Commit: How I Stay on Task as an Entrepreneur
Decide and Do, these are two of the most challenging words for entrepreneurs. You see, in order to truly live in your purpose and actually generate profit you have to consistently decide what to do and then see that thing through. When it comes to staying focused and sticking to my plans regardless of what’s happening at home or in the world, I practice what I like to call, the ‘Commit Challenge’.
Simply put, the ‘Commit Challenge’ is all about you deciding on one thing you will do over a 30-day period. The goal is to do that thing daily, however, you can also choose to batch your activities weekly during a predefined timeblock, if that option works better for you. I always say, “You can find a way or find an excuse, but you can’t do both.” Every month I like to give myself and my community at least one micro-project to focus on as a way to stay on task.
One month I focused strictly on creating reels, another month on blogging, and another on storytelling on social media through personal photos. As someone who is multi-passionate and full of ideas, I find these little challenges help me in a big way by keeping things fresh, fun and moving forward. When it comes to the day to day tasks of entrepreneurship they are far from sexy and oftentimes more tedious than we’d like them to be, which is why these ‘commit challenges’ help me overcome procrastination, boredom, distractions, and analysis paralysis. Rather than trying to find the time to do all the things, I focus on a handful of things that I can realistically commit to beyond daily required responsibilities and routine.
Truth be told, many entrepreneurs get lost in their ideas and struggle to do the things they really need to do, because ideas make you feel good and implementation is sometimes harder than we’d like it to be. I focus on taking my bigger ‘elephantastic tasks’ and breaking them down into these bite-size activities that are more manageable for me as a solopreneur as well as the many women entrepreneurs that I mentor.
The best part about this challenge, the absolute icing on the cake, is that it starts when you start. You don’t have to start it on the first of the month, on a Monday or a Sunday. You start the day you decide what you are going to do and begin the act of doing. Commitment is an act not a word. It’s about being among the AT — Action Takers vs the AT — Active Talkers. Pick your project, make sure it’s manageable for you, something you can realistically do then track your progress for 30 days.
This month I’m leading a ‘Write Your Way to Revenue’ 4 week Content Creation / Accountability project for my SistaSense Circle and it’s inspired by the Commit Challenge. Each person will identify one writing project that they will focus on daily or weekly for the next 30 days. I’ve given them 6 possible options to choose from. Their options are as follows:
- Article Marketing on Medium
- Blogging for Business
- Paid Newsletter Project
- Real Easy Reels Challenge
- Easy eBook Challenge
- Work on a Work in Progress Project
These options all stem from various challenges we’ve worked on throughout the year thus far with the goal of ‘finishing what has been started’ and ‘tapping into organic reach through article marketing with more consistency and intention.’
In an effort to lead by example I am kicking things off by sharing this article on medium as my way to commit myself to writing on the Medium platform more consistently this month.
I truly believe that nothing changes if nothing changes. As entrepreneurs we can fill our hearts, minds, and notebooks with countless ideas and desires, but nothing will happen unless we commit to showing up. Taking tiny steps forward with the help of tiny tasks. Committing to doing the work of actually working.
I believe it was Maya Angelou who once said, “Nothing will work, unless you do.” With those words, I encourage you to commit yourself to one thing today. Whether it be something similar to the ideas I’ve shared with you or a personal tiny task that matters most to you.
Share your thoughts and your plans. Join me on this journey one day at a time.
About the Author
I’m Lashanda, aka SistaSense. As a web designer and digital business mentor, I help women entrepreneurs make sense of making money online. Designing templates is my love language. I’m obsessed with King of the Hill, Mid-Day Naps, and generating passive income through the sale of digital products!
I also love turning my personal processes into templates and tools my fellow business besties can use like this handy Commit Challenge Tracker + Digital Planner.
