The 7 Success Habits of Highly Effective Part Time Entrepreneurs

If you're building your home business Part-Time and looking for some success habits that will get you out of struggle and into profit, this post will definitely help you out.

When I look back at my life, I can tell you this…

Almost everything that’s happened to me — good and bad– is because of my habits.

Habits can make or break your business and your life.

If an apple a day can keep the doctor away, a cheeseburger and fries a day can land you an early appointment with your cardiologist (I should know).

Health habits can literally extend or shorten your life.

If you create a habit of giving your significant other your undivided attention, chances are good that you’ll have a solid relationship with a closeness that will warm your heart.

Relationship habits can bring happiness or misery to your life.

And in business, habits are especially important.

Your habits will literally dictate the success (or lack of success) of your business.

I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on and improving my business habits and I’ve realized a good deal of success… all Part-Time.

In today's post, I give you what I feel are crucial success habits to adopt and implement if you’re building your business “on the side”.

 

The 7 Success Habits Of Highly Effective Part-Timers

In 1990, the late, great Stephen Covey wrote a book called The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People.  

It was an immediate bestseller and is still on my recommended reading list for every newbie.

Mr. Covey followed that up with The 7 Habits of Effective Families and, if you’re in MLM you’ll be happy to hear, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Network Marketers.  

If you haven’t read it, you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy.

These books have been an amazing help for people struggling in business, in relationships, and in every aspect of their lives.  

So I thought it would be fun and beneficial to you if I were to follow in the giant footsteps of Mr. Covey and relate to you what I feel are the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Part-Time Entrepreneurs.

But before we start, you might be wondering what a “highly effective” Part-Timer looks like.  

Good question!

This is open to interpretation, but my feeling is that an effective Part-Time Marketer is one who works consistently, takes action on a regular basis, creates results, and helps others without any regard for their lack of time or energy.

They just do it, because they understand that if they don’t, nothing will change in their life.

With that, let’s get on with the 7 Success Habits of Highly Effective Part-Timers…

Success Habit #1. They Don’t Think Of Themselves as “Part-Time”
Highly effective Part-Timers don’t really think of themselves as “Part-Time” at all.  

They understand that Part-Time is a TRANSITION to Full Time, that’s all.

They don’t beat themselves up for “only” being Part-Time and they certainly don’t use it as an excuse.

They’ve trained themselves (created the habit) to remove the phrase “I’m only Part-Time” from their vocabulary.  

It serves no purpose other than to provide an excuse for a lack of action or results.

Highly effective Part-Timers are all about consistency and persistence.   For them, there is no Part-Time…

There is only a transition.

Success Habit #2.  They Understand the Value of Time
Highly effective Part Time entrepreneurs understand time.  

They know that it’s not the quantity of business time that matters…

It’s QUALITY!

They rarely sit down at their computer without a plan of action on how best to use their session.  

They know exactly which tasks take priority (more on this later) and which are time drains designed to numb their brain.

Effective Part-Timers understand that huge blocks of time (commonly available for Full Time Marketers) rarely show their face and that if you want to move forward, you need to become really good at using the smaller bits of free time in your day.

For Part Timers, size doesn’t matter… it’s how you use it! 🙂

If TIME is something that holds you back in your business, this is the course you should have.

Success Habit #3.  They Fail Forward
In my job, I work in a lab where mistakes are not an option.  They are to be avoided at all costs.  The stakes are too high and the ramifications of mistakes are huge.

As a result, anyone who works in our lab is super careful and double-checks everything before taking an action.  

Sometimes double-checking isn’t even enough — we go over it 4-5 times to make sure we have things right and everything is perfect.

In my line of work, such care is necessary.  

But in your business, such delays in action will literally KILL your dreams.

Highly effective Part-Timers understand the NEED to mistakes often, for it means you’re taking action.  

There are no good or bad results… only results that can be improved upon.

Successful marketers understand that to be perfect is another word for BROKE.  

They fail forward… take imperfect action and tweak as they go.

It took me a long time to figure that out.  

And even when I did, it was hard to implement because I had perfection ingrained in me for a very long time.

I still fight it, to be honest — the need for perfection and not making mistakes.  

But I’m getting better all the time!

