A couple of weeks ago I asked you a very simple question.
Would you be willing to take 10 minutes to reflect on your business in 2015?
Here is the question I asked you to ponder:
What is your biggest obstacle in 2016?
And then I asked you to email me your answer.
I was swimming in your insights. I received more responses to that request than any other…
…and three answers rang out the loudest.
ANSWER #3: “I don’t have enough time.”
Yep, that was the third most frequently expressed obstacle. Hardly surprising.
Too often we let our business run us, instead of us running our business. You’re not in command. It’s kind of like what your household would be like if you let your five year-old run the place (ice cream for breakfast, anyone?).
Your immature business has the upper hand.
Now I could say the source of the problem is you’re not disciplined about your schedule, but no one can manage time. There are 24 hours in every day, and not one of us can add another.
The heart of the issue is self-management.
Good news. There are some things you can do today if your biggest obstacle for 2016 is you “have no time:”
- You’re working out of sequence. There is a first step, second step, and so on for every business. You’re doing things out of order. Get the right sequence.
- You’re doing the wrong things. Being busy isn’t being productive. What is the highest, greatest, most important use of your time? Do that.
- You’re thinking like you…not like your customer. Customers (who are buying) do not think like you (who is selling). Customers are not interested in you or your service. They are interested in an outcome. Sell them the outcome.
- You have no plan. This means every day is a new day. Every day wanders in the direction your emails or phone calls take you…or the next person who tells you “do this.” Working without a written plan sentences you to a business life of wandering. Get a plan. A written one.
- Other people are dictating your schedule. Your emails or phone messages direct your actions. Your family barges in unnecessarily. You don’t own your schedule…everybody else does.
Feel you have no time? Your obstacle is totally solvable…and we don’t have to invest the 33-hour day to see more productivity.
Simply address at least one of the five things above, and you will create immediate, positive change to the biggest obstacle you face in 2016.