Art Of Money

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Stumbling around the web a couple days ago, ie. procrastinating…more on that in a bit, I came across a real find. The site is called The ramblings of James D. Brausch but despite the casual byline I’ve found the ramblings to be mostly very worthwhile.

My favorite post that I found on his site [I have it printed out and taped to my monitor to serve as a constant reminder] is a post that he calls 3 Causes Of Failure.

1. Not taking action… Some people want to learn and learn and learn… but when it comes time to actually do something, they stall and come up with all kinds of reasons they can’t actually take some action toward their so-called goal.

2. Lack of focus… Others have made it past #1. They are taking massive action, but it isn’t focused on one thing at a time. They buy an ebook today and start on a project based on what it says. They do the same thing tomorrow. They never get back to finish anything.

3. Not following a proven path… A small minority have figured out #1 and #2 and are focusing on finishing one project at a time and taking massive action, but it’s wrong action. They have picked up some “gurus” advice on a forum somewhere and are following everything he/she says. Perhaps they picked someone with a very large post count, so they *know* they must be successful. The problem is that their mentor is actually a 14 year old kid that hasn’t ever tasted success themselves… they just hang out on forums giving advice to others.

I completely agree, it’s one or all of those three that are the root of every unsuccessful person’s situation. The post goes on into some detail about how 98% of the population waste all their time reading blogs and forums and buying ebooks and that these are the same 98% of the folks who will end up retiring with next to no money. Sad but it is true.

Let’s get to it then, play along at home if you like?

Jon, are you successful?…No, I’d have to admit that I’m not. If I’m going to be honest there is only a glimmer of hope that I’ll make it out of the 98%.

How do you respond to the three causes of failure, in other words why not?

1. No problem with number one. I love to take action…if anything I’m a work-a-holic.

3. Recently I’m gotten this one. It started with my discovery of Rich Dad and I began to follow his way and my financial situated began to improve immediately. In my online business though I haven’t really discovered a true mentor, but I have been working, to the letter, through the James Martell’s Affiliate Handbook and it is very much a proven system developed by a person who knows their
stuff and has made good money doing exactly what the book outlines. I must say that I’m loving the feeling of being lead by the hand, step by step through the creation of a high quality web business. That must be what it feels like to have a mentor; good.

2. Ah, number 2…ding, ding, ding! This one is definitely my weakness. I’d say I average about one good business idea a day and the one I’d like to work on is always the newest one.

I can see that lack of focus is insidious too. Even if I do work on one project all day, during each task, about every 30 seconds, I will want to check my server logs, how’s AdSense doing? and my stocks? etc.

It is very unproductive. Jame’s prescription…

…focus on just that one project until it’s finished and then move on to the next?

Hmmmm, sounds easy. Funny thing about giving up addictions, as soon as you’re willing to give up one there is always another on the horizon. This has been my “Just Say no to Crack-Sense” month and now that I’ve been Crack-Sense free for 22 days, I’m seeing a finer addiction…lack of focus. Can you see how they go hand in hand?

Since I have enough experience in life to know that worst way to conquer an addiction is to try and use the force of your will against it, I will settle for just allowing myself to be conscious of my lack of focus. Actually today, just letting myself see and be aware of my lack of focus I actually had a very productive day and it was mostly all on one project.

I was able to see that the urge to find a distraction comes at the moments when I am moving deeper into a concept. The moments of penetrating a topic are of course essential to creativity, innovation and ultimately success. It is interesting to link up the uncomfortable deepening to the distractions that the mind presents to try and avoid the discomfort.

Of course lack of focus leads to lack of success for me then. It is the fear of success and the discomfort of reaching the places in my work that lead to success that are triggering the need for me to break focus and create some new thought or direction that seems to promise wealth without discomfort.

Fortunately, I’m in love with taking full responsibility for my current and future situation. I know that I am willing and that it is never too late to move into a new way of being.

How about you…are you courageous enough to want success? If yes, which of the three factors is holding you back? I’d love to hear if there are any others like me out there.

Check out James’ 3 Causes Of Failure post and the rest of his excellent site. Be warned though, as well as a good source of inspiration James is a great sales copywriter…I’ve already purchased one of his products, an article submission application.