Are you moving forward or standing still?

by Robb Sutton

With the start of each new day, I ask myself one simple question…

Are you moving forward or standing still?

While it seems like a simple question from the outside, it is really complex in terms of how we spend our days. Many times, we fill our days with activities and events that have zero value to our goals and our life in general. We waste massive amounts of time on things that create no added value to our lives and instead suck the life out of the productivity we could be having in search of the goals we have set for ourselves. Even while we are engaging in these rather worthless activities, we will often think about what we could be doing that would be more productive. Instead of stopping the time sucking, worthless waste, we push off what is productive to a later time or date. It is our mind and laziness that is keeping us from living the life that we have always dreamed of. The truth is…later never comes and it is only now that we can really start to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.

I relate these actions a lot to blogging because that fills up a lot of my minds real estate. Do you find yourself checking stats, affiliate revenue and other blogs a lot during the course of your afternoon? Many bloggers (especially beginning bloggers) spend a lot of time checking these stats because they are new and exciting. The truth is that they do nothing to grow your bottom line. You could be using this time and energy to produce more value added content that would grow your blog instead of stunt its growth by wasting valuable time and effort.

Next time you find yourself doing activities that do not create added value to your goals…ask yourself…”Am I moving forward or standing still?” If you are standing still, it is time to start moving forward.

  • Make a list of productive activities that get you closer to your goals.
  • Start knocking off these activities one by one.
  • Once you have completed that list…start a new one!

By completing this function over and over again, you will notice that those stats you checked on so much in the past are now growing at a rate you could have never imagined. By using your time wisely, you have started to create something that is valuable to others, and this produces the results that you were obsessing over before.

This theory of moving forward can be applied to all aspects of life and not just to blogging.

  • Do you want to have a happier family but find yourself spending large amounts of time in front of the TV?
  • Do you want to have a better job, but instead of researching new positions…you go out with friends every night?
  • Do you want to start your own business someday, but would rather start it tomorrow rather than today?

The time is now. You can achieve the goals and dreams that you always thought were pipe dreams if you simply get off your ass and do something productive with your day. I don’t know about you…but I hit a point in my life where I was sick of standing still. I wanted something better for myself and my family but I knew I couldn’t get to that goal doing the same thing day in and day out. It was time for a change and no one was going to make that change for me. I had to change my lifestyle and become more productive now if I wanted to get the increased output in the future.

Everyone can live their dream…if they are willing to put in the work and not let laziness and their own minds get in the way.

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2 comments

Alexander June 8, 2009 - 8:39 am

Hey Robb

Nice article. I always love spiels which encourage the one thing: take action. I believe if you constantly take some sort of action, then you’ll always be making progress.

Good to see you apply this mantra to not only blogging but life in general – keep up the good work!

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Robb Sutton June 8, 2009 - 8:41 am

Alexander

By taking action…you are always moving forward! Or at least learning to adapt new knowledge. Thanks for the support!

Robb

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