Messy Action = Results
It’s all too common to sit down and think “this year is the year I…”
Start that business
Leave my 9-5
Focus on my passion project
But what kept you from doing that thing last year?
Maybe you were busy with your full-time job or you planned your wedding or you moved - BOTTOM LINE… you just didn’t have time.
OR you wanted to start your business, but you just have to finish your website first or get your logo made or take that online course.
But those are all just stories.
Stories we tell ourselves so that we have an excuse for not doing what we really want to do. That thing that excites us but also scares us shitless.
What if you stopped telling yourself those stories?
What if you decided that this will be the year you accomplish your goals?
You CAN do it, by taking messy action.
Don’t let the stories slow you down. Don’t let the stories keep you from getting started. Don’t let the stories keep you from putting yourself out there.
Stop Letting The “Stories” Hold You Back
In 2019 I added over $150k in recurring revenue to my business.
I also started my coaching business and started helping budding entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses. I launched AND removed a new service offering from my business. I invested over 5k into my business.
I did all of those things by taking messy action.
It would have been so easy to say that I couldn’t take on that many new clients in just 6 months. Or that I couldn’t start coaching clients until I had completed a certification program. Or that I shouldn’t apply for coaching because so many other people were applying, so I probably wouldn’t be picked anyway. Or that I couldn’t invest in my business until I was making a certain amount of money.
But instead, I did all of those things, because I believed in myself and I knew that taking messy action would get me closer to my goals than waiting and telling myself stories for why I couldn’t get started.
How many times have you found yourself saying you can’t do something until you’ve gotten that other thing done first? And how often do you stop to consider if that’s actually true or just a story you’re telling yourself?
When I hear clients saying they can’t promote their business yet, I always ask them to consider one question…
“What would happen if you didn’t wait and you just did it now?”
And that’s usually when I see them start to get excited, because they’re realizing that they don’t need to wait, and they can take messy action RIGHT NOW.
The result is always that they do it and they move toward their goals that much faster.
They stop letting the stories they tell themselves hold them back from achieving their goals.
Failure vs Feedback
I never let the idea of failing keep me from trying something new. Because failure ISN’T REAL.
There really is no such thing as failure, there is only feedback.
Feedback for how I can do better next time.
Feedback showing me how I can improve.
Feedback on what worked and what I should do more of in the future.
Being afraid of trying something new, just because you might “fail” is another story we tell ourselves to find an excuse not to try something scary.
But what if the story we choose to start telling ourselves is that we can try anything. And that the result is always positive; because it’s feedback for the future.
So next time you procrastinate trying something new, instead, embrace messy action and go for it! Knowing that regardless of the outcome, it will be valuable feedback for the future.
For example, this year...
I started a new service in my business, sold a single one of that offering and ended up cutting it within about 2 months.
I got on over 30 discovery calls and sent out proposals that didn’t convert into new clients.
I didn’t spend enough time focusing on new streams of income that I promised myself I would establish and grow.
I overscheduled myself and had to work 60 hour weeks for multiple months that left me feeling burnt out.
You’re probably thinking, ummmm Sam, why are you sharing all of the failures you had this year?
Because they’re NOT failures, they were all just sources for feedback and opportunities to learn.
All of those things helped me become a better business owner. They helped me get clear on my priorities and taught me how to grow and run my business in a way that supports the life I want to build.
When you approach things in your business as opportunities for feedback and not a possibility for failure, everything starts to seem a lot less intimidating.
“Failure” is an opportunity to learn, to improve, and to grow.
Action Step
In the spirit of taking messy action, I have a challenge for you!
This week, today, right now, you ARE GOING to take messy action.
Follow these steps to get started:
Write down that thing you’ve been procrastinating.
Break down what steps you will need to take in order to accomplish that goal. Working backward from the goal helps to break it into actionable and manageable steps.
Estimate how long it will take you to accomplish each of those steps and put them in your calendar By blocking out when you will accomplish each step, it helps you stay realistic about how you will achieve it.
Decide how you will track your progress. Whether you use a project management system or just a checklist, set a day and time each week to review the progress you’ve made and see where you might have some gaps that need to be addressed.
START THE DAMN THING. Even if that means taking the first small step. Start taking that messy action and don’t allow those stories you tell yourself to hold you back!
Ready to put together an action plan and start taking messy action in your business?