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January 12, 2006

The 900-Pound Monkey On Your Back

The 900-Pound Monkey On Your Back
Copyright 2006 by Willie Crawford

Many years ago, I was a young, U.S. Air Force major, working
an office job Hawaii. This "seasoned," gruff-but-fatherly
colonel peered over my shoulder as I worked, and asked what
I was doing. I explained that I was writing a paper to
help another major document a problem for the general. He
asked why, and I explained that I was the expert on the
topic.

The lesson that colonel taught me that day changed my
life, and continues to help my online business grow. You
see, I had allowed the other major, who had a big
challenge, simply pass it along to me because it was
something I felt very comfortable with. I had TONS of other
things I needed to get done, but I had allowed a co-worker
to get me to do his work.

What that colonel explained to me that day was that all my
life I would have people come to me with "900-pound monkeys
on their backs." He explained that often there's nothing they
would like better than to take the monkey off their back
and put it on someone else's. He went on to explain that
it's nice to help people, but often DUMB to just let them
dump their work on you.

As I look around me in the online world everyday, I
witness people allowing others to take 900-pound monkeys
that are on their backs... and place those monkeys on other's
backs. I see this as a PROBLEM many times because in the
process of agreeing to take on someone else's problem,
the "volunteer" often puts his own projects on hold.

I often hear those who've taken on others' problems
complaining about not having the time to finish their
own projects. I sometimes politely point out that it's
their fault.

Let's look at a few concrete examples...

Often, I see people on discussion boards ask how to
fix an html problem, modify a graphic, or perhaps
improve on a webpage. Sometimes, those of us who are
very comfortable with doing these things volunteer to
take a minute and quickly fix the problem. This only
becomes a "900-pound monkey" when it takes longer to
do the favor than expected, or we get talked into
making additional changes or revisions. Then a favor
can quickly turn into a JOB that you should be
charging for!

I often see us volunteering to do these favors for
others as a means of procrastinating. We have a major
project that we really should be working on, but it
seems so massive that we look for other things to do
to prevent getting started. Any convenient excuse
will do, and that excuse is often that someone else
needs our help. The fact often is that OUR projects
are what need our attention :-)

I'm NOT saying that you should not do favors for
others. However, you do need to fully define the
scope of what you're volunteering for. You need
to confirm that you're not offering to transfer that
900-pound monkey onto your back so that the other
person can go sit around on the beach.

Examples of things Internet marketers often
volunteer for that turn into 900-pound monkeys...

- Fixing an html or script problem
- Rewriting a salesletter
- Designing a graphic
- Fixing up a PDF file
- Editing some audio

The list could be a lot longer.

Now here's the really strange thing about the
things we often volunteer to do for others. They
are often things that we have personally grown to
consider "not the best use of our time." So we
have started outsourcing these things when they
need doing in our own businesses. Yet we often
volunteer to do them for others.

As you go through your day, and find yourself
feeling overwhelmed with so many things to do, stop
for a second and consider... if part of the problem
might not be that you're simply taking on too many
problems that aren't even yours. If that is the
case, learning to refuse that monkey, from time
to time, takes a lot of weight off your shoulders!
(Pun intended)

--------------------

Willie Crawford serves as a consultant, mentor, and
confidant to some of Internet marketing's top income
earners. You can tap into his 9 years of online
experience and million-dollar, success-creating advice
at: http://BlueprintToInternetMarketingSuccess.com

========================================================

Posted by Willie Crawford at January 12, 2006 09:34 PM

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