Today we are having a conversation about what taking action really looks like.
I’m actually on holiday right now for my wedding anniversary and this is what action truly looks like. You make a commitment to the things that are important to you and you take the action required. Right now, I’ve made a commitment to all of you to do training every Thursday, so I’m here to give my attention for the next half hour even though it’s challenging.
I’m always talking about how to create the business you want in a way that allows you to do the things that are important to you. The life that I want includes being able to travel and do other things that are important to me whilst still running my business.
Expressing your own uniqueness to your business helps set your practice apart. My uniqueness is that I love being a traveller. I have a gypsy element and I love being able to run my practice (I do still have clients) and I love being able to help other practitioners from wherever I happen to be in the world. So, although I happen to be away on holidays at the moment, I’m bringing it to you from here.
How many people actually go and do what it takes?
For this trip, I brought my Yeti microphone because I also run a podcast and I need my special audio equipment. This is what action taking looks like. Action-taking isn’t about being perfect, it’s about moving forward and getting things done.
Let’s dive in…
Take Action to Apply Your Learnings
As a practitioner, you know what it takes to get your learning done. We are so good at learning as practitioners. But it’s an entirely different thing to apply that learning and take action on that learning.
Whether you’ve gone through my Scavenger Hunt or e-courses, or other training elsewhere, you’ve done all this learning and planning and then crickets – you’re back to where you were before.
The planning happened but then, what’s the next step? How do you take the action that you need to get traction in your business and live the lifestyle that you want?
That’s what it’s all about, after all. If we can take care of ourselves, we can also take care of so many other people. Whether that’s through the education that we teach our clients or seeing clients in general, we are able to look after ourselves and that’s what it’s all about.
How do you take the action to do all of those things? So that’s what I’m going to talk about today.
What Does Action-Taking Look Like?
Action taking means doing the things that you need to do, that you said you would do, in the time you said you would do it. Or, recommitting and moving forward. It means you are holding yourself accountable in your own solo practitioner business.
This is a really different environment for so many of us because we’re used to being in an employee situation where a boss tells us what to do and we do it by the time we’re told. But in this case, we’re generally the boss and we can weasel our way out of that.
What comes up for you when we talk about the action that you need to take? What are some of the things that feel like hurdles? You may have done a planning course and just listened to it. You may have gone through the Scavenger Hunt and not finished. Or you might have taken an e-course and just thought ‘that’s a nice idea.’
So, what is the hurdle? What is the little voice in your head saying when it’s time to take action?
For me, when I’ve created things in the past and I haven’t quite followed through, it’s because I had all of the information but then I felt like it’s all already been done before by someone else. Maybe I can’t do it, too. Maybe I don’t have the money for that at the moment. Maybe I don’t have the time right now. Or I I don’t have the tech skills to do it.
What’s Your Version of Overthinking?
This is what doubt and overthinking sound like. Your flavour of overthinking might be any of these or something else – there is an infinite number of variations:
- not enough people would want this
- I’m not good enough
- I’m not thin enough
- I couldn’t get on camera
- I’m not professional enough
- I don’t have enough experience (or I have too much experience)
- I haven’t been in business long enough
- I’ve been in business too long
- feeling guilty
- fear of failure
- it must be perfect or not at all
- the lighting’s not right
What stops you from taking action?
I want you to write down 5 things that come into your head and stop you from taking action. What’s your version?
It’s Not Just You
Honestly, you’re not alone. In the Natupreneur Hub, I see this all the time.
The internal dialogue that you are having isn’t going on just for you. It happens for every single practitioner, every single business owner, and every single human. Because you’re human, you have this dialogue going on in your head that you can choose to listen to or not.
At this point in time, when action is needed, when you’ve got all the plans in the world and you’ve got all these great ideas and you are ready to go, but then you think, ‘I’m gonna do that tomorrow.’ You procrastinate – ‘I need to put the kettle on, I need a cup of tea, maybe I should put some incense on, maybe I should do my yoga and meditation before I start, I’ll do it tomorrow.’
