When I picture an “entrepreneur,” I see a Type A person who is continually working. They’re fierce, disciplined, and controlled.
Not my experience, as I’ve juggled motherhood and running a home-based business for the past 15 years. I have flashbacks of my children screaming while I took business calls. Mental meltdowns because the house I just cleaned is trashed with a fort, and Cheerios crushed into the carpet. And dinner was overcooked because I had one more thing to squeeze into my newsletter real quick.
I don’t consider myself super disciplined, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, I’m not a Type A personality!
While I may not fit the image of a typical entrepreneur, I can be focused and disciplined in a few crucial areas that I believe will make or break anyone striving to work-from-home.
What I’m good at is setting a few goals for myself and following through on them. I can stay focused on those goals and not get too distracted or sidetracked. I’m open to hiring or people to help me stay focused on where I’m going and to help me get there if I need to, such as business coaches and virtual assistants.
Now, I can say I’m not disciplined because I don’t work out every day like I think I should. I’m also not disciplined because I have a stack of dishes in the sink, and laundry is piling up.
However, when it comes to making money from home, I can proudly say I’ve made it 15 years because:
- I’m disciplined to work-from-home and not watch TV or clean all day.
- I’m disciplined enough to make myself focus on sales, even if I don’t want to.
- I’m disciplined to stick to my marketing system that brings in new leads.
Do you HAVE to be a Type A, an uber disciplined person to make money and run a business?
No. But …
You do need to pick a few important areas that will lead to your success and be disciplined and focused on achieving those particular things. You don’t have a Type A personality to do this. But you do need to be able to focus and discipline yourself in a few key areas.
If you must choose, here are three non-negotiable areas to exercise self-discipline:
1. Use a calendar system, and don’t deviate from it.
It may, at first, seem like scheduling most of your day is losing the very freedom you wanted when you started your business. And this doesn’t mean you can’t deviate from your calendar occasionally – like to pick your sick child from school or hit the ski slopes on a surprise powder day. However, using a calendar system and sticking with it ultimately gives your life more time and flexibility as well as a disciplined focus when you are working.
Related Content: Increase Your Productivity with Block Scheduling
2. Build-in a specific time for sales and marketing.
Remember, as an entrepreneur, your focus needs to be on selling. Generating sales conversations (marketing) and then selling to these folks. When we get busy, don’t enjoy sales or marketing, or don’t have a plan; this is an easy part of our business to put off until tomorrow.
3. Early morning and evening rituals.
Start and end your day with intention. Whether it’s taking the time to be grateful, have a cup of tea and journal, or yoga stretches to work out the kinks, the first and last things you do each day set the course for so much more than you imagine. I recommend making a ritual for both your morning and evening closing and setting your mind and space with intention.
Conclusion
Discipline and focus just might be the difference between having the occasional, accidental client and creating a system that attracts clients on purpose.
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