What do I focus on in my business?

I often get asked, “What do I need to focus on in my business?”

The answer is the same whether you’re focused entirely on growing your business or doing it in addition to holding down a job.

Here’s why…

You always need to be working on the next step that’s in front of you. This seems obvious but go with me here…

Where most people go astray is they start seeing the multitude of tasks that are required and they think EVERYTHING HAS TO BE DONE NOW.

This will instantly put you into spin out, cause you mental and emotional friction, and slow you down. Why?

Because it’s impossible and you know it.

You can’t possibly make good on the unconscious commitment you just made to yourself when you looked at all the stuff that needs to get done and said: “I’m going to do this now, this week, or even this month.”

The possibility of being out of integrity with yourself then causes panic… and it is this panic or overwhelm that stops you or slows you down.

I see this happening all the time, at all stages of business.

In fact, this just happened with a client in a VIP day. We had laid out a plan, what the basic building blocks were to get her to a $5 million dollar business, which by the way, did not require a lot of bells and whistles… the best plans never do…

And then I saw her face shift from excitement to something else along the lines of trepidation.

What was going on?

She started unconsciously thinking everything had to be done now, this week, immediately upon getting home.

A quick reframe helped… Focus on the next step. That’s all you have to do. You do the next thing that’s in front of you and that’s it. When you’re done with that, the next step. You know what to do now and you just do it. No noise.

This can happen very quickly if you get out of your own way.

One step after another. Don’t overthink things. This is key to making the quantum leap.

Here’s a simple way forward to get you started…

1) Pick when you’re going to be working on your business. These are your working hours. Don’t stray.

2) Then choose what you’re focusing on now, during these work hours.

If you’re honest, you probably already know what you need to do.

If you’re confused about priorities, don’t over think it. Pick something and get started.

Caveat: There are particular needle-moving actions that many entrepreneurs and women in business avoid. This is where a mentor and coach is an essential asset.

3) Which leads us to… going and doing that one focused thing during the working hours you defined. And then the next thing and then the next thing.

If you work like this, you’ll be surprised how quickly you can make progress in your business no matter how many hours you actually have to dedicate to it and how it reduces the self-imposed stress.

This is not rocket science, but I can’t tell you how hard this can be for people.

It’s hard for a lot of reasons (programming, mindset, boundary issues, not understanding how to work with time, etc) BUT it’s NOT because anything is wrong with you. You’re not broken, so don’t get down on yourself if this is hard for you.

That said, don’t let yourself off the hook either. Keep showing up. One foot in front of the other.