Quick (sort of…) Update 2/11/16

Hello lovely people,

A heck of a lot has happened since I last wrote to you. First of all, I didn’t launch!

Then the holidays happened.

Then I didn’t launch again in January like I tentatively planned (I didn’t even tell you about that, did I?).

Then I got married and went on a honeymoon. Yeah, I got freaking married!

And now here we are.

But let’s back up ever so slightly and talk about my wedding. I married my best friend and soulmate on January 29th and I don’t think either of us could be any happier. You know how even people who say they loved their wedding usually have at least one thing they’d change? I can honestly say I wouldn’t change a thing about ours.

After the wedding, we spent 8 days in Oregon — a few days in Portland, a few days in a cabin on the coast in Yachats, and then another day in Portland. It was super rad and a really great way to unwind.

Ok, enough of the ooey-gooey and onto the stuff that this blog is actually about…

Obviously, I didn’t launch the guitar product in December like I planned. After talking with my mentor, friends, and really searching within, I decided that it was too early. Not only was I having a hard time perfecting my sales letter, it was all just feeling rushed. I want this first product to be perfect and I’m learning so much as I go that I can use later, that I wanted (and still want) to take my time and really make this count.

So, I set my sights (without letting you know) on a January launch. My plan was to get it all done and launched before the wedding so that I could really enjoy and relax during the wedding and honeymoon.

Well, it turned out that that was too tall an order, as well. As I busted my ass working in the first few weeks of January, I was absolutely making progress, but also quickly realizing that there was more to get done than I anticipated. You see, I think for a long time I had been thinking too “big picture.” While this is good for planning and knowing where you want to take your business, it was detrimental to me because I hadn’t fully broken down all the steps I needed to take.

That actually leads me to some thoughts

I felt this way for some time back in December, but haven’t thought on it too much until today. I can see exactly what I want my business to be; I can see the (rather, an) end game, and I can see how everything works together. What I have trouble seeing sometimes, though, are all the steps in order to get to that end game.

What have I been doing to rectify this? I’ve been breaking my business (and my entire life, really) down into tiny, miniscule baby steps that are easy to take action on and just do one thing at a time. This is akin to the GTD workflow and so many other productivity hacks; it falls in line with The ONE Thing; and it works well in my beloved Bullet Journal. Doing this not only makes everything easier to swallow, it makes me feel accomplished.

I’ve mixed this with a slightly broader look at my day taken from my mentor, Alex Jeffreys. Looking at a day, he suggests figuring out what the absolute, most important thing is you need to get done in a day that will move your business forward and focusing on that (and nothing else) until it’s done. After this one main task, you can have a maximum of five secondary tasks for the day, but — as long as you get that main one done — it’s been a good day. Your business has progressed forward and that’s all that is really important right now.

It’s funny how all of these things are so similar (GTD-type workflows, The ONE Thing, Alex’s daily sheets, etc., etc.) and yet I subconsciously fight them off time and time again. Take the last couple days, for instance. While I have given myself a slight pass because it had been a couple weeks since I really worked (the week of the wedding was more or less a non-work week and then the honeymoon was … well, a honeymoon and we both deserved a break), I really didn’t feel that productive. I tried to plan out my days, but I didn’t have the focus. Since it had been so long since I had worked on my business, it took me a while to really figure out what it was that I needed to work on … what my most important task was.

The last couple days I asked myself at the end of the day, “What did I get done today?!?”

It felt like nothing.

Then today, I woke up early for the weekly coaching call and already had my day mostly planned out. I was clear on what I needed to work on in my business:

• I needed to work on my last bonus (most important task). DONE!
• I needed to edit the right hand technique bonus. DONE!
• I needed to update the sales letter with final names and page numbers for the bonuses. DONE!

I realize that on paper, this may not look like a whole lot. But, as I mentioned, it’s the baby steps that count. The baby steps turn into bigger steps, which turn into leaps, which turn into huge movement in the business. (Plus, with the 3+ hour group phone call this morning, all this work, and a bunch of stuff done around the house, it’s been a hugely productive day. And I’m getting back to the blog! And I’m not even done yet! And more yelling!)

All of this to say that…

I’ve come back from my honeymoon rejuvenated and ready to boogie. I’m not sure yet when my launch will actually be, but — whenever it is — it’ll be right.

While it took me a couple days to really figure out where I was and get into this new routine I was dreaming up, I’ve finally officially started today.

What does that mean for you, loyal reader?

I’m going to post every day, no matter how short or boring, to hold myself accountable. Just like I set out to do with this blog, I’m asking you to keep me accountable.

It’s crunch time. It’s time to buckle down. I’m feeling really good about today, which is nice because it’s been a little while since I’ve felt this good about a work day.

Maybe it’s because I feel really great after doing yoga for the first time (EVER in a class; in about 13 years if you count DVD’s…) last night.

Maybe it’s all the fresh pots I’ve had today.

Whatever it is, today has been swell and I want to ride this wave and keep it up.

Cheers!
PJ