How Do You Decide Which Income Stream to Focus On?
What should you do?
“The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.” — Steven Pressfield
Reader: “I’m debating which business idea to follow through with right now. I’m just going to weigh my options out.”
Translation: This person is going to do nothing.
Do you get a lot of business ideas? Are you just not sure of what to focus on? Are you totally confused about what steps to take next with pursuing a new income stream?
The problem with launching is that you just don’t know what to focus on. You hear about so many different income streams and ideas. You’re just not sure of what’s right for you and what you could excel at. So you read more articles, listen to more podcasts, and watch some more videos. What happens in the end? You do nothing. You’re just filled with more ideas now.
How do you decide what to focus on? Which income stream should you pursue?
Here are 5 things to think about when deciding what business idea to launch and focus on…
1. You’ll never be 100% certain of what to focus on.
There’s really no way to be certain on anything. There are no guarantees in life. You could work on something for 6 months and get no results while your friend gets results in 6 days. You could become an instant hit on Tik Tok. Your first tweet could go viral. Your Etsy shop could become a top seller. Or you can get no results at all. You won’t know until you try.
I wish that there was a formula out there with a specific timeline. There just isn’t. There are no guarantees.
What does this mean? Just launch one thing and focus on it.
You’ll never be 100% certain of anything. You have to experiment and test things out until you find something that sticks.
2. You don’t need more research.
“The amateur fears solitude and silence because she needs to avoid, at all costs, the voice inside her head that would point her toward her calling and her destiny. So she seeks distraction.
The amateur prizes shallowness and shuns depth. The culture of Twitter and Facebook is paradise for the amateur.” — Steven Pressfield
You should probably stop researching so much.
Most of us will spend all day on social media consuming content and consider it research.
Research is the most common form of procrastination.
I can’t overstate the importance of just being able to figure things out as you go. You don’t need all of the answers before starting. You can also search for any problems that you have along the journey. There are likely a dozen articles and videos about every possible issue. You won’t know until you start.
3. You just have to launch.
“The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.” — Seth Godin
Are you afraid of what others will say? Are you worried about failing with your new venture?
I once had a reader confess that they were too nervous to launch a business idea because they were worried about what their co-workers would say about this.
Guess what?
Nobody really cares if you succeed or fail. Most people aren’t thinking about you as much as you think they are. Most people don’t even care.
Also, if anyone laughs at you for trying something new, they’re the loser. You tried while they did nothing.
4. Stop trying to act busy.
“Being busy doesn’t make us productive. It doesn’t matter how busy we are if that busyness doesn’t lead us to accomplish anything of importance. Productivity is not about cramming more into our days but about doing the right thing in each moment.” Chris Bailey in “Hyperfocus.”
Being busy isn’t the same as being productive. Anyone can fill their day up with busywork to feel accomplished.
Here’s what I want you to do:
Find a clear path to profit. How can you make money? What’s the path to profit? This is the only thing that matters when you’re first getting started.
Focus on revenue-generating tasks. Creating business cards and worrying about your log or website is the perfect way to avoid launching. Focus on what will bring in money.
5. Give it 30 days and reassess.
You don’t have to commit to that idea for the rest of your life. The goal is to try it out for 30 days to see how it goes.
Why 30 days? This is enough time to get into the trenches. Once you’re in the game, it’s kind of addicting and you can’t stop.
Here’s the good news: there’s no such thing as a total failure.
If your YouTube channel doesn’t take off, you at least will learn how to record and edit videos.
If your Instagram stalls, you’ll have the experience of taking pictures and creating captions.
The goal is to launch and follow through instead of just discussing ideas.
“An idea trapped in your brain is like a supercar trapped in the garage with a dead battery. It accomplishes nothing and its purpose is untapped. Execution is making an idea real and giving the battery a charge. Execution is taking that Lamborghini out of the garage and slamming the accelerator to the floor, with the wind giving you a temporary face-lift. Execution is getting that idea out of your mind on onto the roads of possibility.” MJ DeMarco in “The Millionaire Fastlane.”