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…no matter what you’re trying to do, there’s going to be ‘a gap’ between you and it.

There’s a gap in your income now, and where you want it to be.

There’s a gap in the number of readers you’ve got, and the ideal number you want to have.

There’s a gap between where your writing skills are, and where you want them to be.

And sometimes that gap can be very intimidating.

It can seem like you’re standing on one side of the Grand Canyon and your goal is on the other side.

It’s little wonder people give up before they begin.

And for those that do, having a week’s work under your belt can seem like you’ve barely moved the needle. – That goal of yours is still on the other side of that huge gulf.

Again, it’s another reason to throw in the towel. – You’re never going to get there. And the motivation you had evaporates.

That’s something that, Tommy Baker, the author of ‘The 1% Rule’ found out for himself.

When he looked from where he was to where he wanted to be…his enthusiasm took a nosedive.

But, and here’s the big but, when he focused on his daily actions and did them every day, he finished the day off with a feeling of achievement. – That day was a good day.

And it made his excited to do it the next day, and the next, and the next. Each day was another ‘X’ on the calendar,
on the road to his goal.

And so it’s going to be for all of us.

You can keep your eyes focused on the steep incline you’ve got to walk up, or you can focus on your feet instead.

Ever do that?

Before you know you’re at the top. And all it took was a series of steps.

One step after another.

Make a plan for what you realistically can do each day, and do it.  You’ll feel more satisfied with those daily actions, than your lack of progress toward your goal.

John Grisham wrote one page of fiction a day while he worked his day job.

One page. Just one page.

Had he looked at the five or six hundred page book, he like most, probably would have thrown in the towel.

Let that huge goal take care of itself.

Just keep focused on your feet.

If you’d like to see my daily plodding routine...go and get the videos here.

Barry J McDonald.

PS – As Dory would say…’Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.’

You’ll get there eventually.

…’Work the process.’ – Bruce Arians.

Google tells me that only a third of my traffic comes from search results.

Facebook tells me that only 73 people follow my page.

Pinterest tells me that although I get over 30K impressions per month, I’ve got low click-through rate.

All of that doesn’t bother me.

Because, as Bruce Arians – the ex-coach of the Arizona Cardinals said – it’s about working the process.

That’s the one thing I’m in control of.

My daily process…

– Write an email.
– Post that to the blog.
– Post it to the Facebook page.
– Pull some content from it for social media images.
– Spend an hour getting my domain name, and me, out there with my daily dentist chair appointment.

Everything else is under someone else’s control.

– The Google search traffic could disappear faster than a fart in a hurricane.

– Facebook would prefer that I became a dancing monkey for them, and build out their site with my content…and then take it at a moment’s notice.

– Pinterest, well, they’ve got a convenient buy an ad button beside those low performing posts. – Which makes me wonder about their stat reports.

Looking at those facts up there, you’re probably wondering why bother?

I’ll tell you why…I’m using them to my advantage.

Because I know other folks are looking at those same stats and giving up, because ‘what’s the point?’

Everyone that does, it’s one less face at the finish line. One less person that I’ve got to compete with. And another poster boy or girl for the ‘This online stuff doesn’t work’ that’s going to cause less to even try.

When Hal Elrod came out with his book ‘The Miracle Morning,’ his aim was to get it into the hands of a million people.

18 months later, after doing hundreds of podcast interviews, plus fifty of his own, appearing on TV shows, and writing tons of articles, his sales finally matched the initial level they were at when the book first came out.  – And then everything exploded from there.

You can look at what everyone else is doing.

You can look at the photoshopped highlight reel on social media.

And you can look at the stats that tell you you’re wasting your time.

None of that is going to help you.

What will help you…is working the process.

That, you are in control of.

It’s something that can’t be taken from you in a heartbeat.

It’s a reputation that’ll travel far ahead of you.

And it’s the person you’ll become by showing up every day and doing the work.

Create your process….and work it. Everything else doesn’t matter.

Here’s my process if you want to copy it.

Barry J McDonald.

PS – And yeah, I’ll be back tomorrow.

Wonder how many are going to hang up their running shoes today?

Ah, well, more for me. : )