Brief Overview

Oh man, this is a huge opportunity. But there’s a huge downside to big opportunities and I’ll tell you what that is in this episode.

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Big Ideas

[04:15] Opportunities are exciting, but they can also be very damaging to the long-term health of you and your business. Here’s what I mean… If you aren’t clear on your ultimate goal in terms of where you are wanting to take your business, these little side projects can be a huge detour when it comes to getting you from where you are to where you want to be with your business. And they’re exciting which is why it can be difficult because we can see the potential, but ultimately, it’s just one big sexy distraction. That’s all it is.

If it’s not going to move you closer toward your goal then you and I have to have the discipline to say, “Yes, it’s a great opportunity, but no, it’s not right for me right now.” Because if it takes time and focus away from moving you toward what it is that you ultimately want to do, then it’s a distraction. If it takes you away from your core business and the things that will move you closer to what you ultimately want, then it’s a distraction.

[05:33] Distractions are very dangerous for driven entrepreneurs because we see the potential. We naturally see the potential and we gravitate toward that. We gravitate toward opportunity. That’s what got us in an entrepreneurial position in the first place. We saw a problem and we came up with a solution. So, I get it, but the more things that you and I add, the more complex the business becomes, and the more complex the business becomes, the more stressful it becomes.

And for what purpose? Because again, if it’s not moving you toward your end goal, then it’s a huge distraction and this happened recently for us because one of those big opportunities came our way and we were in. And then once we got into it a little bit we realized, this is a huge sexy distraction. It was a big opportunity and yet it was going to consume a ton of our time, not only individually but a ton of our team’s time. So, opportunities are great if they move you closer, but if not, you have to have the discipline to say no.

Quote to Remember

“If the opportunity doesn’t move you toward your end goal, then it’s a huge distraction.” – Stu McLaren

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