What's Your Excuse?
I hear many reasons from coaching clients for not taking things to the next level of business, many reasons for not pushing outside their comfort zone and really going for it in their businesses. That comfort zone is like a big fluffy duvet, and it’s cold outside, and there’s scary stuff out there – best to stay inside where it’s warm and comfy.
But it doesn’t work like that in business, you need to get out there and tell people about your talents and abilities through your products and services. If you’re not making profit in your business, then all you have is an expensive hobby. No one gets into business just to break even, we do it to make a decent living, to make a difference in our lives, our family’s lives, and our client’s lives. So, what are the things you say to yourself when you’re planning to stay small in that comfy duvet?
1. ‘I don’t have the time to build my business’
When you say this to yourself or others what you’re really saying is ‘I’m not prepared to prioritise the time I need to build my business’. If you are not willing to prioritise the things you need to do every day in your business to make it profitable, you won’t have the money you need to make the difference to your life (and other’s lives) that you want. Putting every day ‘easy’ tasks ahead of tasks that will grow your business or that may be uncomfortable for you to achieve won’t help in the long run. I used to do and say this a lot until I realised I was only fooling myself by not making my business a priority and wasting time on unimportant tasks.
2. ‘I don’t have the money’
Investing in your business is something you must do at some stage to grow and evolve your products and/or services. Money is everywhere, but we are often programmed to believe we don’t have it. To get to the next stage of business, you may have to take that leap and get a bank loan or a loan from a family member or friend. If having money is an issue, it will always hold you back from reaching your true business potential. Investing in yourself is often the key to growth and development of your business. We can always find the money for the things that really matter – in this case, that’s you and your future business! I didn’t have the money to work with my own business coach when I started out, but I knew she would take me to where I needed to be. I took out a loan and invested in myself, learning all I could to become the best business coach I could be. It was the best investment I ever made.
3. ‘I’m not ready’
The thing is you’re never really ready to take the next step in your business as you’re often full of fear and self-doubt. The trick is to start a project or event before you’re ready, take the chance and see what happens. The likelihood is that it will go better than you thought and even if it doesn’t go according to plan, you’ll have learned something from the process. If you wait until you’re ‘ready’ then you’ll keep putting the inevitable off until your business really suffers for it. I said this same thing for years, I wasn’t ready to be a better version of myself, to build a business, to get out there on my own. I wasted so much time for nothing. Take a chance, start before you’re ready.
4. ‘I need to get XYZ done first’
This is just another form of procrastination in your business. ‘I’ll get more organised when the kids go back to school’, ‘I’ll get someone to help me with the website when I’ve earned X amount of money.’; ‘I’ll have more time later in the month to focus on developing the business.’ ‘I’m too busy with X to focus on Y right now, maybe later in the year’. And so it continues, everything is on the long finger. And the weeks become months, and the months become years, and you’re no further on. Sound familiar? I certainly does to me! I spent years procrastinating about developing my business, I used every excuse under the sun until I realised I was wasting precious time and energy in a full-time job I hated living a life that was serving no one, including myself. I took the steps, I stopped procrastinating and I created the life I wanted.
5. ‘I need to think about it’
Another form of procrastinating and fear is to overthink your next step in the business. Sometimes this comes in the form of an opportunity to work with someone who could be the key to helping you to the next level, but you’re afraid. You’re afraid to take the step that could open new opportunities for you, new ways to do business, new collaborations, new learning to grow and thrive, not just survive in your business. Time to stop being afraid and push yourself further. Time to stop saying ‘I need to think about it’ and start saying YES to opportunities that come your way. Remember ‘Opportunities come to pass, not to pause’.
It’s easy to stay in our comfort zone in business, easy not to push ourselves to discover our true potential, to stay small, to hope things will change. But staying small means not getting out there to serve all the clients you could, to make a difference to those people who need your help. Staying small means you could be denying yourself the possibility of true growth in your business, and having the clients, business and lifestyle you truly want. So, when you catch yourself creating excuses for not developing, learning and growing in your business, think about why you are procrastinating or not taking action in your business. Think of ways to keep learning and growing and taking chances every day, you never know what might come of it!
So what could you do today to remove the excuses and get on track with building your business?
