If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that things don’t always go according to plan and sometimes you simply have to postpone that goal, task, dream, [insert anything here]. In fact, many of you may not know this, but I was supposed to get married last year. We had to postpone (✅), which was the responsible thing to do given the pandemic. But if we’re being honest, I think we can agree that there are plenty of times that we turn to a seemingly legitimate reason to simply rationalize postponement, which does not do us or our businesses any favors.
So let’s talk about when it’s Ok (✅) and not Ok (❌) to postpone.
“I don’t have time”.
This is one of the most common things business owners say and the issue here is that it’s almost always true — sort of. Most of us have more things that we want to do or just wish we could do in any given 24-hour period, than is actually possible in 24 hours and that’s just reality when you run a business.
What we are really saying when we say “I don’t have time to do that” is “I am prioritizing other things over that”. And again, we’ve just established that there will always be something at the bottom of the list but it’s important to make sure you are prioritizing correctly and being intentional with your time.
“I don’t have the money”.
Again, here we actually saying “I am prioritizing spending my money on something else.”
“I’m going to add “I don’t have the bandwidth“ to this list as well.
Once again, we’re spending our mental and physical bandwidth on other things and not the thing we’re postponing, right?
I’m wondering if at this point you’re thinking “OK, she’s going to tell us about how those are all just excuses and we should not postpone things.” Not true! 😊
✅ If a family member asks you to pick them up from the airport in the middle of your workday and you have lots of important things you are working on. I’d say “I don’t have time” is an absolutely valid reason to decline or postpone.
❌ If, on the other hand, you need to create and send a proposal to a new client and you keep shelving this because you “don’t have time,” it might be time to admit that you’re prioritizing other things over this because those things are (take your pick): easier, less stressful, more fun, etc. 😊
Many things got postponed in 2020 and some for valid reasons. Businesses were just as scared as everyone else of the unknown we were living through and were in a “wait and see” period for longer than probably anyone expected. But one thing is for certain…
If you haven’t already, it’s time to take our goals, plans and hopes for our businesses off the shelf we put them on and build the best plan we possibly can under whatever circumstances we are in right this moment.
“But things might change and affect my plans!”
Actually, it would be more accurate to say “things will absolutely change and affect my plans.” But that doesn’t mean the plan isn’t worth having. Let me promise you one thing…
In a pinch or a disaster, pivoting or adjusting a plan is much easier than building one from scratch so having some plan at all is always worthwhile.
So, let’s chat: What is your current business plan foused on? 👇
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