I was raised to be an Indian, not the Chief of the Tribe.
However, as time passes and responsibilities mount, the weight of personal issues becomes such that forces you to become the Chief of the Tribe. Someone has got to get things done or everyone suffers. In this vain I am assuming responsibilities I never dreamed I would have. Although that is probably a good thing it is also draining a lot of my time and mental capacity. It is almost a full time job in itself.
Admittedly, I have tried in the past to create a business that would give me the stability and cash flow so I would be prepared when I needed it, but have yet to establish it. Now, when I have a thousand things to do, all of those things seem to take precedence over the business that really needs to get built, my own.
In addition I am wanting to build a business for musicians that is sorely needed in the marketplace. But that too gets overwhelmed by all of the distractions from becoming the Chief of the Tribe.
The way it is working, or better said, isn’t working, is that everything gets priority in my life over and above my own personal financial management, my online business aspirations and the music business I want to get off of the ground. It wouldn’t make sense at all, but the stakes of neglecting being Chief of the Tribe are rather high so it is very important it gets done. But, right now I am asking myself the question, “What is it really costing me and my life?” Because right now, I don’t really have a life of my own and I am forgetting to know what that feels like.
There is a paradox in life that I have yet to really grasp. That is possessing the dual personality traits of being impatient and being a procrastinator.
How is it possible to be impatient and be a procrastinator at the same time? It doesn’t make any sense.
Part of the problem lies in the fact that I can get things done fast. So, there is always that temptation to know you can leave it till the last minute and bam you’ll knock it out. But, why not do it now?
I’ll tell you why. Because when you procrastinate then you only do what is both important and urgent at any given moment. The things you have to do to build businesses aren’t either important or urgent RIGHT NOW. Business actions require planning, and doing things proactively, because anything you want to build, can’t be built in a day. None of that work is urgent, but it is actually really imperative that those things happen, otherwise you can’t move forward and see progress.
A CFO of a large industry here in town said that nothing ever gets finished because there is another thing to take care of. It never ends. you just keep plugging away at it and that is the work. It is working on things that never end.
In life, things come to an end. Things have to be dealt with and taken care of or you get in big trouble. Because of their immediate nature, it will always take precedence in the now over those things which could also be done tomorrow.
If you have a job and have to go and be present from 9 to 5, then you do that and let everything else go until you are done.
When you own your own business you have time wiggle room and it is all too easy to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
Ultimately you lose consistency, drive and profitability.
All of these things I know, and yet I struggle with it every day…
…well, gotta go now, the lawn needs mowing. (See what I mean?)