THE SINGLE BIGGEST REASON MOST ENTREPRENEURS FAILED IN 2014.

Exactly two years ago today, I woke up at 5 in the morning. Yes, I was suffering from our generation’s new   sleeping problem. It is caused by too much blue light, especially when you stare at your cell phone before sleeping, which leaves you awake after only a few hours of sleep. I thought it was useless to try sleeping any further, so I decided to get up and start working.

After checking my emails, I found myself on Twitter. One of the tweets took me to an article about Ruby on Rails on TechCrunch. That article took me to Codeacademy, where I discovered you can actually learn how to code.

Then I was distrupted by a call from a friend of mine. During the call, I realized that day was actually the birthday of a friend of mine so I got on Facebook where the top post on my newsfeed was about a new social network.

I went to check what it was about and holy sh*t, that SoundCloud the article was talking about was actually such a cool thing. I spent another two hours on it.

Read: Have you heard about the social network that wants to transform the Speaking Industry around the World? SpeakersBay.com is set to launch soon!!!  Follow @SpeakersBay

Guess what? I even came up with a new startup idea that could be much better than SoundCloud! Soon, my mind was exploding with amazing ideas and I was exhausted.

Oh wait, I just saw another tweet. This time it was about “HOW TO blablabla IN blablabla STEPS.” That tweet took me to Inc.com where I spent another…

OK, STOP. FC*K  ME, I WAS AN ENTREPRENEUR. But it was 2 a.m., the middle of the night, and I had truly wasted another day doing nothing but jumping from one website to another.

I had a headache and felt so much pressure on my forehead. I was in bed with my cell phone logged into Facebook.

Oh, I also realized, I never wrote to my friend to wish him a happy birthday.

That day, two years ago, I decided to change the way I work because I was finally so fed up with the one thing that made me fail over and over again:

“I WAS THE DISTRACTED MISERABLE GUY JUMPING FROM ONE WEBSITE TO ANOTHER, FROM ONE IDEA TO ANOTHER, WHILE GETTING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING DONE.”

OH, I ALSO FOUND IT COOL TO CALL MYSELF AN ENTREPRENEUR.

Distraction is the new illness of our generation of entrepreneurs. There is too much noise, too much information overload. If you don’t start controlling your environment, you are destined to FAIL.

Of course I had my excuses such as,

“But I am an entrepreneur and I need to be inspired,” “I need to learn new things if I want to become a successful entrepreneur and I am just curious”

Yes, it’s true. We, the entrepreneurs, are curious. Actually, the problem is, we are SO CURIOUS AND CRITICAL ABOUT EVERYTHING that we are constantly distracted while getting nothing done.

Here is what I did that has since revolutionized my life:

1.CONTROL YOUR ENVIRONMENT, YOU LITTLE BRAINY.

Entrepreneurs are the smartest people I have ever met. I don’t think it’s just because they are born to be so, but also because they use their brains much more than their peers working in the corporate environment, who are usually checking the clock to call it a day and go home.

Use this to your advantage and control your life. It all sounds easy, but how will you implement them on a day-to-day basishe things you will get done that day. Key: Don’t over-target. Be r

2.FIND THAT FAMOUS “ONE SINGLE THING” THAT YOU ARE INSANELY PASSIONATE ABOUT

Come on. It’s not rocket science. You are not looking for the love of your life. If you are reading this, I assume you have spent at least 18 years on this planet and have at least an idea of what you like and what you don’t. Remember, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Discover what you are really passionate about and what you would change in your life or people’s lives. Think about what one thing you can do better than others, or how you could improve an existing problem.

I understand you need inspiration, but wasting a million days in a row jumping from one distracting website to another won’t help you find the idea of your life.

How do you make sure you’ve found that one single idea? Maybe Mark Cuban can help with his  12 Rules for Startups

“Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love. If you have an exit strategy, it’s not an obsession”

3.       

       3. YOU FOUND THE THING OF YOUR LIFE? GREAT! NOW DO ONE THING: START!

Stop the vicious cycle and just start. You will be impressed by how many people will contact you or will want to work with you once you begin. Scratch your idea onto a piece of paper (yes, just on a piece of paper) and walk out of your apartment. Talk to people.

