Not too long ago, someone challenged me: “Grace I think you’re afraid of digging deeper, of being known as an expert in one area.”

It wasn’t the first time I had been aware of this. I’ve always been good at most things I put my hand to (except gardening). Quick at picking things up. You could say jack of all trades.

I’ve noticed though with any learning, there comes a point where you need to really push in to continue developing. Where you invest emotionally, physically and intellectually on a whole new level. Yup, that’s usually where I get distracted by the next shiny new thing.

Back to this expert thing.

Ever since I’ve been coaching parents who are juggling business and family, the big question that always comes up is one of time: “How do I fit it all in? There’s so much to do and so little time.” Being a mum of two small children myself, I know exactly where they are coming from.

Which is why I’ve been on a personal and professional quest to get to grips with productivity, to decipher what works for different people.

It wasn’t until last summer that I tentatively embraced the title ‘expert’, when the folks at Screw Work Let’s Play invited me to be their Parent Productivity Expert.

Boy was that a crazy experience. I kept thinking “Any moment now, I’m going to get ‘found out’. I’m not the expert they think I am.” But I kept going. And I was delighted to receive this feedback:

“Grace rocked the Screw Work Let’s Play expert zone as our parent productivity coach. Her tutorial video was so rich with tips and gems of wisdom and advice that I was recommending people watch it about 3 times to really soak it all in. Grace’s calm, clear and sparkling approach to parenthood and making it work so you don’t have to sacrifice your own dreams and enjoyment in life made a big difference to a lot of our participants on the 30 Day Challenge.”

Selina Barker, Screw Work Let’s Play

As if that’s not exciting enough…

I’m now writing a book!!

The title is 21 Ways to Manage the Stuff that Sucks Up Your Time and it’s going to be published as part of the 21 Ways series.

How has that happened? For me it really was a case of taking baby steps.

Baby Steps mean you don’t have to have it all worked out before you start

As a naturally disorganised person, I would never have started with “I know, I’ll write a book on productivity!”

Instead, I focused on helping one person at a time, answering one question at a time. Putting myself out their one little risk at a time.

Baby steps can sneak past fear and confidence wobbles

Do I have what it takes? I don’t know. Can I have a go at just this tiny little bit of it? Yes I can.

In fact that’s exactly what I’ve been doing with running. Imagine for a moment that sport was never your strength. The last time you ran was probably for the bus. And you’ve been driving for 8 years. That was me at the beginning of this year.

The only way to get me running was to start really really small. Get under the radar of my out of shape body and terrified mind. So I did, with a series of 1 minute runs followed by 90 second walks. It’s now week six and I’m onto 8 minute runs.

Baby steps overcome overwhelm and move mountains

It’s all about making things doable. It breaks down big hairy goals into small, specific steps you can focus on and absolutely achieve.

Baby steps bypass procrastination and create momentum

Because you actually get started. You take action. And keep going. Rather than cram, crash and burn. As much as I love being a last minute girl, there’s no way I can get this book written overnight.

There’s a lovely saying that made me smile recently: “Even the snail made it to the ark.”

But baby steps work equally well when you need to get something done fast.

Baby steps give you the focus you need to meet crazy deadlines

My book deadline is the 30th March! Yikes! The only way I know I can make this is if I take baby steps every day.

Which is why I’ve put together this 40 Days of Baby Steps. Because I know I work better with company. How about you? Fancy joining me? We kick off tomorrow with personal brainstorming sessions.

A goal is only as good as the action it inspires. However well formed, well planned and well-intentioned a goal is, the proof of the pudding is in the doing.

But as my potty-training toddler is reminding me right now, people only ever do what they want to do.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the serious business goals of x number of customers and £s of turnover just don’t grab me.

And in my experience, if a goal doesn’t grab you by the heart, or the guts (or anywhere else for that matter!) and inspire you to take action, it’s just going to weigh you down and wear you out.

So here’s an idea. What if your goals were more like play? What would that look like?

Let’s see.

Play is personal

Whenever I run goal-setting sessions, I always start with dreams. The kind of crazy dreams you have as a child rather than realistic goals. The usual suspects of big house and holidays tend to come out first. But when we dig down deeper, we find the ones that are personal hold a lot more power.

The thing about play is, it is entirely personal.

What one person finds playful, someone else could find dull.

What one person finds powerful, someone else could find trivial.

