1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,839 I often say, oh, I'll just think about it whenever I'm facing a 2 00:00:03,919 --> 00:00:08,279 challenge, hoping that I can avoid thinking about it until the solution just pops 3 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:12,800 into my mind at three am one night. But the reality is that we 4 00:00:12,919 --> 00:00:18,039 can't avoid deep thinking if we want to come up with creative solutions to the 5 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:24,800 challenges we're facing and new ideas for growth in our business. Welcome to Imperfect 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:28,239 Action. I'm Steph Taylor. For years, I read all the books, 7 00:00:28,359 --> 00:00:32,799 downloaded all the freebies, and did all the courses, but it wasn't until 8 00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:37,079 I started taking imperfect action that my business had its first million dollars. Here, 9 00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:44,280 imperfect action is about doing things before you're ready, prioritizing consistent action over 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,719 perfect action, and moving forward even when you're not sure you're doing it right. 11 00:00:49,759 --> 00:00:53,679 On this show, you can expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips and 12 00:00:53,799 --> 00:00:57,880 strategies to build a business that brings you more profit, more freedom, and 13 00:00:58,039 --> 00:01:03,200 even more joy. Are you on the list to get my daily Businesses? 14 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,920 Every day, I'll send you a bite sized prompt designed to help you grow 15 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,959 your business in a more intentional way. Sign up at step Taylor dot Co, 16 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:17,799 forward Slash, DBB or at the link in the show notes. Hey, 17 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,599 welcome back to Imperfect Action. This is episode six hundred and ninety two. 18 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:27,640 Today I'm sharing five harsh truths that I have recently learned about growing to 19 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:33,799 that next level in business. So I recently just got back from a little 20 00:01:34,239 --> 00:01:38,959 ski retreat business event kind of thing where I got to hang out with fifteen 21 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:46,599 other entrepreneurs business owners. And it was really different to a lot of the 22 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,200 communities that I've hung out with the events that I've been to most of the 23 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,920 time in my business, because they were very different businesses. You know, 24 00:01:53,959 --> 00:01:59,319 there were software businesses, agencies, really only like maybe one or two other 25 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,439 line business owners in the style that this business is, right, So it 26 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,879 was really nice to step out of the normal echo chamber of other online business 27 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:15,719 owners and here different perspectives from different industries. And especially because many of the 28 00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:19,280 other ones who were there were miles ahead of me in business. You know, 29 00:02:19,319 --> 00:02:23,520 some of them had been in business for twenty thirty years. And because 30 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:28,360 their businesses were so different and they had this experience, I was able to 31 00:02:28,439 --> 00:02:34,039 learn a few things that I realized might have been holding me back from growing 32 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,360 my business to the next level. So I'm going to share five of these 33 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,520 harsh truths that I realized while I was there. Number one, twenty percent 34 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,280 of what we do in our business usually delivers eighty percent of the results. 35 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,319 This is the Parado principle, but I'd never really thought about it in a 36 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:55,000 business concept, right, the Parado principle being that roughly eighty percent of outcomes 37 00:02:55,039 --> 00:03:01,240 or consequences comes from twenty percent of inputs or causes. And you might notice 38 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,439 this in areas of your business where twenty percent of your clients are the ones 39 00:03:06,479 --> 00:03:09,319 who are delivering eighty percent of your revenue, or twenty percent of your students 40 00:03:09,319 --> 00:03:13,240 in your course are the ones who are asking eighty percent of the questions, 41 00:03:13,439 --> 00:03:16,199 or twenty percent of your Instagram posts make up eighty percent of your engagement. 