Black Entrepreneur Blueprint 636 - Jay Jones – Whatever You're Not Changing, You're Choosing

[00:00:12] Welcome to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, the number one podcast and resource for Black entrepreneurs. I'm your host Jay Jones and Black Entrepreneur Blueprint was created specifically to educate and inspire Black entrepreneurs to launch, build and grow successful, sustainable businesses. Join us as we help build an economic power base in the worldwide Black community by building and supporting Black owned businesses.

[00:00:41] If you're currently an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, you're invited to join us each and every week here at Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family and get ready to elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint episode number 636.

[00:01:07] I'm your host Jay Jones and today we have another outstanding and informative show in store for you. Today we're going to be doing a rebroadcast of one of our most downloaded episodes from January of this year titled, Whatever You're Not Changing, You're Choosing. So make sure you stay locked in for this informative and transformational podcast episode. Today's show topic is, Whatever Youre Not Changing, Youre Choosing.

[00:01:37] Whatever Youre Not Changing, Youre Choosing. Many entrepreneurs don't understand that inaction is actually a decision. And today we're going to dissect and discuss the effects of inaction on your business and I'm going to give you some quick action steps to correct it. But before we get to today's show content, let me just share a few things with the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint family. First and foremost, I want to welcome all first time listeners to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint.

[00:02:06] Welcome to the BEB family. Please stick around until the end of today's broadcast and I'm going to share all my social media contact information and resource links such as the link to my latest webinar, PlugAndProfitSideHustle.com. If you are looking for a passive, recurring revenue, part-time or full-time income in the AI space, which is the biggest space out there, you don't have to learn or understand a thing about artificial intelligence.

[00:02:36] But if you want to leverage the PlugAndProfitSideHustleSystem.com, go to the webinar. I promise you it's going to be the best 45 minutes that you invest in. Go to PlugAndProfit, that's A-N-D, Plug-A-N-D, ProfitSideHustle.com for more information. Now today's show is going to be a little shorter than normal. I don't know if you can hear it, any of my long-time listeners. I'm stopped up.

[00:03:05] I'm not feeling well. But as they say in show business, the show must go on. So we're going to push through today. And I really want you guys to be cognizant of what I talked about. Inaction is still a decision. Many times we think that not doing anything is not doing anything. And in all actuality, you are making a decision. And that can really affect your business positively or negatively.

[00:03:33] So the first thing I want to talk about, if your revenue hasn't changed guys, you choose that income level. So if your revenue is static and it's staying the same by your inaction, you actually chose that, right? If your schedule is chaotic, guess what? You chose that. You chose not to create systems. If your business feels stuck, you chose comfort over change.

[00:03:57] So inaction guys is a major component in the success or failure of your business. So if you've been waiting for the right time, feeling busy, but not progressing or wondering why results haven't caught up to your effort, this episode is your wake up call. So you definitely need to lock in and pay attention. And especially at the end, I'm going to give you some action steps because we're here to give you or help you move from point A to point B. We're not all this rah-rah.

[00:04:25] If you're looking for a rah-rah, uh, entrepreneur podcast, this, this isn't it. You know, I'm all about taking action and giving you guys actionable steps to move you from point A to point B. If you want all that rah-rah stuff, there's tons of cats out there. They're going to have you running through walls. And as soon as you run through that wall, you're going to scratch your head and say, okay, what do I do next? I'm excited. But now what I do, this is not that. So this is for mature audiences only.

[00:04:54] We don't need all of that nonsense to be, uh, to make impact. And that's what this is all about being impactful. So let's talk about a couple of things, right? Um, if nothing changes in your business this year, whose fault is that? If your business stays stagnant or even goes backwards, guess whose fault that is? That's yours, right? So you want to reframe inaction guys as a decision. Inaction is truly a decision. Okay.

[00:05:24] Now inaction is not neutral. And I always talk about the example of if as an entrepreneur, if you're on a stream, right? If you're in a boat on a stream, if you just sit there, what's going to happen? You're going to be pulled one way or the other. You're going to be pulled backwards. Now in order to be a successful entrepreneur, there's no such thing as standing still. You have to continue to row. And if you don't row, guess what?

[00:05:52] You're going to go wherever that stream takes you. And that's really what inaction is guys. Being able to fight against the current to move your business where it needs to be. So let's talk about the concept of inaction. So first let's give the definition of inaction. Inaction is defined as not taking any action, standing still, staying pat. So pretty much you're not doing anything. That's one of the easiest things you can do is inaction. Okay.

