The attic

cc photo credit: quinn.anya

If you think you’ll fail at something it’s much more likely that you will. The self fulfilling prophecy is alive and well and not just in schools. That’s what came across loud and clear from this post from one of Ed’s mentees. She’s focussing on making a real commitment as opposed to just going through the motions.

Getting those excuses out of your head and onto paper gives you the opportunity to confront them and decide whether or not, this time, you’d like to do things differently.

In the case of the 2010 Challenge ask yourself:

If I fail to complete the 2010 Challenge what will be the reason?

What else?

What else?

Keep asking yourself “What Else”? until you have come up with all the possibilities you can think of.

via Preparing To Fail the 2010 Challenge | Internet Marketing Coaching Year.

I liked this idea so here goes:

If I fail to complete the 2010 Challenge what will be the reason?

I picked several rubbish niches – great, quicker they are picked and discarded the quicker I’ll find the right one!

Commitment – I will work really hard at the market research stage but I will not get attached to niches.

What else?

I got stuck around Day 14 as my site didn’t rank yet. – Day 14 is not going to be the deal breaker this year. More time means more chance to rank.

Commitment – I will  allow my niche time to mature and not get too freaked if I feel left behind. If I start feeling like that I will do things to counter those feelings.

What else?

I didn’t find a team – Not sure about this one, maybe a tight team isn’t quite the right fit for me. Use my connections in London instead?

Commitment – I will find a team but if it doesn’t work out I will just move on, use other resources I already have access to & not beat myself up.

What else?

I got confused and demoralised because my site didn’t rank and I got left behind – see above but also work on my feelings, which is something I can change

Commitment – I will confront those feelings when they pop up and challenge them.

What else?

I’m rubbish at this. – Yeah, right. No I’m not, not really. I make most of my living online so I am actually quite good at this.

Commitment – I will remind myself of this every time I feel rubbish

What else?

My niche was too competitive – I didn’t read the MS grid properly because I didn’t want to get left behind (see above!). -Ok so this one is about holding my nerve and looking for the ‘slam dunk’ MS grid –

Commitment – I will pay attention to the SEO competition grid and really analyse what it tells me, then I’ll act on that not just carry on with the wrong niche because I like it.

Ok so those are my commitments. What are yours?