When is Now?

The other night I was watching Fast Money on CNBC and I heard something that actually applies to a lot of people.

They were talking about a company as a potential investment. There was a lot of forward-looking statements and all sorts of “things in the works.” It sounded pretty good—almost.

You see, this company has been talking about plans and things in the works for a long time. Finally, one analyst said something like, “That’s all great, but what I want to know is when does this company become NOW.”

The “When is Now” Cycle

Do you know someone, maybe even you, who seems like he or she is always planning for something or “building” something, but they are never accomplishing much? This is a dangerous pattern to get stuck in.

Being around thousands of people who are trying to make it in online business, I see this all day long. You know the type—perhaps it’s you. They can’t blog yet, because they need to read one more book or put one more thing in place. They can’t start a site because there’s one more article/page/whatever to be created. Or they can’t “take profits” right now, because they are building something bigger—like an authority site. And the big one is not selecting a path. Instead they read about this way to make money, that way to make money and end up wasting days, weeks, months and years.

In fact, this applies to life in general. Listen, dreamers suck. I know, because I was one at one point. We dream and plan and plan and dream, but we get little done. And some of us get nothing done. Meanwhile, someone else just starts putting things in motion and passes the dreamer up. It happens time and time again. You can’t make money by dreaming about it and you can’t make money by dreaming about what other people are making.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t plan. I’m saying you have to create a balance and know when you’re in the “when is now” cycle. For most people, they get in this cycle due to fear. What if you make a mistake? What if someone knows more than you do? What if?

Planning to be bigger than you can be is another major issue in the “when is now” cycle. This will absolutely kill you. Rather than starting a site to make money now, you have grand visions of being the next go-to source for your niche. Rather than focusing on simply making $1 then going from there, you spend all your time and resources on plans and who knows what else for some magical day in the future.

Divide your resources, so you’re always in an “action postion” each day.

As an example, here’s part of my “today is now” cycle:

60% – Items that can be accomplished today or this week

1. Writing this article.
2. Writing an article for a financial site.
3. Installing WordPress on a couple of sites.
4. Getting a few smaller sites online and in the flow.
5. Writing and sending out a press release.

30% – Items that will be accomplished over the coming weeks or couple months

1. Working on a writing schedule for this site.
2. Developing a marketing plan for a couple sites.
3. Researching ideas for articles, other sites, etc.
4. Complete a book I mentioned on this site.

10% – Items that are many months away, bigger in scope or education in nature.

1. Reading a handful of financial books I’d like to get through by the end of summer.
2. Working on an idea I have for a service to offer.

I encourage you to create your own “today is now” cycle.

Now online: here are 5 steps to breaking out of and staying out of the “when is now” cycle. I hope you’ll join me.

Have personal experiences to share? What did you think of this article? I’d love to hear from you.