Balance, Challenges, Entrepreneurs, Goals, Motivation, Overcoming Obstacles, Procrastination, Productivity
What’s that beeping noise?
| Have you ever been sleeping soundly, only to be woken up by an errant “beep,” then a few seconds later “beep,” and then a weird voice that you can’t make out screeches at you? By that time, you’re wide awake and jumping out of bed, wiping the sleep from your eyes – looking around, trying to figure out what in the heck is beeping and who’s squawking at you. The big question – when will it happen again? I’m standing in the hallway in my PJs, waiting for it to beep again so I can figure out where it’s coming from. In the meantime, the dogs are freaked out by the high-pitched sound, and Emma, the little pup, dove under the covers for safety. This happened to us a few months back, not once, but three times! And you guessed it – our smoke detector needed its battery changed! And the funny part is two of the detectors were at the top of our 16 ft ceilings. We had no tall ladder to reach it, and both went off within weeks of each other in the wee morning hours. It’s 3 am, and I’m standing in the garage in my PJs, searching for a tool long enough to knock that beeping sucker down so it will stop and we can get back to sleep. Luckily I found a very long tool in our garage that’s used to cut branches. I got on the top of the couch and whacked the crap out of it- while saying a few expletives- until it came down off the wall. And took out those damn batteries to shut the thing up already. Yeah, a video of these antics would have been hilarious – yet we both were too frazzled, and so were the dogs – we just needed to silence the ear-piercing alarm. My big question is – why do the batteries always have to die in the middle of the night, around 3 am?! When the third one beeped weeks later, thank goodness, in the middle of the day, we decided we needed to do something drastic about these smoke alarms. We still had three more that may go off at any minute. Besides, the first two were not even working cuz we couldn’t get them back on the wall since we didn’t have a ladder tall enough to reach them. After some research, I bought six 10-year battery smoke alarms. Especially for the two on the high ceilings. Plus, we’d always remember how many years were left on them because we bought them the first year in our new home. Right about now, you might be thinking, “Well, Shannon, this is an interesting story, yet, what in the world do smoke alarms have to do with marketing, mindset, or launching my business?” I want you to think of that intermittent beeping of the smoke detector that wakes you up in the middle of the night as things that are nagging and dragging you down in your business. Is there anything in your business that’s keeping you awake at night? Or anything that you’re avoiding or putting off because you don’t have the tools or knowledge to fix it? If you said yes to either or both of these, let’s walk through some steps to help you sleep better or stop procrastinating. Write down what the issue or problem is. Is this something in your wheelhouse you can take care of? If you answered yes to the previous question – is it something you WANT to take care of and have the knowledge to do it? How much time will this take if you did it vs. someone else? Break down your income and figure out how much you make an hour – is it worth it to outsource to someone else? The critical factor in deciding to outsource or not is knowing that your time is incredibly valuable. It’s actually the one thing in your life on this planet that you won’t get any more of. And it’s also the ONE thing that all successful entrepreneurs will BUY. Let’s say you’re making $400 an hour. And you’re like me and want all 6 of those smoke detectors replaced with the new 10-year battery detectors. It will take about an hour or so to do it, maybe less. It depends on getting a tall enough ladder that you’ll have to rent, borrow, etc. If you found a fix-it person to do it for you for $250, would that be worth it to outsource? I’m hoping you’re going to say with me a resounding “YES!” That’s exactly what we did. We could have rented a ladder, but how would we get it here? Then I’m thinking, what if something happened, such as one of us falling off the tall ladder? Well, that certainly would be a very costly smoke detector! I think you know where I’m going with this…You are valuable. You are knowledgeable. Your resources, talents, and superpowers are irreplaceable! Always be looking at things inside your business and even your home that, yeah, maybe you can do. Yet, if you outsourced it to a professional, just think of how much MORE time you can spend in your genius zone. Every time I’ve done this equation in my head, I always end up outsourcing, and it’s saved me time, money, and fewer aches and pains in my body. We’re only given so much time on this planet – choose what you do with it wisely. The world needs your genius. Don’t squander it in the weeds. Outsource your lawn care (unless you love it and it fuels you) and take back your time to do something you love that gives you joy and even laughter. I’m giving you permission today – don’t look at outsourcing as a cost or expense. It’s an investment, especially if the expert can do it faster, easier, and better than you can. Increase your strengths and always outsource your weaknesses. This week the pictures are all about my dogs. it’s getting colder, finally. And the dogs love it and are extra cute and funny. I’m convinced Emma (the King Charles mix) is a clown dog. Lily’s the golden fluffy teddy bear. |
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| Note: Best Questions Ever Download – I received so many responses I decided to put my free link for these resources here. I only ask that you make a copy and put it in your own Google doc folder. Interested in some good nonfiction reads that are a mix of business and connecting to your soul? I’m back at doing my weekly BooksYouGottaRead.com post. Check out and see some of my favorite books that have inspired me to be an ATL (Addicted to Learning). If you’ve gotten this far – thank you! And you’ll love this if you are a dog person – Check out my outtakes from my photo shoots with Emma for my book blog. Just in case you think they’re easy. I end up having to take quite a few pics. 🙂 |
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