It’s in those moments with these internal dialogues going on that you are completely human. The idea that sparked you, whether it’s an e-Course you just took, a marketing strategy you just learned, whatever it is you’re wanting to do but you’re putting off for ‘reasons’ – what is your version of that?
Write Down Five Things Stopping You From Taking Action
I want you to write them down.
When we get so overwhelmed, we’ve got these big plans, and there’s so much to do:
- all the content you’ve got to create
- make those videos
- the tech side of things
You write them all down and you want to achieve them in one day. Yeah, it becomes a bit much and you just don’t know where to start.
So when you write down those five things that get in the way for you. It’s a really visceral thing and it comes up for everyone – even me.
I’m being completely visible here, talking to you guys with my messy clothes left out in the background, because I totally hear you on this and you’re not alone. I want you to know that right now.
There are so many things that might make you hesitate:
- which project to focus on, it’s totally overwhelming
- is it really worth the money, will I have a return on this investment?
- is it even a good idea, will anyone like it?
- what will the world think of these deeply personal things I’m sharing?
- will it go the distance
- what judgements are other people going to make about me?
- will they ‘get’ me?
I totally hear you.
Your Inaction Affects Others
In those moments of inaction, remember that the reason this idea danced with you in the first place is that you cared enough about somebody else to create something to help them.
The inaction that you’re experiencing isn’t just going to affect you, it’s going to affect all the people who would be helped by it. The people whose lives might be changed by the thing that you’re creating.
The planning that you’re doing for your business, your inaction isn’t just going to affect you, it’s going to affect your family or your partner because of those things that you never created. You are completely cutting off all of those possibilities.
Remember – for all of those negative thoughts you are having, there is just the same amount of possibilities on the flip side of that coin that are positive. You’re cutting all of those possibilities off when you don’t take action.
Now the thing about taking action is that when we listen to that in our heads and when we are by ourselves, it is so much easier to listen to that. When we have a partner who isn’t in our industry and doesn’t understand quite what it’s like. Or we have people around us who we want to have conversations with about the thing we’re trying to create, but they have no idea what it’s like to run a business. Or to become visible and we don’t get the feedback that we need from it.
That can make it nearly impossible to take action. I have totally been there and it is disheartening. It’s so hard to see outside what the negative possibilities are. It’s so hard to see what the positive possibilities are because they aren’t certain. They haven’t existed yet. So we haven’t seen the version of that yet.
Uplevel Your Business Buddies
My number one tip for taking action is getting people around you that hear you and have the same kind of viewpoints as you to give you some good feedback. To get you to take the action!
Uplevelling your business buddies is one of the biggest and most game-changing things to help you take action.
I’m super lucky because my husband has his own business and is someone I can talk to about these things. That wasn’t always true, though. He used to be in corporate and I remember the days trying to have conversations with him after I’d typed away until midnight, creating that super amazing landing page on my website to really help somebody in a different way than I’d ever done before.
Sometimes that’s what it takes – not forever, but in short bursts, you will have to take the time to do it. And it does take us away from our kids or our weekend away with our best friend. But it is worth it in the end because the people you’re here to help can hear you and have the opportunity to engage with you or the thing that you’re creating especially for them. Sometimes it takes staying up late. Sometimes you will get some push back because somebody doesn’t understand.
So, one of the things that helps with all of that is surrounding yourself with people who do understand.
Having good business buddies is hugely important. It’s a game changer. When my husband left the corporate ladder to run his own business, the conversations we were able to have changed my life. But before, when I was sitting up until midnight trying to do the back end of my website and I was plugging away while the kids went to bed, I was so in the zone and then it worked! The page was live and it had a PayPal button and I could share it with people and it was really pretty! But when I shared it with him because I was so excited after hours and hours of work and he just said, “Oh, yeah,” it was gut-wrenching.
That kind of thing stops your action moving forward. You wonder if your stuff really isn’t great. So talking to business besties is a game changer.
Find The Right Business Buddies
I love talking to my business buddies about stuff like that – stuff like an amazing funnel I’ve created, or some auto-responders. In those moments when it really sucks, when it’s really tough and you can’t figure out something, or something broke, that is the time that you need people around you who are business buddies.
