Lesson by: demo
Lesson description
Learn the disciplines required in order to avoid impulsive decision making and instead focusing all of your energy on doing one thing and doing it incredibly well
Here's what we cover:
Chasing two rabbits at once is a simple metaphor that describes a common problem for many, if not most SEO consultants and freelancers, in that they’re trying to do too many different things at once.
Apparently, it’s based on a Chinese proverb that goes
"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape"
This is without a doubt, one of the main reasons why many fail or give up due to burnout.
I’ll be talking more about the importance of doing one thing and doing it well with particular emphasis on your service offerings in an upcoming video, but for now, want to bring this to your attention because it’s an important topic.
The lost art of concentration
Let’s face it, there are distractions all around us.
The TV, email, text messages, calls, apps, social media – it goes on and on.
This constant fragmentation of attention and inability to concentrate, can wreak havoc on how productive you are and as a result can leave you feeling completely non-productive – even though it might feel you’re putting in the hours.
It might be easy for me to say eliminate all distractions, but this is something I still struggle with myself. I do find working nights helps as there’s much less noise, but also making a conscious commitment to get certain tasks done each day.
I’ve been able to achieve this by planning tomorrow today and also setting a timer on my phone for hourly blocks of dedicated work time, where I do nothing, but focus on the task I want to get done.
Once the timer goes off, then I’ll take a quick break and repeat the process.
What you need to be mindful of is that checking your phone, scrolling through social media, or watching YouTube, might only be 2 or 3 minutes here and there, but over time that adds up.
It’s estimated that most people spend at least 2-3 hours on their phone each day. That’s an entire month wasted scrolling mindlessly on your phone each year.
One thing at a time
As already mentioned, most SEO freelancers and consultants find themselves in an absolute mess because they’re trying to do too many things.
Two great examples that come to mind are –
Offering too many services results in absolute chaos, where you end up running around putting out fires, micromanaging staff and becoming stressed.
Equally as bad, are consultants that spend their time running around in circles all over the place chasing leads.
This is where you might be performing manual outreach via LinkedIn, then building out landing pages for FB ads, then handing out cards at a BNI event, then cold emailing or cold calling and before you know it, you’re absolutely exhausted, nothing has worked, and you don’t have any leads to show for it.
As you can see, when you’re chasing 2 rabbits at a time, you’ll end up doing nothing but running in circles and becoming exhausted.
To prevent this, it’s important that you focus in on one doing one thing at a time.
Chase one rabbit and catch it. Not several all at once, otherwise you'll end up catching none.
Identifying bad behaviors
Chasing more than one rabbit at a time, is typically the result of being impulsive.
It’s incredibly easy to add a new project, a new service offering, or a new process within your business without any consideration behind what’s involved in actually performing and completing the work.
I’ll admit, taking on too many projects is something that I still struggle with today. I have to consciously remind myself that I simply don’t have the capacity or mind space to add more to my list, which is difficult for me as I always seem to be coming up with new ideas.
In order to prevent this, you need to be able to identify your behaviors and resist the temptation to add more things. Even if it means writing it down on a piece of paper and putting it in your ideas bin so that you can revisit it when you have the capacity to dedicate the time and resources needed to do it properly without causing stress and overload.
How many rabbits are you chasing?
It might be a daunting thought, but I would recommend that you sit down and write a list of everything you’ve got going on at the moment, along with who’s responsible for each one.
Take a look at that list and ask yourself “Am I chasing too many rabbits?”
I went through this process about 8 years ago and found I was chasing about 15 rabbits. I was absolutely overwhelmed with too much, and as a result wasn’t doing anything well.
Focus on chasing the rabbit that matters most. The rabbit that’s going to move the needle.
Not every single rabbit that runs out in front of you.
Here's what we cover:
- How continual distractions are ruining your chances of success
- Why it's absolutely essential that you reduce your service offerings
- How to identify bad habits and why you continue to do "too many things"
Chasing two rabbits at once is a simple metaphor that describes a common problem for many, if not most SEO consultants and freelancers, in that they’re trying to do too many different things at once.
Apparently, it’s based on a Chinese proverb that goes
"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape"
This is without a doubt, one of the main reasons why many fail or give up due to burnout.
I’ll be talking more about the importance of doing one thing and doing it well with particular emphasis on your service offerings in an upcoming video, but for now, want to bring this to your attention because it’s an important topic.
The lost art of concentration
Let’s face it, there are distractions all around us.
The TV, email, text messages, calls, apps, social media – it goes on and on.
This constant fragmentation of attention and inability to concentrate, can wreak havoc on how productive you are and as a result can leave you feeling completely non-productive – even though it might feel you’re putting in the hours.
It might be easy for me to say eliminate all distractions, but this is something I still struggle with myself. I do find working nights helps as there’s much less noise, but also making a conscious commitment to get certain tasks done each day.
I’ve been able to achieve this by planning tomorrow today and also setting a timer on my phone for hourly blocks of dedicated work time, where I do nothing, but focus on the task I want to get done.
Once the timer goes off, then I’ll take a quick break and repeat the process.
What you need to be mindful of is that checking your phone, scrolling through social media, or watching YouTube, might only be 2 or 3 minutes here and there, but over time that adds up.
It’s estimated that most people spend at least 2-3 hours on their phone each day. That’s an entire month wasted scrolling mindlessly on your phone each year.
One thing at a time
As already mentioned, most SEO freelancers and consultants find themselves in an absolute mess because they’re trying to do too many things.
Two great examples that come to mind are –
- Offering too many services
- Chasing leads all over the place
Offering too many services results in absolute chaos, where you end up running around putting out fires, micromanaging staff and becoming stressed.
Equally as bad, are consultants that spend their time running around in circles all over the place chasing leads.
This is where you might be performing manual outreach via LinkedIn, then building out landing pages for FB ads, then handing out cards at a BNI event, then cold emailing or cold calling and before you know it, you’re absolutely exhausted, nothing has worked, and you don’t have any leads to show for it.
As you can see, when you’re chasing 2 rabbits at a time, you’ll end up doing nothing but running in circles and becoming exhausted.
To prevent this, it’s important that you focus in on one doing one thing at a time.
Chase one rabbit and catch it. Not several all at once, otherwise you'll end up catching none.
Identifying bad behaviors
Chasing more than one rabbit at a time, is typically the result of being impulsive.
It’s incredibly easy to add a new project, a new service offering, or a new process within your business without any consideration behind what’s involved in actually performing and completing the work.
I’ll admit, taking on too many projects is something that I still struggle with today. I have to consciously remind myself that I simply don’t have the capacity or mind space to add more to my list, which is difficult for me as I always seem to be coming up with new ideas.
In order to prevent this, you need to be able to identify your behaviors and resist the temptation to add more things. Even if it means writing it down on a piece of paper and putting it in your ideas bin so that you can revisit it when you have the capacity to dedicate the time and resources needed to do it properly without causing stress and overload.
How many rabbits are you chasing?
It might be a daunting thought, but I would recommend that you sit down and write a list of everything you’ve got going on at the moment, along with who’s responsible for each one.
Take a look at that list and ask yourself “Am I chasing too many rabbits?”
I went through this process about 8 years ago and found I was chasing about 15 rabbits. I was absolutely overwhelmed with too much, and as a result wasn’t doing anything well.
Focus on chasing the rabbit that matters most. The rabbit that’s going to move the needle.
Not every single rabbit that runs out in front of you.
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