[00:06:22] Two things that are super easy quitting and inaction. Quitting takes absolutely no effort. It's just a mental decision. Inaction takes absolutely no effort because you're not doing anything. You're sitting status quo. So what we want to discuss is we want to define the concept of inaction. And I want to reset how you think about responsibility. And so entrepreneurs often define decisions as actions only.

[00:06:51] And we know that's not true. So for example, if you don't change your pricing or your strategy or your systems or your habits, that is actually a choice, you know, and a lot of times what happens is, you know, people get comfortable and they feel safe. But it quietly locks you into the same results. So you keep doing the same things. You're going to keep getting the same results, right? So that's something that you guys have to break out of. So let's talk about some examples real quick.

[00:07:21] The same revenue usually equals the same decisions. The same revenue usually equals the same decisions. If you're getting the same revenue, that means you're probably doing the same things. The same chaos usually equals no system. So if you have a business that's chaotic and you don't run systems, you just you're winging it all the time. Then that's another example of inaction.

[00:07:45] The same stress guys equals no boundaries, meaning that when you have the same stress over and over and over again, that means you haven't done anything to change it. You know, well, what we want to talk about guys is unknowingly choosing stagnation, right? Meaning that, you know, you want to break into different habits. So let's talk about your revenue real quick.

[00:08:10] If your income hasn't changed, you chose not to adjust your whatever be your offers, your pricing, your marketing or your sales system. So you want to make sure guys that you have to check what the inaction is and how it affects your business. And if you're not doing anything with testing and changing, then you're going to come up with the same results.

[00:08:34] I always talk about entrepreneurs as mad scientists, meaning that we have to test things and try things to see what the results are. So you just can't stand pat and continue to do what you do and think you're going to be successful and grow and scale your business. So as an entrepreneur, you're a mad scientist. You test, test, test, and you continue to test to see what moves the needle. And you could test with offers. It could be pricing.

[00:09:04] It could be marketing. It could be systems. It could be new products or services, but you always want to test. Okay. So these are some of the important things. And let's talk about real quick comfort versus growth. Right. And here's one of the biggest things that affects entrepreneurs and stagnates them or actually even makes them fail. They get comfortable. And sometimes comfort disguises itself as, oh, I'm going to wait for the right time.

[00:09:33] When is the right time? When you're about to go out of business or it could be like, oh, I need a little more information or, or, oh, I'll do it next quarter. And what happens with comfort? And I'm going to tell you a quick story about comfort. And then as it pertains to entrepreneurship. So many times we have what's called the reluctant entrepreneur.

[00:09:55] And I had a good buddy of mine who, you know, kind of talked about going out on his own, but he was so comfortable working in corporate America, making money that he never went out on his own. So fast forward a couple of years, he ends up getting laid off. And so this guy now is in, you know, he's in escape mode. He's, he's frantic, man. My, my unemployment is about to run out.

[00:10:24] My severance is gone. Now I need to become an entrepreneur. And I tell people all the time, if you're thinking about being an entrepreneur, while you're working in corporate America, that is absolutely the best time to start because you do not want to be a reluctant entrepreneur. You see, entrepreneurship guys is something that's innate with, with most people. All right. Now I know people sometimes transition.

[00:10:51] They didn't think they could be a successful entrepreneur, but many times it's something that's innate. It's a desire. It's a want to be an entrepreneur. So when you're comfortable and he was comfortable in corporate America, and then he became uncomfortable, his solution, or he thought his solution was to open a business. Now you're under the gun. You don't have a long runway.

[00:11:15] And every move that you make, especially when you don't have experience being an entrepreneur, every move that you make is critical to your existence. It's the right of your business. It's the right of your business. So this is something that I tell you guys, do not get too comfortable in your business. Another way that it can rear its ugly head is one stream of income in your business.

[00:11:38] How many times have you had a business and then all of a sudden you're selling one product or service and something happens to that product or service? It could be a market fluctuation. It could be that that product or service you're selling is passe. People don't want it anymore. It's obsolete. And now you're over there stuck ass out and you don't have any revenue because you got comfortable or complacent in where your business was at the time.

[00:12:08] So in terms of not taking action or whatever you're not changing, you're choosing, which is the topic of today's show, one of the biggest killers to businesses, guys, is the comfort level. So you have to make sure that you don't become too comfortable. All right. And also in order to grow, that actually requires discomfort. It actually requires you to go out of your comfort zone to try new things, to, you know,

[00:12:37] to immerse yourself in other things to help grow and scale your business. Okay. The market actually rewards action, guys, not inaction. The market rewards action. So the market doesn't care how hard you work, only what you change. So it doesn't care how hard that you're working. A lot of us work hard, but you got to work smart and it all only cares about what you change. So if you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to keep getting what you're getting, right?

