4 Tips To Making A Quit-Proof Commitment

motivation women-owned-business Feb 01, 2020

Congratulations!

You’ve made the decision to start your business, and you are ready to do what it takes to make your dreams a reality.

But what does it take to make a commitment, stick with it, and find success, without freaking out and giving up in the process?

Let’s face it. The challenges are plenty in building your own business. Roadblocks like rejection, fear, self-doubt, or unsupportive loved ones are bound to come up and threaten to throw you off track.

The key to making a commitment that will carry you through is the frame of mind in which you make it. Are you thinking logically, with cool emotions? Or are you already fired up by an early success or failure, and are committing to something you may later regret?

A logical approach begins by having an end goal.

Have you crafted a clear vision statement [link January post here] to provide a picture of what you want to achieve in your business? If so, you are ready to make commitments that are achievable! Keeping a cool head will allow you to look forward. You will be able to better predict challenges. Your goals will likely be more realistic and measurable.

On the other hand, maybe you dove in and are already in a reactive state. It is harder to see the results of our actions from this place. Passion is definitely important in your business. Your passion is what will drive you when you face barriers to your success! But making a commitment when you are hotheaded with emotion doesn’t allow you to see all the facts.

If you are ready to take a calm, cool, and collected approach to committing to your business, let’s get started!

4 Tips to Making a Quit-proof Commitment

1. Set boundaries

You are the CEO of your business. You get to make the decisions on how you operate. But you may need to have a heart-to-heart with your family and friends. Help them understand how important your goals are to you. It will be much easier to follow through on your commitment if you have the support of these most valued people!

Let them know you won’t be as available to go out on the weekends. Or you will need to schedule family activities rather than being spontaneous. These are boundaries that can protect your valuable relationships! They will allow you to be fully present, whether you are working or not.

2. Block out your schedule weekly

Each week, look at your calendar. First, block out the things you need to do, like appointments, kid’s sports, or family obligations. Maybe you are building your business while still working a 9-5 job. Write those hours in.

Now look at the open space and decide when you will work on your business.

Kathy Caprino, senior contributor to Forbes.com, says, “You need to understand clearly what you want to create in life, and what you can tolerate giving up for that.” What can you shift in your schedule to make sure you have the time you need to accomplish your goals?

Put your committed business hours on your calendar. Now would be a good time to let your family and friends know, so they can also manage their expectations of you and your time!

And remember to be adaptable! If you take your commitment and schedule one week at a time, evaluate as you go and kick to the curb anything that isn’t working. Change up time of day, number of days per week, or length of work time until you find the best fit for you and your family.

3. Enlist help

You might have heard about outsourcing from a business perspective. For example, you might outsource your bookkeeping, or hire a Virtual Assistant to take over your administrative tasks. This might not be where you are at if you are just starting out.

But we all need more time in our days! What if you could “outsource” a few of the tasks that interrupt your valuable work time? Maybe you can order pizza one night a week. Or even better, if you have a partner or teenage child, ask them to take over, if that isn’t something that is already happening!

Brainstorm other life tasks you can assign to someone else for a time. If you have young children at home, hire a babysitter a few hours a week to give yourself more focus time. Can you say no to some volunteer work? Order your groceries online. Carpool with other parents for driving to kid’s activities.

The idea of outsourcing is that you don’t have to do everything! Even small changes can add up to an extra few hours of concentrated work each week.

4. Schedule your own performance review

If you have ever been an employee, you’ve probably had regular performance reviews by your boss or company management. These reviews help to evaluate successes and failures and can help with setting goals and expectations for the next time period.

Why not conduct your own performance review? Put a date on your calendar. Six months or a year from now, plan to sit down and look at the commitments you’re making today. Consider how realistic they were, how well you followed through, and how you might need to adjust going forward.

Also, keep in mind how well your commitments helped you reach your goals. Did the hours you set aside for business bring you the results you were aiming for? Do you need to increase your work time, or re-evaluate your goals? Just like with your weekly schedule, don’t be afraid to throw out anything that isn’t working!

Making a commitment doesn’t need to be scary!

Decide to commit, and be flexible in the process.

What commitments are you making in your business?

If they involve providing your potential customers with a clearer picture of the solutions you can offer them, let’s chat about how your website can do that!