Part of the guide: Affiliate Marketing
“Oh come on! How could I be in my own way. I just want to know how to get more money!” – Many times we can look at competitors and think that they are hindering us from getting to our end dream. “If only they wouldn’t….” or “if they would…” Let’s discover what the limiting factors are to your success so we can let your success blossom like the gorgeous flower you were meant to be. OK, so some of you would rather be a strong tree, you can go with that, probably fits better for some of you anyway. Let’s learn what it means to get out of your own way, and How to get more money.
When my dog was a puppy he just loved to chase his tail. It was fun to get him started for the entertainment. Think about that fun dog—what is keeping him from getting his tail? Is it some sinister looking evil beast? The dog next door? What about his competitors? Competitors? That must be the cat. 🙂 Then we hear someone say you need to “get out of your own way”. Now I don’t think the dog should get out of his way. I’m having too much fun watching! And that would be impossible for him. However, when we are chasing our own tail we can get out of the way. Because what is limiting us is in our own head.
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “Oh, this isn’t good enough. I have to keep re-tweaking this…hum…still…not…right?” There you go around in circles, round and around, shall we go around again? We are chasing our tail. You need to get out of your own way. You’re chasing the “tail” of the perfectionist. I should know I am one of the best perfectionist tail chasers around. Instead of being sidetracked with our tail, we need to focus on our goal of how to get more money. It’s time to do the activities like writing articles to get more traffic to our website.
Another circle maker is the tail of overlearning. Learning is great. Let’s learn more and more. Learn and apply. Learn and teach. Learn and promote. Learn and do. We don’t want to say, “I’ve learned so much I don’t know what to do.” Make sure the learning counts and you use the learning, that way it isn’t a “tail” to be chased.
The next tail is the tail of “what will people think!?”. I have been caught in this one at times and it can keep you from moving forward. You will get dizzy with this one, so let go of it. Get out of your way. Who cares what everyone will think? If you’re doing the things that God wants for you, the things that will get you to your goals, who cares? For us in business that is “how to get more money”. Stick with the plan.
I’m sure you have thought of a few other tails that get in your way. If you have, I would love to hear about them. Let’s learn how to get more money and get out of your own way.
To your success,
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P.S. Leave me your thoughts, comments and questions below.
Comments
Curtman40, January 16 2013, 23:08
Sometimes our own thought process gets in the way of pursuing our goals and dreams that is why you have to sometimes be like the Nike commercial and just do it! Then learn from the experience later.
Stephen, October 21 2011, 23:24
Thanks Rob, I want to learn the one minute video in 30 seconds! You got me hooked. We record it, while doing everything really fast then s-l-o-w —i-t— d-o-w-n,—w–a–y —–d—o—w—-n. What a breakthrough in time management! You got it going on dude!!
Rob Fraser, October 21 2011, 23:24
Very funny but also very true. “If there is no enemy within, the enemy without can do no harm.” I don’t quite remember where exactly that quote is from but nevertheless. I am my biggest roadblock.
Growing up, I had the abusive stepfather, a rocky marriage, and then trying to become a successful entrepreneur. With all that noise it’s no wonder why I wasn’t successful. I was too analytical of every blog post and video and it would take all day to film a one minute video. (Some slow progress)
Now I’m getting more sure of myself every day and I can film a one minute video in 30 seconds (try that one on for size) and I’m more confident in my writing and I do feel that I contribute value instead of spam. It’s truly a journey in self-development. Great post and will share.
You have been paid late before
You have watched the number on the dashboard not match the number in your account. What is different now is simple: it settles on a public contract you can check yourself, not a dashboard I control.
Read the contract →Most participants earn little to nothing. No income is guaranteed. You can verify every payout on the public smart contract.
Amara Thompson, August 1 2024, 10:15
This post really resonated with me. It’s incredible how often we stand in our own way without realizing it. Thank you for shedding light on this important topic. Keep up the great work!
Leo Martinez, August 1 2024, 11:00
I appreciate this post, Stephen. It made me realize that I’ve been overthinking and overlearning without taking action. Now, I’m motivated to focus on my goals and start making progress. Thank you for the inspiration!
