On the train on the way home, Phoebe was asking me how much work being a model would be. Well, I said, it’s not as easy as it looks……….there IS all the travelling, and the waiting about. “That’s hard work?!!” she asked incredulously. And then we had a very interesting discussion about what we would both class as hard work and I realised that, for me, hard work is more about being bored, it’s more about a mental thing than a physical thing.

In a couple of the business books I have read this week they talk about learning to enjoy hard work - because if success comes too easy, you won’t have learned the lessons.

We are not keen on any kind of hard work in the Money Gym, mental or physical, believing that there is no reason success can’t come easy and effortlessly, in fact that it should! But then, we love what we do so much, largely, that we don’t think of it as work at all!

And the business books echo that thought - they say that while entrepreneurs work long hours, and live, sleep, eat and breathe their business, they don’t regard it as hard work.
My business partner Judith has a take on this too and she asks “Business: Inspiration or Perspiration?

I know I bang on a lot about inspiration. As I write, the sun is going down over the London skyline outside my living room/office window.
The sky is pink, the office buildings are just lighting up, its dusk on The Thames.
I’ve even posted a couple of my photos of this view from here looking west, and from Gabriel’s Wharf looking east on my blog.
The same skyline is on my website. I can’t get enough of it. It’s why I live here. It’s inspirational to me, it constantly feeds me. I love it.

It’s by no means the only thing that inspires me. I love books and cinema, theatre, music, other people including my clients and business partners. Oh, and hot countries, and the sea, and the stars and the moon. I could go on, but I will spare you today.

Right now I’m reading “Pour Your Heart Into It, the Starbucks story” by its CEO, Howard Schultz - and that’s doing it for me.

People are coming here to my home to play Rich Dad’s Cashflow 101 tomorrow. I find the fact that they are going out of their way during their leisure time to learn more about their relationship with money also very inspiring.

One of the things that I find most inspiring is an entrepreneur, setting out on their journey to create a business, to create wealth. Wow.

And they will need inspiration. Obviously it is my hope that they will choose, at some appropriate point in their evolution, the inspiration that we can provide at The Money Gym.

And sorry to bring it up, yucky as it is, but there’s perspiration involved in success too. Yes, you have probably become aware of the concept of effortless success, when you are in the flow, and that’s gorgeous. But for most of us ordinary mortals, being successful at anything pretty much requires some focus, some dedication and plenty of hard work.

I’m not interested in anything which is going to take me longer than three years. I think that’s enough these days. Of course, it depends on how old you are when you start and how much time and energy you have, but experience tells me that your business should be at a rolling boil by three years.

All the impact of your marketing efforts starts to come home to roost. Right?

Of course, many underestimate what’s involved, and some decide they dont like working for themselves and return to the 9-5. I heard that Dolly Parton track the other day, always makes me smile, that one! Got lots of rebellion and irony in it, which I love. Damned good tune, too.

But if you have a business plan, a marketing plan, a vision and a strategic objective and you put yer back into it, connect with some others who inspire you, and put the work in - you should be starting to reap the rewards by the three year point.

If not, move on. Thinking about that decision? Should I go or should I stay? Sell it, stop it, cash in my chips, cut my losses? Let me help. We can wrap that one up in one session. You probably even know the answer already.

But what if you are diddling about - sometimes being inspired, sometimes perspiring, sometimes attracting, sometimes working really hard for it? What would help?

Growing your business requires you to grow personally - have you noticed that? Aren’t you just loving it?

Will 2008/2009 be your breakthrough year?

Action, attraction, inspiration and perspiration - a little bit of each, shake it up and stand well back to avoid the fireworks!