Getting “It” Done

Here we are, just going into the quietest part of summer (or the dead of winter, depending on your hemisphere). It’s a time when business moves s-l-o-w-l-y.

It can make Type A’s crazy.

You can of course, use the next month to position yourself as a free agent for the coming year.

But, if you already have your vision firmly emblazoned in your brain—or your Type A-ness is begging you to focus on the immediately tangible instead—let’s talk about getting “it” done. And by “it”, I mean your game-changing next step to move the needle. A book perhaps, or a digital training series, new website or blog. “It” is big and bold.

Confession: I sometimes find this challenging to do for myself (see creators below), even though I regularly shepherd clients through the process with great success. But I have learned a few tips from dealing with a wide variety of content-creators. Think no-magic, work-how-you’re-wired advice.

For creators: You have hundreds of ideas, where others have one or two. Your challenge is to avoid the “shiny new ball syndrome”—just pick one idea and focus, holding yourself to a deadline. Yes, you can and will edit yourself and yes, the end product may look nothing like what you originally envisioned. But the only way you’ll work it out is by, well, working on it. Your secret code is to start and stick with it.

For executers. You are brilliant at execution (your list-making skills are nothing short of extraordinary), but hatching fresh ideas is intimidating. Unlike the creator who can generate non-stop ideas in a vacuum, you may need a partner-in-crime to brainstorm. At the very least, you’ll have to add creative thinking time to your to-do list to force yourself into deep-focus mode. The good news? Once you’ve got your one idea, you are unstoppable.

For sales mavens: Taking something complex and making it simple is hard-wired into your DNA. Creating original content? Not so much. Your challenge is to sit still long enough to create. Your best bet? Team up—you value relationships and work better with other points of view to riff on. Hiring yourself some creative talent may be just the spark you need.

The bottom line: no matter your wiring, you can create a game-changer.

Can’t wait to see it.

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2 Comments

  • Geez Rochelle, now you have screwed up the rest of my summer. Instead of playing golf now I am going to get with “it” and make the plan become executable. Actually, this is a year round type project because so many things are variables. The variables become floating issues that need to be accounted for.

  • This becomes very interesting for me. I really have to create those “vacation opportunities” It could be on breaks between playing ball year round or weekends at the pool in the summer (when campaigns do not “steal” all of part of my weekends). Winter tends to me more of a slow time, but sometimes the the issues arise and strategy involves the here and now rather than planning.
    My approach often involves stealing back time. As with a suggestion you offered concerning columns and commentary posted on my website. It took several weeks; maybe longer than I wanted but I approach the task sequentially. I took on columns I wrote for a newspaper first, updated the site, and then approach the commentary I added thereafter in a second phase.
    Another time remodeling my office and working from my clients’ (they never mind see me more) offices. I had to plan moving out files and furniture so a total rehab got done. I had to plan the move back in. Basically done, but I still have some tinkering.
    Since I enjoy strategizing so much, I enjoy creating and setting the time aside.
    The bottom line: seize opportunities to self-assess and re-tool. It works.

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