Do you need to "feel ready" before you can take action? Try this instead

Are you feeling stuck in an endless cycle of getting ready but not actually moving the needle? Are you a highly educated, recovering good girl who did all the things and did them the "right way?" Many female entrepreneurs find themselves in this same situation and it’s not just a beginner’s problem. In fact, it can be a stubborn habit to break, no matter how long you have been in business.

It’s time to flip the script and stop getting ready and start taking action. In this article, we’ll discuss the common pitfalls of staying in the getting-ready mode longer than you need to, how to objectively assess if you’re ready, and how to move from an observer to a participant. It’s time to stop wasting time and start taking action. Let’s get started.

Here are the 3 changes you need to make to get yourself from getting ready to taking action and they will also result in increased confidence and ability to trust yourself to make good decisions:

1. Objectively take a look and see if you are spending too much time getting ready. This can be as simple as paying attention to how long you take to write a blog post, prepare a proposal, or draft a sales email.

2. Take action with the information you have available. You won't actually "feel" that it is enough, but through practice, you can get comfortable acting anyway.

3. Make a commitment to stop over-delivering and undercharging. The connection between spending too much time in planning and preparing mode before taking action and over-delivering and undercharging for your services may not be obvious, but trust me, if you do one, you are also doing the other.

Let's go a little deeper...

1. Objectively take a look and see if you are spending too much time getting ready.

The first step in stopping the endless cycle of getting ready is to objectively assess how much time you are spending getting ready. Are you devoting hours upon hours to researching, planning, and preparing? Or are you taking just the necessary steps to move the needle and get results? It can be hard to figure this out because like all behavior, excessive time spent "getting ready" is habit forming.

If you find yourself spending too much time on consuming other people's content or working on your mindset without using your skill set, then you may be caught in the getting ready cycle. While it's important to provide top-notch service, it's not necessary to over-impress your clientele. They need to be impressed with themselves and what they can achieve with your help. Finally, be mindful of how much time you spend researching and gathering information. While it's important to be informed, research can become a rabbit hole and lead to overcomplicating ideas. If you find yourself in this position, it's time to take action.

2. Take action with the information you have available.

You will first start by taking a look at how much information you actually have. I can almost guarantee it is more than you need to take the first action step. This could include information you've gathered through research, conversations with mentors, and insights derived from your own experience. Once you have identified the information you have available, you can use this to create a plan of action. This plan should include specific, measurable goals, a timeline for achieving each goal, and actionable steps for completing each goal. These actionable steps should be realistic and achievable within the timeline you have set.

To ensure success, many of us need to break down large goals into smaller, more manageable tasks and focus on taking action on one task at a time. Taking action can also include delegating tasks to others, such as hiring an assistant or using freelancers. Finally, it is important to track your progress and make adjustments as needed. This will help you identify what is working and where you need to make changes to stay on track.

Most business owners who spend excessive time getting ready tend to lose track of how much they have accomplished and often resist giving themselves credit until the job is done. You will find it easier to maintain your motivation and momentum if you acknowledge your effort as you go along, whether that is checking tasks off on your To Do list or using a project management platform like Trello that tracks your progress in a visual format. This is one of the tools I use to keep myself both on track and in forward motion.

3. Make a commitment to stop over-delivering and undercharging.

Women are often conditioned to think they are not enough, so they tend to over-deliver in their business and undercharge for their services. Women business owners may need to work on their mindset and develop more confidence about their value but this should never take the place of taking action in their business

We should continuously focus on moving the needle, which means generating leads, sales, revenue, and profit. This requires getting out of the bleachers and being a leader, not a follower. Many women feel they can't raise their rates or set better boundaries but this belief can be changed over time when coupled with action.

In conclusion, it's time for female solopreneurs to break the cycle of getting ready and start taking action. With the right strategy and mindset, you can take control of your business and move the needle toward success. Remember, all behavior is habit forming, so let's make taking action our habit.

If you want to dig into this topic a little deeper, check out the episode on my podcast by clicking this link: https://bit.ly/3XCQ2Gs