When we first go into business for ourselves many of us fail to follow in most cases a natural order of the universe. I didn’t invent it, you didn’t invent it, but it has certainly undeniably always been here – it just IS. Life has a natural order – look at our biology, our ecology, our education our spiritual development, athletics and so forth – there is order.

Success comes as a result of three things all dependent on one another. This natural order is that success comes as a result of an orderly succession of events. More often than not, people will set out in a business of their own without giving much thought to the order a successful business demands and on top if it, they will often do it without the help of someone experienced in such matters. We’ll hire a coach to help us with our golf swing, a specialist to program our computer, an instructor to show us how to dance, a roofer to roof our house, a doctor to cure our ills and a plumber to fix a faucet but we’ll start a business endeavor at the drop of a hat with just an idea and a little inspiration. Of all those things I mentioned, plumbers, doctors, golf pros etc., everyone one of them has an order of doing things to reach a goal -- everyone of them. A doctor walks thru several protocols and by process of elimination determines what’s going on with his patient. A plumber methodically figures how to cut each pipe, where to install each valve and so forth. Airplane Pilots use instruments, maps and geography to determine the best

Failure to order and plan, failure to see things clearly and follow the necessary steps to completion creates a disconnect. Rarely is this disconnect identified. What then happens in most cases is the entrepreneur then begins a downward spin because they lack direction. Some entrepreneurs may be lucky enough to tread water without the spin down but most take the inevitable plunge to the murky depths of business failure or worse yet, they create a job for themselves often working twice as hard for the same money they once made at a regular 9-5 bread and butter job. And I say “worse yet” because at least when we fail completely at something, we stand a greater chance at learning what it was we did wrong.

I’m here to tell you, you can not only stay above water but you can jump out of this wake of mediocrity. This feeling of discontent with where you’re at in your career or business is what I call disconnect. It’s a feeling you get when you just can’t figure it out, something is missing and you just can't pinpoint it. I’ll pinpoint it for you in an article to follow called the 3 Imperatives to Success. For now, know that success demands order and without it, you will be walking around with that feeling of disconnect.

America's Small Business Advocate, Author and Speaker Dan Nichols' website is at http://www.businesssensei.com

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