Are you the WEAKEST link in your business ... [🐝U]

Ever have 1 of those mornings where the alarm blares
& your 1st instinct isn’t getting up? …
Not even to go to the bathroom.

Just... pull the covers over your head & hide from the day?

I’ve been having those lately.

The sun starts creeping in around 5am.

Not fully up yet
but close enough for:
→ the cats to start demanding the blinds open to watch the birds
→ the dog pacing & whining to get out into her usual sun spot, even if it’s below freezing

Meanwhile, I’m laying there trying to negotiate with reality.

Because yesterday my sciatica was in hypermode.
It only hurt when I twitched.

Today’s a bit better but I’m still popping Tylenol like candy.

& I didn’t really feel like doing anything either day.

But there’s Mamma Mia’s voice in my head, haunting my thoughts…
“Chi te le fa va?” … “who’s forcing you to do it?”

Technically, no one.
I signed up for this lifestyle.

& I chose a business over a job.

So, as my own boss, I could have stayed in bed.
Cancelled the calls.
Pushed things off.
Nobody was going to fire me.

But in reality...

The dog still needs to go out.
… cats need to be fed.
… the litter box certainly wasn't going to clean itself.
& I needed to get water for coffee.

So I layered up & headed out

All that snow from last week has started to melt in the sun...
but it freezes overnight.
The whole property turns into a giant slip 'n slide by morning.

So there I am...
Trying to stay on my feet on a sheet of ice.
Holding a leash attached to an 80-pound dog who spots something to chase

Sciatica firing down both legs with every micro-adjustment to my balance.
crack of dawn
-15C

When all I wanted was to get some water for coffee.
& avoid having to clean up accidents in the trailer.

I didn't get a pass on any of it.

Because those things don't care how I feel.
They just need to get done.

You can't call in sick

With a job, you know when your shift starts…
What "a good day's work" looks like.

You don’t get paid to doom-scroll.
or to keep the seat warm while you find busy-looking things to do that don't actually move anything forward.

The company keeps you on because you’re making it money.
Simple as that.

& sometimes that means putting aside what you'd prefer to be doing.
& getting things done instead of perfect.
(Have you ever even really stressed about “perfect” at a job?)

Here’s where most new entrepreneurs quietly fall apart.

Things don’t fail because the business is hard.
They fail because we only show up for parts we like.

The vision.
The freedom.
The idea of it.

But the actual work?

That’s the shift they keep skipping.
We picture the freedom … the flexibility ...
The Tuesday off because we can.

& we forget that somebody still has to do the work.

You're the boss.
You do get to decide.

But what you choose now … like everything else in life … impacts what you get later.

You're SELF-employed

That’s a duality nobody talks about enough:
You're the boss
& you're the only employee you've got.

Both.
At the same time.
Every day.

But right now... if you’re struggling to get momentum, you’re only playing 1 of those roles.

Are you the boss with big ideas & a vision & a plan?
But as the employee, you keep skipping your shift?

Or maybe you’re grinding away as an employee...
Staying busy & putting in a “full day’s work”
But as the boss, you’ve never defined what "good enough to keep the job" looks like.

Your business can’t grow on vision alone.
& it doesn't survive on effort that's never pointed at anything real.

It needs both.
From you!

The distractions you'd never allow in the office

Here's something worth sitting with.

The interruptions that derail your workday at home?
They’d never happen at the office.

Not the same way.

Your partner doesn't wander in to show you something on their phone.
Your kid doesn't demand a snack
The pile of laundry or dishes doesn't exist in your peripheral vision.

Whatever your home life looks like …
The line between "work time" & "everything else" is invisible unless you draw it.

Most don’t
You’re letting the interruptions happen.
& calling it "life."

That's not life getting in the way.
That's the employee letting the shift bleed out...
& the boss isn’t calling it out.

Reasons vs. excuses

We’ve already touched on the difference between a reason & an excuse.

A reason stops you.
An excuse... you stop yourself with.

I can plan when to let the dog out.
I can't control the weather.

The same goes for your work shift.

The 20-minute interruption you could have handled before or after?
The hour you spent "researching" that turned into a YouTube spiral?
& that course you bought months ago that you want to come back to instead of getting in front of potential clients?

Those aren’t reasons you lost the time.
That's the employee (you) letting the shift slip...
& the boss (also you!) looking the other way.

Ask yourself honestly…
Are the things you're doing today keeping you comfortable...
Or keeping your business alive?

It doesn't have to be all day ... but it has to be scheduled

Nobody's saying your shift has to be 8 hours.
It doesn't.

Mine rarely is.

Maybe it's 90 minutes after the kids go to bed.
Maybe it's 2 focused hours on a Saturday morning before the house wakes up.

You can’t wait until you find the time.
You make it … schedule it.
In advance.
Like a work shift.

Because if you don't put it on the calendar, something else steals it
Every time.
Without fail.

With a job, you know what time you have to show up.
You know how long you’re there
& what you’re working on
You have to meet expectations & the deadlines.

That part doesn't go away when you're your own boss.
It just now your responsibility to create it instead of waiting for someone else to tell you.

You don't get to the point where you can work from anywhere, take Tuesday off, or say yes to a last-minute seat sale... without the structure & accountability that builds the foundation underneath it.

Like it or not.

The boring stuff is the job

There's a version of entrepreneurship that gets sold constantly.
The breakthrough moments.
The big launch paydays.

Sure, those exist.

But you know what the most successful people are actually doing?

The boring stuff.
Consistently.

Same tasks.
Same systems.
Same unglamorous daily work...
day after day after day.

Some of them even wear the same thing every day to eliminate 1 more decision.
→ Steve Jobs & his black turtleneck & jeans.
→ Alex Hormozi & his company-branded tank, flannel shirt & shorts.

That's not a quirk.
That's someone who decided their energy was better spent elsewhere.

Les Brown said it better than I will:

"You must be willing to do the things today others won't do in order to have the things tomorrow others won't have."

That's it.
That's the whole thing.

The exciting stuff happens because the boring stuff got done first.
Consistently.

My social media time happens 1st thing in the morning.
It’s scheduled.
& it’s first so it not only gets done but the other things on the calendar limit potential doomscrolling

So here's the question worth asking

If you were reviewing your own performance this week... as the boss...
→ Do you deserve a raise?
→ Or should you be fired?

Be honest.

Because the answer tells you exactly what needs to change.
& it's probably not the strategy.

Yesterday I landed a new client.
Sent the invoice & the contract.

& somewhere in between... an idea for an article hit.
So I wrote it up & pitched it to a publisher.

All of that happened while the sciatica was firing down both legs.
Stuck in a 60 sq ft trailer.
With 2 cats & a dog who all had opinions about my workday.

You can show up for your business.
Or you can binge whatever's waiting on your streaming platform of choice.

I know which 1 I'd rather do.

& full disclosure …come 7pm I’m absolutely settled in with a hot toddy, chocolate, & something mindless.

But that’s my reward for showing up during the day.
First the business.
Then the property.

So now it’s your turn …
What does your shift actually look like right now?
Even if the honest answer is: "I don't really have 1 scheduled … yet."
Especially then.

Make it a great “structured“ week!
EG

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