By the way, get a life and stop that bullshit of, “What if they steal my idea?” Talk to as many people as you can. Let them steal it if they really will, but you will kick their ass.

Please also stop saying, “I need to find an investor.” How about making some sales first?

Read:  5 CLEVER IDEAS TO RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR STARTUP WITHOUT MAKING AN INVESTOR PITCH.

Maybe you will even realize you don’t need to give any share of your business to an investor. Even if you really need an investor, by making some sales, you will have a stronger hand to play.

In my case the former happened. After making some initial sales and seeing such a high customer repeat rate, I decided I was not willing to give up any share of my startup, PIQERS.

4. NOW THAT YOU’VE STARTED, HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER EVERY SINGLE DAY: SAY NO TO OTHER IDEAS, KEEP DOING ONE THING, AND DO IT REALLY WELL

Just because you started working on your idea doesn’t mean you won’t meet distractions along the way. Your mind will be about to explode with all the ideas you can apply to your business, the many features you can add to your product, etc.

Keep your focus. Say no to distracting ideas. If you keep doing that, another thing that will impress you will be the power of what you studied in your marketing book: word of mouth.

You will be truly impressed by the number of people coming back and asking for more work. Who cares about competition? You are just beating yourself. Isn’t that what matters in the end?

5. OH, BY THE WAY, STOP GIVING A FU*K TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK.

If you are an entrepreneur because you want to prove other people that you are successful, then please go back to step one above. Make sure you are following your passion because you have a vision and you are out to change something in this world.

Otherwise, this will kill you. You will have difficulty focusing and you will keep being distracted because you won’t really be passionate about getting anything done.

Now what? Stop wasting your time reading this article and get your ass back to work.

This article was also published on The Next Web. Posted by Ali Mese.

Credit: Ali Mese Founder & CEO @piqers

HOW TO KNOW YOUR LIFE PURPOSE

Very few people instinctively know what they want to do with their life.

For many years I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted that to be or look like. I know that's the case for many individuals who don't want to work for someone else.

 

In his latest book, The Art of Work, bestselling author and blogger, Jeff Goins offers some unconventional advice to help you abandon the status quo and kick start a life work that's packed with passion and purpose.

In an interview with Goins, he shared three actionable tactics that anyone can use to identify their calling.

1. Listen to your life.

According to Goins, the best place to begin charting your future is by taking a look at your past.

"One of my favorite quotes is from Parker Palmer when he says, 'Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I need to listen to my life to tell me who I am," said Goins.

"I don't believe your past necessarily dictates your future but it should inform it," said Goins.

2. Accidental apprenticeships.

The reality is that nobody achieves success or realizes their life purpose by themselves. It's a process that requires and demands a team of mentors providing guidance.

According to Goins, any kind of help is all around us -- we just don't always see it.

"Every story of success is a story of community. Some people will help you willingly, while others may contribute to your education on accident. If you are wise, you can use it all," said Goins. "Even though each of us has a unique journey, it's full of teachers who can help along the way. Your job is not to seek them out necessarily, but to recognize them when they appear, because oftentimes they're closer than you think."

3. Prepare for painful practice.

There's a myth that once you know what it is that you're supposed to pursue, achieving that purpose will be easy because it plays to your strengths and passion. That's not the case.

"The paradox is it's difficult to achieve the level excellence that your calling should merit, but that struggle for mastery is also invigorating and fulfilling. It's tough and not everybody realizes that until they're in it," said Goins.

"Grinding it out is not fun. Painful practice is not fun, but it's necessary to both clarify your purpose and achieve it," said Goins.

The key is finding where your abilities and personal drive intersect the needs of others. According to Goins you can find that juncture by answering the following three questions:

What do I love?

What am I good at?

What does the world need?

Once that sweet spot is identified you won't have a job or even a career. You'll have a life purpose.

“Then you can awaken the Giant in you”---

Join my connection economy follow me on Twitter @Speakersbay @Samuelmao

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Post credit to : Tor Constantino Former Journalist, Current PR Guy (wielding an MBA)