046: The Key To Ninja Prioritization For Busy Coaches

Ever said that I'm too busy and I can't get it all done? That there's just too much going on in my life between family and work and launching this new business that I'm overwhelmed, and I don't know if I'm ever going to get where I want to go?

Maybe that sounds familiar to you. It certainly does to me.

The story we tell ourselves about being busy holds us in procrastination and overwhelm and the sooner we can get over this idea that we can't get the important things done, then the easier it will be to build our business with ease and grace.

Today we're diving into how to make the difficult decisions about what to prioritize - how to become a ninja at prioritization, so even though you're a busy coach, you're also a thriving coach. Let's dive in.

Welcome, this is Action Taker Tribe, and I'm your host Jo Ingram.

Before we dive in, I'd like to invite you to a brand new Masterclass. Everywhere you look, new coaches seem to be building wildly successful businesses whilst you sit on the side-lines, frustrated and struggling to get your new coaching business off the ground.

Whether you're frustrated that you're often stuck for ideas to post on social media, confused about who exactly your perfect client should be, or overwhelmed by making offers that sell, I have the answers to help you get unstuck so you can sail onto the profitable coaching business of your dreams.

You know that you were made to use your talents to uplift others, and simply need a business shift to give you the tools and confidence to elevate your results.

New Masterclass: Drop Self-Doubt & Start Getting Clients: The 3 Keys For New Coaches To 10x Your Business Confidence

October 13th and 14th – you can find the link to register here

Now to the sticky topic of prioritization and this episode is about being a ninja at prioritizing, because without knowing what to do first and what to do next, it can get so overwhelming in your new coaching business. The challenges of prioritization come up all the time. I'm in the run-up to a launch - a very important launch that's very close to my heart because it's something I've been dreaming of for many, many months, and it's a way I know I can really help people - but in addition to these lofty aspirations, you have to actually do the work, and I have a project plan that has over 30 tasks on the to-do list and only a limited amount of time to get through everything.

I've always been a person who's identified as busy, busy, busy - you know the type. If you ask them, ‘hey, how are you? How's things?’ they’re like, ‘oh, I'm very busy’. That's always been me and believe me, it's also something that I am dealing with. I'm tackling the story that I'm always busy and what that really says about my own self-worth. If you listen to last week's episode - episode 45, the magic of receiving your dream business - you'll know that when we carry these limiting beliefs, it's so much harder for us to reach our goals, so I'm challenging myself about identifying as a busy person and know it's also wrapped up with an element of perfectionism. I feel I have to do all the things because I want everything to be perfect - perhaps you can relate.

So how do we prioritize? How do we decide which of the items has to be done? How do we overcome our overwhelm and actually make the decisions about what to do as priority?

And then of course, unexpected things happen. I had identified last week as my nose to the grindstone week. I was finally organized and ready to nail all of the things on my to-do list and what happens first thing Monday morning? One of my 10-year-old twins gets positive COVID results and now she's home from school. Her twin is desperately upset that she actually has to go into school, so I've got both of them upset and I'm trying to calm everyone down and move into Monday morning as easily as possible, but suddenly my whole routine is shaken up. Everything that I expected to cover that week suddenly has to be reviewed. COVID aside, isn't it so true that things crop up all the time, especially as a mom; there's times your kids need you more and often at the most inconvenient times, right? So, I had to adapt what I was going to do for the whole of last week and I did not get through the list that I expected to.

And so to this week, Monday morning, my daughter's feeling great, she's gone back to school and what happens? The twin who didn't want to go to school gets positive COVID results! So, we're now into week two with another daughter home for the week - and this one doesn't even like to watch TV! What are you going to do?!

So, what I'd like to do today is to share some of the ways that I have learned and deployed prioritization, that's helping me so much in my business.

It's centered around the idea of delete and delegate.

Let's talk about delete first. This is basically where you have to ask yourself what you just don't have to do. What would be nice to do, but you can live if it never happens - or perhaps it's not going to happen now, but it's something you can do in the future. I describe this as my ‘not to do list’, and it's all about moving through building our businesses with ease and grace.

It's not all about the struggle and the striving. If we want our businesses to be enjoyable and sustainable, we have to ease into them and enjoy the work we do.

The ‘not to do list’ is an essential element when it comes to letting go, so when I looked at my project plan for my launch and all of the elements that I believed I had to do, now I'm looking at it and saying, ‘if this never gets done is that really going to be a problem? And if I only contributed a small amount to this task, would it be enough?’

