There are good obsessions.
Like … fervently dreaming up new ways to uplift + entertain your business audience — say, serving up a ridiculously fun challenge to help them master a new skill.
Like … world-changing Swedish coffee machines that transform your entire morning (what?! get in my life.)
Like … trolling YouTube to re-watch sex scenes from your favorite TV dramas, because it makes you sooo happy (who, me?)
I believe it’s super important to be obsessed with your business + the people you’ve decided to serve. (If you’re not obsessed, why bother? Find another career, right?)
But not all obsessions are good obsessions.
Some are very, very bad.
Dangerously bad.
And not in a sexy, Fifty Shades-esque hold-me-down-and-spank-me-oh-don’t-stop! kind of way.
Just … in a gross way.
When I work with small business owners (and big, multi-million dollar biz owners, too) I notice, time and time again, that people are completely obsessed with the WRONG things.
Over time, all of these bad obsessions eat away at your health, your productivity, and of course, your revenue. (After all, when you’re occupying so much of your time with meaningless obsessions, who has the time to create anything of real … value?)
Are you guilty of indulging in one of these 3 bad business obsessions?
Read on + find out …
BAD OBSESSION #1:
“OMG whyyyyyyy did my last blog post only get one comment? My life is a disaster!”
Obsessing over comments, re-tweets and Facebook likes means one thing: you’re more concerned with getting validation (“praise me, mommy!”) than delivering value.
Time for a gut check. Business is about service. If your work makes a positive impact on one person this week — that is an actual human being whose life you have changed for the better. That is a big deal. You are a big deal!
Besides, sometimes people finish reading a terrific piece of writing … and simply have nothing to add! The amount of “commentary” you receive often has nothing to do with the quality of your content.
Ask yourself, “If ‘comments’ didn’t exist, would I be proud of what I have written?”
If the answer is “Yes, I would!” then take a deep breath and let this bad obsession go.
You’ve got (real) work to do.
BAD OBSESSION #2:
“Did you see what so-and-so is doing??! Ugh! She’ll probably get a million sales because she’s more famous-er than me, even though I totally had that idea first. Everything sucks and I quit.”
Eyes on your own paper, señorita.
Who cares what other people are doing? That’s not your concern.
No one has the exact same personality, style, tone, worldview (or true stories!) that you do.
Imagine if the people behind Gossip Girl had said, “Ugh, such-and-such TV network already created a show about sexy rich young people being sexy and rich and young! We’re screwed. We quit.”
THEN WE WOULD NEVER HAVE THE WONDER THAT IS GOSSIP GIRL.
And that would be tragic.
You — not releasing your helpful, inspiring, beautiful projects into the world — is tragic, too.
You serve your peeps. They serve theirs. There’s enough love + money to go around.
BAD OBSESSION #3:
“I’ve been featured on a bunch of blogs and stuff … BUT it’s just NOT good enough!!! I NEED to be in THIS magazine and THIS magazine only. Nothing will compare!”
While it’s great to have a sense of direction, having insanely-specific goals is always a recipe for disappointment.
There are so many factors that can contribute to you getting featured in THAT media outlet — or not. Like seasonal trends. Topics they’ve covered in that issue, already. An editor who just got dumped by a douchey personal trainer and doesn’t want to read anything about “sculpting your abs” ever again, dammit! Who knows?
You don’t have total control, no matter how mind-blowingly-fantastic your contribution is. So let it go. By clinging so tightly, you’re shut off from the beauty all around you. (Like that gorgeous sunset you’re missing, just over the top of that laptop you’re mopily staring at…)
Plus, even if THAT exact dream does come true? I guarantee it will never live up to how cool it was in your mind. You’ll feel empty, right away, and start scrambling for the next bad obsession…
Ready for a NEW obsession?
Thank Gosling! Shaking off all of those bad obsessions is going to leave you feeling so light and free. I’m giddy for you, already.
Now, let’s talk about healthy obsessions.
Like:
I want to get obsessed with …
:: Moving my body
:: Serving and helping
:: Cooking real food at home
:: Giving back to a great cause
:: Connecting with my sweetheart
:: Infusing more pleasure into my life
:: Calling up old friends just to say, “hey!”
:: Challenging myself to start something new
Rock a new, healthier obsession. Go! 🙂