Day 16.1: Confessions of An Optimist

In case you haven't already gathered, I'm a serious optimist. I can't help it. No matter how many times I've been disappointed (and it's been a lot), I can't help assuming that next time, it's going to work. That's what got me started on this experiment, and that's hopefully what will drive me to be able to earn at least a $100 a week from home. My innate optimism has been a mixed blessing for me, however, and for this post I decided to write about how much optimism is too much.

First of all, if you're going to be an entrepreneur either you're already an optimist or someone's holding a gun to your head and forcing you. (I doubt that's the case.) It's necessary to be an optimist if you're going to try new things. You have to have the vision to see your endeavors prosper, and you have to see a light at the end of the tunnel if you're going to chase it.

My problem is that I get so caught up in chasing the light that I don't realize that it's actually coming from an oncoming train and not the end of the tunnel at all. I get carried away with things. I obsess over something and then if it doesn't work out, I'm devastated. While being an optimist might be a necessary attribute to an entrepreneur, it's also vital that you be a realist. You can't simply walk around with high hopes and your head in the cloud and expect that good things will show up. You have to see how they will show up and what you can do to make that happen. You have to anticipate your own weaknesses and work out a way to combat them. That's an area where I really struggle. I'm a rotten salesman, period. Something could be cool and awesome and totally free, like Clixsense, but despite my own personal enthusiasm and even the fact that I'm going to get my first paycheck tomorrow, none of you will click on that link. And if you do, I'll be totally shocked and surprised and thrilled and incredibly grateful. Now see, you (almost certainly) didn't click the link. I love it, I'm excited about it and telling you... but I'm not getting any results.

So why is it that all of my plans hinge on referrals? Ok, true, Traffic Exchange Profits does have a way of working around that, but what about everything else? Why do I keep thinking I'll make it work, when it never does? I don't know. I guess I just can't stop.

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Day 9.1: Setting Standards, Setting Limits

Two things that are especially on my mind this morning are the importance of setting standards and the importance of setting limits. Since I started this blog, I personally set a standard for myself that I have practiced every day since then--write three posts per day, share it on the right websites and search engines, look for ways to improve the system. I've said again and again that it's a lot of work. You could easily make a full-time job out of doing exactly what I've been doing, and if that's something you can't afford, then you'd better look out. The Internet is a vast and growing whirlpool. If you have Facebook you know what I'm talking about. It draws you in, and before you know it, hours have passed and you've hardly done a thing that would help. Hence, the importance of setting limits.

Hopefully you already know the grand rule of bidding. When you're bidding on something from Ebay or Amazon, you need to decide beforehand how much you're willing to pay. If you don't, adding just a few more cents and a few more cents becomes all too easy, and before you know it you've paid $65 for something that should have cost $40. Ouch. You need to set limits, and you need to stay with them. It's the only way to get a genuinely good deal on business sites, and it's also a vital tip for any form of freelance work online.

Let's say you decide to start up a blog, like this one. You'll go for one post a day and get all the publicity you physically can without paying. You travel from site to site, search engine to directory, posting links to your blog article everywhere. You investigate all of the different methods of publicity, join more programs than you can keep track of, and sign up for all the newsletters. You do your homework, and you're not going to leave any stone unturned. You've got patience and you've got grit, and you're going for it! While I have to say it's a brilliant start, and I have to applaud you if you can keep up with that for even so much as a week, let's get realistic. Do you have time for that? What about your actual day job/homework, family, social life? What about giving your mind a break from it all and just playing a dumb game or reading a book for a while? You need to take care of yourself. You can't stop living all for the sake of a program.

Fortunately, there are solutions to this, and they're easy. The first is to plan. Decide what path you'll follow, and stick to it. You'll save a lot of time and energy if you don't even bother with alternatives after a certain point. Does it fit in with your goal? Include it. Is it a bit different? Don't even bother. The second is to set limits. How much time are you willing to put into this daily? An hour or two? Before opening or turning on your computer, look at the clock. Pick a time you'll be free, and work diligently until then. When the time's up, exit your programs and go on to enjoy the day.

You can be an Internet entrepreneur without selling your soul to the Internet. Remember--you shouldn't work for it, but rather make ways for it to work for you. That's how it's supposed to be, and that's the best way to succeed.

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