Discipline in Bite Sized Steps For The Internet Marketer

One of the ways that people struggle with developing self-discipline, is trying to make too many changes at once. Not just by doing more than one goal at a time, but by making those goals way too large. Either of these approaches tend to lead to failure.

An example of too many goals at once might be someone choosing to quit smoking, go on a diet, exercise regularly, build a successful business, and get out of debt. All of these are good goals that can be done. If you try to do them all at once, though, you will probably find it to be too much and quit. This is one of the reasons why resolutions rarely work out. Instead, focus on one or two of these for at least 1 to 2 months and make them consistently a new habit first, before tackling new goals.

Now as an internet marketer your goals maybe different. But you are human first and that is why these examples incorporate a holistic approach to your life besides internet marketing. As an internet marketer, you are probably dealing with optin forms, lead magnets and sales pages. Do them all at one time will not bring out your best work on any of them.

For example, take quitting smoking, you might start with that one since it has the most negative impact both on health and finances. So you might start with just quitting smoking. You could spend a couple of months getting rid of the cigarettes and using aids like the nicotine patch to help. Then once you have completely quit smoking and no longer need the patch, you can move on to the next goal or goals on your list.

If you were to start with a lead magnet, then you can focus your attention there. NOTE: lead magnets are meant to be valuable BUT not something you would spend more than 2 days creating or putting together. Your time is valuable and staying on schedule with your goals is an important part of being a successful and profitable marketer.

You may find changing your diet and exercising more to be really overwhelming goals because they are huge ones. So, another tactic to help you with discipline is to break them down into smaller goals. Instead of just quitting overeating, maybe you break it down into this week you cut your soda intake in half, then week two you cut it out completely. If you do this week by week making one SMALL change, you may find it easier to stay in control.

A sales page is a project you would want to invest significant amounts of your time in (at first). It is one of the most important parts of your business. Later when you have a sales page style that converts, use it again and again. But in the meantime, don’t be overwhelmed by its creation. Take each section of the sales page and devote time to providing the information needed to inform and entice to buy your product.

Another way you can break it down is by intensity. So, say you want to exercise more, but you have not exercised in years. If you start with something like a full workout, you may give up or get injured and then be unable to exercise at all. So instead of going full tilt, you can start by doing mini workouts at a lower intensity for a few days, and over time add more minutes to your workout until you reach at least 20 to 30 minutes of activity. You can also over time increase the intensity of your workout as you get stronger and in better shape.

Intensity for the internet marketer revolves around the amount of time devoted to a project. If you plan to finish that sales page in one sitting, you are setting yourself up for a negative mindset hit. It can’t be done but you feel it could. The problem is you have miscalculated all the steps need for its completion. And when you miss calculate like that you ding your self-confidence and place doubt in your mind about your ability to create a sales page.

Step back and start out with a smaller time frame, such as 20 minutes. Create yourself a  20 minute mini sales page session to get yourself warmed up and to stay excited about the project.

By breaking down the goals into bite-sized steps, you can make it easier to develop the discipline you need to accomplish them. You will also improve the chances of success in changing your habits.