“One thing done equals money. Five things half-done equals no money”
Mary Ellen Tribby
It used to be that the limiting factor for growing ourselves or our business was the right information.
Now pretty much anything you want more information about is available literally at the tip of your fingers.
There is a popular summer drink called a Caesar that I enjoy when it’s hot outside. Kind of like a Bloody Mary but using Clamato juice rather than Tomato juice (clam juice added to tomato juice).
Sounds similar but really tastes different, and very refreshing!
However Clamato juice contains MSG and I try to avoid chemical additives, and MSG in particular. I had pretty much given up Caesars.
Then a friend suggested I do a google search on homemade clamato juice. Turns out you can buy fresh clam juice without the preservatives and make your own Clamato juice. Who knew!
Whatever topic you are interested in you can find an incredible amount of information with a google search.
The issue is no longer access to the information, the issue now is sorting and sifting so that you can make use of the information to produce results.
Most entrepreneurs (and really people in general) are in some level of overwhelm. There is so much to do, to learn, to reach, to stay on top of.
So how do you cut through the clutter to move forward and produce tangible results?
The simple answer is to pick one thing (and only one thing), focus on it, get it up and running, and then move on to the next item on your list.
The challenge is that we are usually trying to do too many new ideas at the same time – given that we are already busy people with full lives.
“Chase two rabbits, catch neither one”
I just spent two days at a Joe Polish marketing event (www.ILoveMarketing.com), which is kind of like standing in front a fire hydrant and getting blasted with great ideas.
Without some sort of filter or action plan nothing would get implemented. The challenge is way too many great options to choose from.
Lisa Wagner, one of Joe’s marketing gurus and a rockstar in the rug cleaning industry, shared her success secret for producing maximum results from an intensive conference.
She captures all of her ideas, puts them on pieces of paper and puts them in a hat. Then she draws one idea out of the hat and she focuses on implementing that idea until it is either successful or she blames the hat for coughing up the wrong idea!
Either way, she finished working on one idea before she starts working on the next.
Why is this such sage advice?
Because we are already busy! Life is full with what we already have on our plate.
And yet you are reading this newsletter because on some level you want to grow and evolve.
So how we bring both our busy lives and our desire for a bigger future together?
Develop new habits! The rule of thumb is it takes 21 days to establish a new habit, and a habit is basically moving something from having to consciously think about it to unconscious action.
In order to move from conscious thought to unconscious action you have to consciously reinforce and repeat the habit every day for 21 days.
And because establishing a new habit requires conscious thought and reinforcement for 21 days you can only ever work on one habit at a time.
I know – I have tried many, many, times to work on establishing two or more habits at the same time, and six months later I am working on the same two or more habits.
Instead if you focus on one new habit at a time, six months from now you can make a pivotal shift in your life.
This is true even if you are working on what appears to be simple habits such as getting 8 hours of sleep a night, or drinking more water.
The same is true for implementing new ideas. If you want to maximize results, work on one new idea at a time. Get it up and running and producing results, then move on to the next idea.
Not rocket science but it works.
“If you want to go fast, go slow”
Grissom on the TV show CSI
Now if this is true for you, how does the same principle apply to your team? Are you “dumping” too many new projects or ideas on them at the same time? Are they bottlenecking themselves?
How about your customers? In what way are your customers bogged down? What is the solution you have to offer then and how do you break it down into bite sized chunks?
“The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time”
Richard Cech
What is the first action, project or idea that if you implement it will move your business forward?