My husband accuses me of not being able to relax on a beach. Sad as it sounds, he’s right. I am not a sitter. I maybe, in a bad week, watch 3 hours of TV. I’m just busy doing something (although I have neglected my dust.)
So I run across an article today that says “How to Tie your Shoes in 9 Steps”. Sure enough, there are nine steps regardless of whether you choose the standard shoe tying option or the bunny ears option (my personal favorite to this day.) This is what is wrong with the world. Not the bunny method, the shear fact that somebody has to write a step by step guide to something so…simple! Obviously the article wasn’t meant for a child to read. So no learning there. It’s just another deterrent to actually DOING something!
Brian Tracy wrote a great little book called, Eat That Frog! The subtitle is 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. Amen. I don’t know one person who says, “Gee, I have all the time in the world and nothing to do.” But rather than just taking action, we do the easy tasks and put off the tasks that are perhaps more challenging or difficult.
This happens in home businesses all the time. People get distracted by tasks that not only don’t move their businesses forward but actually set their businesses back. Folks get so hung up WANTING the step by step details that they aren’t taking action. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe they are afraid they will fail so using this “learning” excuse sounds valid. Maybe they lack self-confidence and are not used to making decisions so it’s easier to just do a task or two rather than really step out into their greatness. Maybe they aren’t able to prioritize what’s important so they do what is easy rather than what’s necessary. Who knows. Humans are an odd bunch sometimes.
But I do know this - you are either growing or you are dying. Your business is either moving forward or it’s moving backwards. Nothing is static. (Thanks James Ray!)
Hold your focus on what is truly important. Consider each task (briefly - don’t slide into the “let me think about this” mode too long) and decide if it is an action that is helping your business. If it’s not, but is something that needs to be done, then just do it as quickly as possible and move on.
Brian Tracy states in his book, “Here is one of the greatest questions you will ever ask and answer: ‘What one skill, if I developed and did it in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my career?” I can promise - yes I said promise - that if you put your attention on actions that are business building actions, on a daily basis, your business will move forward. I can also, unfortunately, promise you that if you focus on the minutea, those tiny irrelevant details, your business will continue to suffer.
So if you are foturnuate enough to be in a business that has a solid system in place, by all means follow it! Don’t concern yourself with the size of a label. Your customers won’t care. Don’t fret about which color bag you should put your product in. Your customers won’t care. But DO care about taking consistent and meaningful action, building relationships with your customers and prospects and having integrity throughout. THOSE matter. Those will move your business forward.
But above all, just do it already! <smile>
