How to Stop Making Excuses and Finally Start Your Travel Business

By Emily Peters Contributing Writer Montrose Travel

The holidays are a frenzied time. Many of us are neck-deep in gift-buying, meal-planning, volunteering, hosting—the list goes on. It’s an easy time of the year to avoid tasks that are begging for your attention.

Yet January holds a magic of its own: it’s the month of resolutions, when most of us reflect on the kind the kind of life we want to have in the new year. And every January, the team at MTravel speaks with plenty of people who resolve to finally start their own travel business… only to never make a move. Before you know it, another year has passed, and they’re still working that job that leaves them frustrated and unfulfilled.

This January, our challenge (should you choose to accept it) is simple: stop making excuses.

Why do we make excuses? There’s a special term for the excuses we make for decisions we haven’t made yet: pre-excuses. Psychologists explain that pre-excuses are born when we claim not to have time to get something done—when the real reason is that we’re terrified to try.

Excuses are the outward expression of the inward desire to protect ourselves from failure, from anxiety, from instability. Often, that protective instinct is a valuable one that can keep you out of foolhardy situations. Sometimes, though, self-preservational instincts handicap your future by keeping you chained by fear.

How can we stop making excuses and finally get this thing going? Maybe you know other successful travel professionals, or maybe you look at your self-employed colleagues with a twinge of jealousy. Don’t be! Successful business owners aren’t magical, they’re habitual opportunists: when an opportunity arises, they pounce on it instead of smothering it with excuses. Fortune favoring the bold isn’t a mere observation, it’s a recipe for success. To become a better cook and stop the excuses, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Fight fear with facts. It’s easy to make excuses for not starting your travel business when you’ve conveniently avoided doing any research. Not in a place to comb through the Internet? We have great news: call the team at MTravel. MTravel has been helped independent travel agents launch their own agencies for 45 years. In 20 minutes you’ll have hard, cold facts, a friendly, reliable contact for future questions and a clear understanding of how to get your business going. De-mystify the process of starting your agency by knowing, not assuming, what’s involved.
• Step 2: Talk it out. When starting your own travel business, it can be helpful to get an outsider perspective. Give yourself the benefit of honest feedback by speaking with someone knows what’s involved and believes in your ability to succeed. Seek out people in your life who are DOERS, not naysayers. Share the knowledge you’ve gained from your research so you can have an informed conversation, not just a chat with someone echoing your own excuses. Sharing your goal of self-employment with someone you respect and trust can help break the self-imposed limitations you’ve placed on yourself.
• Step 3: Break the habit of blame-shifting. Whenever you catch yourself thinking, “I can’t start my travel agency now because…” pause and reflect. Is the reason something that is truly outside of your control? Or are you leaning on the needs or behaviors of others to excuse your lack of action?As an exercise, turn the sentence around: “I CAN start my travel agency now if I decide to….” Brainstorm what steps are needed to make self-employment possible. You may be surprised that you already have the counter-excuses ready in your heart.

The time to go after your dream career as an independent travel professional is now. Every year you delay is another year you’ve cheated yourself out of the entrepreneurial freedom you crave. This year, (this month!) stop making excuses, start your travel business, and make regret a thing of the past.  

Are you ready to take 2017 by the horns and start your own independent travel business with MTravel? We are here to help! Contact us here or call us at 800-870-5799. Be sure to check out our website at www.MTravel.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.