[00:13:07] So you have to be able to get out of that comfort zone. And today we're talking about whatever you're not changing, you're choosing. And this is in business and in life. If you're in a bad relationship, you know, and you're just going to sit there and get abused verbally, you know, mentally, maybe unfortunately, even physically, none of it is good. Whatever you're not changing, you're choosing and you're choosing that.

[00:13:32] And I'm not saying it's easy to extract yourself from those situations or a lot of other situations, but you have to take action and you have to make a move. All right. Now let's talk about the shift from awareness to action. You want to move from reflection to execution. So here are a couple of action steps that I want you to take, right? You want to identify one thing. Okay.

[00:14:01] One system to fix, uh, one habit to change or one decision that you've been avoiding. And it's a simple framework, guys, awareness, decision, action, momentum, awareness, decision, action, momentum, small changes, guys give compound results. All right. And consistency beats intensity. You can be intense, but how long can you be intense only for a certain period of time,

[00:14:30] but consistency. And I talked about patterns last week, being able to create patterns. So you want to think about awareness. You want to be aware of being complacent. You want to be aware of not changing. Okay. So awareness decision. You make a decision, a conscious decision, action. Momentum, awareness, decision, action, momentum.

[00:14:54] So even for, for my business, uh, I talked late last year about possibly changing up the format of black entrepreneur blueprint and just doing something different. I'm in a different stage of my, my life right now, personally, and also as an entrepreneur. And I knew and know that whatever I'm not changing, I'm choosing. So I'm starting to do different things.

[00:15:20] Uh, black entrepreneur blueprint is, is going to be morphed into something a little bit different. We're going to keep the core, core concept and ideas, uh, of giving this good word to help entrepreneurs, you know, uh, move their business from point A to point B. But it has to align with where I am in my life right now. So I'm looking to slow down a little bit. I'm never going to retire, but I'm looking to slow down a little bit.

[00:15:47] And my business has to work around my lifestyle, not my lifestyle working around my business. So right now I'm, I'm in a situation where, uh, I have to change before I'm like, man, everything is going well. I'm super busy and that's great. You know, I'm blessed by, by that and having multiple businesses, but I know I need to change some things. So I'm in the process of changing things right now. So you need to take a long, hard look at what are some of the things that you need to

[00:16:17] change in your business. Um, and I'm going to discuss that a little further in detail, uh, in a second, but before we get to the last segment of the show, let me just share my social media contact information and my resource links. So I mentioned at the top of the show, if you're looking for a recurring revenue, part-time or full-time income, go to plug and profit side hustle.com plug a N D profit side hustle.com

[00:16:47] to learn more. It's a great webinar, the best 45 minutes you will invest in your lifetime. We're talking about AI being able to leverage the power of AI without knowing AI. You don't need to know a lick of artificial intelligence and being able to leverage that beyond the cutting edge of what's going on, ride the wave, not get swept under it and be able to make passive recurring monthly revenue. So check that out.

[00:17:13] Also guys, don't forget to check out and utilize the website, black entrepreneur blueprint.com. We have all types of free resources guys to help you move your business from point A to point B. You go to the website. There's a learn tab. Hit that. There's a dropdown. We have all type of content and resources to help you grow and scale your business mindset, marketing, e-commerce, uh, side hustles, everything you need to move your business from point A

[00:17:42] to point B. So go to the website and utilize it. We have all types of courses and everything on the website too. In addition to that guys, um, it use all the ecosystem. That's what it's built for. So black entrepreneur blueprint.com. Now to connect with me guys, anything long, hit me on my email. Jay Jones at black entrepreneur blueprint.com. J A Y J O N E S at black entrepreneur blueprint.com. Facebook black entrepreneur blueprint, uh, Instagram.

[00:18:11] I have two IG accounts. The first one is Jay Jones for real. J A Y J O N E S the number four R E A L. Second one is black entrepreneur blueprint. Connect with me on X. It's Jay Jones zero zero one. J A Y J O N E S zero zero one. Um, LinkedIn connect with me there. Just go to LinkedIn type in Jay Jones, black entrepreneur blueprint, and also YouTube guys,

[00:18:38] make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel, go to YouTube, type in black entrepreneur blueprint. We have additional content on YouTube that is not on the show. And also for you first time listeners, wherever you're watching the show or listening to it, make sure you hit that subscribe button. We drop a new episode every Monday morning, 5 AM Eastern standard time on all your major podcast platforms and YouTube. So make sure you lock in to get this good work.

