“It’s not enough to just think about WHO we’re listening to anymore. Now we have to think about HOW MUCH we’re listening to.
- How many articles did you read today?
- How many ads did you see?
- How many things are vying for your attention?
It’s overwhelming when you think about it.
It can be even worse for entrepreneurs. We tend to already be overwhelmed and working on 15 projects at once.
So I tell my coaching clients to limit their information intake. To cut out the noise. Before downloading or attending anything, ask yourself: “Is this truly going to move my business forward within the next 90 days?”
If the answer is no then it is a distraction and should be discarded. If you find yourself answering yes to everything you come across then it is time to take a step back and truly decide what direction are you wanting to take your business in. Because let’s be honest with ourselves, not everything is going to move our business in the direction we wish to take it.
Even I realized that at some point in the last 6-months I stopped taking my own advice and started overloading on input.
Subscribing to email lists, signing up for webinars, grabbing all the email freebies, following the hell out of everyone on social media with a shiny download…
And sure enough, in short time I became so overloaded and confused that I became completely ineffective. Not to mention fricking terrified of opening my email. And I’m typically a bit of an email Nazi – I spend a fair amount of time setting up systems to keep things out of my inbox.
I know if I’m feeling this overwhelmed, some of you out there (who’re perhaps a little less anal-retentive than yours truly), must be losing your damn minds.
Because we are just so inundated with ads + sales + valuable information + for me, its just ALL.TOO.MUCH.
I actually found myself thinking about quitting my coaching business last week (yes, again) – not because I don’t love it or see a future in it, but because I got so fricking overloaded with the all the things I “should” be doing and feeling like I’m clearly a sh*tty marketer because I’m not making 100-million-dollars on every launch like all the other coaches do.
And also simultaneously knowing that so many of these “coaches” are completely full of crap and super-shady in their tactics (or at least less than transparent) and feeling like I have to be a complete asshat on social media to get any traction.
You know the folks I’m talking about, right?
There’s the “Humble Bragger” who just can’t believe what an amazing week she had when 47 of her 1-on-1 clients made 7-figures, or the blatant “here’s the Lamborghini I bought with my pocket money” braggarts, or the “if you just download this PDF your life’ll never be the same + you’ll crap rainbows for eternity” jack-wagon.
I urge you to think of this picture every time someone wants you to grab their freebie. You’re Welcome. Photo by Taylor Bryant on Unsplash
Photo by Taylor Bryant on Unsplash
I’m so fricking over it, and I know you are too.
So I’m going to be making adjustments to how I interact with information personally, as well as my business practices. I would encourage you to do the same, especially if you are currently feeling overwhelmed about what to do next to move your business forward.
For one thing, I’m aiming to simplify my own marketing and to be authentic as f*ck. Find one or two online marketing tactics to generate traffic and increase sales then ignore everything else.
Personally, I prefer to write long form versus spend my time on social media, so I’m challenging myself to write at least a blog post a week and to spend a fair amount of time trying to simplify complex concepts in print & video training.
I encourage you to STOP listening to everyone with a message and to hand-pick the content you consume.
If you don’t get value from email lists, unsubscribe.
(Yes, even mine! I’m even happy to recommend other coaches or programs that’ll work for you – #communityovercompetition)
If you get value but get overloaded, filter them out of your inbox and save them up for a binge.
But do yourself a favor and start clearing the overwhelm out of your life. You’ll feel so much better and your business will thank you for it.
I’ve listed more tips on productivity and business success over here.
