A little shake up if you’re always on the lookout for the next best thing and possibly neglecting the sprouting seed right in front of you.
About a half hour ago, I posted this update on Twitter:
It’s been about 8 1/2 years since I began working online and I can still very vividly remember the desire to find the right thing, bouncing from idea to idea and hoping something would stick.
But I never really landed on that “next big thing”. What it took was using the resources I had, contacts I had and some good old fashioned work.
Over the years, it has always surprised me that people have opportunity right in front of them, but they seem not to want to take it. Why I don’t know, but if you’re pushing opportunity away…give yourself a little slap, okay?
I recently sent out a call for people to do some work for me. The work was paid, with the promise of more work and more pay with a job well done.
I had quite a few people respond. A handful have followed through. Some never produced anything and that’s okay…we have other things in our lives, priorities change, etc.
But what surprises me is that some of these people were offered this paid work kept looking for something else, instead of buckling down for the sure pay check.
Some did things like posting ads stating they were for hire…at rates lower than what I was paying. Others signed up to do work without pay with somewhere else instead.
Of course, we all have our reasons for doing things. Maybe the the nature of the work for me wasn’t their cup of tea. Maybe they don’t really want to work for a tyrant like me. 
Or maybe, in the last case, they figured the unpaid work experience was a better opportunity in the long run.
I don’t know what the motivations are in these cases, but I do know it’s a pattern I’ve seen countless times over the years. People always think that big thing will come along if they just keep looking.
Well, let me tell you, while I won’t be making anyone rich doing contract work for me, I can tell you that work can be steady and I recommend good work to others. In short, I can help those seeds grow into something your family can rely on.
So please…if you’ve been chasing, start working instead. I promise it works!
It’s interesting that you posted this. I just finished a post about blooming where you are planting on my blog. I have done the same thing, hopping from one thing to another. I’m just now learning how to focus on one thing in order to succeed and bring in that reliable paycheck. Thanks for this, Alice. I’ve been following you for quite a while and I just had to comment on this post.
Thanks for your thoughts Michele and good to hear from you. It’s definitely true for blogging or developing any type of content site. It’s something that takes time to build. It’s never instant.
Needed to ‘hear’ this this morning as some reinforcement to the things I’ve been ‘discussing’ with myself the last few days!
Put in the front of your Alice Seba binder and give yourself a little whack with it, when needed.
Hahahaha! Exactamundo! Will do!
Oh, this is the place I can come to to get a kick in the butt!
I have to take that Contentrix Blueprints binder ready…
An example: three or four months ago I was itching to buy an im product. The moment I purchased it I literally lost interest in it. *rolling eyes* I have just started to use the teachings from that product, so I guess I didn’t spend that money for nought..
You bet…anytime. I don’t even charge $ for butt-kickings. At least not usually.
I think we’ve all had that instant buyer’s remorse. One way to avoid it is not to be a buyer so darned often.
As I was sitting in on yet “another” training session last night, my husband said to me, “Aren’t you done learning? Shouldn’t you be doing?” Thus, your post clearly resonates with me in a timely way.
Of course, we want to “keep learning” to stay current with all the changes in technology, software, and the like, that continue to come along. On the other hand, it does become just as important (if not more so) to let go of some of that training and to “apply” all that learning in order to foster some forward momentum.
Thanks, Alice, for the reminder.
It is a learning style. Some of us want to have every piece of the puzzle figured out before doing. For me, I prefer to be DOING and learning as I go along, but sometimes that means impulsive decisions. I think it’s good to find a good middle of the road….be prepared, but DO something, right?