RSS at Feed BurnerRide the Tide and DIFN
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose the ventures before us.
- William Shakespeare, Julias Ceasar
Quadszilla, a well known blogger in the SEO industry, made an interesting post a few weeks ago that included that quote from Shakespeare. The post was about getting things done or DIFN, as Quadszilla puts it. Bill Payne, an angel investment guru, says that execution is one of the biggest challenges facing Entrepreneurs (see his Inc TV interview where he talks about it).
I have said in other posts, there are plenty of ways to make money and plenty of ideas out there. But many entrepreneurs have failed with even the greatest ideas. The reason for the failure generally comes from lack of execution. Either they do not know how to execute properly or they just do not take the action to get something done. The latter is too often the issue and that one is inexcusable.
I find myself getting into ruts where I will work 9 hours in a day, but I don’t get much done. It is not as a result of screwing off, which many people get in the habit of doing at work, but it is a result of not taking the appropriate action to get something checked off your To-Do list. I get caught up with research and planning as well as spending time putting out fires and other things related to running a business. Those things are all necessary, but they are not what makes your company money or helps the company grow. You need to figure out what needs to be done and do it.
DIFN is a acronym that has been getting dropped around the office quite a bit in emails IM’s and has helped us focus on doing the important things that need to get done.