5 steps to start getting results in your creative business NOW

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As a business coach for freelancers and creative professionals, I know how important it is to attend events and connect with my people. So, on a freezing cold evening in the week between Christmas and the New Year, I was getting ready to drive into the city to a networking event. I had a rotten cold and I was having to dig deep to muster up the will to leave my cozy house and venture out into the night.

What would give me a dose of inspiration and motivation, I thought. I grabbed my iPad and, based upon YouTube’s top suggestion for me, clicked on a Tony Robbins new year video. Within 20 minutes, I not only had the short-term motivation I was looking for, but I had identified exactly where I needed to focus to reach my 2017 goals, had written a list of actions I needed to take, and had a plan.

As a direct result of that content, I booked an appointment with my financial advisor, hired a new bookkeeper (who was referred by someone from that very holiday networking event), developed a new workshop, had my best month ever, and re-connected with some wonderful people in my network, some of whom I hadn’t seen in years.

All that, from a 20-minute video!

That’s the power of focus, people. None of us are immune from lack of focus or blind spots in our life and business, but with the right support and accountability, we can break the cycle.

If you have an area of your life or business that needs attention, here are 5 ways you can develop laser-like focus and create the reality you want in your life. Here’s how:

Take score

Are there areas in your life where you feel great, while others just make you want to put your head in the sand? This simple exercise will help you take stock of what’s working, what’s not and jump-start the transformations you want to see in your life.

Here’s how: take a pen and paper and rate yourself from 1-10 (1 being the lowest level of happiness and fulfillment, 10 being the highest) in the following areas:

• Career or business
• Health and fitness
• Relationships
• Social life
• Finances

Based upon your scores, pick one area that would benefit from your undivided focus and jot it down.

Go to the dark side (just for a minute, I promise)

Now write down what would it cost you to NOT improve this area of your life? Include all the ways it would affect your family and relationships if you DIDN’T take action. Think of as many reasons as you can and don’t hold back. You want to feel the pain here.

Go to the happy place (this is where you’re going to stay)

Now write down how it would make you feel if you finally mastered this area of your life and thrived? How would your life improve? What would you be able to do? How would you feel? How would your family and friends feel? Again, write them all down and feel the emotions associated with them.

Call in the experts

Lastly, list all the resources you could draw upon to help you gain clarity, confidence and control of this area in your life. What do you need? Who could help you? A lawyer? An accountant? A mentor or coach?

Turn your reflection into action

Now it’s time to turn your reflection into action. Here’s a checklist:

• Share your intentions with people who will hold you accountable. It could be a friend, business partner or accountability buddy. Just make sure they know they need to hold your feet to the fire.
• Put your intention in the form of a 90-day goal. For example: Get 6 meetings per month with high-quality prospects and convert 2 into paying clients. The more specific you are with a goal, the more likely you are to hit it.
• Make a list of people you need to hire or collaborate with to make your goal happen and ask your network for referrals and introductions. I find it helps to draft an email articulating your request so it makes it super easy for them to help.
• Review what you’d need in hand to make the change. Do you need to update your proposal process? What about your services or fees?
• Commit to a certain number of actions e.g. 3 new business emails per day, to reach your goal.

If you need more help mapping out a plan to getting results in your creative business, I’d like to help. Book a free 30-minute call with me and we’ll talk about your challenges and discuss solutions. Consider me a tool in your focus arsenal!

Justine Clay is a speaker and business coach for creative entrepreneurs and freelancers. Through a series of clear, actionable steps, Justine will teach you how to you identify what makes you stand out from the crowd, create a marketing message that resonates with your ideal clients, and build a successful and fulfilling creative business or career. Sign up for Justine’s free guide: How to Find High-Quality Clients and Get Paid What You’re Worth and start making monumental changes in your creative business or career today.