Prison rules

You ever seen the movie Shawshank Redemption?

FANTASTIC movie. Hard to believe it was made 24 years ago now. Anyway…

If you recall, Morgan Freeman’s character was in prison and he was afraid to leave prison. He saw what happened to some of his fellow prison mates when they were released. Free from the structure of the prison, they lost themselves and committed suicide in many cases.

There’s that sad scene where the old man was released from prison, felt completely lost in the regular world without the prison rules, and ended up hanging himself.

But, I thought about that. And I saw some parallels to people who are trying (or simply want to) gain freedom from a traditional 9-to-5 job.

While there are negatives to having a 9-5 job, the truth is that it is actually easier than trying to build a business.

With a job, you live within the confines laid out by somebody else. You play by their rules. You do what you’re told. You do it well enough and out pops a paycheck.

There’s a kind of order to it. It is an order laid out by somebody else, so there isn’t that responsibility of having to drive the ship.

Once you go into the uncharted territory of your own business, then you’re on your own. You’re like a pioneer. All of a sudden, the rulebook is gone and you’re the creator of your own rules. You have nobody to impose discipline on you but yourself.

In many ways, the quest to go independent is a lot like that prisoner looking at the prospect of no longer having prison rules. The J-O-B imposes structure. Without that structure, we’re on our own. And it doesn’t always go well.

Now, I’m not saying having a job is like being in prison. I know many people like their jobs. However, there are a lot of people looking to get out of theirs. In my position here, I see quite a few of them. For them (and perhaps you), the mission of starting and growing your own online business is motivated by a desire to step out of the 9-to-5 and be in charge of your own thing.

But, in my position, I also see that people run into challenges. Because, it isn’t as easy when you’re the one making all the decisions.

Regardless of all the training and support out there which is available to help you (and this is exactly what Blog Marketing Academy LAB is all about), the truth is that YOU have to be conducting yourself in a manner which is able to actually make forward progress.

All too often, I see people doing certain bad habits and confusing them for forward progress.

The first step is to stop these bad habits – and that requires being aware of what they are.

Over the next few issues, I’d like to address some of the most common “bad habits” that I see when people are trying to make this transition to their own online business.

In the end, it comes down to a simplicity…

In order to HAVE what you want, you have to DO certain things, and you have to BE a certain person.

People like myself can show you what to DO. However…

What does your future (or current) business require you to BE in order to work?

Mindset is a big deal when you’re self-employed. And your business (or lack thereof) will ultimately be a reflection of you as it’s founder.

So on that note…

I’ll see you on the next issue of The Daily… where we’ll begin to discuss some of these “bad habits” I see (and some of which I have some pretty swell personal experience with, too)… and perhaps some things we can do to ward it off at the pass.

See ya then.

– David

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The WP Edge is the official weekly newsletter of the Blog Marketing Academy.