7 reasons why your brand won't succeed

There are a million reasons why your brand could do well. There are a million reasons why it won't. These are the biggest reasons I've found working with clients that hold people back from achieving their fullest potential with their brand. Do any of these ring true for you?

1. Other people's opinions limit your beliefs. 

It happens to all of us all too often. Someone mentions something about our work and all of a sudden we are having doubts. Maybe your Dad doesn't like your song, or your mom Ninjas are confusing, or maybe your girlfriend doesn't like all of the loud bassy sounds coming from your speakers. If your brand is speaking to you, then your brand is speaking to someone else too.  Its easy to have the words of people who love us (and some who don't ) affect us. People try and make an assessment about your person, and they are not the most informed opinion. Sometimes opinions are just that. Opinions. Subjective points of view.

You have to be your biggest fan. That is the only way other people will understand where you are coming from. Your passion should punch through. Unless your friends are sitting you down and having an intervention on some life-task of yours, then there is no reason why you shouldn't pursue your craft and want to get better.

Heres a way to beat the critique: Ask 10 of your trusted friends (5 that are similar to you in lifestyle, and 5 that aren't). Ask them all what you are the worst at, and what you are the best at? List as many things as possible. Tell them to give you the worst things first so you can end on a good note. Watch for patterns amongts peoples assessment. I guarantee anything you thought you doubted yourself on, is probably what people love most about you.

2. ​LACK OF FOCUS  

You may have a bad habit of scrolling. Perhaps it's youtube rabbit holes. Whatever your distraction kick is, your brand is suffering massively because of it. 3 minutes turns into 30. 30 minutes turns into 10 hours. Take a look at your current daily average screen time and weekly average. Are there some apps that you can cut back on? It's noticeable when companies are trying to sell to you on these apps, but it is less obvious that the app keeps making you go back. How many times have you closed an app to literally go right back to it and open it up?

Make some serious efforts to start running your own ads or just look at your company as a production company and not a consumption company. Unless you are dealing with current events as your mainstay product, you really don't have time to consume every single piece of content that was intended for you that day. Set a small amount of time aside for distractions, and set timers on apps to help curb the cravings.

A good way to beat the distraction: Allow yourself some actual break time that is dedicated to brain fodder and mental stimulation that is purely for entertainments sake. Your brain is a muscle, so you have to give it time to rest. If your resting-mode is watching Netflix, so be it. If your resting-mode it PS4 or some other computer game, great! Just give yourself a hard cutoff time and get back to work as soon as possible.

3. ​LACK OF POSITIVE INFLUENCES

Similar to the damage of listening to others' opinion is the damage of looking up to people that are toxic and negative. Maybe they always degrade you, even though you love their work ethic. Maybe they are hypocrites that talk a good game but are never in the field leading by example. Maybe they all are lackeys and you feel forced to work with them to make them better because they are your friends. No matter the situation, remember you are a morbid sum of the 12 people you hang-out with and talk to the most. Make sure you are in contact with people that have a positive outlook on life and innovation.

All of these examples can hurt your brand in very specific ways. If you look up to people that don't do good work,  you use their methods to approach your situations and that could damage your working relationships. If you are doing the most work out of all of the people in your circle, you probably are in the wrong circle. Make sure that if you take a day or a week off that your associates will continue to carry the right amount of  their own weight that will have you feeling supported and inspired enough to pick up right where you left off. Not to mention if you are pulling other people with you, obviously the brand growth goes at a much slower pace.

Ways to beat a weak circle: Reach out to people doing what you want to do or people doing more of what you'd like to do. Even if they are beyond your reach in your imagination, if you provide value, they won't turn down a good contact.

4. ​FAILURE TO FOLLOW-UP 

Most people like to talk. There is science behind your brain thinking you did something when you said you would do it. It even happens when you see people doing what you want to do. You feel as if you are already doing your goal, and then you don't ever carry that energy over into your actual life. Your task remains undone or on the forever growing "to-do" list. Not the "to-do" list that is stacking up for the day, I'm referring to the list that you area dreading. Takes a second and ask yourself "what am I avoiding doing?"

If you say you will do something. Do it. If you say you will do something within a certain time, you should do it earlier. Always reach out, and then reach out again This is referring to real opportunities, not things that aren't opportunities. If you are following up on something discussed, be sure to do a strong e-mail with the information you said you would provide.

How to beat the poor follow-up: Undersell yourself. Under-promise and over-deliver. If you say you will send an email, reach out in multiple ways. If you say nothing, you can surprise them with a follow=-up, but honestly if you stay level-headed when you are making plans, you can realistically deliver when it is your moment. Thats when you over-deliver and blow away your contacts.

5. ​FAILURE TO PERSIST THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES (TIMELESSNESS) 

It's too easy to get caught up in the real life problems that appear, but consider the art that wouldn't exist if the greatest of us folded under the pressure of the times. Yes it may seem like the world is ending, but you really don't know what is going on on anywhere you can't see. If you spend time thinking about the major problems you have no control over, the mountain will seem un-climbable.

Most people have this age in their head when they should give up. I had a friend that didn't put time into his craft and said he will go will go all-in and go on tour if nothing happens by the time we turned 30. I asked why are we waiting? Why not do the tour now? Of course all of a sudden everything seems so distant of a plan. Well, we turned 30 and he still hadn't done much in regards to his craft.

Sometimes people choose to not to attack their passion because of things in their life. If they put the craft up against their life, everything seems so difficult.

Ways to beat the test of time: Create a legacy. Everything you do, make sure you are doing it to help someone in some positive way to day and in the future. People will appreciate you no matter what time period you are in.

6. ​LACK OF GRATITUDE

When you don't have a point of view of gratitude, you will be attracting the negative energy you send out. If someone wins and it wasn't you, you should be excited. Even if they are your competition. It is important that the entire industry rises. If you are the only one rising, what happens when you decide to stop? Why should the industry rest on your actions only? Get excited when anyone pushes the community forward?

Are your standards just high? Do you feel like your position isn't where you wan't it to be? That's okay. Be thankful you are alive. Remember you are involved in your industry. If you are involved in your industry, you are involved din your industry. It's that simple. Now find ways to build from where you stand. Wins will come, and wins will go. Same with money.

Ways to find gratitude: Write the things you are grateful for. Everyday write down on a page the things you are grateful for being, things you are doing, and place you are living. If you wan't a real challenge, write down the things you don't have that you are grateful for that you want. If you talk about all of the things around you from a place. of gratitude, you will get more opportunities because you will start to notice them more through this exercise.

7. ​LACK OF FAITH

Without getting too religious or spiritual, if you don't think there is something super intelligent that is keeping everything tied together in a magical dance of creation, science, love, and information, then you will have a hard time believing things have a way of working out. If you are reading this, you are moving in the direction of your calling. It's something you can't explain. If you add some practicality to your gut feeling, you will be able to achieve highly in your creative career. Some people don't think that is possible, however it requires practicing the other techniques in this list to be able to get in touch with your center. That and meditation.

How to beat the lack of faith:  Spend 5 minutes in silence everyday and listen to yourself. Close your eyes and breathe. Focus on your breath and not on your thoughts. Whenever you have thoughts, come back to your breathing. Eventually you will be able to attack your daily tasks with a full amount of your own energy because you will be fill of yourself. Thats not a bad place to start.