In our fast-paced, technology driven society most everyone wastes time in the exact same fashion, carpet cleaners are no different or special in this regard. We all have the exact same number of hours in each day, nobody has an extra hour and no one is short-changed. The difference is in priorities, our priorities will dictate exactly how much time we invest in every activity we participate in. Not knowing your personal and business priorities can be devastating. So, what are your priorities?
If it is your priority to start, build, or grow a successful carpet cleaning business it can be very powerful to identify the one thing that you are wasting time on. With the progression of technology the specifics of this one thing can have many different flavors now. TV used to be the easiest target to identify as the one thing most people waste time on. Now it’s social media, our smartphones, video games, tablets, computer and/or TV. As with many things, you must take an inventory of yourself and get extremely honest about your one thing – as we all have one. Or two! Do you plop yourself in front of your TV for several hours every week? Do you spend several hours every week staring into a screen playing a mindless game? Watching videos online? Are you a social media junky? What do you waste time doing when you don’t have cleaning appointments booked?
Even if you work a lot, your business priorities might be misaligned. Do you spend time shopping for new equipment when you should be focused on marketing? Do you procrastinate on things you know you should get done? Do you waste time in your business?
Even though we love to think we are different and special – the truth is we all waste a ridiculously large amount of time on something in our life. Something we do, a lot – that doesn’t really truly align with our values or priorities. We only allow this behavior to exist and persist for three reasons. One, it’s addictive – and we become addicted, a bad habit. Two, we justify our behavior by saying something like “we need to unwind or relax.” Three, we rationalize wasting time by saying something like “everybody does it, I’m not the only one!” The only reason it’s important to identify your one thing is so that you can replace it. It is not enough to identify a bad habit to stop it – you need to actually replace it with a new habit.
You can replace some or all of your wasted time doing something positive and have very successful results. The positive activity of your choice doesn’t need to be specific to carpet cleaning, or success, in order to be effective.
Maybe you need to invest some time working out everyday. Maybe some meditation or spiritual reading needs to become a priority. Maybe quality (technology-free) family time is missing in your life. Maybe you don’t have a healthy hobby at all… are you a workaholic? Creating balance in your life is of the utmost importance to your success in your carpet cleaning business. Again, it’s important to get honest with yourself and identify an area of your life where you’d like to create a positive change. By investing just a little time and energy you can map out a plan to redirect your thinking and actions to slowly become more successful in all areas of your life.
Creating, building, and growing a truly successful carpet cleaning business is all about you. Anything you can empower yourself to stop doing, or start doing (or both!) will become extremely relevant. How many books have you read in the last 12 months? How many hours of positive video have you viewed in the last 90 days? Start becoming a more successful person today by eliminating wasted time and redirecting this time in a positive change-promoting activity.