So if you don’t have any business buddies, find them! Find them here on the Hub or come and join the Club! We’ve got a hundred and twenty amazing people over there and it’s growing all the time. We have two intakes a year, but each round has game-changing conversations. You get a whole new relationship with a whole bunch of practitioners on the same wavelength and are able to talk about those really tough times and be able to totally celebrate when something actually works with someone who actually gets it.
Taking action is about having people around you that understand. Taking action looks like doing stuff you wouldn’t usually do and other people not pooh-poohing you for it.
Be surrounded by people who are committed to pushing past the ‘buts’ that stop you (but I’m on holiday, but my kids aren’t in school yet). It takes time and effort to build your business and you have to commit in a way that other people in your life probably don’t understand. So being surrounded by other people who are committed in the same way is a game-changer.
What else does it take to take action?
You all have plans. Whether you’ve done my planning session or the Scav Hunt, or a course for praccies – you’ve got plans. Taking action looks like being held accountable for them.
Because you can have that plan and it’s easy to sneakily pop it in with that group of other courses you never quite finished. Trust me – I used to be there. I used to go to all of the conferences, I used and collect all of the information, put it in the knowledge base and then I would just keep seeing people one on one. Keep doing the same thing I always did and getting the same results I always had.
In the back of my mind, I didn’t really think that this was a really good idea and then the ‘buts’ start.
So being held accountable for all of the incredible ideas you have to share the incredible information you have – you might want to write a book or put out an e-Course, you might want to create a package or something else. Being held accountable is hugely important.
Surrounding yourself with people who are like-minded that can hold you accountable, even if it’s just one accountability partner, it’s going to be a game-changer for you.
Who is Holding You Accountable?
What I really want you to think about is, who is holding you accountable now?
Back in the day, I started to realise I was sneaking my way out of stuff. I’ve spoken in another video all about Boss Time and Employee Time and the fact that we are actually both our boss and our employee. I used to sneak my way out of stuff.
I would think, “Okay, this year I’m gonna make an e-Course, I’m gonna create a book, I’m going to do some other thing.” Then, I wouldn’t tell anybody. If you don’t tell anybody, it’s not real, right?
I’ve seen some amazing practitioners who did do the e-Course for praccies who are online who made themselves externally accountable. You might not have an accountability partner, but you can make yourself externally accountable. You can tell the public that your e-Course is coming.
Maybe you’ve sold somebody on the idea that your retreat is coming – they might have even bought a ticket even though you haven’t created it yet! So that idea is out there because you’ve held yourself externally accountable.
Having that external accountability is a game changer, as well.
What Does External Accountability Look Like For You?
Is it having a tribe of people around you like here in the Hub or the Club?
Is it voicing online that you are about to create an e-Course and even asking people what they would like to see in your e-Course?
Maybe it is talking to your partner (life partner, business partner, accountability buddy) about your plans.
Without accountability, it is way too easy to sneak your way out of it yourself.
You need to have people around you to have accountability. Taking action means doing stuff and showing up for things even when it’s uncomfortable.
Things Get Uncomfortable When You Want to Change
Creating change means you bump up against your comfort zone. You’re bumping up against what is known and what has happened in the past. If you want to push your comfort zone larger, then you’re really bumping up against your existing boundaries and there are gonna be jiggles!
Here is an interesting thing. Those jiggles come from all those stories that we talked about at the beginning – those five things. The jiggles come from all our stories from the past, bad memories, and other people not doing it the way you’re doing it.
But the way you’ve always done things will give you the same result. If you change the way you’re doing things you will bump up against expansion and growth and when that happens there will be jiggles. When there are jiggles, it’s okay. You’re just pushing the edges of your comfort zone to expand and grow.
In those moments, it is super easy to stop. So you take the action, you take the action, you take the action and then weird stuff happens and you think, “Should I press the button and just delete the whole thing?”
That’s just bumping up against that jiggle. Eventually, all those random things start to settle down. But in that jiggle, it can be the easiest time to cave.
