Sometimes it takes a crack on the side of my head by a Cosmic 2×4 to realize I’m stuck or that something basic needs to be changed. It would be much easier if I could figure that out ahead of time.
Take a quarterly reality check
You can take a reality check any time but I suggest you actually schedule one on your calendar four times a year. You might align them with the solstice and equinox celebrations to remind you of a steady pattern of growth.
Begin by writing down the parts of your business that you love to do. List the activities and interactions that fill you with enthusiasm and satisfaction. Mark the ones you are really good at doing. This is your calling. This is where you are needed. This is where you are to serve.
Make a list of what is working. Do you like doing it? Does it bring in enough income for the effort/time it takes? Do people need/want what you offer? Are they buying it? Be honest. Don’t list “what if’s, or maybe’s.” Don’t let something be OK if it is not OK. Circle the most lucrative aspects of what you do in your business.
Look for what is missing
There’s always something more we can do to move ourselves forward. For instance, you may know that your networking and keep-in-touch strategies are weak. What are you willing to do? What personalized version can you create that can fill that need. I’m not a go-to-meeting person but I can reach out through blogging, or simply by calling people I would like to know better and reaching out to deepen our connection. Schedule the actions you are willing to take to improve that area.
Let go
Let go of what is not working and that you don’t like to do. Hire it done if it is integral to your business, but if it is a pet project that you like doing but no one needs, drop it.
If you are stuck, take one action as soon as possible
Sometimes it takes awhile to realize that we are stuck. I got stuck recently. It was depressing. Some of the options I considered made me very, very unhappy to even think about. On top of being stuck, the first thing I thought of was the old solution. The very same steps I used to take to rescue myself from this type of situation. All that did was take away from what I had achieved so far. I knew the old solution was not a solution. I needed to find new paths, new opportunities, and a new inner approach.
Strategist what you want to create on the other side
How do you want it to be? What if… What if you started doing more of this and less of that? What if I wrote and posted five articles a week instead of one? How much free advertising would that be? How is my conversion rate? Do I need to change my opt-in offering? What if I clustered my coaching clients and scheduled them only three days a week and scheduled one full day of business marketing for myself? Where are the leaks in my spending? What am I buying that I don’t need? What should I purchase to make my business run easier, faster, better? What do I see as the outcome? How do I want my business to be?
Check your beliefs
Whatever is showing up that is not working indicates an area of your consciousness that needs adjusting. How is your self-esteem? Can you look at your services for the value they bring to others rather than thinking in terms of cost per hour or worse yet, what you think people can afford to pay you. Do you think you can do the job? Do you believe your work is good enough? Check your beliefs around the areas of your business that are profitable and satisfying as well as examine the aspects that are not. See what kind of adjustments you can make. Change your thinking and it will change the outcome.
Ask for signs
This is my favorite thing to do. Ask for a sign for your next step, for guidance in making a choice, for what new door to open next. Then simply watch and interpret.
Look to the future
Start focusing on how you want it to be. Start listing the steps to get you there, the people you need to work with, the outer changes you need to make, the inner work you need to do. Keep asking “what if.” What if I did this? What if I change that? What if I no longer offered that?
The minute you feel stuck take action as soon as you possibly can to change the circumstance and immediately start making plans for the new direction you want to take. Even a small shift will take you down a new path.