If someone looked at your goal, would they see your fingerprints all over them? For example with my dream, I don’t see facts, figures, targets, numbers. I see people, faces, conversations, laughter. That’s what gets me fired up.

Play is an expression

Play is essentially an expression, rather than an expectation (as much as I sometimes order my kids to “go play!”).

Goals that are formed around expectation “I should…” or even “I need to…” often feel more like a chore, something you have to push yourself to do.

On the other hand, when a goal really expresses you and your desires, you naturally become drawn to it, you can’t help but get working on it, and you can’t wait to achieve it.

A couple of years ago I made the decision that my blog would be more of an expression of me and my thoughts, than an expectation of a set number of posts on a weekly basis on a particular topic. I was amazed at the difference this made to my creativity and how much more I wrote as a result!

How about the way you express your goal?

Some people like vision boards. I like creating word boards – a collage of positive words rather than pictures that represent my goal.

I love Chris Brogan’s idea of picking three words at the beginning of a year to define the goals, direction and experiences of that year.

Then there’s the letter to yourself, or even better a video letter, where you imagine yourself there, the future you, telling yourself what an amazing journey it’s been.

Play is a process

It’s more about what happens during, than the result at the end.

A common mistake people make with goals is to focus entirely on the end result.

Yes we need a destination to aim for, a direction to head towards, but the meaning of any story lies in the journey.

That’s why skipping to the end of the book is rarely satisfying. And why people can keep remaking TV dramas involving the Titanic even though we know exactly how it ends.

It’s like William Shakespeare said: “Things won are done; the joy lies in the doing”.

In fact, when you think about it, when we talk about reaching our goals, the word reaching suggests a process or an action. It means to extend, to stretch, to put effort in and move forwards or upwards:

Play is about discovery

And that involves ambiguity, uncertainty, incompleteness and imprecision.

Problem is, we think setting specific goals means to set things in stone.

Therefore, we either put so much pressure on ourselves to ‘get it right’ before we start, that it takes us forever to get started. Sometimes never. Gulp.

Or we get it all worked out, make a start then the minute things change, we despair that the plan has failed. We think we’ve failed because what we’re looking at now is different from what we set out to do.

Neither of those are particularly helpful. And definitely not fun. Been there. Done that.

A new perspective I am thoroughly embracing in one of the comments on Michael Hyatt’s blog, is the idea of plans unfolding rather than unravelling.

That means, the journey is one we discover as we take it.

Which means the key is to start. To make something happen. Then experiment as it evolves.

What about you? What would it mean for you to inject play, fun or inspiration into your goals? How would you do it? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

How far in advance do you plan your promotions? Do you use a calendar and look at seasonal themes that are coming up like Christmas, Easter and Mothers Day?

I must admit I’m often a bit last minute when it comes to seasonal promotions – and sometimes, it’s only when I pick up on Twitter that International Women’s Day or Entrepreneur Week is coming up, I think “hmm… maybe I could do something about that?” and realise I should have probably started weeks ago.

So I’m glad my friend Carrie Wilkerson has agreed to let me share her tips on this with you – as she’s much better at it than I am. And if you like what you read and want more of the techniques, strategies and ‘ins and outs’, check out the 50% discount she’s offering on her complete Seasonal Marketing System (until Monday).

So, in Carrie’s words…

Seasonal Marketing is more than holidays

When you think of seasonal marketing the first ideas that probably pops into your mind are the typical holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the other holidays on your calendar, but seasonal marketing is much more than that. Seasonal marketing can involve the four seasons in a year, the typical holidays mentioned above, various causes that are important to you, as well as client anniversaries. Seasons can also mean your particular product cycle.

When you consider all the opportunities open to you when planning your marketing strategy, your content strategy, and your promotions you can quickly realize that you will not run out of ideas very fast. Thinking about the “seasons” as a cycle rather than just dates on a calendar will help you plan for more since there are many cycles besides holidays.

 The Container Store has their ELFA ‘get organized’ event in January. They heavily discount their ELFA shelving and modules each & every year. This is a great example of THEIR product season.

As mentioned above you have the cycle of yearly holidays in which you can use to motivate buying, and you also have your product cycle. A product cycle or season depends upon what your product is, and who your target market is. If you are marketing to tax professionals, your seasonal marketing opportunities are dictated by your market’s tax responsibilities.

