"The Flesh is Weak but the Spirit is Willing!"By Shamala Tan

Article Of The Week - When The Flesh Is Weak

Does this statement make sense to you: "The mind is willing but the flesh is weak"?
I tend to think that if your mind is willing, your body will obey your mind to get into action. Unless of course, you were just entertaining the idea of getting the task/s done and you were just really living in an illusion that your mind was willing.
As a small business owner or a solo-entrepreneur, discipline is such an important aspect of your daily exercise as you do not have a boss to be accountable to. You are only accountable to yourself. And if you lack the discipline to run your business effectively, then it will show in your business bank account. No one else is to blame. Nothing else is responsible -- not the economy, not your potential clients/customers, not Wall Street, not your geographical location (Unless of course you were trying to sell umbrellas in the desert!).
So what does it mean when you are just so overcome by inertia that you just can't wake up for the 7am breakfast business meeting? Then you are probably not cut out to run your own business and you are in fact better off being a salaried person. It is a matter of commitment.
Running your own business is a path of learning with many initiations to pass including: staying focused when the going get tough; having a marketing plan; knowing your ideal clients; money management; developing self and never stopping the learning process; and most of all exercising discipline in mind, body and soul in the use of time, energy and money.
Many solo entrepreneurs I know think, what is the point of having discipline when the whole idea about running your own business is doing whatever you feel like at whatever time is most convenient? If you think the same way, then you are not an entrepreneur. You are a free-lancer, hoping to earn some money to pay the rent and feed yourself, full stop. Even the whole idea about wanting to serve and changing the world is based on the false notion that the world has to revolve around your loose plans and unreliable schedule. I know how these 'entrepreneurs' think because I used to be one of them many years ago.
If your business is barely making it, you do not have a business. You have a burden. And if your business is not growing, there is a high chance you are not growing as a person either.
The truth is no willing mind can ever be beaten by the weak flesh.
© 2011 Shamala Tan