Everyone has their own gap. You have this vision of your ideal place, whether it's health, business, money, fitness, time.... you want to be somewhere other than where you are. You want to be in shape. You want to be profitable. You want freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it. You may be actively working on one gap while letting another sit idle. Or you might be stuck not making improvement in any area.
You already know some of the steps it will take to get you to where you want to be even if you can't see the whole path. Yet something holds you back from making progress.
My guess is comfort.
There is comfort in the known. There is comfort in your habits. There is comfort even in the sadness of not reaching your goals. It's predictable. reliable. safe.
When I was starting my business, I didn't have a full vision of its future. I just knew that something had to change. I could continue to do nothing with my time towards making a different future. Or I could just start & see what happens.
I had to get tired of my own stuck self enough to make a change. And for me it was like a light switch. I decided one day to just get going & I did.
"The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” -Mark Twain
No one can create your motivation for you. But once you decide that you need change more than you need comfort, the rest is pretty easy, relatively speaking. You just need some consistent execution of the right priorities.
We tend to set ourselves up for failure though: overestimating the amount we can accomplish in a week, underestimating the time & energy something will take, and we beat ourselves up over not mastering something instantly. We compare ourselves to other people as if that's any true indication of our abilities. And then we give up too soon.
How many people do you know that started on a new venture and mastered it instantly? Lost weight the first time they ate a salad? Became a millionaire with their first product launch? Betting you haven't, cause that's not how things work.
We dream up our plans including some unrealistic expectations without considering who we are. Have you ever started a New Years Resolution that didn't make it past January? It's because we desire change so we create a plan without taking our personality, energy, or habits into consideration.
“There are two fatal errors that keep great projects from coming to life: 1) Not finishing 2) Not starting” -Buddha Gautama
But what do you work on first?
To close the gap between where you want to be & where you are now, you need to know what to focus on.
I made a Focus workbook designed to help you become crystal clear on your priorities. It helps you understand some of the main disruptors to reaching your goals. One of them is focusing on the wrong thing or focusing on too many things at once. You can only drive one vehicle at a time....so which one will get you to your goal the fastest?
Once you know which vehicles can help get you to your goal, there's a really simple way to help you know what to prioritize. Ask yourself two questions. Is there a timeline attached to any of the priorities? If so, that takes precedence. If not, ask yourself, what will give me the biggest result in the shortest amount of time. It is truly that simple.
I go into all this in a lot more depth in the workbook in case you want more guided help. But the gist is that you need to go all in on one thing. Decide 2-4 bigger projects/vehicles that can help you reach your annual goal & figure out which one is the most important to be first. If you are starting a POD or digital product business, you might include things like creating an email list, developing a couple product lines, designing a seamless pattern collection, etc. If you truly have no products, I'd probably start there. Just open a social media account & post your behind the scenes while you're working to create your first item so people start to know you. Then once you have a product line or pattern collection, create a freebie to start working on growing your email list.
The best day to get focused was yesterday, the second best is today. :)
Warmest Regards,
P.S. The Focus Business Plan Workbook is available for sale, here.
It is included FREE inside our membership as well.
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