Nina Patel, August 1 2024, 12:30
Hi Stephen, I have a question about your strategy for overcoming perfectionism. How do you balance the desire for high-quality work with the need to take action and move forward? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Kai Johnson, August 1 2024, 13:45
While I found your post insightful, I think there could be more emphasis on practical steps to get out of one’s way. Maybe you could include a step-by-step guide or checklist in future posts. Just a thought!
Sophia Kim, August 1 2024, 14:20
Hey Stephen, it’s been a while! How have you been? I’d love to catch up and hear more about your journey. Maybe we can meet up for coffee sometime. Let me know!
Liam Nguyen, August 1 2024, 15:10
Reading this post reminded me of my own struggles with perfectionism. I used to spend hours tweaking my blog posts, never feeling satisfied. It’s encouraging to know that others face similar challenges and have found ways to overcome them.
Elena Lopez, August 1 2024, 16:05
I recently discovered a tool called Trello that has helped me stay organized and focused on my goals. It’s great for managing tasks and tracking progress. You might find it useful as well. Check it out at Trello.
Aiden Clark, August 1 2024, 17:20
I’m skeptical about the results mentioned in this post. Is there any evidence or case studies you can share to back up these claims? I’d love to see some real-world examples.
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Most affiliates earn little, and that is disclosed up front. The difference here is not a promise about what you will make. It is that you can verify every payout yourself, on a public contract, in about twelve seconds.
See how the payout works →Most participants earn little to nothing. No income is guaranteed. You can verify every payout on the public smart contract.
Ran a diner nineteen years, and I watched the tail-chasing happen every single shift – the cook re-plating the same dish four times because the parsley wasn’t quite centred while six tickets backed up behind him. Stephen’s dog metaphor is corny but it’s dead accurate: perfectionism isn’t caution, it’s a loop with no exit built in. What finally broke my cook of it wasn’t a pep talk, it was me putting a timer on the pass and telling him the plate goes out when it dings, centred parsley or not.
Birdie’s timer trick works because it removes the decision entirely, which is the part I’d add from the team side of things – six years building one in Dubai, most of the perfectionism I watched wasn’t really about quality. It was fear of the call after you post something imperfect. Once you take the decision of ‘is this good enough’ away from the person and hand it to a clock, the fear has nowhere left to attach. Worked better than any pep talk I ever gave.
The overlearning one had me for about eight months when I started – I had four courses half-finished and a shelf of notes before I’d published a single article of my own. What actually broke it wasn’t deciding to stop learning, it was setting a rule: one new thing learned per week, applied that same week, or it doesn’t count as learned yet. Cut my ‘still preparing’ phase down to almost nothing.
Stripped down, this post is really three traps stacked on top of each other: one, endless refining instead of shipping; two, endless learning instead of applying; three, endless worrying about other people’s opinions instead of acting. All three ring true, and I’ve watched people, including myself, get stuck in each one separately. What the post doesn’t give you, though, is how to tell, in the actual moment you’re stuck, which tail you’re chasing versus which draft is genuinely not ready yet. Because sometimes ‘stop perfecting and ship it’ is exactly the wrong advice – the piece really is broken, and the discomfort is information, not just a tail to be shaken off. The post treats all hesitation as the same disease. It plainly isn’t.
Meera’s third point, ‘what will people think,’ is worth being precise about, because the post treats it as pure vanity. There’s a difference between fear of judgement, which is the thing to override, and actual social cost of a bad public post, reputational or professional, which is a real input, not a tail. The post collapses those into one feeling and tells you to ignore it. Sometimes ignoring it is right. Sometimes the discomfort is correctly flagging that the draft genuinely isn’t ready, which loops back to exactly what Kelsey and Meera are both describing.
Raj’s distinction is basically buildable: can a stranger name what’s wrong? If yes, real feedback. If no, it’s noise – ship it.
The bit I’d actually use: if what you keep ‘fixing’ is invisible to the customer, that’s tail-chasing. If it’s something they’d trip over, that’s real work.