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Mental Blocks to Making Money (and a solid punch in the gut)
By DaveM | November 22, 2007
Steve Pavlina posted a great article yesterday about making money and two common mental blocks to effectively doing so. I can see myself in both of the mistakes he discusses, but mistake #2 really felt like a punch in the gut.
Here are a couple excerpts from Steve’s post:
The notion that you generate income by trading value is a simple concept, but it’s amazing how many people still don’t get it.
By focusing on trying to get money, you’re missing the point. The point is to provide value to others. This means serving people in a way they aren’t already being served, in a manner that aligns with your unique creative self-expression. Share what only you can share. Express what only you can express in the way that only you can express it.
Holy crap, the man is talking about me!
Since about 1997 when Mauder.com first came online, I’ve been focused on trying to make money. For the most part, there has been very little thought given to what people really want. Hell, as I write this now, I’m not sure anyone really cares to hear what I have to say. I simply read Steve’s post, was impacted by it, and felt like blogging about it.
At this point, maybe that’s a good thing…. for me.
Now, I certainly hope someone cares what I have to say, but that hasn’t really been a major factor in why I’ve done what I’ve done over the years.
Normally, all I give two hoots about is whether [I think] I’ll make a buck or not. Of course, as Steve so deftly points out, this approach doesn’t work. It backfires every damn time. I’m walking, talking, breathing proof of it.
Anyway, reading what Steve had to say made me step back and really begin to examine what I should be doing with my life.
The beef jerky website is (was) a prime example of what I should not be doing. I was never passionate about jerky - at least not as a business.
I spent about $300 and countless hours building that site simply because I thought it would make money. I honestly gave no real thought to whether or not people wanted what I was offering.
As it turns out, people really want beef jerky recipes. Hmm, go figure! During my initial research, I knew a lot of people where looking for jerky recipes, but I couldn’t think of a good way to make money from that, so I ignored it. The end result is just as you would expect…. A website I no longer care about that doesn’t deliver what people want and therefore doesn’t make money.
Obviously, the jerky venture was just one little explosion along my long path of business opportunity destruction… 
Anyway, I digress. Please take a few minutes to read Steve’s entire post about mental blocks to making money.
By all means, leave your comments here — I’d love to hear from you!