42 00:03:17,199 --> 00:03:22,680 And this happens also in a broader business environment right where maybe twenty percent of 43 00:03:22,719 --> 00:03:25,080 the businesses online I'm making eighty percent of the revenue. I don't know, 44 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,479 I just made that one up, but it's quite an interesting concept. So 45 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:35,759 what I am reflecting on is what is the twenty percent of effort that I 46 00:03:35,759 --> 00:03:40,039 am putting in right now that is delivering eighty percent of the results And then 47 00:03:40,479 --> 00:03:45,479 looking at how can I double down on that? So rather than trying to 48 00:03:45,479 --> 00:03:49,360 do more new things, which we all love doing more new, shiny things, 49 00:03:50,199 --> 00:03:52,520 but rather than trying to do those new things, how can I then 50 00:03:52,680 --> 00:04:00,639 put an extra ten percent into that effort and leverage that for growth? Number 51 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,639 two. Deep thinking time is essential for coming up with new ideas. I 52 00:04:05,759 --> 00:04:10,520 often say, oh, I'll just think about it whenever I'm facing a challenge, 53 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,680 hoping that I can avoid thinking about it until the solution just pops into 54 00:04:14,719 --> 00:04:18,480 my mind at three am one night. But the reality is that we can't 55 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:24,759 avoid deep thinking if we want to come up with creative solutions to the challenges 56 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:30,079 we're facing and new ideas for growth in our business. When I was at 57 00:04:30,079 --> 00:04:33,439 this retreat, one of the guys there shared his deep thinking process, which 58 00:04:33,879 --> 00:04:39,600 I intend to steal, and that is forty five minutes a day of written 59 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,319 thinking. So taking forty five minutes to reflect on one question, for example, 60 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:47,519 what is the twenty percent of effort that's delivering eighty percent of results? 61 00:04:47,519 --> 00:04:51,160 And what are some ways I can double that? So then writing free flow 62 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:56,959 writing without stopping for forty five minutes reflecting on that question, thinking about that 63 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,399 question and then taking a bit of a break review refining the ideas that come 64 00:05:01,439 --> 00:05:08,560 from that and saving those for later or to implement. And a really interesting 65 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,600 thing that came up for me is actually deep thinking is very different to overthinking. 66 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,120 And I can be very guilty of overthinking. I know a lot of 67 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:21,600 us overachievers can happily overthink till the cows come home. And overthinking is usually 68 00:05:21,639 --> 00:05:26,360 what happens when we try to solve a problem without the facts, simply by 69 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,639 trying to think our way through it, and it usually ends up in this 70 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,079 thought spiral where we just go round and round and round in this never ending 71 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:38,720 loop. And in the case of overthinking, the solution is to take action 72 00:05:39,199 --> 00:05:42,199 so that we can get the facts that we are missing. For example, 73 00:05:42,199 --> 00:05:46,160 if we're overthinking about whether we might spend some time creating a course and we're 74 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,600 not sure if anybody will buy for it, like will anyone pay money for 75 00:05:48,639 --> 00:05:53,199 this course that I'm creating? You can overthink, but you're not going to 76 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:55,839 get to a solution. You're never going to figure out whether somebody would pay 77 00:05:55,879 --> 00:05:59,600 money for it until you actually ask people to buy it. So in that 78 00:05:59,639 --> 00:06:02,800 case, the solution is taking action. Asking people to buy it, and 79 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,759 the facts that you are getting is either yes, people are paying money for 80 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,399 it, or no, they are not paying money for it, whereas deep 81 00:06:09,439 --> 00:06:15,120 thinking is then reflecting on ideas creative solutions rather than trying to solve something without 82 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:21,040 the facts. Okay, number three, I realized I'm still wasting a lot 83 00:06:21,079 --> 00:06:26,040 of time doing lower value tasks in my business, and the sooner that I 84 00:06:26,079 --> 00:06:29,680 can stop doing these, the sooner I can start focusing on the higher value 85 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,920 tasks. And one of the ideas, or one of the concepts that was 86 00:06:33,519 --> 00:06:38,800 brought up at the retreat was the concept of ten dollar tasks hundred dollars, 87 00:06:38,879 --> 00:06:42,519 thousand dollars, ten thousand dollar tasks in terms of how much value they are 88 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,319 creating for the business. And then looking at my to do list and I 89 00:06:46,439 --> 00:06:51,199 realize how much of my list is still ten dollars one hundred dollar tasks simply 90 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:55,240 because I've been too lazy to delegate them to my team, because it's like, 91 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:57,720 oh, it's going to take me five minutes to do this, whereas 92 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,560 it's going to take me twenty minutes to document it and explane how to do 93 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,000 