I like telling myself this very simple phrase: "Everyday I will do something to build my online business". It's a thought and goal I always keep top-of-mind, for very obvious reasons.

If you keep this goal, your business will get bigger, stronger, firmer and more profitable. And the more success your business achieves everyday, still more will it beget!

Success attracts more success!

The things that can make a difference in building your business need to be rooted not only in your desires or vision of what you want your business to be, but more importantly should be rooted in daily productive habits.

Because these habits are the ones that make a big difference.

Human beings are creatures of habit. And once acquired, they become part and parcel of everything you do. They're so embedded into our selves that once formed, we become a "slave to our own habits".

As Og Mandino said: if you're going to be a slave to habits, why not make yourself a slave to good habits? It takes basically the same time doing a good job as it does to do a poor one so which one will you prefer?

All your dreams of making it big online will go to naught if not backed up by productive habits that ensure you make the best use of the daily 24-hour time allowance and resources allotted to you.

Do you spend too much time in front of the TV?

Are you afraid or too lazy to look for new clients or promote your business online?

Do you constantly put off potentially good business ventures?

Do you catch yourself spending hours a day daydreaming of what would be, or what could have been?

Do you feel like your business is slipping away because you've failed to do whatever it was that should have been done earlier, and which to you now is too late to do?

If you were in any of these situations, you're not alone. A lot of people are caught or more or less "imprisoned", in similar situations every day of their lives, clueless on how they could break free of this vicious cycle.

The trick is in rising above all the petty nuances and getting back to basics: what is it that you need to do and Focus on?

It's important to understand that if you continue doing the same things you've always done you're very likely to get the same results.

It's amazing how this very simple concept seems to escape a big majority of people, online marketers included.

A lot of people unknowingly hope that eventually things will turn up for the better, even if they don't do anything differently.

And therein lies the problem: people who are in denial of what the situation really is.

Unless you come to terms with your weaknesses you will never overcome them.

And unless you realize your strengths you'll always under-utilize them.

Is there something you know you should be doing, that you know would change your life to a very big extent, and yet you haven't done yet for a number of reasons (or excuses) you keep fooling yourself with?

"It's too hard"

"I'm not worthy of that web business"

"What if I screw up?"

"I think that promoting my business means a lot more work so I'd rather not do it".

"It's not the right time yet, no, not just yet. I'll start when everything's perfect".

"There's always tomorrow I'll do it by then-in the meantime I'll just relax and have a drink"

"It won't make any difference anyway so why bother?"

"I'm too sleepy to finish my work"

"There's too much competition"

Want a change for the better? Your road to success begins with self-examination.

It is true that change often comes out of discontent with one's present state or condition.

My question has to be: why wait for the worst conditions to occur before embarking on your own program of change for the better? If you start now then logic dictates that you will have an advantage since a lot of flexibility still exists for you.

Have you become so content with what you have that you're afraid to venture out of your "comfort zone"? Yet this contentment is exactly what could be preventing you from achieving the goals you've set for yourself.

Go out and try something new. Learn a new skill. If, for example, you run against a big stumbling block with your internet business venture don't be stymied by it. Ask around and find a way to get the knowledge that'll solve it.

The best time for change to occur? NOW, NOW, NOW.

Learn to ask yourself at the end of each day if you're satisfied with what you've accomplished (or not accomplished) and evaluate if this is actually what you want for yourself.

What is it that you could have done more? How could you have improved what you've accomplished so far?Are you still on target as far as your goals are concerned? If you've "swerved" a bit what adjustments and corrections are needed?

What you do everyday will determine what you will be 3, 5 or even ten years from now.

Squander "today" and your future will be uncertain, or remain the same; maximize your time properly and productively toward your intended goal on a daily basis and believe me, you'll reap the rewards of your efforts handsomely!

The things you can do to improve yourself and your internet business don't have to be major things. They can just be small "baby steps" along the path to success.

Then again, if you want to push it further it's up to you. But try to be consistent. Consistency counts a lot in this business. So here are some ideas:

1. Write or research an article and add it as content for your website; similarly, you can submit it to an article submission site and gain recognition for your website and for you.

2. Create a new logo for your existing website or for a new website you're developing; or create new templates or styles for a new site.

3. Update yourself with the newest technology trends and information available, especially that which pertains to your industry; be on the lookout for new products and new affiliate programs, and see how you can use it to to your advantage.

4. Conduct keyword research and profitability projection for a new project using a good keyword research service such as WordTracker.

5. Get new links to your site. Nowadays this is more a necessity than a luxury, since good search engine rankings are achieved by a very dynamic linking strategy. SEO Elite is an excellent tool for conducting this.

6. Analyze your logs. Don't waste your statistics, they're there for a reason.Try to get information on where your visitors are coming from and how they're getting to your site.

7. Begin writing your own e-book, begin creating a new product, or finish a promotional e-book for your next viral marketing campaign.

8. Update reviews or post information on your site that you feel will benefit your subscribers or online visitors. A new "tip of the day" or "quotable quote" won't hurt them as long as your information is useful

9. If you have website creation software such as XsitePro that allows you to create an entirely new website with fully-optimized web pages within half a day or less (domain name registration not included) then create several websites on topics you're passionate about within a month, to create multiple revenue streams.

10. etc. etc. (you can fill in the blanks here...)

Find what works for you and keep doing them repeatedly, consistently, until you achieve your goals.

Cheers!

Article by Winston Yam, Internet Marketer, entrepreneur and owner of http://www.1st-In-Online-Income.com, a resource website of internet marketing tools and resources for those wishing to create multiple streams of online income.