The answers you want in order to take action are coincidentally on the other side of taking action. There’s no escaping that you often have to pull the trigger on areas in your business when you’re not quite ready, or you’re unsure, or you don’t have the insight you’d like before taking the leap.
By listening [and taking notes], you’ll learn:
Three areas in your business where taking in-action often shows up
The 4-step simple action framework to help you move into intentional action mode
How making mistakes, errors and wrong decisions are what is needed in order to grow
The answers you seek are on the other side of taking the action you’re afraid to take, throw yourself into the deep end, or even the shallow end, and let the answers you need unfold.
The answers you want in order to take action are coincidentally on the other side of taking action. There’s no escaping that you often have to pull the trigger on areas in your business when you’re not quite ready, or you’re unsure, or you don’t have the insight you’d like before taking the leap.
By listening [and taking notes], you’ll learn:
Three areas in your business where taking in-action often shows up
The 4-step simple action framework to help you move into intentional action mode
How making mistakes, errors and wrong decisions are what is needed in order to grow
The answers you seek are on the other side of taking the action you’re afraid to take, throw yourself into the deep end, or even the shallow end, and let the answers you need unfold.
If you’d like to work together with me as your 1:1 business and marketing consultant, book a call here.
Shannon Stone:
Hey, welcome to the podcast. Super excited to jump into this episode today.
Shannon Stone:
Today we are talking about how action creates answers. This has to be like almost like what would you call it? Like a mantra or something you really need to keep close to you in your business. If you want to get anywhere, you definitely have to take action, but I often find people will get caught up of thinking well, should we do this thing or that thing? Should we do it this way or that way? How do I know if this will work? What if it's a waste of time, money, resources, and there's three main areas that I find in the businesses that I help that this comes up where they're wanting the answers before they even take action. So the first area is your marketing. So should we do this strategy or this idea or that platform In?
Shannon Stone:
Hiring is another area as well. So should we even hire someone, or who should we hire? Should we hire locally or offshore? You know, will they be good enough? Will they know what to do? Will I have enough work to even give them? And then another area is around systems and software, which is a crazy one, and I think it's probably the one I least enjoy hearing about. When people are deciding between software to choose, you know, do I go with Asana or do I go with Notion or do I go with ClickFunnels or Leadpages or ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign? It's like just choose one. But that's what I want to talk to you about today how action creates answers and how, unfortunately, some people will shut down ideas before even trying and they often are left in this constant cycle or saying that things that just won't work. But have you actually even tried? Have you even attempted? The software, the hiring, the marketing, the strategy, whatever it is, you're not going to have any of the answers unless you take some form of action and even if that action doesn't produce the result you were hoping for, at least you're a little bit further on. You've got information now. You've got data to say well, you know that strategy actually didn't work, or that platform didn't actually work. Or hiring that particular person or doing things that particular way, yes, it didn't work, but what's? I can keep moving forward now with figuring out what the next step is that I need to take. So we need to park the analysis paralysis where we're kind of waiting for the answer before taking any kind of action.
Shannon Stone:
The other little bit of lingo around this that I often will say is the fancy procrastination. It's like you're preparing to get prepared. It's like I'm putting together a plan, I'm working out what we need to do. And I'm putting together a plan, I'm working out what we need to do and I'm refining the plan and I'm just kind of stuck in the planning stage but never actually doing anything. So that is fancy procrastination.
Shannon Stone:
So I do have a simple action framework that is going to help you to take action, and the more action that you take, the more answers that you're going to have. So the first is what is the result? So, in this simple action framework. What's the result that you're really wanting to achieve? Number two what is the strategy or the plan? I think for anything it's great to have a strategy and a plan, Even if you are choosing software. Why are we choosing this software? How's this going to fit into our business? That's number two. Number three is then taking the action, like the hardest part of all. But if you are clear on what your result is number one you have a strategy and a plan. Number two taking action, which is number three becomes a whole lot easier because you can see where that action fits into the piece, where it fits into the puzzle. And then, once you take action, it's never going to be a perfect scenario, and so step four is to refine. And so, within, refining is reflecting and reiterating. So maybe in your marketing, you try a particular strategy and maybe it works, but it doesn't work the complete way that you're hoping that it would. So just refine it, don't throw it away altogether. Reflect on it, let's see, okay, well, what worked about it, what didn't work about it, and then reiterate. It's like we're going to try it again, but we're going to try it again with our new information that we're going to apply from this refining stage. So the simple action framework is one what's the result? Two, what's the strategy or plan? Three, what's the action you need to take and take that action? And number four, to refine, reflect and reiterate.
