Do you ever feel like you and your business are out of your control? Do you have a solid plan in place for what each quarter in your business looks like?
If you answered NO to either one or both of those questions, it’s okay. I’m here to help!
Today’s business world is fast paced and can be incredibly overwhelming. It’s tempting to jump right in, and many people do. While it is absolutely possible to create a successful business by going about it that way, actually taking the time to look at the big picture may very well help grow and increase your business faster.
Plan Your Attack
What I mean is, get everything out of your head and onto paper (or a Google Doc).
Have you ever heard of a brain dump?
Basically, you take 10 or 15 minutes and get everything you can possibly think of out of your head and onto paper. Then you can take everything you’ve just come up with and place it into productive lists, based off the priorities that you set.
Another thing that you can do is if you are feeling overwhelmed, journal. You can journal out the stress that you’re experiencing, or the feelings that you’re going through. But, before you stop writing, take the time to come up with different options for how you would want a situation to go.
For instance, a recent podcast guest, Peter Spenuzza, was pulled into a lawsuit early in his career, because after careful consideration he had determined that he no longer wanted to work with a particular partner. This caused some serious stress because his business life was tumultuous, and the outcome of the lawsuit was completely out of his control. To calm his thoughts, he started journaling and took the time to come up with 3 options on how things could pan out and how he could handle it better.
Just getting it out of his head helped bring more focus to his journey. It helped him vocalize the problem and come up with a plan of attack and even contingency plans, so he was ready for anything.
Think about the last time something happened in your life that was completely out of your control, and think about how you felt. You were likely experiencing some incredible stress and overwhelm. If you had taken the time to actually write out all of the potential outcomes and how they would make you feel, you would have seen that things wouldn’t have been so bad.
As entrepreneurs we often waffle or sit on things way too long and when we do that, we just continue to stress ourselves out. Once you’ve made the decision on which direction you will turn, you can clear space in your head for more fun and creativity to enter.
Taking the time to determine how you will approach a situation can make a huge difference in how you’re feeling and how you handle a situation.
Wearing Multiple Hats
When you start a business you have to wear a multiple hats and it can get a bit overwhelming. One thing you can do to help tame the overwhelm is to create your plan of attack.
Put the plan of attack on paper. This gets it all out of your head and onto paper.
Then, you can take a step back, think through the decision that feels right for you and begin to take action. Even if it’s just a baby step, that baby step can make a huge impact on your business.
You also want to consider having a trusted adviser. Someone who you can turn to in times of difficult decision making. This should be someone that you completely trust and that knows your business well enough to help make sound decisions.
As a business owner, focus and energy can be difficult to come by. You want to do every single thing on your to do lists, but that’s impossible. You need to set your priorities and have some achievable and attainable goals. This helps you decide which way is going to be the right way for you and your business.
By putting these “systems” into place you can allow yourself more calm and perspective, instead of constant stress and overwhelm.
You Are Not Your Business
You are not your business. Your identity is not determined by how well or how poorly your business is performing.
By taking the time to get everything out of your head, by journaling or talking to your adviser, you allow yourself perspective. You can look at the BIG picture, instead of focusing on the little things, that can seem even more overwhelming than some of the big ones.
Trust Your Gut: Learning From The NO’s
Did you know that you can learn from NO’s?
You can! For instance, Peter had tried to get his bar into a major retailer, REI. At the initial meeting they loved everything, but after being in the store for 30 days they decided to pull his bars from the shelf.
How did they notify Peter? By email.
Obviously Peter was disappointed that REI had turned him and his products down, but what bothered him more was the way in which they rejected him, through email.
This was a lesson learned for Peter. He decided from that moment on he never wanted to treat others that way. He was determined that any interaction, negative or positive, he would have it face to face or by phone. He simply believes that text or email is just too impersonal.
In Conclusion
If you’re ready to begin taking your business to a whole new level, it’s time to consider taking the time to create a plan of attack. The simple act of journaling everything that’s in your head, can begin to help you unpack all of the chaos that is in your head and get it onto paper.
Without chaos you leave room for the creativity to flow.
Not to mention, it’s the best way to see everything that needs to get done, which allows you to plan your attack around it!
