How to (Finally) Take Action

One of the biggest struggles of being a small business owner is actioning all of your great ideas.  They come to you in the shower…or while you’re driving…or you’re suddenly awake at 3am.  It’s a brilliant idea that you know is going to help move your business towards success.

But day, weeks or months go by and it continues to be a great idea that you know you need to do.

So, what’s the problem?

Usually what I hear from clients is “I want to do it, but I don’t know how to get it all done.  First I have to… And then I have to… And then I have to… I just don’t think I can make it happen.  Maybe it’s not such a good idea after all.”

Maybe it’s true that it wasn’t such a good idea after all.  But what if it was a great idea?  What if that idea has the ability to successfully grow your business, help you to achieve your goals, and serve your clients in newer, deeper and more powerful ways?

Don’t you owe it to yourself and to your clients to take action?

The problem usually isn’t that you are incapable of turning your idea into action.  It’s the way you’re looking at what it will take to make it happen.

You don’t ‘do’ a goal.  You achieve a goal by breaking it down into small and manageable pieces and taking action on (doing) one of those tasks each and every day.

What might that look like?  Let’s say you’ve got a great idea for a new program.  You’re pretty sure you know a few existing clients who would attend, and that it would serve the needs of potential clients too.  If you tried to think about everything it would take to successfully deliver a pilot program and how you’re going to accomplish it all, it is easy to get overwhelmed.  But, you could break it down into a list like this:

1. Write a high-level description of the program.
2. Contact existing clients who might be interested and ask them if they would be interested in this kind of program.
3. If there is an expression of interest, develop marketing plan for promoting the program.
4. Promote the program based on the marketing plan and receive registrations.
5. Once a minimum number of registrations are received, develop the facilitation plan for the program.
6. Develop supporting materials (handouts, workbook, etc.) to support the facilitation plan.
7. Book venue and organize logistical details for program.
8. Deliver program.
9. Follow-up with program participants.

Once the goal is broken down into tasks, map out time in your calendar to achieve each task.  Perhaps in a project like this, you could commit to achieving 1 task each week.  That means that within 3 months you will have developed, marketed, and delivered a new successful pilot program.

By focusing just on a smaller and more manageable task and giving yourself a specific timeframe within which to get each task done, you’re far more likely to successfully achieve your goal.  And as you build successful accomplishment like this, not only is your business growing, but so is your confidence and capacity in executing bigger and more complex goals to help you achieve your business vision.

Would a step-by-step approach like this help you to translate your ideas into actions?  To begin achieving business goals you’ve set for yourself in 2015?  Or do you have another process that helps you keep moving forward in your work?  Share about it in a comment below.