There is good news - because once you understand this principle, there are some very simple things that you can put in place to avoid this pitfall. But if you are anything like me, right now you are thinking that this does not apply to you - could not possibly be you. Well - let's put this into a different context for a moment:



Imagine you have just started a diet - this is the one, the absolute last time you are going to lose weight because this time it is going to WORK! All the junk food is out of the house, you have a healthy menu all planned out and you are set to lose your first 20lbs no problem. Then you are out on your own, running a few errands, and you stop by the gas station. Next thing you know - there's three candy bars and some chocolate milk in the car with you...

What happened there? It's all about habits - your story might be a little different, but we've all been in the place of letting ourselves off the hook for something that we promised ourselves we would do. In this case, the habit of picking up candy with the gas is so ingrained that you probably don't even realise you are doing it, and if you do realize, you justify it with "who's going to know". The bottom line is you have let yourself off the hook with your new diet long before you have had chance to see results, making it much easier to let yourself off the hook next time.

So what's that got to do with business? Well - we all have certain habits that have gotten us to where we are now in life. Chances are that you are not entirely happy with where that is, but the only way you will change your current state is to change your habits. The problem there, as with the weight loss story, is that it is hard to change your own habits. With just a little effort, the good news is that your habits can change - if you understand a little about human nature.

Almost every single thing you ever did - especially as an adult - you will see that you are driven by one major thing. It's not love, or money or even helping others. Just about every adult on this planet is driven by the desire to look good and to avoid looking bad - that can be a little hard to swallow, but just about everything, even those things that we like to think are altruistic, often stem from this drive. The good news is that this is the key to changing your habits for the habits of success! All you need to do is to set yourself up properly.

First off - make your goals public. Don't try to be a closet success - tell anyone and everyone what you're up to and how it's going to go. It doesn't matter if they remember or not - most are more interested in whether or not they are looking good! What matters is that the more often you tell your goals, the more powerful they become.

Next, be very clear on what you will do TODAY - and specifically identify the things that you will do. There's no point in making a goal of "500 new visitors to my website" - you cannot control that. But you CAN control "I will research and place 10 new ads today". Have a routine for every work day like this.

Finally, work with someone who will hold you to those goals. This is where the real power of being part of a system comes in - a good mentor will not take excuses from you - you will have to hit your targets for the day. Even better is if you can become part of a weekly group - either in person or online - where you can all share your results for the previous week. No-one wants to come last in that group, and everyone will drive the others to get better each week.

Most importantly though - never give up! Keep working on yourself to get a little better today than you were yesterday - and each time you make the right decisions, it gets easier to do it the next time, until finally the habits of success are so much a part of you that you'll wonder what all the fuss was about!