Shannon Stone:
So, with this idea of action, creating answers, there's a couple of resources that you might find helpful, and before I share them as well, I guess what comes to mind for me is a particular and I, you know, we all go through this, but there's certain times where certain things are impacting you more than others. And I know, early on in my business, I really struggled to implement things. I really struggled to take all the information that I was learning and to do anything with it. So when I had this awareness, I said, okay, all I need to start doing is just implementing, even if it's messy, even if it's this, that and the other, but I need to overcome this lack of implementing or this lack of action that I'm not taking. Okay, and that was a big focus for me.
Shannon Stone:
So if you're finding that you are constantly talking about the same thing, that you are not taking action, and so nothing is really happening in your business or not the way that you would like, maybe almost give yourself this season of I just need to take action, whatever action I take, but I need to really flex this muscle and grow this action-taking muscle. Now, this same kind of sentiment can be applied to lots of different things. Maybe it's like around, you know, imposter syndrome. It's like it's a time where you really need to step up a bit more and really push yourself a little bit more. But just wanted to share the sentiment around that. But coming back to this episode, it is more around action, it is more around implementing.
Shannon Stone:
So a few resources that you might find helpful is a book called Ready Fire Aim by Michael Masterson. So we're all here ready aim fire that's the normal wording to it. But his book is Ready Fire Aim. So I love it because it's like well one you get ready. Fire is second, which is the taking, the action, and through the action is when you start to aim and course correct. So that's pretty much the sentiment of the book. But if you really want to dive into it, you really need to grow and flex this action taking muscle. Definitely check out that book. Ready Fire Aim by Michael Masterson.
Shannon Stone:
The other resource I want to share with you it's not a book but it's an idea of being directionally correct and it's something that I've learned through Dent Global and Daniel Priestley and Glenn Carlson, who built the Key Person of Influence program. But a big sentiment or a big idea that they share often and when I say often like they share this more than anything, I feel like is to be directionally correct. So we're not going to have the answers to everything or anything at any point in time, but if you can move in the direction that you feel is directionally correct, the answers will come. So you just need to focus on okay, well, you know this is a good direction to go with our marketing, know this is a good direction to go with our marketing. Or this is a good direction to go with how we want to hire and grow our business.
Shannon Stone:
It doesn't have to be perfect by any means, but we're going in the right direction. So it's okay or being okay with being directionally correct and with that. It's being okay with failing. It's being okay with making a mistake or making the wrong decision or spending money or time or resources where, in hindsight, you probably wouldn't have. But the upside to that is you tried and you've got the answers, and so don't let any of that trying go to waste. Do something with it. Let it help you to lead what your next steps are going to be, which brings us perfectly to what are the action steps for this episode.
Shannon Stone:
So what I would suggest to you is to think about what is one thing that you want answers to in your business. You know something that you've been pondering on or holding back on, or you know, just like waiting to pull the trigger on, what's one thing that you want answers to. You. Just and maybe a great way to also flip it is what's one thing you've been scared to do in your business or worried about doing. Figure out or pinpoint one particular thing, and then I invite you to take some form of action on it. A couple of clients actually recently have been wanting to outsource more, and so part of that process is just inquiring, making some inquiries with contractors or doing up job descriptions. It's just getting ready, getting closer and being more directionally correct and moving in that direction.
Shannon Stone:
So what is one thing that you want answers to and you just need to take some kind of action on it If you want to be full blown and take all the action. What is that one goal that you're wanting to achieve, or what's that one particular thing that you are working on where you can apply the simple action framework, which was the four pieces. It was one what's the result? Two, what's the strategy or plan? Three, what is the action you need to take and take that action? And four, refine, reflect and reiterate.
Shannon Stone:
So just to wrap things up here, I don't think anything produces answers unless we take action. Otherwise, we're almost like meditating on ideas and strategies and things that we could or should be doing, but nothing is going to come into fruition. You're not going to get any answers and you're not going to get any results, any growth, any progress, unless you take action. So if you just take, how many times can we say action in this? I don't know. But if you can just take more action, you will have more information that you can then help you to lead your next steps. And if you feel like you've been taking a lot of action and you haven't been getting to where you want to go, maybe ask yourself have I been doing something with the data, with the feedback, with the answers I have been getting from the action I have been taking? So maybe you've been trying a particular marketing strategy over and, over and over again and it's still just not working. Well, I would reflect, I would reiterate, I would refine what is it that you're doing and then do something slightly different with it, rather than you know. It is that definition of insanity it's like doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Same thing happens in business, so let your action create the answers that will lead you towards your goals. That's what I have for you today.
Shannon Stone:
I hope you enjoy this episode and I'll talk to you very soon.