Tell me if this sounds familiar: An idea sparks in your mind, your passion ignites, and you spend hours, weeks, even months planning how you’ll transform it into a reality. But when the time comes to take the big leap, you falter. Mired in details and fearing failure, you head back to the drawing board and re-immerse yourself in dreaming and planning.
No? How about this: “Action” is your middle name, which means you’re constantly scrambling to keep up with your mile-long to-do list. As you buzz from client to client, meeting to meeting, you realize you should dedicate some time to working on your larger goals and planning for the future of your business … but your calendar beckons, and off you run.
These two cycles are simultaneously the same and polar opposites. Endless Planner is avoiding action and Overwhelmed Do-er is immersed in action … but both are engaging in cycles that subtly sabotage their endeavors. Both need goal clarification and goal support, and both could use some help moving themselves toward goal achievement.
If these Endless Planner and Overwhelmed Do-er are ever going to move beyond their self-erected roadblocks, they’ve gotta embrace two of the biggest growth-drivers in business: Action and accountability. Think you might need a little of both in your own work life? Let’s talk about how to get there.
Intentional Action Centers Us
Now, before we discuss the rewards of bold, decisive action, let’s take a knee to talk intention. Because plunging into doing without first contemplating can lead to 15 kinds of disaster. Intention before action keeps us centered in the Why, the huge, soul-centric reasons we do what we do as entrepreneurs. When we tap into the power of that mission-driven motivation, it keeps us on track when we face challenges or consider giving up. It also keeps us from acting for the sake of acting without considering how our choices might impact larger goals.
So yes, I’m urging you toward action. But with a gentle reminder that intention is an essential warm-up activity before a marathon of momentous activity.
Action itself? SO essential for entrepreneurs, especially women in business. It can be tempting to stall out in that place of intention—just keep planning endlessly and dreaming wistfully—but forging ahead is vital. Intention should become the sword of discernment that slices through ineffective or unproductive action, and separates it out from truly potent and progressive action. Moving from thinking to doing can seem like taking a flying leap, and that can be scary. Force it to feel more like a step than a leap by ramping up, tackling small bite-sized tasks first before throwing yourself into the massive ones, and the process will be less daunting.
And if you get sucked into the doubts, the fears, the procrastination, and the overwhelm, you must find a way to get support. Promise me you will, OK? (And if you’re not sure how, stick with me and I’ll tell you!)
Now let’s talk accountability.
Mindful Accountability Keeps Us On Track
We healers, helpers, and heart-centered entrepreneurs are a contradictory bunch. We often get so focused on healing and helping as many people as possible, that we burn ourselves out, drown in overwhelm, and avoid taking essential steps to grow our business footprints. We heal and help until we’ve got nothing left to give. And then we collapse into groaning heaps and wonder what the hell went wrong.
Lack of accountability is what went wrong. And I don’t mean accountability to clients or team members. I mean accountability to ourselves and to our businesses.
Putting the needs of others first in all cases, avoiding achievement because of fear of success, subtle self-sabotage, endless procrastination, weak or poor boundaries, and shiny-object syndrome all screw us over in the end. Because in the end, we’re tapped out and useless. And again, this is especially true for women entrepreneurs since we’re culturally conditioned to see ourselves as givers and caretakers, and fall so easily into the trap of zero accountability.
Accountability keeps us on track, hyper-focused on the goals and actions that will catalyze business success. Accountability protects us from burnout and over-extension. Accountability helps us build healthy, thriving, efficient business models that are truly sustainable.
So think long and hard about what is truly necessary to keep your practice going. Can you cut two tasks from each day? Add a chunk of time each week for outreach, marketing, and brainstorming? What do YOU need to do to change your tendency toward endless, draining activity?
You are NOT alone
I bet all of this sounds totally possible and completely fabulous … in theory. But putting it into practice might feel more challenging. So here’s your friendly nudge toward the Kula, a phenomenally friendly Facebook group where community support is the name of the game! Embracing action and establishing accountability can be a million times easier when tackled with open, supportive, knowledgeable colleagues.
Won’t you join us? We can help you get “straight A’s” in business without pulling ANY all-nighters. Scout’s honor.
