Are you confident in your next steps?
One of the things online entrepreneurs come to me with all the time is: “I don’t know what I should be doing next. I just need someone to tell me what to do next.”
They are overwhelmed by all the advice, options, and information that is readily available to them and constantly blasting their Facebook feed and inbox.
It’s not that they don’t know the possible next steps, but which one they should be taking next.
And if this sounds like you it’s totally okay. You’re not alone.
In fact, in this episode, I’m sharing exactly how to overcome this issue and confidently choose your next tasks and projects. No matter what pops up.
Show Links:
- Episode 001 Create a Custom Success Plan for You & Your Business
- Mindset by Carol Dweck
- DM me on Instagram
Show Takeaways:
- The ONE thing you must know in order to in order to determine what your right next step is
- The mindset shift that all entrepreneurs need to make in order to step into their role as the CEO of their business
- The common misconception that most entrepreneurs believe when it comes to making decisions for their business
Rather skim before you listen? ⬇️
Are you confident in your next steps?
One of the things online entrepreneurs come to me with all the time is “I don’t know what I should be doing next.” “I just need someone to tell me what to do next.”
They are overwhelmed by all the advice, options, and information that is readily available to them & constantly blasting their FB feed and inbox.
It’s not that they don’t know the possible next steps, but which one they “SHOULD” be taking next.
If this sounds like you, it’s okay. You are not alone.
In fact, in this episode I am sharing exactly how to overcome this issue and confidently choose your next tasks + projects no matter what pops up.
One of the things I post about and teach about that always gets lots of likes, questions, & comments is when I plan.
When I plan out my year, my quarters, months, weeks, days, content, launches— all the things.
And one of the biggest questions I get is How? How do you know what your next steps are? How can you plan that far out?
There are so many different things you could do in your business— marketing channels, strategies, tactics, frameworks, approaches, who you serve, how you present yourself, there are limitless options available to you and as a result, tons of decisions to be made.
There are constantly new platforms, coaches, etc coming on the scene and the info-whelm (info overwhelm) is real, especially if you are constantly looking for “the answer”.
And we get so much information that it is paralyzing. You are standing in the middle surrounded by limitless pathways that you could go down and you have no idea which one is the right one to take.
The dream is to always know what the right next step is for your business. You want to know what you should prioritize and put your limited resources — time, money, energy— into so you aren’t wasting any of those things. How to be strategic to get closer to goals.
It is a combination of how to put blinders on to shiny objects and also know what is next. You wanna know that what you are doing isn’t a waste of time.
When we start looking for our next right step, we start looking to other people to show us the way. Why?
If you are anything like me, entrepreneurship isn’t something that ran in my family. It wasn’t something that I had role models for in my life from an early age. It wasn’t even anything I had even considered as an option for my life until my late 20s. I was an employee for someone else from the time I was 15 until November of 2019.
And the employee mindset is a lot different than the mindset needed to be a successful CEO.
As an employee, you do what you’re told to do. You might take initiative and pitch new ideas but it isn’t all on you to steer the ship. As an entrepreneur, as a CEO it is your responsibility to run the show, it is your business. It is the freedom to take it wherever you want to take it. And while that is really, really exciting, it scares the hell outta most people.
Why? Because we are afraid we don’t know how to make the best decisions for our businesses AND we can choose wrong.
So, how does that tie back to your next right step?
You have to quit looking outside yourself for the “right answer” and you have to start making decisions as the CEO of your own business.
I don’t care if your business hasn’t made $10,000 yet. If you have a plan to make money with your business, you are a CEO.
Becoming a CEO over employee has more to do with mindset than money.
You have to be able to step into the shoes of being a CEO in your business and part of that is making decisions for your business, being decisive, and being unapologetic on making those decisions.
And I can hear you now: “Erin, I’ve never made this decision before and I have no idea how to move forward.”
I hear that. BUT it is all something you can learn. Cultivating decisiveness is key to be able to really step into the CEO mindset.
I’m gonna turn to Carol Dweck really quick to help me explain this. In her book, Mindset, Dweck explains the difference between fixed mindset vs growth mindset.
A fixed mindset is honestly what I was raised with. You are either good at something or you’re not. Your innate talents are what help you get ahead and it isn’t something you can change.
A growth mindset is where you believe that you can learn anything.
So if you were saying in response to me saying decisiveness is a key that you are an indecisive person, that is a fixed mindset.
But you can quickly change that to curiosity and asking yourself how you can become more decisive.
I consider myself to be a pretty decisive person, but I don’t know that I was “born” that way. At this point though, it is something that I have cultivated and something that I consider a strength.
And that is the key to being able to choose your next right step: Knowing yourself well enough to leverage your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.
Self-knowledge and awareness is literally the thread through everything that I teach whether it is in a program, as a private client, or even my freebies.
That is part I to everything that I do: understanding your strengths, knowing how you show up, understanding how you work best because it’s not Sharon’s business, or Jessica’s business, it’s your business. And if you don’t build it based on who you are and how you truly want it to serve you, it’ll feel like it’s going to come crumbling down or that it’ll crush you.
It has to align and that is the thread that runs through everything I do, because that is the only way to make it sustainable.
I go a bit deeper into why this is the case in episode 001 Create A Custom Success Plan for You & Your Small Business.
In order to know what your right next step is, you have to know who is making the decision. You are.
No one else can give you the answer you are looking for.
Now I do help my private clients create action plans that outline their right next step. BUT, I don’t create it for them. We create it together.
Once you have that self-knowledge and are able to leverage your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses, you can set aligned goals.
You can set goals that align with who you are and where you want to go in this life. With what is important to you.
And finally, you can break down those goals into mini-goals, milestones, strategies, tactics, actions, and habits that dictate not only what your next step is but those that you should take tomorrow, and next week, and next month.
So, how confident do you feel in your next step?
The secret to the next right step in your business is not another freebie, another coach, course, book, or any of those things.
The next right step is for you to step into the role as CEO. That is it. For your next step.
Then you can take your business wherever you need it to go.
Who do you need to become to be the confident CEO of your business? Become her.
No CEO knows it all. You don’t have to in order to be successful. What you do need is to be comfortable with pivoting and being flexible and figuring it out as you go and being willing to fail magnificently.
I always like to end each episode with an action step that you can take right now to help you move forward and begin to implement immediately. Here is your action step for this episode:
Once you step into that CEO mindset, here is how to map out your right next step.
- Brainstorm all the possibilities of new projects, new strategies, tactics.
- Prioritize by asking yourself: What am I most excited about? What will move me further faster?
- Decide. Set a deadline and make a decision.
