Quick story: I thought I was being all clever with the idea for this blog post and was going with the words Produce, Consume, and Interact, but a quick Google search brought up a post from 2009 by Charlie Gilkey with the catchier title of Create, Connect, and Consume (which is a great read).
I’d still like to share some of my thoughts on what I think is one of the harder things to juggle as an entrepreneur though.
Also, what’s this I hear about a new homepage for Pocket Changed?
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Whether you work alone, as part of a team, or at a large corporation there are three main areas that you should focus your energy on if you want to grow and achieve. They are the three sides of the Entrepreneur’s Triangle (and yes I made that up).
- Connect: this includes networking (a word I hate), meeting new people, and building relationships that can have a major impact on your work.
- Creating: doing the work, making ideas happen, and delivering the finished product(s).
- Consuming: learning, staying up to date on the latest news in your industry, and seeing what other people are creating.
The problem is not in finding tasks or ideas to put in these areas.
The problem is in balancing them.
My Recent Imbalance
Here’s a look back at how out of balance I’ve been with the entrepreneur’s triangle through January.
- Connect: I started January out attending the New Media Expo in Vegas and interacted with a lot of online entrepreneurs. Many of whom I’d only known online so far (one of the major ways to make your conferences awesome). A lot of connecting happened, but not much work got done.
- Create: Once I got back from NMX I was in full-on launch mode for a couple weeks with Fizzle.co. I spent 90% of my working time on courses for Fizzle or content for our various blogs. My head was down for pretty much two full weeks.
- Consume: This past week I’ve realized that I haven’t been reading, listening, or watching what other people have created as much as usual and I felt out of touch.
Whenever I don’t have a balance of these three areas I feel like I am missing out.
I feel like I don’t know what other people have been up to, that I haven’t been making enough awesome stuff, or that I’ve quit learning.
Lately the piece I’ve been missing out on is probably the one that is completely okay to do less of: consuming. If one had to go, that’d be it.
There is never a lack of things for me to consume. “Professionally” there are podcasts, web shows, video tutorials, Kindle books, PDF eBooks, blog posts, and hard copy versions of books. That doesn’t even include things I consume to relax like novels, music, television shows, sporting events, etc.
As you mature and grow as a student, employee, or entrepreneur you begin to shift from consuming (e.g. learning or researching) and you begin to do more creating (e.g. building, launching, acting).
But you should never stop consuming (with a purpose).
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Which of the three areas have you been neglecting lately?
Let me know in the comments below this post.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
To be honest, I feel like I’ve been neglecting each of these different elements, to varying degrees, on different days. Any of these three pursuits could be full-time jobs in and of themselves, so I’m definitely struggling to balance a good effort at each with the time I need to dedicate to my writing career.
However, being able to identify each of these elements gives me a framework for allotting business time going forward. Even if I’m not perfect right away, knowing that I’m hitting each of these priorities throughout the week should be helpful in terms of growing my blog.
Thanks for sharing!
Exactly. It is all about the balance. I find the consuming piece is something I can still do when I’m not in my “ideal working environment” like while I’m traveling, doing chores, or away from my computer.
Thanks for chiming in.
Great insight Caleb and one that makes a good distinction about entrepreneurs. The beauty is that someone can now block off parts of their week towards each of the 3 points in order to ensure that they are dedicating an adequate amount of time in each. Of course the trap can be focussing on one area, like creating and neglecting the other, like connecting.
Thanks
The Confidence Lounge
Thanks for the kind words Aaron. Blocking off time for each area is definitely one way to make sure you focus on each of them. I like to really listen to my mood to determine what I feel like doing.
Thats interesting that you follow your mood Caleb. When you are working on a project do you follow this method as well. When working with writers I find listening to their mood can actually prevent them from doing work sometimes it would be interesting to hear how you deal with situations similar to this?
The Confidence Lounge
By mood I really mean that if I’m in the mood to write, then I write. If I’m in the mood to read, I read. I find that when I’m not “in the mood” to do a certain kind of work it takes twice as long.
Yes, there are times on a project where the work just needs to get done and I push through that, but in generally I just listen to what type of work my mind wants to do and do that.
Hi Caleb,
Great insights. Balance in all we do is important.
I have two words for you – The post is CONCISE and you are CORRECT!
All the best to you,
Louie Sison
Thanks Louie. Appreciate the support.