If your niche is work at home, home-schooling moms, then your seasons are dictated by what is important to your target market.

By offering discounts, buy one get one free offers, and other encouragement to purchase at the times your target market wants to buy or needs to buy you will quickly see an increase in sales.

If appropriate for your market you can promote products and information on the typical holidays by having special sales and promotions for the calendar holidays but you can also choose to celebrate special customers on their anniversary dates or the date they bought a certain product from you. You can create a brand new season for each client based on their purchasing anniversary. Your client will feel special, and you will encourage retention. (We’ll discuss that more in detail later this week.)

You can also tie your promotions into a cause. For instance, if you have a special cause that is important to you such as  breast cancer awareness, you can simply offer to donate a portion of your customers’  purchases to that cause during breast cancer awareness month only.

I am a big giver to orphanages and trafficking rescue through http://100xmissions.org so I sometimes have a ‘redeem a child’ seasonal offer. I typically do this in October in conjunction with my live event.

The important thing to remember is that your promotions, regardless of season, should be focused and targeted on your ideal client and his or her needs. If your website promotes WordPress Themes, it would not be appropriate to now offer Christmas Decorations for sale, just because it is Christmas. It would, however, be appropriate to offer two for one custom themes as a gift to your customers. Always stay focused, and do not become scattered in your offerings just because the calendar specifies a popular holiday.

Leave a comment below if you’d like to share a seasonal idea that you do without fail or something you’ve seen work with clients or places you shop. We’d like to know!

==> To check out Carrie’s complete Seasonal Marketing System (including 50% off until Monday), go here <==

As someone who always advocates celebrating successes, this is going to sound weird.

Being in business isn’t all about the successes.

It’s not all about the highlights, the celebrations, the ideas that go viral, the launches that sell out, the results that go way beyond your wildest dreams.

We think it is, it’s what we hear about, it’s what we cite in great examples, role models and industry leaders.

Often when people ask me “how’s business?” I feel this pressure to reel off the highlights – achievements, successes and what’s gone right, whilst brushing under the table what’s flopped, what looks crazy and what I’m still trying to get working.

And if I say I’m busy, people think, ‘that’s great, you’re busy with clients’. But what if I’m not? What if I’m busy getting clients – isn’t that just as important, or even more important?

I recently sent this out on Twitter and judging by the amount of times it was re-tweeted, I think it really resonated with a lot of people:

“One reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with other people’s highlight reel”

That quote came from Steven Furtick, a speaker I was particularly encouraged by recently at leadership conference, in a talk he gave about digging ditches.

He talked about a biblical story where the kings of Edom, Israel and Judah were leading a campaign to overcome the Moabites, and found themselves in a dry and barren land where they could not water their armies. The prophet Elisha gives them a message to ‘dig ditches’, even though no clouds could be seen, that the rain would come and fill the land. They dug. Rain came. But the digging wasn’t to bring on the rain – God could send the water regardless – it was preparation, so that everything was in place ready for when the rain came.

Sometimes we find ourselves in dry and barren times, when it is hard work and there’s no sign of rain. Those are the times when we question our vision, when we’re tempted to give up and start looking elsewhere, where the grass is at least growing, let alone greener.

But sometimes that’s precisely when we need to dig ditches.

Digging ditches means believing enough in a vision to act on it, even when there are no signs of certainty or success. In fact the difference between a forecast and a vision is that a forecast is limited to what you can see immediately in front of you, whereas a vision goes beyond the horizon, where nothing is certain and anything is possible.

Not that a forecast gives certainty either – it just feels safer to react to a forecast than to act towards a vision that (at the moment) can only be seen in your heart.

It’s having audacious faith. As Furtick put it “the difference between a vision and a daydream is the audacity to act and faith to get started”.

Are you acting on a vision, or just simply following the forecast?

Digging ditches means you put in the hard work now, to be ready for the opportunities that are yet to come, rather than waiting for a sign or chasing rainbows.

And it goes beyond that first moment of inspiration, which can sometimes seem fleeting or ungrounded. It’s the act of putting your stake (or shovel) in the ground and saying I’m going to see this happen. I’m going to work towards this vision. I don’t know how it’s going to pan out, but I’m going to invest myself and prepare for it nonetheless.

