Stephen Hawking said that “half the battle is just showing up” and it’s completely true.
Things don’t happen unless we do them on purpose. If it’s important to you, then you have to plan the time to do it. Most people want to get something done in their lives, maybe it’s run more, start a business, get more clients, write an ebook, start a podcast, but they say:
“Oh, I don’t have time.”
What I hear when people say that is:
“It’s not a priority to me and I don’t know how.”
Is it important?
These two ‘reasons’ hold so many people back from doing amazing things! It saddens me when someone is running around like a headless chook when with some simple time management skills they could be doing amazing things for themselves, their family or even curing cancer for the world.
Let’s address the first point first. If something is important to you, then you have to set aside time to get it done. And a regular time. This then elevates it to priority status.
Ok, great… but how do I find the time to do that thing?
I hear you and I hear this a lot from clients. How can I make something consistent? How can I turn this task into a consistent habit that will then take me towards my goal?
You’re going to think this is too simple. But put it in your calendar! Use your calendar.
Small steps
Actually let’s back this up a moment, set your target.
Say you want to have more clients. To get that you need to market consistently. Have a think about what you can do to reach people – videos, blog posts (hello!), and Instagram posts. Brilliant! How many a month? A week?
Videos – 4 a month
Blog posts – 4 a month
Instagram Posts – 4 a week.
Great! We now have targets. And now we can look at your calendar. Get it in there and commit. What day are you posting these? When will you prepare? When will you write? And film? Break it down into chunks and make it a reality.
And if there’s no room in your calendar? It’s time to declutter your schedule. All the stuff happening around you now, everything on your mind, do you have to do all those things? Sit down and list out what is really important and what absolutely has to stay. Apply the 4 Ds and check out this worksheet that’s really helpful for this. It will help you pare back on areas so that you have more time to allow for the truly important priority.
Consistency is all about small steps, all about applying yourself. Showing up again and again and again. If something’s not in your calendar, then it doesn’t get done. Life itself is busy and things will come up all the time. You have to view the priority that’s important to you as a commitment, like a job, or an appointment with a specialist. This is the only way to get it done.
Sadly there is no silver bullet but showing up consistently is definitely part of the winning strategy. If you need help in working out the rest of your strategy click here to book in for a 30 minute chat.
Talk soon,
Christie