How do affiliates work on themselves? In one of my last posts “what to do when your affiliate business isn’t working” I touched on the importance of belief for affiliates. In particular, when things aren’t working, I mentioned working on yourself. But how do you work on “yourself” in a meaningful way in order to get better at affiliate marketing? Surely it make more sense to work on your affiliate marketing business, and that alone?
Belief is so important because all action stems from belief. If you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t even try. Conversely, if you’re charged full of self empowerment and belief, you’ll overcome the barriers which will easily ‘floor’ those with less gusto.
How Do Affiliates Work On Themselves? – Self Help/Psychology Books
I’ve always been interested in self help books and think they are a great idea for affiliates. Many books have helped me align my goals, get clear on what I want and gain the self belief to overcome the barriers to online success.
Books like Think and Grow Rich explain the mechanism of transmuting thought into reality. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, explains how thoughts are like the “garden” of the subconscious mind. He states that weeds will grow if you don’t plant good seeds (thoughts).
We all have contradicting thoughts which send success away and limits to what we believe we can achieve. But if we work on understanding the mechanism with which we create our reality, it’s surely going to bear fruit for us. Here’s a few books which helped me with my affiliate business which spring to mind immediately:
The Slight Edge – Jeff Olson, Mini Habits – Stephen Guise, Sell Like Crazy – Sabri Suby, Stop Acting Rich – Thomas Stanley, Zero Limits – Joe Vitale, The Big Leap – Gay Hendricks, Quantum Success – Sandra Anne Taylor, Success For Life – Paul Mckenna, The Power Of Receiving – Amanda Owen, What To Say When You Talk To Yourself – Shad Helmstetter. Checkout my page on motivational books (free downloads) here.
How Do Affiliates Work On Themselves? – Circle Of Influence
Your circle of influence is another important factor when it comes to building a successful online business. If you’re surrounded with people who want your success, and actively encourage you, you’re likely to do much better than if you’re surrounded by naysayers who secretly want you to fail.
Jim Rohn: “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”.
Working on yourself can also mean seeking out those people who will encourage, motivate and help you to succeed. You can get help and support with starting an online business from scratch here.
Have a look at those people you hang around with. Ask yourself whether they are helping or hindering you in your goals. Unless your circle has similar goals, aspirations and outlooks as you, they can affect you in a negative way. As the saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together”. If your “tribe” moans and complains all the time, and focuses only on the negative, you’ll be moaning and complaining before long too.
What Else Can Affiliates Do To Work On Themselves?
Another important area to work on outside your affiliate business is of course your fitness. Many successful entrepreneurs and executives understand that regular exercise contributes to overall well-being and improved performance.
You’ll perform better, it enhances your mood and helps you to avoid burnout. So if you’ve been struggling with your affiliate business and not exercising, it’s one of the easiest ways to improve your business, just by improving your exercise regime.
Exercise is proven to work far better than drugs for overcoming anxiety and depression. It’s a natural mood enhancer. Once your mood is improved, you’ll find this has a knock on effect to your belief and motivation around your affiliate business. According to a study’s lead author, Dr. Ben Singh, exercise was shown to be 1.5 times more effective than medication or cognitive behaviour therapy at reducing symptoms of:
- depression
- psychological stress
- anxiety
So if you find yourself burning out, getting stressed and anxious with your affiliate business, you know what to do!
How Do Affiliates Work On Themselves? Lifestyle & Balance
When I first started affiliate marketing, I got so uptight about it that I neglected other areas of my life. I put far too much importance on it, and it cost me the loss of a relationship and other areas of my life. Stuart, one of my mentors, even put together a “lifestyle blueprint” in his online training program to help people understand how important balance is in their lives.
In it, he divided the main areas of lifestyle into four categories: health, wealth, self and social. You can write down a list of these categories in your own life to see how balanced it it. If you find yourself focused only on one area, to the exclusion of the others, you’re likely putting too much importance on it. This can lead to burnout, loss of relationships and a lot of stress.
Your affiliate business should enhance your life, not take it over! Don’t forget why you’re building an affiliate business in the first place. Is it not so you can enjoy life more? It’s an easy trap to fall into, working constantly and getting frustrated and angry, while disregarding other elements of life to the detriment of your own personal well being.
So another way to work on yourself is to treat yourself to some “me” time, and focus on your relationships and health, not just your affiliate business.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is a super important part of building an affiliate business. I struggled with this for some time before I realised how important it is. Without a goal, you can easily waste a lot of time meandering around, without a specific purpose. A goal sets you up for it’s achievement by defining it. If you don’t define where you want to go with your affiliate business, you can get caught up in its workings and the business runs “you”, rather than the other way round!
A goal should inspire you towards its achievement so it’s worth spending some time on it. It also clarifies in your mind what you should be working on each day and why. Goals give you clarity and purpose, without which it’s easy to get frustrated and procrastinate over the best course of action. With a clearly defined “blueprint” for your online success, and where it will take you, you will feel inspired and enthused to take action.
If you don’t feel that way, you’ve either chosen the wrong goal (perhaps one you don’t really want) or you don’t believe you can achieve. See my post on SMART goals for more on this.
Affiliate Study
Of course affiliates also need to work on themselves in regard to their business. This requires working on those things that perhaps you might want to avoid! While this is uncomfortable, the best sign that you should do something is if it makes you feel uncomfortable. If you only work in areas where you’re comfortable, you’ll get stuck inside your comfort zones and things won’t change much.
For example, I resisted shooting video of myself for a long time. I joined a community where they encouraged getting better on video with a 90 day video challenge. Although it was massively out of my comfort zone, I knew I had to do it in order to move my business (and myself) forwards.
The problem with the comfort zone is that nothing grows there. If you’re struggling with your affiliate business, do something new which makes you feel uncomfortable. Keep doing those things until the point when not doing them feels uncomfortable!
Affiliate study might mean testing new advertising campaigns, joining a course or getting some training in an area in which you’re unfamiliar with!
“If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done, You’ll Always Get What You’ve Always Got.” ~ Henry Ford.
Controlling Your State & Visualisation
One of the best skills you can learn as an affiliate is how to control your mental state. As someone who has wanted to throw their laptop through a window many times, I now know when to step away and preserve my “vibe” from the negative effects that anger and frustration can cause it! Once you’re angry and upset, you can forget about working on your affiliate business. It can totally wipe out the potentially productive day ahead of you.
So learning to notice when you’re getting upset, and are about to throw a “tizzy” is an important skill! A good practice is meditation for this. In meditation you are learning how to optimise your mental state and become aware of mental activity which might be counter-productive to your best intentions.
On a similar note, visualisation is a great tool for affiliate marketers too. When you visualise, you are reminding yourself where you want to go: both in terms of your business and in your mental state of being. Practice regularly and you’ll find it easier to slip into a positive state of being which is productive and enthusiastic. See also the post on focus and inspiration, what you need for affiliate success.
