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- We All Have Big Ideas...
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Welcome to The Sunday Starter, a bi-weekly email for busy working professionals who want to start taking back control over their lives.
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Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will.
Although opportunity is abundant in front of us, the big goals that we strive for fall flat.
Why is that?
→ Because they scare the hell out of us.
We see a large mountain sitting in front of us, metaphorically, and since it looks like a massive undertaking we don’t start, or maybe, just as bad, we don’t start because we don’t have the time.
What’s one day longer, we tell ourselves.
Why not just start tomorrow?
And so procrastination sets in. And we miss out on this incredible opportunity to try and learn and see what comes of it.
So, for today, we are going to try but it’s going to be more measured. We are going to strip the big goal down into something much smaller. Something more actionable.
Because we can’t climb the mountain with one big step. It’s tiny, micro-steps that help us meander along the journey.
Those steps inform us of what could be around the corner and prepare us for the next adventure.
→ It allows us to FOCUS.
So let’s use that to help guide us on our journey.
The FOCUS Framework is a simple acronym I uncovered to help me get out of the big picture, pie-in-the-sky thinking and start to get to work.
It’ll be helpful for you for 2 reasons:
→ It will help you take action right away
→ It will help you pivot and adjust quickly
Why are these important?
→ Without action, nothing happens. We must start taking action to see if what we even want to do is viable.
→ Without the option to pivot, adjust, or reshuffle we give up. We don’t see traction so we stop. We need to give ourselves enough time to try and then make an informed decision on if it worked or not.
FOCUS stands for…
Find Your Idea
Own The Decision
Confront The Fear
Uncover The First Step
Survey The Results
Let’s shine a light on each…
Find Your Idea
Ideas are everywhere around you. What do you enjoy? What might you want to try? What is something of a challenge that interests you? Pick something. It doesn’t have to be your forever thing.
Why?
It gets you off of zero
It helps you define a path
We often have these grand ideas that are wonderful.
→ I want to have a big garden in the backyard
→ I want to run a full marathon
→ I want to start a business
We seldom achieve these because we think about that Outcome. That big idea.
But it’s better to break it down into a smaller idea. What gets you started?
→ An idea for a garden starts with having a few herbs growing on your kitchen counter
→ Running a marathon starts with walking around the block consistently
→ Starting a business might be as simple as writing out your Unique Value Proposition (UVP).
Pick a big idea if you’d like but then find a small spot to start.
Own The Decision
Once we pick an idea we have to have conviction that we are going to see it through, at least for a certain period.
Why?
Constraints are good. We need to put fences around our ideas
When we “own it” we start to believe that we can do it
We have to tell ourselves that we want to invest time in this and make room to fit it in.
→ That might be scheduling it out on the calendar.
→ That might be altering when we wake up or go to sleep
→ That might be doing something uncomfortable we haven’t done before.
When we own the decision, it gives us control.
That’s what we are going to need when the fear creeps in and tells us we aren’t good enough.
Confront The Fear
This is where most people stop.
We pick an idea, we are excited about it, and we are ready to get started.
Then, our fears and anxieties get in the way. We have to be willing to confront those fears. We know they are there and we have to be willing to live with that icky feeling that is cautioning us to do something different.
Why?
That feeling is a built-in response like our ancestors hunting in a new spot and being cautious of wild animals. New ideas aren’t wild animals. We don’t need to be afraid of them.
Our fears are relevant and most likely have been with us for years. If we are going to do anything extraordinary then we have to be willing to address these fears head-on
It’s a good practice to think about what might get in the way when you start.
→ What’s happened before?
→ What hurdles might need to be jumped?
→ What other important priorities could derail this?
Think ahead and hypothesize on potential pitfalls.
If you’re ready for them you can prepare for them to pop up because inevitably they will.
Uncover The First Step
What is the first thing you need to do to move this idea forward? We don’t need to know what happens in 2 years.
What has to happen now?
Why?
Short, calculated goals provide us with much-needed momentum upfront
When we have a clear path forward we build confidence that we can manage it.
I like an “Output” goal which is different than an “Outcome” goal.
→ An output goal could be I’m going to grow 5 potted plans for the next 2 months
→ An output goal could be I’m going to run 1 mile every day for the next 30 days
→ An output goal could be I’m going to talk to 1 person each week for the next 6 weeks who could be a potential client and learn more about their problems and challenges.
Something relevant but small enough to take action on and stick with.
Survey The Results
This is a chance to progress, pivot, or pull the rip cord. How did things feel after that first step? What would you do differently? What could be a new step you add?
Why?
This is super important so we have a chance to reflect on what just happened
This gives us visibility into the idea and can help us decide the next step forward.
→ Did I like those plants I was growing and is it time to get some to plant outside?
→ Did I hit 30 straight days of running to did I miss? How’d it feel? Why?
→ What did I learn from the potential buyer interviews? Is this an idea I want to keep pursuing?
We have to be honest with ourselves about the effort we put in and did we find enjoyment in what we were trying to accomplish.
→ And then decide on how to move forward.
Take all the information in and make a decision that is best for you.
The answer is simple., It’s asking the direct questions to ourselves that becomes the most difficult.
Final Thoughts
You repeat FOCUS over and over again continuing to iterate as you go.
The Framework is a flywheel, not a circle.
The goal is to build movement and progress forward
Push yourself to new spaces you’ve never been to.
New things are hard
Leaving our comfort zone is hard
Pushing our identity into a new realm is hard.
This is not about being hard, it’s about doing the things we want to do and taking small, actionable steps to achieve them both in the short-term and long-term.
A win this month might be running a mile every day but that turns into running a marathon next year.
If we don’t start, we never have a remote chance of getting to the mountaintop.
No challenge this week. More of a question.
→ Well, 3 of them.
What idea have you been sitting on for years that you’ve never acted on?
What’s preventing you from pursuing it now?
What would be the first step to take?
Might not be a bad idea to sit for a few minutes and ponder these.
It might be the thing you need to just get started.
To get what we’ve never had, we must do what we have never done.
What’s Coming Next:
Next week, we are going to relax a bit. Well, maybe just give ourselves a break.
Thanks again for your support with this newsletter.
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✅ If you ponder those questions I’m curious to know what you uncovered. Reply directly to this email and please share.
How can I support your journey?
🙏 One of the coolest things about building the Just Get Started platform over the last several years is the number of interactions with new and interesting people who are on the cusp of getting started or early in their journey.
What are you starting that you are excited about?
If I can support you in any way, please let me know. You can reply to this email and let me know what’s going on in your world. I’ll try to help where I can!