When Are You Going to Stop Consuming and Start Creating?

I've got something for you today that I hope you'll read and take to heart.  As I write this, we're starting the first day of the second month of 2011.  31 days have passed us by this year already and I'd like you to take just a second and look back on the last 31 days.

Before you do that, I want you to promise me a couple of things.  #1 - Take a good look at your life the past 31 days.  #2 - Don't beat yourself over the head with a brick if you don't like what you see.

Got that?  Good.

Now, go ahead and play back that Betamax tape that is always recording in your head.  Why Betamax?  Because it's better, unless you've got a Laserdisc recorder or something...

Look at what you've done in your life and business in the last 31 days.  Where did you want to be at the end of January?  Are you there yet?  If so, how did you get there?  If no, what happened and how can you fix it?

To be truly successful in anything, you have to spend some time reviewing your results and taking inventory of your actions.  If you constantly move ahead without looking at your results, you learn nothing.  You won't know what worked and what didn't and how best to move forward.

Take a good hard look and be honest with yourself.  Know and understand that wherever you are right now is totally, completely, 100% your responsibility.

And for God's sake, leave your emotions at the front door on this one. You can't afford to get upset and get down in the dumps if you're not where you want to be.  This process is and has to be completely surgical in nature.  You're evaluating the actions you've taken and what you did great and what you did terribly.  Don't cry, don't get mad.  Get happy later about your success, for now, just see what you did to be successful.

Once you're done with that, come on back here and finish reading.  I'll be waiting...

Done?  Good.  Now let's move on.

If you're happy with the results you've had so far, this is the end of this post for you. Move forward, fearless warrior.  Great things lie ahead for you.

If you're not so happy with your results, keep reading...

I'm going to give you one piece of advice that I believe will help you get where you want to be.  You may not get there by the end of February (it is such a short little month) but at least you'll be moving forward.

Take a look and see how much time you've spent consuming and how much time you've spent creating.  I'm willing to bet that if you've had some success, you've spent a good deal of your time creating something.  And by creation I'm not just talking about writing an article or a blog post.  Those are good things to do if you're marketing online, but that's not all of what I'm talking about.

Creation for you means that you've done something of your own work.  You weren't relying on someone else or using their work for your benefit.  I'm talking about doing your own thing to build YOUR business.  How many people did you talk to about your business last week?  Last month?  How many blog posts did you write?  How many conversations did you strike up on Facebook?  How many phone calls did you make to leads?  How many people did you follow up with?  How many people did you give a CD to?  How many people did you send to a video presentation?  How many 3-way calls did you conduct?

Now, as I'm writing this I'm doing my own personal inventory, so please don't think that I'm just sitting here handing out tongue-lashings to everyone but me.  I'm getting my own review right now and there are a lot of things that I'm not happy with.  I've done quite a bit of creation over the last 31 days, but not nearly enough.  And certainly not enough to achieve my goals.

The good news is that creation is a process that you have to master.  You don't become great at it overnight and you certainly won't be able to do everything you want when you're starting out.  But the more you do, the easier it becomes.

Consumption on the other hand is very easy to do.  You just sit and consume.

Now, don't get me wrong, there's still a good bit of consumption that you're going to have to do.  If you're not feeding your brain, you won't have anything to create from.  Consume when necessary, but be quick to create.

So, how's the last 31 days look from your perspective?  If you don't like what you see, despair not.  You can change that view starting today.  Take some action now.  And if you don't think that what you create will be any good, don't worry about it.  The first time you create something, it will suck.  Just be ready for it and accept it.  Then move forward to creating something else.

You'll be great at it, eventually.  And the more you do, the quicker you'll be great.

Ready to move forward?  I'd love to help.  Drop me a line over at my network marketing success blog.

Mike Paul