Albert Einstein is quoted as saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In business, we have to draw a line where we decide what’s working and what has failed.
Problogger’s Darren Rowse recently discussed with Smart Company his journey of becoming a professional blogger. After experimenting with his blog, and finding the niches that worked for him, the turning point came with an ultimatum from his wife;
“My wife humoured me for a long time, but eventually gave me an ultimatum, saying that I had been talking about this as a business but hadn’t been treating it as one. So I put more time into it, and then set myself a six-month goal. I was either going to be full-time by that point, or I would get a real job. And that’s what kicked things off, like me approaching advertisers directly and that sort of thing.”
The line in the sand is a critical point for our business ideas. We need these self imposed deadlines to measure when we’re wasting our time or to define when an idea is successful.
By drawing a line, we can decide when a project or business idea needs to be wound up – is that industry group working for you, that annual conference you attend still delivering leads, that product line still delivering profits?
Killing an idea or project you been passionate about can be one of the toughest things to do in business, but if it’s time to move on then you need to cross that line.
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