Introduction
Welcome back to the Entrepreneur Mindset podcast. Today we are digging into that next step in your business by developing a mindset that opens us up to the options. So many times when we have to make a decision there is a frozen feeling. In fact, we have that moment of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Instead of activating the sympathetic nervous system and preparing ourselves to do battle with the choice of what to do next, let’s walk through a process that you can implement time and again in your business and your life in general.
If you’ve listened to Episode 148 you know that sometimes the goal is just to take meaningful action, but we can refine this even further by exploring and evaluating our options. Today is all about options and maintaining a calm mindset through the decision-making process.
What should I do?
I plan my goals, my week, and even my days on a whiteboard. I have Agile magnets that allow me to write out goals, tasks, and action items and then I can move them around to make sense. I plan out each individual day in a paper planner, which drives my husband nuts because then he never knows what I have going on, but that is another story.
Sometimes when I do this planning everything is crystal clear on what I should do next and sometimes I look at that board full of magnets with important items written on them and honestly can’t figure out where I should focus my attention.
From there, it is easy to get frozen in place. Sometimes I will just stand in front of the board wondering what magnet to choose. Other times I will clean out the pantry, and still other times I will clean out cabinets. I get frozen and so I flee the situation and choose a task that, on the surface, needs to be done, but in reality isn’t pressing. It is ok if the cabinets go another day without being reorganized. Heck they could probably go another 3 months and be fine!
Once I figured out how to make intentional decisions in the face of uncertainty, my mindset shifted. Now, when I look at the board I see opportunities and can arrange them fairly quickly to create an action plan.
Making Intentional Decisions
So what shifted? I have a process that protects my mindset, saves me from the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mentality and physiological response, and get more done with the same amount of time.
Are you ready?
Start with Your Goals
There are always going to be mountains of things to do in your business, especially as a solopreneur, but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. The best place to start in deciding what to do next and determining what will be meaningful action is to look at your goals.
We all know what our goals are, but unless they are written out somewhere, it is easy to ignore them. So the very first step is to write out your Top 3 annual goals. With these in mind, go ahead and plan your quarterly goals. The key here is that the quarterly goals must align with your annual goals. In other words, they have to be a stepping stone to getting to the annual goals.
If you find yourself with quarterly goals that seem important and meaningful, but don’t align with your annual goals do some reflection. Why are they making the list? Is it because they are an easy win for you? Is it because you are passionate about this particular goal? Did someone tell you that you needed to have this goal on your list?
As you evaluate the reasons why those quarterly goals don’t align you can do one of four things. First, you can make it an annual goal if you deem it to be critical to the success of your business this year. Second, you can adjust the quarterly goal so that it is in alignment with your annual goals. Third, you can completely scrap the goal because you’ve realized that you don’t need it. And fourth, you can set it aside and make it a bonus goal. Something that you work on after the main goals are complete.
Now if this is something that you’ve already mastered, I’m going to add in a challenge level. Write out your 5-year goals for your business. Then align your annual and quarterly goals to those. This kind of future planning will help you to take meaningful action not just today, but throughout the years so that you don’t look back at a board full of fulfilled goals and still feel like you are drifting. These goals are going to be tied directly to your vision for your business.
Like I said, that step is the challenge level of this process. If you aren’t there yet, that is ok. There are definitely planning session where I can’t think about those 5-year goals. I just need to focus closer in. And that is ok.
Outline the Tasks
With your goals in mind, annual and quarterly, you can now start outlining the tasks that need to happen for those goals to become a reality. Already, your mindset is one of accomplishment and ease. Things are starting to flow and in fact you might notice during this planning session or sessions that you lose track of time. You are getting enveloped in a state of flow where your creativity is going to shine, your critical thinking is top notch, and you are far from feeling fight, flight, fawn, or freeze.
This past week I was working with a one-on-one client mapping out her goals and tasks for the remainder of the year. She has a lot of big goals and each goal has a host of smaller tasks that need to be accomplished. This is where things can get overwhelming, messy, disconnected, and freeze worthy.
The list grows and suddenly that flow you were feeling in creating your annual and quarterly goals has vanished and you are in full freeze mode. There are too many things to do. Where do you start?
