Your success is not a product of your circumstances, it is a product of your choices and your actions!
The first step in implementing the CapitalQ ‘End Game’ Business Investment Formula is the same first step you must take when you are seeking any form of success in any field or realm of life… You must make the conscious, deliberate, positive, undeniable decision to Take Action!
Ensure you are making Real Progress
These days we all have so much access to information, learning and even motivation, that it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you are doing something and achieving something when in fact you haven’t done or achieved anything. Remember, just because you have watched a few motivational IGTV clips, or instructional videos on YouTube, that does not in itself move your business closer to your End Game.
I too have suffered from this delusion at times. It is such an easy trap to fall into.
That has always been the case of course. But I feel today it is even easier to get caught with nothing but your phone in hand and no further down the road to success.
I will often spend my evenings doing a, reasonably, quick scroll through Instagram watching videos from business influencers.
Then if I find someone producing some content of real value I will often seek them out on YouTube and watch a longer form video which goes into more detail and depth.
Usually I will feel like I have learned something, and almost universally will come away with at least one new idea for my businesses.
The idea often won’t even be directly related to the content, but being in that mindset brings something to the fore.
At this stage, I will be feeling pretty good about myself. I will feel like I have invested some time into my learning and knowledge and motivation and business thinking and generally will feel pretty positive about what I can achieve.
But that doesn’t mean I have actually moved any closer to achieving my goals.
No, that only happens when, and if, I actually decide to take action in relation to what I have learned and the new idea I have come up with!
My “MUST DO” Tricks…
The first “must do” trick I have learned about this process is… I MUST write the idea down before calling it a night.
Because if I don’t, firstly I simply won’t be able to sleep. The idea will turn over incessantly in my mind, I will fantasize about the benefits that will flow, and ultimately it will completely deny me the opportunity to switch off and achieve a good, replenishing night’s sleep.
I MUST also write it down because secondly, almost no matter how long I spend thinking about it in bed, when I do inevitably, eventually fall asleep, I will generally wake up either forgetting it, or, I will wake up and feel so ‘off’, that the demands of the day will quickly consume, even overwhelm, me and any chance of bringing the idea to reality will be lost, likely forever.
The second must do trick I have learned about this process is… I MUST reconsider the idea early, ideally first thing, the very next day.
I must do so for two reasons –
i) I must reconsider the idea with a clear head, with a fresh set of eyes, and a new perspective in order to determine was the idea as good as I thought it was in my euphoria the night before.
It is very easy to get caught up in the initial moment, but the fact is that not infrequently when you take the time to reconsider your new idea, it is not as good as you first thought. Or perhaps more likely, it is not what should become a major focus at this time.
ii) I must also reconsider the idea at this time if I am actually going to have a chance of bringing it to reality. The act of reconsideration solidifies the idea in my psyche, but it also allows the initial stage of implementation to be made. Usually that will be nothing more than further note taking about the idea, how it might work, things to consider and the like, or maybe it will involve running it by my Mentors or my Team.
As I say, this reconsideration must occur early the next day whenever possible. The only reason it shouldn’t be possible to do so is if I have fixed meetings other events.
But other things like chit chat, checking social, (in particular) checking emails or even starting on my existing To Do list for the day, must all come second if the new idea has a chance of becoming reality.
Having written the idea down the night before, and then having actively reconsidered it the next day and determined it is actually a good idea, and one I should focus on at this time, now is when I must positively and proactively decide, am I willing to actually Take Action, am I willing to do the work and take the necessary risks and bring this new idea into reality?
This is the hard part, and the true test of a genuinely ambitious business owner, and for me the true difference between someone who dreams of being a success and those who actually achieve the things they want out of life. Because actually deciding to take action, making that commitment to yourself, is much harder than so many give it credit.
Therefore, the last must do trick to ensure my new idea will become a reality is that I will add it to my To Do list.
Now I know that may not sound like much, but for me, my To Do list (which I manage using Asana by the way) is a list of things I have committed to myself that I will do AND that once on that list are no longer negotiable and are no longer up for discussion, they are going to get done!
Plus when anything is added to my To Do list within Asana, it is added with a fixed Due Date for the next subtask required to see it implemented.
Deciding to Take Action
That is how I decide to Take Action, and that is how I get done all the things I do in my businesses.
It is how I have been able to achieve all the things I have wanted to achieve in my businesses to date.
And that is how YOU can also get done the things you must in order to achieve your End Game in business!