it. So there's so much there where It's like, Ah, I need 94 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,959 to get these ten dollars one hundred dollar tasks off my plate because my value 95 00:07:08,959 --> 00:07:12,800 to my business is in idea generation, it's strategy, it's content creation, 96 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,680 and it's showing up live and teaching my students. Those are my one thousand 97 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,959 and ten thousand dollar tasks. And the more that I can get those ten 98 00:07:20,079 --> 00:07:24,120 and one hundred dollar tasks off my plate, the more time that I will 99 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:28,120 have to focus on the tasks that actually move the needle. So that's another 100 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,120 thing that I will be reflecting on, is what are my ten and one 101 00:07:30,199 --> 00:07:34,399 hundred dollar tasks and are the one thousand and ten thousand dollar tasks I can 102 00:07:34,439 --> 00:07:42,040 replace those with number four. I realize that the most successful people read a 103 00:07:42,079 --> 00:07:45,240 lot, and I realized that I actually need to read a little bit more. 104 00:07:45,279 --> 00:07:48,160 I'm not reading enough books and I'm a total bookworm. But you know, 105 00:07:48,199 --> 00:07:51,680 the one thing that I realized from this retreat was everyone was throwing book 106 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:56,839 recommendations around, and so many of these recommendations had been on my list of 107 00:07:56,879 --> 00:08:00,240 books that I wanted to read for a very very very long time time, 108 00:08:00,319 --> 00:08:03,240 and I had just not got around to it. Because you know, in 109 00:08:03,279 --> 00:08:05,360 the evenings, I get to the end of the day, I'm like, 110 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:11,199 oh, I just want to watch melrose Place reruns, right So, and 111 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,319 most of the time I'm not even focusing on what's going on in the show. 112 00:08:15,319 --> 00:08:18,319 It's just background noise while I'm doing other things. So instead of doing 113 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,079 that, I know I need to carve out a little bit more intentional time 114 00:08:22,079 --> 00:08:24,560 in my evenings to read a little bit more. And a lot of the 115 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,839 books that were suggested they're not even business books, they're books around mindset, 116 00:08:28,879 --> 00:08:37,320 spirituality, autobiographies. These were all really commonly recommended ones, not just practical 117 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,559 business books. Okay, And then number five. This one was a really 118 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,759 interesting one for me, and that is that you won't grow into pain. 119 00:08:45,879 --> 00:08:48,360 So if something is really painful in your business right now, you're not going 120 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,720 to grow in that area. You need to fix that pain first before you 121 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:54,519 will be able to grow into it. And in hindsight, I can see 122 00:08:54,519 --> 00:08:58,600 how obvious this has been in the past. For example, back when I 123 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:03,679 was working with one on one clients in a marketing capacity, I found it 124 00:09:03,759 --> 00:09:07,919 really exhausting. For each new client that I signed, it created a lot 125 00:09:07,919 --> 00:09:13,919 of extra work for me. So I was starting to dread the new clients. 126 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,200 Even though I knew a new client meant an increase in revenue, it 127 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,399 was really painful, so I would dread it, and then I would sort 128 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,399 of subconsciously push these new clients away because I didn't want to grow into that 129 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:28,279 pain. So another thing that I'm going to be reflecting on is what are 130 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:33,080 the pain points in this business as it currently is, and how can we 131 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:37,320 fix those before we try to pour more fuel on the fire and add new 132 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:41,799 things to the business. So there you have it, five harsh truths. 133 00:09:41,879 --> 00:09:46,279 Twenty percent of what we do usually delivers eighty percent of the results. Deep 134 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,480 thinking time is essential for coming up with new ideas. How much time are 135 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:56,279 we wasting doing those low value tasks? And the most successful people read a 136 00:09:56,279 --> 00:10:01,679 lot. And lastly, you won't grow into pain. If you're not already 137 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,799 subscribed to this show, hit the follow button in Spotify or plus in Apple 138 00:10:05,799 --> 00:10:09,279 Podcasts, and it just means you'll get each new episode straight to your podcast 139 00:10:09,279 --> 00:10:13,200 app every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as soon as it is released. Thank 140 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:13,960 you so much for listening. Catch you next time.