If you’ve ever studied the most successful CEOs, you may have realized that they all have one key part of their stories in common: At some point (or points), they did something before they were ready.
On the surface, this might sound irresponsible, but it’s really the ONLY way to achieve the business growth you’re looking for.
Let’s break this down…
We’ve been trained to achieve mastery before implementation. Think about it… for years in school, you studied and studied so that you could get the best score possible on a test, and then you were done. Just like that.
In business, we inevitably carry this mentality with us and unfortunately it halts our growth. Think about it: If you already know how to grow your business to the next level, you would have already done it. If you are at a business growth standstill, it’s because you are waiting to master the knowledge you need for the next step, but you don’t have that knowledge… so you have come to a screeching halt. See how maddening this is?
To fix that, you have to go against everything you’ve been taught and start implementing before you achieve mastery. It can be hard to do this the first or second time, but here’s some tips to make it a habit:
1) Set aside one hour every two weeks to start implementing a growth plan. Even if you don’t feel ready, set a start date. Now you have a deadline, so you’ll need to figure out (quickly) the first few steps to make your growth goal a reality. The tricky thing here is you’ll know the first steps, but not necessarily the last ones, which leads to my second tip.
2) Ask HOW, not WHY. The truth is, we already know why… we want to grow our business! What we are REALLY looking for is HOW. When you focus on the HOW, you get clarity each step of the way. After all, it doesn’t matter WHY something went wrong or right, it matters HOW. When you know HOW, you can replicate, course correct, or tweak.
Side note: To see the power of “how” in action, next time someone asks you “why,” explain “how” and you’ll see that they are immediately satisfied. This works especially well for toddlers in their “why” phase.
3) Accept the answers as they come. Instead of looking for a final answer, seek answers during the process so that you can constantly improve your growth. Don’t look at your growth initiatives as having a beginning, middle, and end. Really, it should have a beginning, and then get better and better. After all, you’re trying to grow… why put an end on it?
To hear me break all of this down in person, be sure to watch today’s video.