[00:19:07] So today we're talking about whatever you're not changing, you're choosing. And I know a lot of times people get, they get cold feet. They get nervous about making change or taking action. And one of the things as an entrepreneur to be successful, you have to walk that tight rope sometime without a net below you. You have to take action because there's no such thing as standing still as an entrepreneur. The, the tides are coming against you.

[00:19:35] You're, you're, you're paddling upstream. So standing still is not an option because you're going to be going backwards. And so you have to understand guys that I don't care if your business is the best business you think it can get to the best iteration that you think it can get to. I promise you over a period of time, that's going to erode and you're going to have to stay abreast of what's happening in the marketplace, your marketplace and the overall worldwide

[00:20:05] landscape. And so if you're not abreast of that and you don't take the, the necessary actions to stay on top, you're going to get left behind. So I just talked about real quick, uh, the plugin profit side hustle, uh, dot com webinar. So people, you know, where everybody's talking about artificial intelligence, right? And there's two things that are going to happen. Either you're going to ride that AI wave and be profitable or, or make profits, or you're

[00:20:35] going to get swept under that wave and you're going to get put out of business. And so the thing is you have to take action. So whatever you're not changing, you're choosing and you can change things guys, but the only way to do it is with action. So if you think about something, that's great. You know, you can have a mind shift change, but there needs to be action attached to it to, to effect the results.

[00:21:02] So when we have this paralysis by analysis and, oh yeah, I'm, I got to read 18 more books and watch 27 more videos, uh, before I make a move, I get it. I get it. You don't want to make a move. That's going to screw up your whole business or your life. Understood. Recognize and understood. But if you stay status quo, if you stay pat, you're dying to slow death because things change, environments change, opportunities change.

[00:21:32] And if you don't change with those opportunities and all you're doing is, you know, you're just sitting, standing pat, you know, whatever you're not changing guys, you are choosing. So if your business starts to go down and you don't make any moves, guess what? Whose fault is that? That's yours. And as entrepreneurs, we need to be able to have foresight. And one of the things and tips that I always tell people is you hear the old axiom. Now people like, oh, he's playing chess, not checkers.

[00:22:01] And half of the nuts that say that can't even play chess, but always equate business to playing pool. Right? So you're not just looking at your current shot. You're looking two to three shots down the table. And that's the way that you should look. So things that you need to change, think about your business as a pool game. Okay. Right now, this is where we are. And I know I can't make one big leap right away to where we need to be. But what's my next shot?

[00:22:31] What's the action behind that next shot? Okay. We got that. What's the following shot? And you're setting up the next shot and the next shot and the next shot. And once again, it's incremental. All right. Small changes, guys, compound things over time. Right? So consistency, as I mentioned, beats intensity. And I talk about some of these quote unquote gurus, you know, these entrepreneur gurus, and

[00:22:58] they get you all amped up, hollering, screaming, walking on hot coals, you know, doing all kinds of stuff, which is fine and dandy. But then when you break it down, what are they really saying? What direction are they giving you? How are you moving from point A to point B? That's about actionable steps. Right? You ever been to church and you hear some, some pastor up there hooping and hollering? Oh yeah.

[00:23:26] And if you took the actual words that he said, right? He didn't say nothing. Absolutely nothing. Performance ministry. What are the words? Right? So if, yeah, if you transcribe what he said, Jesus wept. And then the rest of it is, is, is performance ministry. Hadn't said a damn thing. So it's about understanding what's necessary guys to move you to the next point.

[00:23:55] And granted, I know people need inspiration, but inspiration only lasts a long time. You need a plan. Consistency beats intensity and you can get intense. It's all good, but you can't stay intense a hundred percent of the time. So you ever watch football and a lot of times, actually I'll take that back boxing. I'm a, you know, guys know if you listen to the show, I'm a big fight fan.

[00:24:20] So you ever watch a boxing match with some cat comes out and he's super intense at the start of the fight and he's super mad, you know, and that intensity is going to wear off over the first, maybe one, two or three rounds. And then it settles down into what it, what it is all the time. It's a fight. So that intensity is only going to get you so far. So when you need to make a change, be, uh, be smart about it.

[00:24:48] Think about it as playing pool because you cannot be a successful entrepreneur standing still. There's no such thing as standing still. And in order to make change that requires action. So today we talk about whatever you're not changing, you're choosing. So that inaction is actually a decision. Now I say this guys each and every week, because it's true. We get more and more downloads because of you, the BEB family. I appreciate you guys so much.

[00:25:18] Please continue to spread the word about the podcast, the blog, the ecosystem, everything designed to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Remember, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's about us. It's about building an economic power base in the worldwide black community by building and supporting black owned businesses. Love you guys. See you same time next week. Peace.