Words of wisdom from a close friend
I recently got to a see a close friend who lives halfway across the country. (One of my oldest—we’ve been friends for almost 2 decades!) And in one conversation, she dropped a gut check moment that I thought was SO relevant to running a business.
The context: she’s dating someone new and going into the situation with both eyes w i d e open. She likes the guy after a few months of being together, but very plainly said that she’s evaluating whether he brings value to her life. Basically, is she better off with or without him?
Whoa. Imagine if we asked ourselves the same question when it came to our business: Does this decision/partnership/offer/price/task/piece of content/course/insert-thing-in-question-here bring value to my business? Am I better off committing to this thing, or moving on quickly and intentionally?
I know from our 1:1 conversations that many of you struggle with knowing where to start on all your amazing ideas. (This is often the jumping off point of my Quick Win Consulting Calls with clients!) It’s hard for you to corral all your thoughts so that they’re pointing in the same direction. It’s tricky to look far enough ahead to take the right steps in the right order. (Ashley Kang is AMAZING at action planning in this way.)
And you’re not alone. I get wrapped up in all the possibility. (Exploration is one of my core values, after all.) But we’re going for a hard no or easy yes.
So the next time I find myself trying to go in 100 different directions—or 5, or even 2—I’m going to think back to my conversation with my friend. I’ll ask myself: Does this bring me closer to my goals, or distract from them? Does this bring me closer to my audience, or confuse them? Does this align with my brand values, or muddle them?
And then I’ll take confident, meaningful action from there.
So, tell me: how do you keep visionary self in check so that you stay on a forward trajectory, rather than pinballing around from idea to idea? Have any grounding questions you ask yourself?
Toward purpose and progress,
Ashlee
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.