Digging ditches doesn’t look successful. It can seem pointless, even laughable, especially when you see no sign of rain. Sometimes what we’re working on doesn’t look successful or fruitful. There’s nothing glamourous about digging ditches. Sometimes it looks like dry and hard work. But it’s precisely this work that prepares you, stretches you and grows your capacity to take on, harness and run with the opportunities when they arise, to reap the blessings when the rain comes. Remember Noah? He looked ridiculous building an ark… until the rain came, then it made sense. Only with hindsight does digging become obvious.

Digging ditches means your focus is on your behind-the-scenes efforts, rather than staring longingly at other people’s highlight reels.

That’s what I mean when I say being in business is not all about the successes.

It’s about the work we put in, before it looks successful, before we see any signs of certainty. It’s about what we do behind the scenes that enable anything to happen out front.

That’s what real business is about. Digging ditches.

So next time you ask me how it’s all going, and I tell you I’m digging ditches, this is what I mean – it’s all good

PS. If you liked this post, please do go ahead and share it, and let me know your thoughts in the comments box – I love hearing from you!

“I know I should be ____, but I keep putting it off”

Fill in the blank. For a client of mine this was writing, specifically writing on her blog.

Yes we can work on procrastination, we can work on motivation, and we can work on confidence.

But hang on, what if you don’t have to?

What if, instead of motivating, cajoling, disciplining yourself to get it done, you can get the same results quicker and easier, or even better, by doing it differently?

First of all – what are the results you want to achieve? What’s the point of this thing you keep putting off? To be honest, if there isn’t enough of a point then I recommend you take great satisfaction in crossing it off your list! There’s no point wasting mental energy worrying about something that serves no purpose.

Still with me? Ok, let’s look at how we can do things differently.

1. How can you use a different format to get the same result?

Taking my client’s example, if her desired result is to give her audience valuable information and build her credibility, who’s to say has to do this in writing? Just because most blogs are written? What about podcasts and videos? Or even just pictures!

2. Consider your role – Do you have to be the one who does it? Can you delegate it or collaborate? For example, get someone else to write a guest post for your blog. Or, if you prefer talking, record it and get it transcribed.

Can you be the guide rather than the author? The person who finds the best information and points people in the right direction? The tourist information office doesn’t do tours, hotels or attractions – it serves people by signposting them to what’s available. In blogging you could reference another post and add your own commentary (like this one here), or provide a roundup of the best articles you’ve found on a particular topic.

3. Can you do it in a different style?

Instead of trying to fit in with ‘the way things have always been done’ maybe you can do something different? It won’t appeal to everyone, but it will stand out. Be distinctive rather than ‘beige’ as my friend Marianne Cantwell would put it.

Maybe instead of long and comprehensive, you write short and snappy, like Seth Godin’s Poke the Box

Maybe you’re lively, creative and a real health & safety geek. What if you could use your personality to your advantage. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would really welcome a fun and engaging approach to health and safety!

Maybe you’re a spontaneous, chaotic teacher who’s trying desperately to be a planner. How might you use your strengths rather than hide them, to engage and educate your students?

Instead of settling for a ‘should do’ or ‘must do’ that bores you to tears, find what gets you fired up and apply that to what you want to achieve.

Play to your strengths. Defy labels. Do it differently. Do it your way.

So, what’s been lurking at the bottom of your to-do list, that you keep putting off? How can you do things differently, and get the results that you want, in a way that you love?

Love to hear what you think – let’s talk about it in the comments box below!

Technology!

Love it or hate it, we all have to deal with some level of technology in our business.

Which is why I’m delighted Kasey Traeger, the Lady Tech Tamer is going to share with us some of her tips and strategies at our next Bitesize Boost teleseminar:

Tech Tips and Timesavers on 25th October at 8pm UK / 12pm Pacific US (2pm Central, 3pm Eastern)

Kasey uses technology and systems on a daily basis, to create more ease, speed and agility in her client’s businesses as well as her own, and in this 30 minute call, she’ll be sharing:

• Ways of using technology to free up (rather than take up!) your time, so you can focus on and enjoy doing what you do best in your business.

• What parts of your business can be put on auto-pilot, and handy shortcuts for the other parts that require a human touch.

• How to effectively delegate and still keep control of your business.

Missed the call?

Get your personal takeaway pack, includes:

• Downloadable recording of this call in mp3 format
• ‘In a nutshell’ action guide

Simple as that. No extra fluff or fillers. Just fast, portable learning to help you take fast, flexible action.

