Wanna 10x your business growth in the new year in less time? Then you need a new mindset.
In this video, we’re talking about growth and how to change your mindset to get more of it in 2018.
Pssst! Don’t fall into the same trap that 99% of small business owners do. (Yep, even me.)
- 0:17 – The biggest realization I had in 2017 about growth
- 0:23 – Why the do-it-all mindset doesn’t work for small businesses
- 1:01 – The consequences of stretching yourself too thin
- 1:34 – My motto for you in the new year
- 1:49 – How to lazer-focus in 2018
- 2:22 – The visual difference in growth when you do it all vs. when you focus
- 2:53 – What focusing looks like in day-to-day business
- 3:26 – How I’m lazer-focusing in my biz this year
- 4:36 – My super simple strategy for picking your focus
You can have anything, but not everything at the same time…
That was the single, most powerful realization I had last year.
Our society is so focused on having it all we try to do everything – in our personal lives + in our businesses.
I watch so many entrepreneurs + small business owners trying to have it all. To do everything. To be everywhere. To help everyone. (FYI, I used to be the same way.)
You’re busy with your client, your marketing, launching a new service, going after a new customer group, pitching podcasts + guest blogs, putting together a course, rebranding… and more. All at the same time. Impossible.
What I just described is spreading your focus + your energy way too thin.
I bet you’re frustrated because…
- You’re making little progress (if any) in these areas.
- You’re stressed out, overworked, and overwhelmed.
- You’re always “busy” but nothing ever seems to take off.
- You’re sacrificing family and personal time just to get more done in your business.
Enough is enough.
In 2018, I urge you to narrow your FOCUS. I give you permission to stop trying to do everything. Because It’s getting you nowhere.
Instead, I challenge you to pick 1 BIG GOAL for the next 90 days. And sync all your other projects, activities, and tasks (like marketing, sales, outreach, and client work) around that single goal.
You’ll 10x your return on effort in as little as 90 days. And here’s why:
I really like this diagram from the book Essentialism.
It shows the consequences of spreading our finite amount of effort over multiple areas as well as the benefits of focusing on one direction. Clearly, there’s an impact when you focus.
Narrowing your focus might mean:
- Trimming your service offerings
- Letting poor-fit clients go
- Simplifying your content or social media marketing
- Putting off side projects (like your course) until another quarter (Definitely this one!)
This is actually pretty easy to do (in theory) but can be harder to stick to in practice.
Here’s how I like to do it:
- I make a list of everything I’d like to do.
- Then I narrow down to the goal that makes the most sense strategically + has the highest potential return on investment, effort + happiness.
- Then I make a list of everything I’m currently doing.
- I go down the list item by item and ask myself: does this serve my 1 goal? If yes, I keep it. If no, I modify it (e.g. blog topics) or cross it off entirely.
Why waste your precious time on something that has little impact at all on your business.
I know you need a real example. So here’s what that looks like in my business:
For the first quarter of 2018, my big goal was to grow my done-for-you services for a particular niche with 1 core service.
This has involved:
- trimming my existing service to focus entirely on funnels,
- ending contracts for projects that weren’t in line with my one goal
- screening new leads + projects with a new focus
- changing my website copy + messaging
- launching 1 new funnel (with only 1 lead magnet)
- changing the topics of the content I create to match up with niche + service offerings
Remember: the entire goal of focusing is to 10x my productivity, impact, return on effort, and my business growth – all in 90 days.
If you’d like to learn more about this approach to business, I highly recommend the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Or if you wanna dive into setting 90-day goals, check out the 90 Day Year.
