Why Are You So Busy?

This one's an easy question to answer, right? You're so busy because you have SO MUCH TO DO. 

I hear you loud and clear. I have so much to do, too. I am reading Million Dollar Consulting a little at a time. (I recommend it to just about anyone who wants to start any kind of business.) 

The author, Alan Weiss, posits an underlying reason you may have so much to do that you feel overwhelmed.

But before he shares that reason, he lays out his "unified field theory for consulting success." (By the way, he is so confident that his book will hook you that he reveals the whole shebang on p. 26 of a 267-page book!) 

The theory is six steps long.

Simple, he says, right? "So why don't people abide by the simplicity of excellent consulting and accelerate their careers?" 

Because: 

Dug the Dog. 

We get distracted. We set a plan for the day, for the week, for the year, and then we find something that seems easy to tick off the list, and we prioritize that instead.

Where does that impulse come from? 

For me, it comes from fear. I'm afraid to set a course and follow through. What if it doesn't work? Who wants to play the long game and lose?

But I've started to learn my lesson about setting aside long-term plans to build my business week after week in favor of quick fixes and just taking any and all new projects that come my way because of the fear that I might not get more business if I say "no" to anything. I hope I'm phasing out the squirrel-chasing part of my business.

Reading Alan's description made me realize I'm far from alone in allowing myself to get distracted by pursuing projects that just don't fit their business models. 

I just wonder, how many other entrepreneurs and consultants have felt like they're chasing squirrels while they're building their businesses? 

Here's Alan again: "The 'squirrel' you see is seldom relevant to your day, is almost impossible to catch, and in the long run actually tastes awful."