Three Habits Hurting Your New Business Goals
The following post was contributed by Monique Melton. Catch her February 28th at 10 am, as she hosts a free webinar in the Dubsado Facebook Community. "Build It To Win it" will walk through 5 steps to building a more profitable business.
I heard an alarming statistic once that suggested that most people who set goals for the new year fall off by Valentine’s Day.
Think about it, you start the new year feeling excited to accomplish the big goals, to do the things you’ve never done and to get work done like never before. Before you know it, old habits creep in and you find yourself settling for whatever you get, versus working strategically for what you want. You can work hard every day, but without a strategy, all that hard work can’t fully meet the potential or yield the results you’re truly after.
And I know you’re working hard. I see you clocking in those hours and getting that work done, but are you busy being “busy” or are you focused on being strategic?
Chances are if you made big goals for your business at the beginning of the year, these goals will require some strategic changes at some point- changes that most of us are either unwilling willing to make, or unable to.
So, to avoid sounding like negative Nancy, (sorry if your name is Nancy, you’re probably a really nice person), I want to help you get more strategic with implementing your goals. To do this I want to point out three habits that make it difficult for you to implement the strategic changes consistently.
Setting the goals is the simple part, creating the plans is the strategic part, and committing to the daily action in order to accomplish the goal is the difficult part. That’s why overcoming the habits that hinder you daily is critical to the process of accomplishing your goals.
I know you want something bigger for your business and for your life and I know that you’re willing to work hard for it. I also know that we all can be vulnerable to these habits if we’re not careful, which is why I’m giving you some practical strategies to beat those habits that sabotage your progress.
Social Media & Email without a restriction
You know how you go on your phone at any time of day for any length of time and just scroll? Yeah, I do too. It’s a nasty habit that eats at your attention span, productivity, and focus. Social media and email are great and can be wonderful ways to build community and grow your brand but they can also be a terrible distraction. If not used wisely, it can be lethal to your growth. So, here are a few tips for eliminating this distraction:
- Set a schedule for the time of day you’ll use social media and check emails (I know this is challenging and I’m working on sticking to this too, but your future, more successful and profitable self will thank you for it)
- Set a limit for how long you’ll use it. Literally set a timer.
- Turn off push notifications
- Close the social media tabs from your browser while you’re working.
- Pro tip: In the evening, leave your phone in another room so you avoid being on it all night and checking it first thing in the morning.
Working when you feel like
When you work for yourself and especially when you work from home, it can be tempting to give yourself a more relaxed schedule. I understand that one of the reasons you created your business is to have freedom and flexibility with your schedule, and that’s great. You still want to have clear boundaries and hold yourself accountable to working even when you don’t feel like it.
If your goals require more consistency than a “work when I feel like it” kind of schedule, then you’re going to have to exercise more discipline.
That means creating a schedule, creating work hours and sticking to that schedule and those work hours. This is an area I’m working on being more consistent in too, so you’re not alone. But, if you study the habits of highly effective people, you’ll find that schedules, routines, and consistency are all part of their daily lives and it’s for good reason. We thrive when we have boundaries and when we have a sense of structure and normalcy. Thus, your business can thrive too with more structure and consistency. Remember, your future more successful and profitable self will thank you for it.
Making it up as you go
This is so common for many of the clients I work with and many of the creatives I talk to in the industry. And you might be able to relate to this too:
You’re really amazing at creating and coming up with all of the wonderful and incredible ideas, but when it comes to creating plans and strategies and sticking to them, well, that’s another story.
Instead of beating yourself up for not being hard-wired to think this way or instead of trying to make yourself into something you’re not, I have a better more practical and realistic suggestion for you. While this is one of those areas that I want to encourage you to educate yourself and challenge yourself to grow, I also want you to consider thinking outside of yourself here.
Bringing in experts
You don’t have to build your business on your own. You don’t have to be great at all the things in your business, you just need to know who to turn to for help. And as you do this, I want to encourage you to bring in the experts.
This is when you bring in the people who will work with you to create and manage the strategies your business needs to grow. Working with an expert ensures that tasks will get done well, on-time, and consistently. You will still need to work on being disciplined and doing your part, but you also don’t have to wear all of the hats in your business. Just as you probably wouldn’t attempt to build a house on your own, neither should you attempt or expect to build your business on your own. You’ll still need to do your part, just with help—the more the better.
So, when you bring in the experts you’ll still need to have a strategy, you just don’t have to be the one to create it or implement it. That’s #winning.
Now, you tell me, which of these habits do you feel is hindering you the most? What would change look like for you? And what’s one step you can take today towards that change?
And because I like seeing you win, I have another suggestion for you. Well, more like an invitation. I want to invite you to come join the upcoming webinar with Dubsado & I. During this free webinar, I’ll be sharing about strategies to grow your business and offering real and tangible steps to implement them in your business right away. Can’t wait to see you there.
Monique Melton is a business coach, relationship expert, published author of the book EntrepreFriendships, a motivational speaker and diversity advocate. She supports weddings and event planning professionals in building profitable and purposeful businesses while maintaining healthy relationships. She’s the creator of SWEET Brands, which is a business development system to strategically support business owners in building more profitable and sustainable businesses. She travels the country speaking at conferences and events on topics related to business & relationships. She’s been published in magazines, featured in blogs and podcasts and has touched the lives and businesses of people all over the world. She is a natural big-bold dreamer and a deeply rooted woman of faith. She is a proud Navy wife and loving mother to two little ones. She has a BA in social science with an emphasis in sociology & psychology and two years of graduate school education in Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. She believes it's not all about your comfort, but it's about your growth.