Addict –(ad·dict) n.To become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance or activity. To habituate or abandon (oneself) to something compulsively or obsessively.

So, I admit…I’m an addict.

I’m addicted to what I do for a living…speaking, coaching, business and marketing.

I just ran across a file I use to store all my domain information.

I own over 300 websites.

A couple of years ago I had over 500, but in 2006 I decided to “cut back” to 200…but now, within a year’s time, I’m up 100 again…to over 300 now.

Why do I have so many domains?

I’m addicted to the ideas behind buying them.

For example, I was sitting here one day I had an idea about how to calculate how much a person would need to earn per hour to make their target income for a year…based on the number of hours they wanted to work… (http://www.howmuchperhour.com)

I grabbed a domain name, put the site up in about an hour and told 4 friends about it…three weeks later the site was getting 5-10 visitors per day. That’s not “a lot” of traffic, but it’s a whole lot for doing NO promotion at all. The site is making me about $50 per month with no work, so it ‘seems like it’s worth it’.

The only problem is that making money from the site is feeding the addiction.

A couple weeks ago, I went to shoot some pool… no harm there right?

Well, I noticed the pool tables were a little dirty and my mind instantly went into developing the idea of creating self-cleaning cue balls. I went in to thinking about what the balls would have to be coated with to clean the table but also keep the integrity of a standard cue ball to not negatively impact play of the game. I even started thinking of the marketing slogans and how to sell the cue balls. I thought a good name would be “Clean Shoot” or “Clean Play”… or something like that.

Now, before you ask, “Antonio… so, what’s the problem?” I’m not implying that there is any problem per se. However, based on the definition of addict, it appears I am addicted to coming up with (and acting on) business ideas.

On the surface this could be a great thing, but I can’t seem to turn it off. As the definition says, I feel I’m psychologically dependent on this activity.

I don’t label this as a “bad” thing…and I don’t compare myself to an alcoholic or drug addict. However, I do feel it can lead to life disruption.
For instance: alcohol by itself isn’t a “bad thing…neither is marijuana…it’s the addiction to these things that causes problems in most people’s lives.

So, what I’m doing now is determining what impact this addiction is having on my life to see what adjustments I may need to make.

Yes, it’s very fortunate that my ‘addiction’ makes me money instead of causing me to spend it…but addiction to ANYTHING needs to be monitored.

A client of mine discovered that she’s addicted to pain (emotional). She causes hurt for herself in almost every way possible…men choices, job choices, etc… so now she’s able to see that she is the cause of her suffering, not the people and things around her.

I asked her if she could do anything she wanted to do all day, what would it be? After a lot of cajoling and wrestling, she finally admitted that she likes sewing, traveling, creating things with her hands and a few other (personal) things that I won’t mention here.

I asked her why she was working in the profession she was and she said, “I thought that I was supposed to be doing this”. She went on to say that she thought work was supposed to hard, boring, burdensome, etc… If she was having too much fun, then she was ‘doing something bad’.

WOW

We discovered that the ‘addiction’ to pain and suffering was ‘taught’ to her by her mother. Her mom drilled into her head that “life isn’t easy” and “if you’re not working hard (and suffering) then you’re lazy and “not worthy” of anything.

So, she believed that and over the years, she became addicted to pain to the point that she (subconsciously, but purposefully) found pain to inflict on herself. She took jobs she KNEW she would hate, she dated guys she KNEW were horrible… but she couldn’t figure out why she was doing that until now.

What addictions do you have in your life?

They may be obvious…or you may have to dig deep to find them.

Find out how they’re impacting your life and decide if you want to continue with the addiction or make the change in your life. Though we sometimes don’t feel like it is…but addiction IS a choice. We choose that thing to give our power to.

If you don’t want it to have power over you anymore, CHOOSE THAT

Practical Application

Things to ask yourself about potential ‘addictions’ in your life:

Why am I doing this? (In my case I have to ask: Is this inspired action or addicted behavior?)

Do I want to be doing this or do I feel like I have to

Is this getting me closer to my life goals?

These few questions will let you know if you’re dealing with some type of addiction or not. Then you can CHOOSE what you want for your life.

Helpful tip: Find a friend you can count on to help you in your process.

Note: This post is not intended to substitute professional medical help. If you’re suffering from an addiction, please consider an addiction hotline or other professional help.