With this client, I sent her an organized digital sticky note board with her big goals at the top and the different tasks laid out below. It helped to create a visual board of where she is headed. In doing this, it became clear that some tasks actually support multiple goals and that makes it less overwhelming. You can see the overlap.
When you have the tasks outlined, you can start to recognize what you’d like to work on first, or what has to be worked on first in order to move through the other tasks.
You gain clarity of action and this is one of the most powerful antidotes to feeling overwhelmed and frozen. When you have clear tasks you can choose something and get started.
What about FOMO?
These lists are all well and good. They give you meaningful actions, you can see better where to start, but what happens when something pops up and derails your attention? This can also trigger your fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response.
FOMO isn’t as much of a concern when you have your meaningful actions outlined because you are focused. You are less likely to be swayed by the shiny objects, but if you are, there is a solution.
As I’m getting ready to record this, multiple major courses have opened or are preparing to open. These courses only open once a year and so they create a lot of hype and FOMO. I talked with a client about one of the courses and through talking it became clear that this wasn’t something that was necessary in this open cart and so she walked away from it.
How did she do that? She was able to look at her goals and at the skills, tools, and resources she would need to make that goal a reality. What this course offered was tempting and would help her with future goals, but nothing that was on her immediate list. It would prove to be a distraction from the goals she is pursuing. With that knowledge, it was easier to say, “Not yet.” to the offer.
Trust Your Intuition
By having this mindset of meaningful action you can deal with the noise of the entrepreneurial world without getting swept up into it. You can make lists, check them twice, organize them, and do all kinds of things to help you take the next meaningful step, but don’t forget to listen to your gut.
Our intuition is powerful and is a conglomeration of all of our experiences as a human being. This is a great asset because, even though you might be a new entrepreneur, you have lived through many different life scenarios and your intuition has been sharpened on those. Use those experiences to make meaningful decisions and take meaningful action in your business.
And for the times when your goals and intuition seem to be telling you two different things, find a mentor or coach to talk to about everything. Sometimes just sharing all of the options can help you sort through the action choices and other times having an outsider summarize what they are hearing can unlock your own block in the situation.
The key here is not to just rely on intuition and not to just rely on your written goals like they are etched in stone. The meaningful action comes from integrating who we are as humans to make decisions.
Action Item
Remember that the goal here is to take meaningful action without experiencing fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. We don’t want put sympathetic nervous system to go crazy trying to decide what to do next. The key is to consider your options in a measured way with a healthy dose of intuition thrown in there.
This week’s action item will be to outline your goals for the remainder of the year. Start with the bigger annual goals and then break them down into quarterly goals. From there you can begin to break them down further. Look for the overlapping tasks and notice where you have gaps in your knowledge, skills, tools, and resources. These gaps will be where you bring in courses, coaches, and other help.
The goal here is to find the meaningful action and then take it. Today’s meaningful action is to gain clarity on where you are headed and what is needed to get there.
Conclusion
That’s all for today’s episode. This process that I outlined for you today is the same one that I use in my business. As a homeschooling mom, college professor, and entrepreneur I have to be very mindful of my time. These strategies help me to take meaningful action 99% of the time when I sit down at my desk to get things done. Let’s face, we aren’t perfect and sometimes we all get sucked into Instagram reels!
The key isn’t perfection, it is meaningful action so that you know there are possibilities and opportunities waiting for you. When you can master this mindset you will likely see a decrease in the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn moments because you can hop back to your goals and choose something that will get you one step closer. Any of the steps you choose will do that so there isn’t pressure to choose the “right” step. They are all right, meaningful action steps. And that is a great feeling!
And if you get stuck, as always, I’m here to help, whether that is with planning your next 100 days, getting your course finished, your coaching program created and implemented, or support in going through a course that you have purchased.
I’d love to work with you! I’ll drop links to the application so that we can see what next steps might be the most thoughtful next steps for you. I can’t wait to read your application and help you make progress in your entrepreneurial journey.
And I will see you back here on Thursday for a special guest episode where we will talk about a variety of topics including finding more clients for your business. And you know that we will be focusing on mentoring, community, and implementation so that we can remove the overwhelm of building a successful and profitable business and add in a little dose of momentum.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe, and happy week.
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