New Year’s is just around the corner!
So this week I want to share my best tip for getting started on your goals even before the Resolutions take off at the end of the month (Roughly 4 weeks away!)
Everyone says that knowledge is power, but I beg to differ. And I think most people would agree, knowledge is no longer power. It is applied knowledge that is powerful. Because you can be the smartest person in the world and still have a failing business if you fail to apply your knowledge.
So how do you apply knowledge? Momentum!
But here’s the thing about momentum: no one seems to know how to get it going. We see the big companies in the full swing of their momentum, but we never see how in the world they ignited their momentum. To pull back the curtain on momentum a bit, I’m going to use an example.
The Example:
Space Rockets are some of the most powerful things in the world. They take people all the way to the moon on a regular basis! But they can’t break free from Earth’s gravity if they don’t get ignition started. And ignition rarely starts with a gigantic flamethrower. Often, ignition is started with a tiny little match.
It’s the same thing in your business and life. You can go all the way to the moon, but you won’t get there unless you ignite your momentum which can happen with the tiniest little action.
Here’s where it gets tricky…
Momentum can get started with the tiniest of actions, but entrepreneurs tend to be great at sparking momentum and then stopping it (I know because I do this too!)
How?
Most entrepreneurs love to have plans. I do too! We spend hours creating an in-depth, 16 page plan that’s 42 bullet points deep each page. Everything is planned down to the tiniest detail. Then on step 2, something goes wrong.
The plan we spent 4 days creating is totally messed up because step 2 didn’t work out.
The momentum stops, we get depressed, the icecream and wine come out, it’s not good…
Stop Planning Every Single Step
The solution is to just take the next step.
You don’t need to plan the whole route, you just need to get to your next step. If you can get yourself moving and keep yourself moving that momentum forward, you’ll find that the plans will formulate as you go. You’ll find the next step to take as you need to take it.
Instead of planning the whole route, figure out your ultimate goal and the first ignition step that you need to take.
The Key? Be Specific.
To create ignition, you’ll need to have specific and measurable steps and goals. Your first step needs to be something you can measure and your goal needs to be something clear that you’ll see when you’ve hit it. Otherwise you’ll find yourself struggling with keeping the momentum going.
For Example…
A few years ago, we planned to start our first online course. We’d been told for months that online courses were something we needed to do, so we set out to get it going.
My first goal? Launch an online course.
The problem with that goal is that there was no clarity on what that course looked like, where it would be launched, or even what it would have inside of it. Ultimately, we scaled back and had to determine the platform to put it on first because that was the biggest deciding factor in what it would look like. Only then did we move forward as we found different aspects of the course that we needed to create for it.
But the first few months of creating that course were a nightmare because of a lack of clarity. My momentum suffered tragically, and I had to re-ignite it multiple times.
Set measurable goals and steps.
If you want to create momentum, get specific and just take one small action at a time. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t see much movement, because momentum builds. Think of it this way…
Be like Wile E Coyote.
No, I don’t mean that you should go hunting RoadRunners. What I mean is to take it one step at a time. When Wile E Coyote is trying to get a boulder to the top of the hill so he can push it at the roadrunner, he takes one solid step at a time toward the top of the hill. At the top of the hill, the boulder doesn’t take off at lightning speed. He tips it over and it slowly gains speed and momentum until it’s unstoppable.
You might not see a lot of progress at first, but keep it up because momentum builds!
About the Author:
Stephanie Scheller is a TED speaker, a two-time best-selling author and the founder of Grow Disrupt. In just under a decade, Stephanie has been behind the scenes with more than 5,000 small businesses. She has worked in groups and one-on-one to create total business transformation & help business owners live the life they got into business to create!