I have the worst cold…..
I have the worst cold today as you can no doubt hear from my voice and I thought ‘Shall I cancel my shoot today?’ I mean I could, couldn’t I – after all I am my own boss and the purveyor of my own destiny. Aren’t I?
But it’s a big fat no from me.
Because the entrepreneurial journey is all about self-discipline –and so many entrepreneurs I know just aren’t disciplined enough about their time. They fanny about Facebooking, spending hours in the gym, chatting inanely to mates- and they do not value their work time sufficiently.
They don’t value the time of others either – they are flaky, don’t do what they say they are going to and, well, generally run their lives and their businesses in a frankly less than professional manner and I don’t want to be like those people.
You can make money or you can make excuses – there’s no middle ground. You can make progress or you can sit still and I aint got time for sitting still.
You have to think of the impact of every action that you partake in in a day – we all get ill, we all have setbacks – I don’t even want to tell you what happened here at Diamond HQ yesterday but THAT IS BUSINESS. It is about sticking to the plan regardless of what has happened.
So bugger duvet days, bugger wasting time on Facebook and bugger letting the rest of the world stop me from pursuing my plan – It just won’t happen.
So, Kate; that’s very well, you may say, but what happens if I am really ill, if life throws a curve ball or the day conspires so that I don’t get achieved what I need to achieve?
Well I have to make the time up. It’s not exactly rocket science now is it? I have no magic pool of resources to throw to my task list just because I decide I can’t face my business today. I just have to make the time up another day and in another way. So when my alarms goes off early on Monday morning, and I am dripping with a cold do I hit sleep and roll over thinking ‘it can wait until tomorrow’? Not a f***ing chance. So much of what we achieve is down to our attitude to it all.
I may well have a shit day in the office spluttering with cold, may well not function at 100% but I will continue to make progress rather than sitting still. Because that day off is not worth it.
I have not always been this way. I’ve been happy to be ‘sensible’ and take the day off – snuggle up and catch up on Breaking Bad for a day whilst I allow my workload to accrue but that was a lifetime ago. A lifetime when I was a struggling business owner, and now I am a successful entrepreneur. And I’m going to let you in on a secret – I wasn’t that well last year – and I made every day I had in hospital up. Because I am so focused on my goal that a day missed was a day of slipped traction and that momentum is important if I want to achieve my goal. I am not stupid – if I am going to get better faster with a day at home I’ll take it – but its surprising how infrequently you get ill, what preventative measures you take, and how determined you are to get over illness quickly when you are 100% focused on achieving your dreams.
So I could have stayed in bed today, I could have cancelled this video and I could of done this another day – but then I’d be just like everyone else – dreaming of that lifestyle that will never happen because I am not making it happen. Eat well, prevent illness, be well when you can – and if you can’t toughen up – a cold won’t kill you – but time off work might kill your dream. Controversial but I bet you you’ll find most successful entrepreneurs have surprising little time off sick.
Maybe its mental attitude, maybe it’s looking after themselves beforehand so they don’t get sick, may be its sheer bloody mindedness. But either way time off the job is lost momentum – and we can’t be having that, now can we?
Enough said – I am off to find a Lemsip! And get back to work.