‘Strong reasons make strong actions’ – this is a quotation from Shakespeare who died just under 400 years ago and lived not half a mile from where I am writing this post.

I think this is certainly one of the key attributes of self-made entrepreneurs – they had strong reasons for taking action and becoming successful.

In Shakespeare’s case, I think he may have got Anne Hathaway with child and had to go to London to make his living as a playwright.

My son-in-laws job recently came under threat – as a result of this he got a better paid job (+25%) and my daughter did the same (+50%).  They have recently bought a new house with a massive mortgage and were staring down the barrel of potential bankruptcy had my son-in-law been made unemployed for any lengthy period of time.  Strong reasons = strong actions.

This has a been a large part of my trouble in starting an online business.  I have funded myself from my investments and savings for several years without making much money – because I had money, I didn’t need it badly enough i.e. weak reasons = weak actions.

I have created a number of products but, because I have not yet run out of money, I have not really marketed those products.

Sergio Felix, my coaching colleague, has told me that I must change my mindset. He is absolutely right – in my case it is definitely a mindset issue.  I already know enough to succeed, I simply need to reach out and grasp it.

Ironically he is the same.  He has been working on perfecting one WordPress product for well over 12 months – with his wedding due to take place in 2 months time he needs to make some money and lots of it!

In my recent article:  http://mark-salmon.com/mindset-burning-your-boats-on-the-beach/ I alluded to this problem – it is only when we have a strong enough reason for taking strong action do we find the breakthroughs.

Both Sergio and I are both fast approaching this crisis point – the point where we simply HAVE to make the next step.

In my business career I have seen this phenomenon many times before – I saw it time and again when the financial crisis hit in the early nineties as my business customers faced the real possibility of going bust as interest rates soared to 17% or more and asset prices plummeted.

It was amazing to me how creative people can be in a crisis – one builder customer created 3 houses out of his own home and sold them to make enough money to survive.

The truth is that we are all much more resourceful than we think we are – when the chips are really down, the strong get going.

Have you considered that if you are not yet finding success, perhaps you don’t yet have a strong enough reason for taking strong action?

I expect you already know of many examples of wealthy people who came from a background of relative poverty.  That poverty and hardship is  a large part of what drives them throughout life – the remembrance of their early years when where the next mouthful of food was coming from was a genuine worry.

I’ve been fortunate to never face that kind of hardship and it’s easy for me to be complacent about money.  As I have got older I’ve realised that as long as I have enough money to enjoy life, I really don’t desire money for it’s own sake.  In other words I am not willing to  do things I hate doing just for money… unless I have a strong reason enough for doing so!

I’m fast approaching that point with my business – where I need to go out and promote myself and my products.  It really does not appeal to me at all – I would much rather be helping other  people ‘under the radar’ than marketing myself as some kind of guru.  I want the satisfaction of genuinely helping other people without  make bull-shit claims about myself and what I can do.

But my mindset and attitude have to change if I want to stay in the internet marketing game – the key word there is ‘marketing’.  As Sergio says, I must find my own audience and reach out to them.  He has to do the same – we all do!

As a small step on that road I have installed the Page Peal Pro plugin (aka One Ring Plugin) – this is on the top right of my web pages – if you like it you can get a copy of this plugin here.  It’s not a ‘strong’ action but it is a step in the right direction.

Your task and mine is to find a strong reason for taking strong action – whatever it is, whether it’s your family, your health, your self-respect, your wedding etc – find it because I believe that it’s part of the formula for success.