The value of mistakes — it’s one of the most important and difficult to understand concepts for the Part-Timer.  

But you must get it if you want to be highly effective!

Success Habit #4.  They Keep Things Short
Almost everyone I know uses a To-Do list to keep track of what needs to get finished.  

Typically, a To-Do list is an ongoing, ever-growing organism that hangs over your head and reminds you of your inability to get everything done.

Highly effective Part Time entrepreneurs understand that their lists can either drive their business or cripple it.  

And they keep them short… VERY short!

Most successful Part-Timers I know limit their To-Do list to just a few items.  

And the tasks at the top are always those that will have maximum impact in their business (as in Make Them Money).

Next time you sit down to make your To-Do list for the next day, ask yourself this question…

“What’s the 1-2 things I can do tomorrow that will give me the BEST chance at making money?”

I can see it now, some of you are shaking your heads thinking you just want to help people and the money will follow.  

While I agree that helping others will ultimately drive your business, I’m here to say that you are DELUSIONAL if you think that generating income in your business is secondary.

Certainly, you should help people when possible, but when you’re short on time, make sure that what you do has a good chance of making you some money today.

Keep your lists short… and profitable!

Success Habit #5.  They Make The Right Comparisons
Most people by nature suffer from comparitis.  

We love to compare ourselves to others and provide internal dialog about why we’re superior or aren’t measuring up to others.

For Part Timers, comparing yourself to people who build their business Full Time is not only a waste of time but can be highly destructive to your psyche.

I’ve heard it often…

“If I had more time, I’d be up on stage getting an award, too.  It’s not fair!”

“If only I were Full Time, I’d get more results and be up on my company’s leaderboard!”

Poppycock!

As my buddy, Ray Higdon has said on several occasions…

“If you’re not getting results in your business Part Time, going Full Time won’t help.”

There is so much truth in those words!

Here’s another truth — the only comparison that makes sense is to compare your TODAY to your YESTERDAY.  

Your aim should be to get a little better in your business every day — more consistent, more productive, and taking more action.

These are the only comparisons that mean anything.  

The rest should be taken out with yesterday’s trash.

Success Habit #6.  They Let Their Mouse Do The Walking
Almost every effective Part Time entrepreneur I know is leveraging the power of the Internet to build their business.  

Granted, some are still “old school”, building their business one person at a time, but most have learned that they can connect with more people (and potential prospects) online than offline.

They let their mouse do the walking.

Social media, groups, communities, search engines, and alike are quick and easy ways to meet folks with common interests and more importantly, people who NEED what you have.

To not leverage this technology is just plain wacky, in my opinion.

Success Habit #7.  They Don’t Reinvent The Wheel… They Borrow Someone Else’s Wheel
Finally, highly effective Part-Timers don’t try to reinvent the wheel.  

They just borrow someone else’s!

Most people with limited time can’t afford to start from scratch and put together all the moving parts of a business on their own (most full time marketers shouldn’t do it, either).

The smart ones leverage SYSTEMS like My Lead System Pro (MLSP) to get the training, support, coaching, products, and affiliate offers to generate income while they learn.  

They “borrow” highly converting landing and sales pages to not only make money but to study and adopt the strategies for their own products and offers, when the time comes.

Systems are highly valuable “wheels” for the Part-Timer.  

Everything is done, you just learn how to drive traffic to offers.  

When there is only one task in front of you, there is always enough time!

Final Words
The 7 habits described above will serve you well as you go about building your business Part-Time.  

As with anything else, these habits will take time and repetition to solidify.  

There will be slips.  

Don’t beat yourself up!

In fact, I would say that it’s wise to only work on changing one habit at a time.  

When you look at this list, which one stands out as one that you most need to change?

This would be a good place to start.

Further Reading:  9 Powerful Traits of Successful People

Your Turn

If you received value from this post, please SHARE within your social circles.

And please COMMENT below with your experiences or tips you have to share around building a business Part-Time.

To your success!

 

 

 

 

 

.

Dr. Bob Clarke

Creator of The Part Time Profit Machine

Reply to Email: bob@bobandrosemary.com

P.S.  If you're struggling in your business Part-Time and just can't seem to get momentum going, this free training will help.