If someone asked you how hard you work when you’re working for an employer, what would you say?

If a large company hired you to work on a week-long consulting project and paid you a hefty fee when it was finished – how many hours per day would you work to finish the project?

When I was an elearning consultant I was often hired by large companies to come to their location and work for a week to establish their elearning portal and training program. During the time I was onsite, I was working 10,12, sometimes 16 hours a day. I was totally focused on the task. Because we knew we had a week to get it done.

Those were the client’s expectations. And I knew there was a great reward at the end.

I turned off my cell phone. I would have turned off text messages if they had invented them at that time! I only checked my messages and email in the evenings.

I took care of myself physically, taking planned breaks, walking around to freshen my mind, and eating at regular intervals. And I drank a lot of caffeine. (Okay, you knew there had to be a vice in there!)

The point is I was 100% focused on the outcome. And I was willing to work very hard for a short time because I knew the rewards would be there.

This was all brought back to me recently as I spent a week onsite for a client – just like the old days. But in this case it was an internet marketing client. I spent 8-10 hours a day looking at sales materials, writing autoresponders, and generally fixing up their sales and support process.

And that’s when it occurred to me – I haven’t been working for ME as hard as I worked for THEM!

Sometimes I don’t “get around” to writing a full autoresponder sequence. Sometimes I don’t revisit older products that can be updated and repurposed. Sometimes I don’t streamline and document all of my processes. And many times I don’t focus 100% on a single task until it’s finished. In short, sometimes I get lazy with my own business.

So now it’s your turn. Are you working on your own business – as if you were a paid consultant? Would you pay YOU big bucks to do the work you’re doing?

We’ll talk about WHY you aren’t working as hard for you in an upcoming post. For now, share – are you working as hard for yourself as you would if someone else were paying you?

One of the challenges we all face is the negative input around us. It was brought home to me today as I sat in a waiting room. Some of the comments I heard included:

“You just can’t win.”

“There’s never a solution.”

“I can’t believe how bad it is. Let me tell you…”

“That never works out.”

And I was there less than 10 minutes! I can tell you, I was depressed by the time they called my name for my escape.

Turns out I’ve gotten spoiled hanging around positive people all the time. People who are excited about life. Going somewhere. Have a dream. Sharing good news and great thoughts.

And those are exactly the type of people YOU want to be around as you’re building your online business. Starting a business from scratch is a lot of hard work and it’s tempting to become discouraged. That’s why it’s so important to be surrounded by positive.

If you’re surrounded by negativity all the time, it’s a challenge to find the positive. That’s why I love entrepreneurs – especially the ones online.

So where do you find the positive input you need to keep pursuing your dream? Right here, online. You’ll find many of them making comments below. You’ll find links to their blogs and websites. You’ll find them in groups like the Blog Challenge.

Because birds of a feather DO flock together. And positive people want to spend time with other positive people. Whether we do it online – or at live events – join us! Your life will be better for it.