I work with a lot of founders, and if there is one thing they all share in common it’s the need to stay focused. From unsolicited sales calls and social media to networking events and webinars, the distractions are endless. How do you know where to put your precious attention? Here are 5 ways to decide what to put on your plate.
Set your intention every day.
In India, the practice of setting an intention is known as sankalpa. Dating back some 3,000 years, this practice involves san, a connection with the higher truth (however that manifests for you), and kalpa, which means sacred vow. Sankalpa then is a sacred vow that resonates with the deeper meaning of your life.
Setting your sankalpa can be part of your daily morning meditation or journaling. Focus on why you started your business. What’s the driving force behind what you do every day? Find that fire in your belly and give it a voice. State it as if it were already true and present. For example, instead of “I want to provide organic grains to the world” say “I am providing the world with organic, nutritious and delicious grains.”
Write your sankalpa down on a Post-It and stick it where you can always see it. When a distraction comes up, read your sankalpa out loud and ask yourself if you are being pulled towards, or away from it. Take a deep breath and listen to your gut. What do you FEEL? Don’t second guess yourself!
Don’t be afraid to say no to salespeople.
As a business owner, I’m sure you get at least as many unsolicited sales calls as I do. You could probably spend the majority of your day responding to them. Most of them are well-intentioned people simply trying to make a living, and it’s tempting to think you’re being nice by taking their call.
For the vast majority of those calls though, that’s not the case. Unless you’re seriously considering their products, you’re wasting both the sales person’s time and your own. Be nice, tell them you’re not interested and don’t want to waste their time and they’ll move on to greener pastures. Better yet, screen your calls and let them go to voicemail. Most of them won’t even leave a message.
Schedule social media time
I know, you just posted the best photograph of your wares and you’re dying to see your followers’ reactions. It’s hard to stop checking every five minutes, isn’t it? There’s a reason for it. Every time someone likes your post, that little notification sound sends a shot of the feel-good endorphin dopamine to your brain. Then you need another hit.
It’s bad enough with a personal feed, but with a business page, it’s worse. Everyone you talk to says you have to ramp up engagement, conversions, followers, content marketing, etc. And those all have value, but you have to look at the cost versus the benefit.
So set aside an hour each day to post something, respond to comments from yesterday, and look at what’s getting responses and what isn’t. Then move on and don’t look back.
A client of mine said, “I don’t know why I spend hours on social media. It’s not converting into sales.” I simply asked, “Yeah, so why ARE you doing it?” Because everyone says you should? How does that feel in relation to your sankalpa?
Optimize your time at networking events
They’re a lot of fun, right? You get to mingle with your friends, co-entrepreneurs, speakers, and industry bigwigs, eat, drink, laugh… Now, I’m not knocking these events at all. But just like you set a sankalpa for the day, set one for the event. Set some ground rules for yourself.
- Don’t talk to anyone you know unless it’s to get an introduction.
- Come home with 10 business cards of people who can help advance your sankalpa, and follow up with them tomorrow.
- Are the people at this event the ones you need to meet, or are they solopreneurs like yourself? Camaraderie is very valuable, just be conscious of what you’re spending your time on.
Work with a mentor or coach
You’re working on a dream, and it’s hard to keep that up day after day. Even the best of us question our own decisions, get distracted, take a nap… We’re very social creatures, and we can’t thrive when we work alone.
You need to find someone you can confide in, who can give you a reminder of why you’re doing this, and help you learn and grow.
- Mentors are great for advice, and you may need two or three. Raising capital is different from operations, so it’s a good idea to get a few experts on your side.
- Coaches excel at helping you see new possibilities and creating practices that instill these learnings into long-term personal growth. They can be of great help with setting and achieving goals, decision-making, and confidence.
- Start an accountability group to provide support for each other.
Hopefully, these tips will help keep you on track. I’d be happy to share some more ideas – book a free 1:1 strategy call.
You can optimize your impact by exploring your beliefs, behaviors, and language. By shining a light on unconscious patterns, you’ll establish a new way of being that brings self-awareness, emotional intelligence, confidence, and better relationships. These skills will enable you to:
- Embrace vulnerability
- Build trust and psychological safety with their teams
- Clearly communicate individual and team goals, and hold accountability
- Communicate with intention, authenticity, and compassion
- Give and receive feedback that enables learning, development, and deeper relationships
- Solve difficult decisions
- Face the future with optimism, enthusiasm, and energy
- Resolve past difficulties and hurt
- When you coach with me, you’ll benefit from my 25 years of corporate experience, with expertise in coaching and organizational development. Leaders at Roche Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Danone, LinkedIn, and many more have benefited from our work together.
I am a graduate of Newfield Network’s Coaching for Personal and Professional Mastery program and am a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the International Coach Federation. A longtime meditation practitioner, I emphasize conscious, mindful leadership, and business practices that benefit all.
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