Have a Support System
If you don’t have people around you who are resonating with you and holding you accountable to grow into that new space, it’s super easy to cave and not do it.
So for all of you who are making those changes, it’s totally okay and totally human. It’s just going to be so much harder to do it yourself if you don’t have a support system and accountability to hold you to your fullest potential.
If you’ve said, ‘I’m doing this, this is the new me.’ People can hold you to the new you rather than you shrinking back and contracting in a way that doesn’t take action.
Contraction can happen to anybody at any time and it’s completely human. It’s just whether that contraction is helpful where you might be restoring yourself after adrenal fatigue or if it’s hindering and holding you back from actually creating the life that you want to lead.
We can sometimes lie to ourselves if we’re not surrounded by people who are like-minded. That contraction can pull you back to the space of the way we used to do the things, keeping our comfort zone nice and steady, back to where it was before. Then we’ll have the same results we’ve always had because we’re doing the same stuff we always have.
Find Experts To Help You
If you are trying to figure out how to get your eCourse done, reach out to the people in the Hub or look at my free trainings. This is my next tip about taking action.
There are little hurdles everywhere and sometimes we need other experts to help us get over them.
I have a kinesiologist I see regularly to work through limiting beliefs. I often watch EFT emotional freedom technique tapping. I’ve been to so many personal development courses and I have coaches that I talk to.
Find people who have the tools and skills that you need and who are in alignment with you. Find people who have done it before, whose life you want to emulate. Or find people who have the exact skill set that you need.
If money is a big issue for you, you should definitely read Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas. It’s an amazing game-changing actionable step-by-step book that helps you bust through money mindset issues. That’s one example of an expert who can help you get over a hurdle.
Maybe tech skills are a problem for you. You can learn to do it yourself, or you can find someone to help you. Maybe you need to hire a virtual assistant (even temporarily) or some other outside help to get things set up.
But the critical part is that after you learn the technique or skill, after you get the help you need, you must take action! All the learning in the world won’t help you if you never put it to use.
You can find these people in all different places, have a look at their stuff, look at YouTube, do what it takes to find that expert advice and then put it into action.
Remember Your Why
Sometimes, just remembering your why is the crux of it. Why are you in inaction? Because you’ve forgotten why you’re doing it in the first place. Your big why is very likely that you want to help people and you want to help yourself in some way.
That might look like you being able to contribute to your household, helping pay off the mortgage, creating a family holiday or to pay for your wedding.
We’re all human and we all have these amazing human lives and dreams. We aren’t immune as practitioners to wanting something for ourselves.
Of course, want it for our clients – absolutely! But the reason we’re creating the things we are and taking the action we are is to help both ourselves and our clients. Help them in a way that’s easier for them to get access to, cheaper for them than coming to see us in person – there are all sorts of reasons that you are creating these things.
When you really connect back into your Why, it will energise you to take the action you are hesitating on.
I want to be there to celebrate with you when it does come through when those massive changes are happening for you.
That’s why I’m here talking to you now, why I’m taking action. Because seeing this change in our industry is part of my big Why.
Connecting with your Why is massively important! It’s more important than anything else because it is the driver for action. But it can be so easy to forget when you’re in the minutiae of the details and all you want to do is throw that flippin’ computer across the room.
Just remember the reason you’re creating that little bit of code, or watching that YouTube video, any of those things. The ripple effect from what you create , after it finally comes out and you share it with people and they then share it with others will be huge.
We are changing the planet and the health of humanity, not just your little local community. Not just Australia and New Zealand. You can’t possibly comprehend what that person is going to share with another person, and what that person is going to say to their kids and so on.
It’s huge – but you have to take that first little action to get the ripple started, and then the next. Those micro wins get you to the macro win.
Go Take Action
Please take use tips to help you get past your obstacles and find a way to take action. The world needs what you are working on and I want to acknowledge every single one of you for your accomplishments!
I’m off to enjoy a little bit more of my holiday but thank you so much for stopping by. If you found something useful in this video or article, please share it!
Leave A Comment