If your mind is split, going in too many directions, it is known as too many mind. “No mind” is the Japanese idea of 無心 (むしん: mushin) or having a “mind free from thought”. In this focused state, we can be fully present and focus intently on the job in hand, directly in front of you.
If you’re building an affiliate business, this concept is important too. If you have become stuck in your affiliate business for example, your mind might be in a whirl of doubt and frustration. You are full of questions without answers. “What if I do this?” “Will it work if I do that?” “How long is this going to take?” With multiple open ended questions and no definite answers, this leads to inaction, and perhaps even quitting altogether.
A simple solution is to break down the big picture (a profitable online business) into tiny, easily achievable steps. Make these steps into daily habits, and focus only on the step in front of you, not the long road ahead. Don’t look for evidence that your step is “working” because it likely won’t produce a tangible result immediately. Instead, focus on the small steps each and every day. Focus on the action, and keep your mind steady and clear on your objective right now, not in the future, or in your results (or lack of them!).
Too Many Mind – Not Being Present/Focused
While writing I noticed I was distracted by Facebook and I wondered off to watch a video! What irony! Anyway, back to the post! An important case in point of the distractions we all face when online.
“The wise man lets go of all results, whether good or bad, and is focused on the action alone” – Bhagavad Gita
A old mentor of mine back in the early 90’s said : “Don’t focus on your results, focus on your actions”.
This is solid advice when it comes to building an online business. When I become disillusioned by a lack of results from blogging, for example, it fills me with uncertainty. That stops me enjoying the process. So I stop creating content! But when I’m in “flow” with blogging, I could happily keep going regardless of the outcome.
This is the key to getting traction with an online business. Focus on the action in front of you and keep going regardless. Stop looking for results before you’ve done the work!
Looking For Confirmation – Focusing Into The Future
Of course you will want some confirmation that the actions you take will lead you to the end result – money in your bank account, perhaps. But by looking for confirmation too soon, you are scattering doubt on your strategy, undermining your confidence.
With an organic marketing strategy, such as blogging or creating a video channel, you need to provide the content first, before you can see the results of your efforts, in terms of sales. Without putting the work in first hand, or by only timidly working a little, before looking for confirmation, you will be unlikely to generate the traction needed to produce the results you desire.
This is where I was for quite some time. I put the cart before the horse – I was wanting the outcome before doing the work. In that energy of “wanting” I struggled to take action because I wasn’t being present in the moment, focusing on the step in front of me.
So, what’s the solution? The solution is to choose a path which aligns with your values. Create content/choose actions which give you personal satisfaction and a feeling of accomplishment. Fulfilment through an online business doesn’t come only with the money. In a recent conversation a friend of mine pointed out that “with no true value brought to the table, you may well convince some people to part with cash but it won’t fulfil“.
He is right. The fulfilment comes through the work, whatever that may be for your own particular path.
Too Many Mind – What Energy Are You Feeding?
If, like I was, you are focused on only the end result for your business, but aren’t taking any action, you are feeding the energy of desperation, frustration, procrastination and/or entitlement.
The more you focus on the results you don’t yet have, and your indecisions about what you “should” be doing, as opposed to what you are actually doing, the more this frustration will build.
In this state it becomes more and more difficult to take action. Your mind gets filled with questions and conflicts. The more you think about it, the more conflict arises. There’s only two outcomes which come from this energy – action or inaction.
To take action, you must step out of this cycle and focus on a single “baby step“.
Breaking The Cycle Of Procrastination
To break the cycle of procrastination you need to take action. The inner state of conflict and indecision can become exhausting. To break the cycle, take a tiny, easily achievable step forwards in some area of your business. It might be watching a training video, joining a group or trying some new marketing strategy such as blogging, video, paid ads etc.
A small action is far better than giving more energy to this state of confusion and inner turmoil! Here’s a few actions which can help break the state of not-doing through inner conflict:
- Exercise – particularly cardiovascular exercise which gets your heart pumping
- A gratitude journal – when I was struggling with my affiliate business, I got help and was recommended to start a gratitude journal, which helped massively shift my mindset
- Self help books – I’ve always been an avid collector of self help books – checkout some of my favourite motivational ebooks in pdf format here.
- A tiny “micro-step” in your affiliate business – a micro step focuses your mind and gets you out of procrastination and towards momentum. Even a super tiny step to break your state can have massive implications if you maintain the momentum, no matter how slow.
See also overcoming procrastination in your affiliate marketing business.
Summary
Whether you’re stuck, procrastinating or disempowered in your action steps by focusing too much on the future (looking for confirmation) rather than being fully engaged in the action step, you can likely benefit from the concept of “too many mind”.
Too many mind is a concept which is massively important for today’s fast paced world with all its distractions. In the process of writing this article, it’s ironic how many times I have been distracted by: phone calls, social media accounts and videos! When you have a phone that offers an endless loop of dopamine, it becomes difficult to focus on tasks that don’t provide the same instant gratification.
As we become addicted to our distractions, we are less able to focus on tasks for our online business. So the best thing to do if this is something you’re experiencing is to lower the ability of your laptop and phone to distract you. Spend a day in digital detox. Notice how many times you desire to check your phone, or look on social media. How could you build an online business with a brain that’s running rampant for stimulus for most of the day?
Too many mind.
Remove distraction, find a daily routine you can stick with, and keep taking actions, letting go of the need for validation or results.
