FBC – 204 – A Bad Habit Deeply Implanted In You That You Should Get Rid of…

A Bad Habit Deeply Implanted In You That You Should Get Rid of.

Today, we are going to talk about something that has been engraved in our subconscious since the first day of school. It is so deeply rooted that we don't realize it's there and that it's plaguing our lives…

Overcoming this one belief can and will take your game to new heights.

All this and more in today's episode.

When you're working in particular kind of environment, you're conditioned. You're just mimicking what other people are doing. But you have to seem busy, right? You have to be there. That's the problem. Sometimes people are not actually paid on results. They're paid on attendance. So if you show up at work, then you get your money.

Regardless if we're making progress or not. So very often, I mean, some people, they could have been out the door three hours ago, but they can't because well, they need to be there until the bell rings at 6:00 or 5:00 or whatever time it is that you finish.

So you do have people who are actually working late and they're not a clock watcher. This is the approach that I had when I was working in a quote unquote, corporate environment. I would go the extra mile to, you know, to move forward. And now I have my own company. I do my own stuff.

So this is something that is limiting a lot of people that I know because they're like, oh, you know what? If you jump left and right from one career to something, that is completely unrelated, then you show that you have no consistency whatsoever.

And I was like, dude, I honestly don't care. I just wanted to move forward. Because life is not a straight line. You know, people just think that when you graduate, that's it. You have your career path and it's a straight line and you go wherever you want. It's really not the case.

A Bad Habit Deeply Implanted In You That You Should Get Rid of.

You will take this side road, you say, oh, what is this? And then over there in like, oh, you know what? And that was cool here. And then you learn some stuff that you can apply afterwards. You zig zag and you might end up somewhere where you never actually anticipated you were going to end up. Which is my case, for example. I never, ever considered being like, you know, where I am today doing marketing and stuff.

No, it wasn't my career path. If I had followed what my degree was, then I would have ended up somewhere else.

But it's just life, man. You know, you have to adapt. So anyway, what I was saying is, you know, don't. So the work environment in a lot of companies basically praises you for being there. Even if you're not doing anything. And it just drives me insane. So many people do that stuff. You know, they're not doing anything, to be honest, but they're just there.

So, you know what I'm trying to say here and I'm having a hard time finding the words is that often you underestimate the fact that if you're using your time wisely, you're making progress.

If you're doing something then you're making progress. Most people don't make any progress in the same dead end for like months and months. If you make progress, you're ahead of 99 percent of the population. You should be happy with what you've done and you can call it a day. Make the time count.

Being busy and making progress are not the same thing. Most companies pay for attendance, not outcomes. But as a solopreneur, you decide: every hour should produce a result, not just prove you were present.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is measuring attendance instead of progress a bad habit for entrepreneurs?

Because attendance does not create value. Progress does. When you run your own business, the only thing that matters is whether you moved forward today. Sitting at a desk for eight hours producing nothing is a waste no self-employed person can afford.

How can solopreneurs break the corporate attendance mindset?

Start measuring your day by what you completed, not how long you worked. Set one clear outcome at the start of each day. When that outcome is achieved, you can stop. This shifts your identity from clock-watcher to result-producer.

What is the difference between progress and being busy?

Being busy means you are active. Making progress means you are moving toward a specific goal. You can be busy for twelve hours and produce nothing meaningful, or you can work two focused hours and move your business forward more than most people do in a week.

How does this mindset change affect business automation decisions?

Once you measure outcomes instead of hours, automation becomes the obvious next step. If a task takes me three hours manually but I can automate it in thirty minutes, the automation is always the right choice. Progress is what counts, and the fastest path to progress wins.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Related Reading

• FBC – 95 – Progress Vs Work…What to focus on
• How Can Solopreneurs Employ Gamification Techniques To Make Time Management More
• How Can Entrepreneurs Leverage Customer Feedback For More Time-efficient Operati
• Effective Strategies to Prevent To-Do List Overwhelm