Big Action Friday #2 – Big 3 Concepts
Big actions are different for everyone, but the process for determining them is the same. In the coming weeks, we’ll work through that process and give you some food for thought. You can determine your big actions that appropriate for your life. Don't forget to check out the last Big Action Friday podcast episode!
Key Steps in the Process:
Plan big actions
Track big actions
Follow through big actions
No big revelations here - Plan, Track, and Execute.
Let's talk about my first 3 Big Action Concepts to help you determine you first Big Actions.
Big Action Concept #1 – Self-discovery
The first big action concept is “Self-discovery”. I’m a bit of a serial entrepreneur. I’ve started businesses on whims that made money that I absolutely loathed. I’ve made bad career decisions based on the idea that it was the appropriate next step in my growth. (this is a common fallacy by the way and one we’ll touch on in another post) Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. The reasons I ended up in those situations is because I lacked self-awareness. Of course, I don’t even regret them because they led to becoming self-aware. Yet, I can’t help but to wonder if I could have got to where I am years sooner had I put in the proactive work of self-discovery.
It is important to identify things preventing you from taking big action in the first place. For most of us, our biggest obstacle is ourselves. How do we identify these inhibitors in our lives?
By paying attention to yourself. Taking inventory of your natural tendencies is the first big step in self-awareness. Some possible things to ask yourself:
How do I act in critical situations?
What causes me serious negative emotions? (Serious meaning debilitating)
What do I think about when I have nothing else to do?
How do I distract yourself when I do have something to do?
How cluttered is your life?
Where in my life is it cluttered? (schedule, car, mental processes, etc.)
Big Action Concept #2 – Visioning
You must know where you are going if you are going to get there on time. Where do you see your business and career in 5 years? 3 years? 1 year? The next 3 months? The next week? What Big Action are you going to do today to make that happen.
This is why the first concept is very important. It is easy to be lulled by the status quo. You will end up building your vision based on something arbitrary like: "what my parents wanted me to be", or the degree I was told would "make the most money", or what my professor told me had to happen if I wanted to "be successful". Break out of that bullshit. Take what’s valuable with you and leave the rest for all the other rats in the race. Do the self-discovery work first. Build a vision around your unique character, strengths, talents, desires, and even limitations. These all add up to your personal genius, and that is more important than squeezing into job description for the next 5-40 years.
Big Action Concept #3 – Planning
Now you know who you are and where you want to be. Start at 5 years (or even 3) and write down all the big actions that need to happen along the way if you want to see this vision become reality.
What do you do? How do you know what is going to work? Here’s a secret – sometimes you don’t!
Life’s funny that way. You plan, do your best to stick with it, then the best thing that ever could’ve happened occurred for no obvious reason. And that action you thought would be a game-changer? It turned out to be nothing more than an excellent lesson learned. This is how life works, right? Here’s the trick, if you take no action, nothing happens. If you take big intelligent actions, good things will come to you in unexpected ways.
So back to the nuts of bolts of this planning...
Your plan might include upskilling, job-changing, saving money, increasing sales, expanding your network, etc. etc...
An action plan for upskilling might be “go to grad school and get an MBA”. Nothing wrong with this, not discouraging at all – just using it as an example. A Big Action plan to reach the same goal might be “meet the CEO a mid-sized tech company and propose trading time and energy for mentorship”. An action plan for increasing sales might be “start setting up booths at conferences and pick up leads there”. A Big Action plan might be to start putting out weekly content on YouTube that provides free value to those most likely to buy my product. Determine what works your personal genius and your vision. Put it into a plan download one here and start scheduling their completion.
I hope this helps you in your pursuit of success. More to come in the next episode of Big Action Fridays.
Are you ready to level up in your career or business? I’d love to have a conversation with you. Schedule a time with me here and let's work together!