One characteristic that seems to be universal for entrepreneurs is that we have ideas. Not just an idea here or there, but a TON of ideas. Ideas every day. Multiple ideas in a day.
You probably understand that you can’t act upon and bring to fruition every single idea. You have to be selective. Some ideas will work; others won’t.
So, then you are stuck in a dilemma: do you take action or not? Not all ideas are worthy of taking to their end game, but how do you figure out which ideas are worthy? And so you might stay stuck, and you may not follow many ideas at all.
Your success as an entrepreneur depends upon your continual growth, evolution, and forward movement. And your ideas are how that growth, evolution, and movement manifest.
Here’s my simple Success Plan for Entrepreneurs:
Have an idea
Act upon said idea
Follow through and complete idea
Honestly, the place where I see most entrepreneurs falter is #3 – the follow through and complete. Now, sometimes you might realize, as you play with an idea, that it’s not really sound, or it’s not the right time. That scenario is not what causes entrepreneurs to fail.
What I mean is the idea that goes so far and then…. nothing. In this case, it’s not because you’ve figured out that it’s not worthy. It’s that you’re onto the next idea. Or the completion and follow-through stage isn’t nearly as fun as the idea generating and playful stage. Or you get stuck because you haven’t figured out the next steps.
And that’s where entrepreneurs fall down. They don’t complete.
So, let’s look at those 3 steps again.
Have an idea
Act upon said idea
Follow through and complete idea
What could the potential be for some of the ideas you have knocking around in your head? What if you took one of your great ideas, and followed it through, from baby stage, to toddlerhood, to teenage years, to final all-growed-up?
Here’s what I’m challenging you to do…
Write down your current 5 top, most amazing, sexy, jazzy, juicy ideas.
For each idea, describe what it would look like if that idea was birthed into the world in full form. Use as many concrete, tangible details as you can.
For each idea, plan all the steps you would need to take (that you can think of – no stressing allowed!) in order to bring that idea to fruition.
Look over your list. Now, what idea(s) sound the most promising, the most profitable, and the most fun?
Pick one, and start scheduling the to-do’s from step #3 into your schedule.
A few notes as you go through this process:
Not every idea should be acted upon. Sometimes an idea is just a pathway to a different idea.
SOME ideas should be acted upon.
If an idea doesn’t go anywhere, it just stays an idea. What this means in English: at some point, you have to take action in order for it to become a reality.
This process takes time; there is no getting around that.
Play with these 3 steps and my challenge – I would love to hear what idea is burning for you to take action on… let me know over on the blog!
Dawn Shuler, Content Creator Extraordinaire, helps entrepreneurs and authors convey their deep message into compelling words, whether it's marketing material or a book, as well as to create powerful content to increase their credibility, visibility, and profitability. Her soul purpose is to help entrepreneurs unleash their authentic selves into their businesses through their content. She created the Writing From Your Soul system to help business owners connect more powerfully, reach more people, and make a difference. Download the free, 13-step system at www.WritingFromYourSoul.com.