Consistency

This words keeps popping up everywhere for business (and life!) doesn't it? But how 'good' are you at being consistent?

Me? I'm not the best, I'll be honest.

I love getting the ideas, get super focused on kickstarting things (my ADHD brain in full swing!) but after a while, once it starts to gain traction I want to move on to the next thing.

Whether this is email marketing, social media, my service offerings, event planning.... and personally, its running/ getting fit.

I start off with all the right intentions, I know what to do, the why and the how. And, I work with my clients to get things actioned in their businesses. But along my own business journey, that shiny new object can often loom large....

So how am I getting over this? How am I looking to improve my consistency?

Short answer - with difficulty.

Long answer - by taking these steps:

• I've made my business simpler - focusing on offering just a few things, rather than everything. I'm in the transition stage, but I'm already seeing benefits - for me, my headspace and energy, my messaging and opportunities
• I've created a plan that affords me to work simpler, to focus on a few marketing activities - rather than doing it all. This means that the 'set' activities I have will always get done, I don't feel as overwhelmed or chaotic jumping from one thing to another, and I have some time to do some ad hoc stuff too if I feel like it
• I've brought in experts to support me in some areas. I've outsourced some of my social media content and engagement; have a bookkeeper and accountant; some support with my membership admin and website work; a coach to keep me accountable and on track. This is not only saving me time, but with crucial areas like marketing etc, it means that even if I go a bit off-piste, the essentials are still being done consistently

I do also practice a sort of time blocking, but its more high level than every hour of the day being filled. I can't work like that, and feel that this leads to immediate failure, procrastination and means there is no flexibility - not something I want at all in my working day.

Instead, I give myself 2/3 things to complete each day. It might be - write the LinkedIn newsletter, update my website and do an hour of following up/ new conversations with people.

There's no timeframe, so if I want a longer lunch I can have it. If I'm feeling tired (something that has hit me hard this week for some reason!) I can have a bit of a lazier morning... AND, if I get through everything super-speedy, I can move on to something extra and feel REALLY good about myself, and maybe even do some fun stuff like more conversations, arranging some 1:1 catchups, work on my e-book or planner drafts etc....

And finally - I have an end goal in mind. I know what I want the Female Business Network to be. I know what I want it to achieve, and the benefits this will bring once I've achieved it successfully. I know how I want to be able to support others to build their dream businesses. And if I do go off track for a bit, am inconsistent or side-tracked, I can always bring myself back to this, and my overall vision and plan.

How do you work consistently? I'd love to know what works for you.

Janine x