Entrepreneurial achievement requires solid and consistent follow-through. Seems straight forward enough. Well, it may be straight forward, but it’s far from easy.
Coming up with the business idea is the easy part. You discover a passion that truly drives you. You get all excited, chart a path, write up a business plan and get started. Right on!!! But then something sort of…fizzles. While you honestly know in your heart that this is your dream – that this is exactly what you want – at some point you stop going after it with the same fervor you started with. You start engaging in “staying busy” without focusing on the right actions, the smart choices, the ideas that will serve your business. Quickly you notice that days become weeks. Weeks become months. And suddenly you have very little to show for all this time you are putting in. WTF?
I get it. When your 9-to-5 life got annoying, you could bury yourself in “busy work” and fly under the radar. I did it myself back in the day. But that crap won’t fly now. You’ve decided to become an entrepreneur – “busy” is just not good enough. You have to be PRODUCTIVE!
Many of my entrepreneurial coaching clients find that learning follow-through is an important goal in and of itself. The feeling of accomplishment when you’ve completed one small task on time that works toward what you really want is fantastic and can become wonderfully addictive. This feeling rocks! However, the downside of this perspective is when your follow-through stalls you may feel that you have failed. This feeling then often leads to more stalling or abandonment of your goals all together. Been there? Sucks!
When you find yourself stalling, there is always a reason (read: excuse). Ask yourself the following questions:
- Did you give up?
- Get turned off by all the hard work?
- Get distracted by something shiny (read: something that seems easier)?
- Did you lose your early confidence?
- Did you change your mind about what you want your business to be about?
- Discover a new passion or priority?
- Just lose your momentum?
Get serious!
If you want your business to succeed, make it happen! Become emotionally connected to your outcomes! See them as your babies – you’d never abandon your babies. The follow-through is simply a natural part of the process. Set a bold, but realistic action plan for achieving your early business goals. Set yourself up for success – daily, weekly, monthly, and ultimately. Need more help? Get a follow-through partner to hold you accountable. Hire a coach to encourage you along the way. Figure out the support you need to ensure that you never stall again.
Okay. Enough of surfing the internet. Get back to work! (smile)
