Most of us are barely present at our jobs.
We daydream all day long about what we could be doing that’s way better than this.
For Entrepreneurs starting out with a new business at home, a job seems even more ludicrous.
I had to go back to a job four times while getting enough income from my home business.
Every time I went back, I nearly cried looking at my wife as I left the house in my stupid little work uniform.
I thought, “I’m in my forties, what the hell am I doing?”
Every time I went back, I swore that the next time I got home I would stay home for good and I would produce as much content as possible, just like the other big internet marketers I looked up to did.
Yet again, when I got back home with a little money to start my business up again, and producing more content to attract prospects to me, it just wasn’t enough yet.
I was loan surfing. You know, take out a new loan to pay for an older loan, with an APR of 534% it was impossible to pay down.
I really didn’t know what to do, but at night I had a little “makeshift” shrine down by my bedside under an end table.
I had a picture of Jesus and a picture of the Shawshank Redemption DVD, with Andy and Red on the cover.
Every night, I would say “Goodnight Red, goodnight Andy” like I was in prison with them and would see them again the next day in the yard.
In the morning, I would say “Morning Red, morning Andy” just like their friends said to them.
In Shawshank, you had nothing but time and routine.
Time and routine is what kept Andy sane.
He was also very tenacious and would send a letter once a week for 6 years to get new books for his prison library from the government.
It was also routine that helped him dig that tunnel. . .
It was also routine that helped him embezzle money from that crooked warden. . .
It was time and routine that eventually freed him. . .
He didn’t need to fool around and make wine from grape fruit juice in his cell. He had a vision and it was his laser focus.
When things got really tough, I would say what andy said in that yard that one day when he wasn’t acting right:
As time passed, little by little my home business brought in more leads and more upgrades.
It wasn’t enough money to come home yet, but it produced a little smirk on my face when I did go to work.
I knew I was on the cusp of something great.
Every night after work, I wrote another blog post or shot another video, hoping that one more article or video would get me a big leader into my business.
And every night, as I blew out the candle that was making Andy and Red glow so I could see their faces, I knew that my efforts for the following day could be enough to break me free.
So, if you have a job you can’t stand, remember it took Andy 19 years of consistent rituals and habits to finally break free.
I’m not saying it will take you that long at all, and we both know this is a movie, even though I don’t believe that really.
So many people struggle daily just to get food on the table for their family, and many work two jobs and only go home to sleep to do it all over the next day.
It’s rituals and time that will eventually free you.
For Andy, it was a little rock hammer.
What’s your secret weapon?