Price £9.95

Are you so busy with so much to do, that you feel like you’re just treading water and getting nowhere?

Have you set yourself some big hairy audacious goal – and are now feeling daunted by the sheer size of it?

Or have you got so many ideas, too many options, you don’t know where to start?

Whether overwhelm has you frozen to the spot or spinning your wheels, our next Bitesize Boost teleseminar will help you to get on track, in control and moving forwards.

Overcoming Overwhelm on Thursday 13th October at 1pm UK time

In this 30 minute call we’ll cover:

• Putting your finger on it – the five factors of overwhelm and what to do about them

• Getting unstuck – a simple exercise that will shift your mindset from stressed and overwhelmed to energized and empowered

• Getting going – Three simple steps to move forward in the right direction, right here, right now

Missed the call?

Get your personal takeaway pack, includes:

• Downloadable recording of this call in mp3 format
• ‘In a nutshell’ action guide

Simple as that. No extra fluff or fillers. Just fast, portable learning to help you take fast, flexible action.

Price £9.95

I’m a big fan of matching energy levels and work time – an hour of focused energy can be much more productive than 3 hours of slogging away. But it’s not always practical or possible, especially with kids in the time equation, as one mum asked me in a recent webchat about productivity:

“My highest energy time is in the morning but with 2 young children I often don’t get time to work on my project until they’ve gone to bed and I’m really tired. Any ideas?”

One answer would be to get up earlier in the morning, but as this mum was already waking at 5.45, she didn’t really want to set the alarm any earlier (and risk waking the kids at the same time)!

It’s often not straightforward – you don’t always have full control of how you use your time, and that’s often the point of frustration. So rather than try to change the fact that you have kids, let’s look at how to boost your energy levels in the evening, so that you can make good use of the time you do have.

Firstly a physics lesson. From what I remember from my school days, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. So that means there’s always energy all around us, even if we may feel lacking.

Rather than focusing on tiredness and feeling even more tired as a result, why not start by noticing all the energy around us? Whether that’s the wind blowing in the trees, the traffic zooming around, your partner chuckling at something on TV or the kids climbing around before bedtime. Whatever it is you notice, notice the energy flowing through it, that flows through every part of life – including you.

Secondly, think of an energetic time you’ve had – call to mind a moment where you feel completely full of energy. What elements are there? What ingredients, what sparks of energy jump out at you the most?

All sorts of factors can be energy boosters, for example:

• Sunlight, fresh air, being outdoors, seeing the sky, feeling the wind on your face, hearing the sea rushing.

• Particular foods – fresh fruit, ice cold orange juice, plenty of water

• The company of passionate people, laughter and inspiring conversations

• Colours, space, environment, furniture…

• Your own position and posture – are you standing, sitting, lying down or doing something else?

• Movement – there’s a saying that “to find energy, get moving”. Are you moving around, running, or dancing?

• Music – I have some favourite energising songs that always pick me up – or any sounds that stir up energy in you.

• Words – that you associate with energy, simply written down in front of you. For me these are words like spark, bounce and laughter – what words would you choose?

The great thing about our minds is that we capture what we experience, so we can release some of these energizing factors – for example by imagining sunlight, visualising colour or remembering a passionate conversation – and recall some of that energy to our minds and our bodies even in the evening.

Here are some of the creative solutions that came out of this webchat:

• One mum considered putting a picture of a sunny scene on her wall.

• Another came up with having a shower once the kids were in bed, and maybe even have a glass of fresh orange juice afterwards, as if it were breakfast!

• One dad talked about putting together a playlist of energizing music, and also found that even if he was feeling low on energy to begin with, if he just got started, the first 10 minutes would then generate momentum to keep going – remember, to find energy get moving.

Myself, I often imagine my two year old daughter gleefully bouncing on the trampoline – LOTS of energy there!

What about you? What energy boosts can you give yourself in the evening, or anytime for that matter? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.

This month at Busy Mums business networking we’ve been talking about social proof.

When considering a purchase, three questions that often come to mind are:

• Is this the right product? Does it solve the problem or need that I have?
• Is this right for me? Is this made with me in mind, does it relate to me and address my specific needs?
• Does it work? Is it any good? Does it deliver what it promises?

