Like it or not, we all are bombarded with what to do and when. For us business owners, there are so many things on our plates that can help drive more business to us.
However, what we choose to do now is what will determine how successful we will be, no matter if you experience the immediate results right away or not.
That is really key though, because most of us want to have that instant gratification level where if we do something now, then we want results NOW.
Real success doesn’t work that way. In fact, most of the things successful home business owners do today are small in nature. I know you’ve heard this before, but it’s those small things which give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Given that we know this, we can prioritize the tasks that will ultimately lead to a big result.
Here’s an example, let’s say we want to become a master at prospecting and recruiting. One task you can do today in moving you in that direction is to learn about how to prospect and recruit. Another would be to then take what you learned and put it to use on your prospects.
Imagine that you designed your task to get good at prospecting and recruiting. What is the actual task there? This is way too vague, and you’ll get lost in what needs to be done.
What I do when I have my objective, is I break them up into manageable pieces and attack each one at a time.
Make sense?
Now since that is all squared away, let’s take a look at three steps that will get you to take action today.
1. Define what your goal is.
As the example I gave above, this is where you find out what it is you would like to accomplish. This is the part where it’s okay to be vague. This is what this step is designed for. It allows you to put out there what you want to do, basically your objective.
2. Break up your goal into manageable pieces.
Isn’t it much easier to know that you only have to focus on one part at time versus all of it. If you were to focus on all of it, you will soon find yourself getting stressed out and frustrated. You may even experience some procrastination here.
3. Attack your most important one first.
Since you have all of your manageable pieces to the goal, take the one that you feel is of the utmost importance and do that one first. You should then have a list of five or so, where #1 is the one you’re doing first. Never go onto the next one until you’ve completed the first one.
Now, you may think this is way too simple and easy to do, and ignore my advice. However, I would highly encourage you to NOT do that.
Here’s where I learned this from…
Years ago, there was this CEO who was having difficulties with prioritizing and getting results. Not only was he having this problem, so were the rest of his workers.
So he sought out someone that was really good with getting results. He had the CEO go back and do this every single day. After applying it and sharing it with his workers, they saw a huge increase in productivity and sales.
Because the CEO knew exactly what he had to do to get results, he stuck to it.
Do you know what was suggested for CEO to do? It was to create a three step action plan every single day.
So, I can’t take credit for this, but what I can tell you is it works. I use it in our home business, every day.
I hope that you do use this and apply it to your business today. Not tomorrow, today. Today is the only day, tomorrow is not here.
Here’s my challenge to you, create your action plan today, and follow it for a few weeks. After a few weeks, if you get results, come back and share that with us. Sound good?
Did you find this post useful? If so, let us know and share your comments below.
Jerome Ratliff
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Hey Jerome,
I must say that writing your goal and taking small steps toward them will allow you to accomplish anything. Most individual write goals down but forget to break it down into smaller components.
I learn this from following John Maxwell. I know you are a big fan of his teachings as well. Great job, buddy!
Chat with you later…
Josh
Josh Garcia´s last [type] ..How to Tell if the Blog You Are Visiting is a DoFollow or NoFollow Blog
It makes such a big difference Josh.
John Maxwell is a great person to learn this from. I’m big fan of his, just as you said.
Chat with you later buddy,
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome, this is some excellent material.
I have a personal action plan that I try and follow daily. Most days it works great, others I get distracted and don’t follow it. However, when I do follow it, major things happen in my business.
Thanks for the great post!
Michael Novak´s last [type] ..The Best Industry to Learn Leadership
Hey Michael,
Thanks! At least you know what works and what doesn’t.
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
This is excellent advise.
In past businesses I have used these tools, but for some reason did not bring them with me into the internet world, until recently.
There are so many distractions, and so much to do, especially when you are first starting out.
Do something, do it well, and move on to the next thing on your list.
