Start before you are ready!
A very good friend of mine said this to me a few weeks ago and it has stuck with me ever since as an incredibly useful piece of advice to live by.
Why?
Well, first of all, I realised that if I waited until I was fully ready to do something before I actually did it, the chances are that I would never do it! Because, truthfully, when are we ever fully ready?
Second, as well as raising my awareness of what I ‘wouldn’t do’ if I always waited until I was ready, this advice also highlighted for me all the things I ‘have done’ and the progress I have made as a result of jumping in and starting before I was ready.
Let me give you an example.
Last week I launched my Burn Bright Workshop Series (click here for details). I made the decision to launch them six weeks prior to that – yes, just six very short weeks! And let me tell you, I most certainly was not ready!
The idea for the workshops had been percolating around in my mind since January this year. However, there was always a reason why I couldn’t launch them yet:
- I was too busy concentrating on building the 1-2-1 coaching side of my business
- I had not been established long enough to launch a series of workshops (says who I wonder?)
- My website was not set up
- I had not had the opportunity to ‘practice’ the workshops on anyone
- and on and on…….
So, what made me take the leap of faith finally? A powerful combination of my husband asking me the killer question – “what is actually stopping you from just going for it?” (that man should be a coach!) – and my wonderful friend, Gabriela, prompting me to “start before I was ready!”
For me, starting before I was ready meant I put in the dates in the diary, booked a venue and published the details on Eventbrite – essentially I made a commitment, external to myself, which meant I was now accountable, publicly! And then, something amazing happened…..
Not only did I make damn sure I was ready for the Launch Event, I also got busy, very busy, on several other actions on my to do list that I had been procrastinating on for quite some time – because I wasn’t ready. In the six weeks running up to my Launch Event, this is what I did:
- hired a Marketing Consultant
- had my business logo rebranded
- got a fabulous pop up banner and new business cards designed and printed
- had professional headshots done for my website, social media platforms and marketing material (watch this space for those – coming soon!)
- set up a PayPal Business Account
- learned how to schedule my social media posts
- bought my first pair of irregular choice shoes (not strictly OGTC business but definitely part of my personal brand now!)
Why am I sharing all this with you?
The above list of actions had been on my ‘to do’ list for months and they generated a lot of ‘noise’ in my head about all of the things I still had to get round to doing – and it was exhausting! Thinking about what I should be doing and all the reasons (excuses??) why I wasn’t doing them was practically a full time occupation and certainly not the most effective approach to running my coaching business!
By taking that leap of faith and “starting before I was ready”, I have accomplished more in 6 weeks than I ever thought possible and I launched my Burn Bright Workshop Series! Plus, and this is the icing on the cake, I turned the volume of the mind chatter down so I could focus on what was important for me and my business.
So, I will finish with a thought for you all to take away and ponder – what could you achieve in the next 6 weeks if you simply….start before you are ready?
With love and self-care wishes,
Donna x