In your business there’s a lot you can communicate to address these questions directly. As customers, however, we give much more attention and credibility when these questions are answered by other people. People we can relate to, who we consider to be ‘like us’ enough to influence our decision. This comes from Robert Cialdini’s principle of Social Proof – that people will do things that they see other people are doing.

Think of when you bought your mobile phone. Chances are you saw someone with that phone, heard someone talking about it or asked someone’s opinion.

Similarly, providing social proof in the form of comments, recommendations and testimonials from other people can help your customers make their buying decisions.

Where can these come from?

• The most obvious first: asking for direct testimonials following from the work you’ve done or the product you’ve delivered.
• Using comments from customers – from conversations in person, over the phone or by email. By asking “Can I quote you on that?” you can turn them into testimonials.
• Facebook – when people say nice things about you on Facebook, capture it as a screenshot. It’s a great ‘natural’ way of showing testimonials. You can see some examples here.
• Twitter – you can capture positive comments, feedbacks, thank you notes and #ff recommendations on Twitter by adding them to your ‘favorites‘ stream, creating a whole page of testimonials. There are also widgets you can use to import this stream into your blog or website (look over to the right hand side of this page for example).
• Linked In has a Recommendations section – you can use it to request recommendations from any of your contacts – from customer testimonials to character references.
• Celebrities, statistics and inspiring quotes – may not be a direct testimonial for you, but can endorse the method or solution that you’re offering. Think of diet adverts “Celebrity X lost so many lbs” and fashion features in magazines “as worn by…”

Where to use them?

• All the obvious places – your website, your promotional materials and your sales pages.
• In your follow up emails to people who have expressed an interest but not yet bought. “Jane, do you feel… that’s exactly how Carol felt and this is what she said…”
• In your email signature as a PS.

Where else? How do you use your testimonials? Love to hear from you in the comments box below.

Do you have a dream or project you keep putting on hold? Something you keep promising yourself for ‘later’?

What are you waiting for?

Are you waiting for the right time?

So often we tell ourselves that, but what do we actually mean by it? When exactly is time ‘right’? When you’re less busy? When you have less ‘to do’? When you’ve finished everything else? When is that exactly? The running joke amongst my friends whose kids have just started school or nursery is “I’ve been waiting for this time when I’m going to have so much time, but now I’m here, I’m still waiting!”

Are you waiting for the right opportunity?

For your dream job, perfect project or ideal client to come barging through the door and beg you to work with them? While you’re waiting, what opportunities are you overlooking? What’s already at your doorstep? And what’s the view like outside of that door? What might you notice just around the corner? How many more opportunities might you spot if you took even one step out of the door?

Are you waiting for you to be ‘right’?

When you have more money in the bank, less numbers in your dress size, more letters after your name? When you’ve thought about it some more, pulled yourself together and given yourself a good talking to (except actually you end up talking yourself out of it!)? When you feel more confident, or when you feel ‘ready’? How’s that working for you? How does waiting help you to do that?

Actually, are you waiting for someone else to do something, or for you to do something?

Have you had enough of waiting yet? Here’s what I suggest:

1. Stop disqualifying yourself

Sometimes opportunities arrive, or we find them, or we create them – and rather than seize them, we start to list all the reasons why it’s not really an opportunity: “It’s not really for me, I’m not the right person, in fact I can think of a couple of people who would be much better suited for the job…”

Instead, list all the things you are, rather than what you’re not. Look at what you can do. Ask yourself “How could I do this?” and see where that takes you.

2. Create an easy first step and take it

Here’s a hint. The first step is the thing that gets you started, not the thing that gets in the way. If something’s in the way, your first step might be to clear it. If something’s too big or far out of reach, then take a baby step towards it. One of Mark Forster’s time management strategies is to “just get the file out” – rather than think of this massive task he’s got to do, he essentially tricks himself into starting by saying “I’m just going to get the file out” then finds himself inevitably getting on with the work.

Do something. Get started. Make it easy for yourself.

3. Put something in place that helps you

Instead of letting things like time management, motivation or confidence issues stop you, put something in place that helps you. It might be rallying a small group of dedicated friends to cheer you on. It might be joining a group of like-minded people for peer support and masterminding, or it might be working with a coach having that one person in your corner, keeping you on track, focused, accountable and equipped to deal with any challenges that get in the way.

So, what have you been waiting for? Drop me a line in the comments box below, and tell me what you’re going to do about it.