When life gets in the way of your plans

 

Tony Shepherd internet marketing

 

When I speak to clients it seems that one of the main things that puts them off running an online business…

….is frustration when things don’t go to plan.

Well yes, life DOES get in the way of your plans.

And things don’t happen as they should

And unexpected events happen

It happens to everyone.

The only difference is how you deal with it.

I used to get really angry and frustrated when I’d mapped out a day to work on a certain project or activity and something else prevented me from doing that.

Once it was a burst water pipe.

Another time is was a designer not having a logo ready for when he guaranteed he would

And usually it’s little piddling off-putting things that need sorting before you can move forwards, like having to contact your hosting support because your site has gone down or needing to follow up a letter from the bank because an unexpected payment has gone out of your account.

But only half the time is it something do do with your business…the other half is just LIFE shoving a spanner in your plans.

But I don’t get frustrated any more.

I think that all changed when we had children.

I remember when we used to say ‘let’s go out for lunch’ and just put on our coats and go.

The the kids arrived.

Going out for lunch involved finding and opening the pram, finding coats, a nappy bag, wet wipes and some favourite toys to keep them occupied.

Then once ready, we’d need to stop  just as we left the house to change a nappy that had been pooped in the very SECOND we got them in the pram and so on.

And realising that I just had to go with the flow and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t make things move any faster…I slowed down myself too to enjoy it.

And it’s the same with business. I just let it flow over me and enjoy whatever I’m currently working on

But there is one secret I’ll share that helps immensely.

I don’t set dates or deadlines

I don’t do launches which means I can be flexible when I publish something new

I don’t have to worry about things being ready on a certain date

I don’t have to co-ordinate other people or deal with screaming affiliates because something has gone wrong and we can’t launch until the day after

I don’t set myself dates or deadlines if I can possibly help it…

It probably helps 🙂



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2 responses to “When life gets in the way of your plans

  1. I just read that headline as “When WIFE gets in the way of your plans”. Happy to see that’s not the case (at least that much – I hope 😉 )

  2. Tony,

    You will never know how grateful I am for this blog post.

    I was beginning to think it was only me who had things get
    in my way.

    I am retired and thought I would have more time to satisfy
    the internet marketing bug that I caught from you and a couple
    of others I follow.

    But, I have an aged mum (92) who always seems to need some
    of my time; neighbours who are always on the phone; friends
    who seem to need my help with their computers, (which is a joke
    as I am the least technical person in the world!)

    I belong to a Society who are always saying “Good old Bob” and
    I really enjoy supporting a not so wonderful football team with
    my son who wants to go to both home and away games.

    Your post has made me see that I can do all these things and the
    business will still get there in the end.

    Thanks Tony, I now see that deadlines are a waste of time as I
    always miss them but everything still works out ok.

    I am forever grateful.
    Bob

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