trades
Create 1 new ....

When ever you are finished with something, cross it out. At the end of the week, go through your schedule and see how much you missed. If there's too much, maybe you set too high goals or you were just too lazy and fucked around too much?

It works for me

And don't work your ass off on the weekend or sit infront of the computer just staring at it. You work better in the weekdays if you get some time off


Good luck.

[Lunatic]

All of the above. Plus treat each day like a workday at a "regular" job. Start work by a certain time each day, schedule 2 breaks and a lunch break for a total work time of 4 to 8 hours. Might be hard at first, but could work out over a period of time. Might be too much of a pain too.

[JenC]

I've noticed the best things for me are as follows:

1. Make a daily todo list. Rank things by importance and as you get them done, scratch them off. At the end of the day, you feel great knowing that you accomplished something. THAT is your reward, and the $$ that it brings in too.

2. Have an "office". Even if your house doesn't allow you to have a whole separate room to be your office, then move your computer to a bedroom if it's in the living room. Living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens are way too distractful.

3. Also this is a job, when you're in your office you are working. So tell people who might be distracting you that you are working. Just like a normal job, they wouldn't be able to bug you there so they can't bug you here either.

4. Plan your day. Do whatever in the mornings, take a lunch and then do whatever later on. Make sure you have set times for things.

5. And the most important advice of all: Just DO IT. I know it's simple but you have to kick yourself in the ass. No one can make you do things but yourself. Just fucking DO IT. You'll actually find out that once you start something and get into it, it's really not as bad as you thought it was going to be.

Discipline needs organization. You can't get anything accomplished in chaos.

[Alphawolf]

Or...

You could work till burn-out with no set hours, totally fucked up sleep schedule...until you just post messages like this on the board then go on vacation.

Then...repeat. Or pretend you'll get your act in order *after* a good vacation.

[2mmy]

A todo list what I do, write it down on a piece of paper, that works for me

[SqueezeBoobs]

After not being able to pay my mortgage in August this year I sat down and said, "HOLY SHIT." If I'm not going to work a typical day job then I better start treating this one just as important. I got a little lazy and my income from the previous month fell to practically nothing.

I set some little goals of what I wanted for income and happiness then I went to an office supply store and got some things.

* Go out and get a clipboard. Right down all you daily to do's

* Get a register or make a spreadsheet and right in your traffic for all your sites daily. This will give you a way to graph your traffic and eventually income.

* Schedule some time during the day to do errands and appointments. I go out of the house to get lunch everyday and sometimes meet some friends who work locally. I even met a cute guy that I xchanged IM names with.

Treat it like a REAL job and you should see quick improvements.

[Alphawolf]

To be serious, setting a routine and sticking to it can work.

[anteyes]

What I have done is printed up a 1 page calendar and I scribble down everything that I do everyday. This shows me that I am actually accomplishing something and it definetely encourages me to do more. Try it out, I'm sure you'll like it.

[kinimod]

Thank you