Answer: One chunk at a time! This was the title of a recent blog, by a really sassy lady and business mumpreneur, Karen Skidmore of "Can Do Can Be" fame. Karen was talking about that overwhelming feeling that us working ladies & working mums often get, when trying to juggle so many balls and spin so many plates, simultaneously! As someone who has started 2 home-based businesses in the last 24 months, It felt awfully familiar to me too....
It's also a common feeling around this time of year, when we often feel so compelled to come up with "New Years Resolutions" for our businesses.
The solution is simple...Stop! Take a deep breathe, get out a blank sheet of paper, and start to brainstorm all the projects / tasks you've had spinning around in your head the last few weeks. Don't bother with the detail and the "hows" & "whys" - that's not important - just yet... Because as soon as you can see all your ideas on paper, soon a pattern will begin to emerge.
Then grab a highlighter pen / wax crayon / lipstick (whichever's closest, while you're in the moment!), and without thinking too much about it, mark the top 3 projects / ideas that really excite you, right now...
Too often, a new years resolution for our business is not really what we're passionate about - it's the chores / admin / boring side of business - and it's often the reason why so many new years resolutions are never truly committed to & result in failure and disappointment. Next, write down the first 5 baby steps you need to take, to get each of these 3 projects / ideas off the ground. A baby step can be as small as making a phone call or doing some research. The important thing is that you have grabbed that elephant by the trunk, decided the direction you need to take, and committed to the first few chunks to get you started... If you start the year off with exciting plans that you can be passionate about, you are more likley to keep momentum and succeed with gusto!
New Year Resolutions for your business CAN be appetising and fulfilling. Go on - take your first bite of home-based business success!
How true! Too many details just lead to procrastination.
I tend to lean towards the 'just DO it!' philosophy and fine tune the details later.
Definitely flaws that need to be ironed out with that approach but at least it gets you moving in the right direction.
And at the end of the day, the only way you will know if something is going to work is by giving it a go.
Action really is the key.
Posted by: Internet Mama | 13 January 2008 at 09:23 AM
Hi Robyn
thanks for quoting me :) and I think you are absolutely right. Focusing on the detail just stops us do the projects that we get most excited about. There is a great phrase that I use to get me through quite a few of my projects:
"Completion NOT perfection".
If I thought about the detail about each project I start, I don't think I would ever get further than my idea post-it note.
I am off to tell my elephant exactly where to go :)
Posted by: Karen Skidmore | 03 January 2008 at 12:11 PM