Thanks
Neil
Neil´s last [type] ..How to Build a Website Wrap Up – Pt 1
Hey Neil,
I did the same thing and wondered why I wasn’t getting anywhere.
Isn’t it a breathe of fresh air?
Chat with you later,
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome
It sounds so simple yet so many do not do it. But then again so many fail at their businesses as well
I do not know wher I would be without my plan and those small steps to achieve it.
Thanks for the solid advice
Peter Fuller MBA´s last [type] ..Does your Retirement Plan include Jumping out of a Window
Hi Peter,
Having that plan is what more people need. It just make it so much easier.
you’re welcome too…
Jerome Ratliff
Great post Jerome, thanks for providing the value
I like to proceed with a step by step plan in mind. Order is heaven’s first law and an orderly mind is an effective mind.
Ryan Biddulph
Ryan Biddulph´s last [type] ..Personal Development – What’s The Secret Of Prolific People?
Hey Ryan,
Thanks buddy.
Jerome Ratliff
Hi Jerome,
great post. It answers also the question: “How do you eat an elephant ?” The answer: One bite at a time
Thanks for sharing.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend´s last [type] ..The Anatomy Of Quitting – Would You Like To Change Places With Another Person
Hi Oliver,
Excellent point about eating the elephant, you’re absolutely, 100% right.
Take care,
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome these are very solid tips.
I have a particular business routine I do daily which came about by drilling down to what is crucial and needs to be done daily.
What it amounts to is little steps taken everyday toward an ultimate goal.
Like you say break it down to the necessary components and get to work.
your the man with the plan,
Steve Shoemaker
Steve Shoemaker´s last [type] ..What Has My MLM Blog Done For Me
How rewarding is that, knowing exactly what you have to do, and do it.
That’s powerful Steve.
Really great job.
Jerome Ratliff
Thanks for the info Jerome. Very sound information
Jeff Reed´s last [type] ..Your WordPress Blog talks to Google
Hey Jeff.
Anytime buddy.
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
Loving this post! I am a huge advocate of planning your business on a hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis. Remember, this is a REAL business and if people don’t treat it like that, they are destined for failure.
Hey Eric,
You said it right there, it’s a REAL business. I just wish more people would realize this and perhaps they will have more success.
Jerome Ratliff
That is just the strategy you need Jerome,
Having goals and a daily plan is a form of guidance for your business. It allows you to prioritize your efforts and track your progress. I used to start my days off blind just randomly doing things and needless to say, I wasn’t very productive. Once I made my goal and actually broke it down into an action plan, things started coming together. Now I’m not there yet with doing this as consistently as I should, but I am a lot further than I used to be and this post just gives me more incentive to get better.
Fred Williams
The Simple Video Marketer
Fred Williams´s last [type] ..Solving The Google Puzzle-How To Get High Authority Backlinks To Your Blog
Hey Fred,
It’s one of those things that lets us all know what we have to do and when, rather then getting frustrated with what to do next.
You’ll get better as time passes too. I’m confident.
Have a good day,
Jerome Ratliff
Hi Jerome,
Love the three action steps. I have to say though that I differ with you on being vague when setting the goal. I have found what works for me is to be specific to the minutest detail. Then I take each one of those details and it becomes a sub goal in itself. Just what works for me personally but I’m living the principles.
~Marcus
Marcus Baker´s last [type] ..How to Dissolve Your Marketing Crossroads Dilemma
Hi Marcus,
That’s the sort of stuff that will vary from person to person depending on their approach. So glad you brought that up because people should use what works for them.
Thanks buddy.
~Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome! Great Blog. Isn’t it funny how uncommon common sense actually is?
Define your goal – break it up into manageable pieces and do the most important!
How many of us waste countless minutes hours years shuffling paper and on trivial tension relieving endeavors whilst punting off the one key thing that would move us towards our objective?!
Cheers Kiaran from currently chilly Perth!
