by Stephanie Ward
As a businessperson, you’ve got a lot going on. Sometimes it’s hard to know what your top priorities are and where to put your focus. And since there are only so many minutes in a day, you need to find the best way to utilize your time so you can grow your business.
Figuring out what your priorities are, and then focusing on them, will require an investment of time. I know – you don’t have any extra time, and that’s the whole problem. The fact is, nothing will change until you decide to do things differently. If you keep going the way you have been, you’ll stay lost about what is most important to your business and therefore won’t be able to focus your efforts.
You see, you do have a choice about how you spend your time. You can make the decision to use your time to think about what is most important for your business (prioritizing), and then choose to devote your time (focus) on those things.
Stephen Covey made a good point when he said, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
There’s no time like the present. When you’re ready to get started, identify your business goals. Focus on goals that are connected to the profitability of your business, goals that are close to the money.
Talking through your thoughts is a great way to get begin. You can do this by writing down your thought process, talking out loud to yourself, or, better yet, talking it through with someone you trust. Once you’ve written down all of your business goals, prioritize your list with the intention of selecting the top three goals.
Next to each of your top three goals, write down the things you are doing to reach every goal and how much time you are spending actually focused on those things. Sounds simple, I know, and sometimes we make things more complicated than they need to be.
Keep this list somewhere you can see it. Better yet, memorize it. Start a new habit of stopping to think before you begin doing something and ask yourself this question: “Will this action move me closer to my business goals?”
Here’s another way to think about priorities and focus from Tony Robbins, “It’s not what’s happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it’s your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you’re going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.”
The point is this: The more time you invest in analyzing what the most important activities are for your business and then planning how you will focus on them, the more profitable your business will be.
ND
Life and business coach Stephanie Ward helps business owners set their profits on fire. Grab your copy of the special report, “The 7 Biggest Myths about Creating a Profitable Business,” plus free monthly profit tips at www.fireflycoaching.com.
