One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Thomas Edison. He said, "The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person does not do."

I was reminded of this quote last night when I was up at 1:00 a.m. to work on a project I’m trying to finish this week. I worked for about 4 hours in the middle of the night. Went back to bed around 5:00 a.m. and slept for an hour. Then I was back up to shower and start my day … which will be another 10 – 12 hours.

This is not my “normal” routine, but it is my routine periodically. I try not to make it a habit. I know this is just for a couple of weeks, and I can get back to a fairly normal schedule with more balance in my life than I have at the moment.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I'm just trying to make a point. I will work all day, work weekends, work 7 days a week if necessary, get up in the middle of the night to work on a project, and then get up the next morning with very little sleep only to repeat the process. As I said, this is not my life, but this scenario does happen now and then. And I’m willing to do it.

As most of you know, I do a weekly newsletter and a weekly eblast to everyone in my database. This takes time.

I had a situation a few weeks ago where I was having a few tests performed for some health issues I was facing. This was a fairly serious matter.

In case you are wondering what the serious matter was … my doctor informed me the week before there was a chance I had cancer because of the results of blood tests performed earlier. He was concerned, and I was concerned.

Rather than blow off my responsibilities and skip that week, I stayed the course. I planned ahead and spent the weekend putting together my newsletter, weekly eblast, and took care of a few other pressing matters in my business … just in case.

The following week I had more tests performed and everything came back with great results. No cancer. I am healthy (and thankful).

But again, my point is not my facing the possibility of cancer. The point is I kept running my business and did what I had to do to make that happen.

NO EXCUSES!!

Are you willing to do the same? Or are do you just want to make excuses for things not getting done?

What “pressing matters” do you have keeping you from doing what needs to be done to create a successful business? Is the “pressing matter” a life and death situation or just something you “want” to do?

It may be time to take a serious look at how you are running your business. It may be time to ask yourself how important your success and the success of your business is to your family and to yourself.

It may be time to start valuing the time you have been given and using it to create a better life.

 

To Your Success,