Hey Kiaran,
I know, we all get caught up (at times) in the junk that really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. But hey, at least we know what to work towards if we have our goals outlined.
Jerome Ratliff
Hi Jerome,
I also find that setting goals and having a DMO work best for me and have helped me improve my productivity a great deal.
Here’s what I do: At the end of each day, I plan for the next day and when I wake up in the morning I know exactly what’s lined up for me.
Setting goals is the key to your success. Period. And there is a lot more that goes into achieving your goals than just writing them on a piece of paper.
Thanks for sharing your tips.
All the best,
Mavis Nong
Mavis Nong´s last [type] ..Blogging Tips – 3 Primary Steps To Higher Rankings!
Hi Mavis,
Having that plan puts you far ahead of those who don’t even consider doing this. Kudos to you.
Have a great day,
Jerome Ratliff
Hi Jerome ;
Like your posts that helps us to convert our long way to success into a simple steps .
Best Regards;
Mohamed Fawzy
Mohamed´s last [type] ..4 Musts You Need In Your Blog To Look Like A Professional
Hey Mohamed,
Glad you liked the post.
Jerome Ratliff
It’s amazing how manageable our tasks get with just a little bit of planning.
I love your 3 step action plan, Jerome; being proactive rather than reactive definitely makes a huge difference.
Best,
Ana Hoffman
Ana | Traffic Generation Cafe´s last [type] ..Juicy Blog Traffic- Want Some DoFollow!
Hi Ana,
Being proactive, wherever possible is always a great way to approach it.
Have a good day,
Jerome Ratliff
Hi Jerome,
Having a to do list is a great way of sorting out what you need to priortise on. Also looking at hese 3 steps can really help focus on taking those small steps to achieve big goals.
Thanks for sharing and have a great day.
Tristram Lodge
Tristram Lodge´s last [type] ..Facebook Marketing Secrets Exposed
Hey there Tristram,
Good point you made about focus. Absolutely!
Have a great day too.
Jerome Ratliff
It’s amazing that something so simple as this can produce great results. I like the story you have here about the CEO and is workers. It’s a great inspiration. Great post Jerome
Sherman
Sherman Smith´s last [type] ..A MUST HAVE TOOL TO ATTRACT LEADS!!!
Hey Sherman,
It’s always great to hear someone else perspective, the CEO was the one that hooked me into doing this. I believe it was Earl Nightingale who had shared that.
I don’t recall though.
Jerome Ratliff
That was so simple and yet so powerful. It’s pretty easy to come up with goals, but sometimes we get overwhelmed with it if it’s a big goal. Breaking it down is essential to accomplishing a big goal. We actually get it accomplished and we do it right when we break it down. Thanks Jerome!
Erin
Erin Smith´s last [type] ..How To Stay Afloat By Leveraging ANY Skill You Have
You’re welcome.
That’s what I just love about this kind of stuff Erin. It’s simple and powerful.
Have a great day,
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
Too many people set goals and then don’t know what to do next, or how to actually achieve them.
What you’ve laid out shows how to get that done.
Excellent stuff!
Susanna
Thanks for that Susanna.
Have a super day,
Jerome Ratliff
Hey Jerome,
Great work my friend. Managing our goals like this and seeing the incremental achievements we make can really help us home business owners avoid disappointment.
Take care,
Wayne
Wayne Wu´s last [type] ..It’s high time to Climb Out of This Pit
Hi Wayne,
Thanks buddy – absolutely.
Take care,
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome,
Great ideas! I like to attack the most important first.
The best way is to make a list and go from important to not so important. This way you are staying on track and getting what you REALLY need to get done first.
Thanks again for sharing.
Tommy D.
Tommy DiPietro | MLM Prospecting Hero´s last [type] ..Smash Up Your Television- Grow Your Home Based Internet Business!
Tommy,
You’re welcome.
The important to the not so important, is a great way to assess which goals to attack.
Jerome Ratliff
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