Since we’re still in the first quarter of year, I bet you’re still following through with those New Year’s resolutions, right?
Daily workouts and clean eating? Check!
Calm, pleasant family dinners? Check!
The auto-responder that will greet new subscribers? Check!
No? Not quite?
For years (and years and years) I struggled to make my professional dreams a reality. I had piles of great ideas, but I wasn’t sure where to start … much less how.
Thankfully, after lots of trial and error and many abandoned plans, I’ve finally created a system that works for me. These two simple charts have helped me launch new offerings and create sites for seven-figure companies while parenting two very active young boys and moving seven times in six years.
Interested? Here’s how I do it.
1. Make a list of all your ideas + prioritize them in order of importance. Is your list twenty items long? That’s okay! List them all out. Of course, let’s limit this list to ideas related to your business and your online space. You can have a different list for family vacations or your thoughts about redecorating the spare room. Not sure how to prioritize? When in doubt, rank your ideas based on what will make you the most money in the least amount of time. A 15-part online course will make you money – eventually, but it’ll take a long time to create. Launching a service that your current clients have been begging for will be easier, faster, and more immediately lucrative. This doesn’t mean you remove your online course from your ideas list but it doesn’t need to be your #1 priority. 2. Divide your ideas into “Can Do Now” and “Requires Preparation” Make two columns. Looking at the top ten items on your list, choose four things you can do right now – because you already have the content, the skillset, etc. Write these items in the left column. In the right column, write four things you’re not prepared to do immediately. These might be tasks that require preparation, education, etc. 3. Choose two ideas to work on each quarter. Choose one “can do now” idea and one “requires preparation” idea for each quarter for the rest of the year. Really, truly commit to making them happen. Below each quarterly idea, list out the teeny, tiny steps to make them happen. No step is too small! It’s totally okay if your steps are: “sign up for Instagram” and “edit one picture every day for a month.” 4. As soon you’re done with the “easy” ideas, move on to the harder ones. As you work through your easy, “can do now” ideas, you’ll gather confidence and motivation. It will be so much easier to start working towards your slightly tougher, preparation-required goals! 5. Head back to your master list when you’re done! Did you finish everything? Wonderful! Now head back to your master list of ideas and double check your priorities. Do you still want to learn Instagram? Write that ebook? Redesign your site? Reprioritize your ideas, allocate them to a specific quarter of the year and keep going! Little by little, step by tiny step, this is how you eat the elephant. When we break down our ideas into little, doable bites and nestle them into a schedule, we’re more likely to make them happen. How do you sort through you tons of ideas? How do you make big things happen? I’d love to hear your tips in the comments! P.S. Incredibly helpful resources for crazy busy creative entrepreneurs The post How to Distill Your Million Ideas into Tiny Steps You’ll Actually Take appeared first on Connect Interactive.
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by! I’d love to connect, so drop me a line here or shoot me an email at norma [at] connectinteractivellc [dot] com. If you like what you’re reading, be sure and subscribe or sign-up just below for email updates so you don’t miss a thing!
