Changing My This Year's New Year Resolution

One of the great lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur is that there is nothing to be gained by sticking to a failing plan. If a plan isn't working out as expected, the plan needs to be changed.

image: lifehacker.com

At the start of this year, my new year resolution was to become fluent in (at least, written) French. I had everything well planned out. I had bought for almost N50,000 a French learning software that guaranteed fluency in French if I go through all the lessons. It looked simple. If I just take out about an hour a day for the French lessons (which, luckily, are very interactive), by the end of this year I would have gone past half of the lessons (yeah, it could take two years to complete) and by supplementing with some French novel reading I would have seen my French skills go awesome.

Unfortunately, as it is with most well though-out plans, they go astray. I am unable to find the one hour I need to spend daily on the French learning program. In fact, I am unable to find time and energy to click on the French learning software icon on most days. We are already about five months into the year. And most importantly, I don't see things improving as far as that resolution is concerned. So I am changing it.

What will I be changing the new year resolution to? I have decided to give my business more productive time. I am already cutting down on socializing, visiting friends and going out generally. Having evaluated my activities and progress since starting my business a year ago, it was obvious that my business edge has been the quality and innovative content I generate. My most effective marketing strategy has been the video course I created. My best activity has been the online training I did for close to 500 people last year. Over 80% of our clients found us via those amazing content we put online. And the most wasteful efforts I have engaged in have been going to social events and visiting people.

No entrepreneur is perfect. Same way there are no perfect employees.  I have read the memoirs and biographies of many entrepreneurs, everyone of them had visible easily fixed flaws that never got fixed. They achieved all they did not by getting rid of their flaws but in spite of their flaws. The secret of their success is simply  that they stayed in the game and gave it their all -- talents and flaws. 

My new resolution is to focus our energies where we will get the most return. I am going to also stop trying to be an overall good person. I will focus on being great at what I am good at and ignore what I am poor at.