Stop Chasing Things that Don’t Work For You

If you’re looking for business advice, there’s about a gazillion articles and books filled with all kinds of tips and tricks that promise to skyrocket you to success. As a business owner, it’s easy to grasp onto these things and try to constantly apply the concepts to your own company. But what many fail to realize is that a lot of that isn’t meant for you and it sure has heck isn’t a guarantee of anything. You have to find what works for you and for your business and do it…period. But how do you figure out what kind of business and entrepreneurial advice to take and what to let fall to the wayside?

Let’s look at an example…
One thing touted all over is the importance of waking up early; getting your day started at or before the crack of dawn and having some 2 hour long morning routine that’s all about working out, expressing gratitude, and meditating and all that fun self-care stuff, and then get to work and hustle, hustle, hustle. And while that’s great for a lot of people, it simply doesn’t work for some. You have to determine your peak hours; when you have the most energy, work the best, have the clearest mind, and actually have the time.

I mean, I love to wake up early and get my day started with exercise and prayer and such before kicking into high gear with work. It fits me and how my body and mind work. And some mornings I’m actually able to accomplish this, and on other days my morning starts with kids crawling in bed an hour before my alarm goes off and I don’t have a minute to myself for at least the first few hours. It is what it is. My husband is the exact opposite of me. He is not, and never will be, a morning person. No matter what he’s tried, his peak hours are in the evening to late night. That’s just how he’s wired. Makes for some interesting compromises in the marriage, but also opened my eyes to the idea that we have to do what works for each of us. He would much rather exercise or get out and do yard work in the evening after work, whereas I’d rather wake up at 6am and get it done first thing in the morning, because that’s my peak hours.

There’s a ton of articles on ‘how to have the most productive morning’ or ‘the 5 ways you must advertise your business’ or anything else that sets these hard and fast rules on something. But that doesn’t mean you need to jump on every bandwagon and force something that just isn’t you.

The same goes for anything else that can apply to business (and life for that matter). If it doesn’t fit you and how you’re innately wired, then forget it! Does that mean you can stay in your comfort zone and only do what you like to do? Absolutely not! But you should take a good hard, objective look at any tips, methods, rules, or anything else out there and see if you can realistically apply it. Or should you tweak the whole thing so that it simply fits you better.

You don’t have to be a morning person to be successful. You can get your work done in the evenings if that’s your peak time.

You don’t have to market on social media if you hate it. Businesses found plenty of ways to succeed long before social media was ever thought of…figure it out!

You don’t have to go to chair massage events if you resent every second. There are other marketing avenues that work well.

You don’t have to do live videos if you’re only going to put it off and back out of the commitment because you get too nervous. Record and edit instead.

Yes, you need to get out of your comfort zone and take some risks in your business, but that doesn’t mean you have to change who you are and make some massive plans that only lead you to procrastinating and avoidance of the things that will actually move you forward. Stop trying to force things that don’t work for you and tweak all those tips and all that advice so that it does.