There's a great rule, perhaps you've heard of it, called the 80/20 rule, that says 80% of your actions will produce 20% of the results and vice versa. I'm really, it's about identifying what the 20% actions are that are going to create the majority of the results you need so you can let the rest go. I know that the program I'm launching is going to be a phenomenal help to the people that are called in, but I have to let it go with regards to how many people I can reach in a really short time. I have to let it go if I don't get all my email sequences written, and I have to let it go if my Facebook ad campaign doesn't get up and running in the way that I would dream it - for this time, because the beauty of running our businesses is that there's always another go at it. Sometimes we have to just do something now and then build on it later.

There's no such thing as failures - only learnings.

My decision on the 80/20 is to get the program brilliant, so for the handful of people that all call in and join it's going to be transformative. The marketing aspects that I didn't get in place this time around I can boost next time when I've got a proven program that is outstanding, with testimonials to prove it, and results for my students that have me dancing down the street!

Now I've made this decision about which tasks are the priority, it's like the weight's lifted from my shoulders, and it also means I freed up time that I can play games with my daughter and watch some TV with her or whatever she wants to do with me this week - so I don't feel like a mediocre entrepreneur and a crappy mom all in the same week.

Now onto the equally important delegation. It's easy to understand the concept of delegation without actually doing it, right? How much delegation are you currently doing in your business, and even in your life? it takes a certain amount of bravery to delegate, and even though in the corporate world I was very familiar with delegating - as a director in an advertising agency it was my job to delegate - when it came to delegating in my own life for my own business, it definitely took me longer than I expected. I've come to the realization that you have to often delegate before you're ready. That means spending money before you're ready, because you can't grow at the pace that you want to when you're doing everything for yourself. Isn't it true that being a solopreneur and a new coach building an online business, doing all the things is often such a challenge - no wonder we feel overwhelmed, no wonder we feel that we are not achieving.

How often do you look at other coaches online and think to yourself that they're doing so well and wonder why you're not?

Perhaps the key to it is the people that they have working with them to help them get ahead - the people that they delegate to so they can focus on their zone of genius. For most of us, that's the actual coaching, the course creation, and the transformation for our clients. Because of that, I've taken a good, hard look at my business and started to invest in a team around me that can help my business grow sooner rather than later. I was so overjoyed to find my VA – it feels like an amazing luxury to have her available to help me build my business.

It's like getting in the mindset of a wealthy woman, the mindset of a successful coach - feeling supported, feeling worthy.

It's amazing how something as simple as hiring a VA can affect your mindset so positively. In addition to that I've got help with my Instagram and with my podcast production - I've taken people's recommendations, I've reached out and I've overcome money mindset problems, and the controlling perfectionist streak in me that wants to do everything myself, and I’m now moving at a pace and feeling this ease - quite honestly, I wish I'd done it a year ago.

In addition to that, I would never be without my cleaner - except for this week and last week, because she's not coming in the house with COVID - and trust me, I'm having to move a lot of the cleaning into delete. It's just not happening! And the best thing about it? I've just let it go. Even when it comes to caring for the children and doing the household tasks like cooking, me and my husband have grown into an equitable agreement where we really do help each other out and share the tasks between us. Honestly, without his support, building my business would be so much harder.

And of all of the things that you have to prioritize, I want to make it really, really clear how important your self-care is.

Your self-care supports everything.

When you get into busy mode - perhaps like I am, creating a launch - and you're thinking to yourself, I've got so much to do I just need to be here at my desk, it's so easy to deprioritize things like walks in nature, meditation, exercise, journaling, or any of the other things you do to support your own inner wellbeing. That's a mistake that I made at the start of the year when I got so busy that I let everything else go until I reached burnout and literally couldn't go on anymore. Only then did the light bulb moment strike that the self-care was what was supporting everything else, and it wasn't just a nice to have, it was essential.

Ultimately, it's not about the busy work, it’s about the deep work.

I've heard it said that if you want a course in self-development, become an entrepreneur, and now I'm living the life of an entrepreneur that could not be more true. Everything we do relies on us being empowered, strong, brave, and showing up and doing the things that we feel resistance to - and we can't do that from a position of exhaustion and struggle.

I'm going to name my method for ninja prioritization the three D’s – delete, delegate and development. Delete the things that you really don't have to do, delegate things before you're ready so you can move faster, and development is about keeping up with your self-care and putting your vibration first and foremost above everything else.

How you show up and what you put out in the world is all about your energy and vibration - protect that first and everything else will be easier.

Here's to your inspired action - have an outstanding week and don't forget to sign up to reserve your spot at the “Drop Self-Doubt & Get Clients” FREE Masterclass for New Coaches to 10x your business confidence.

It’s on Weds Oct 13th and Thurs Oct 14th LIVE, and I want to make sure you get all the details so you can stop playing small and build the dream coaching business you deserve. Just click the link in the show notes, and can grab your spot. See you there! Bye now

REGISTER NOW for your SPOT at the FREE MASTERCLASS " STOP SELF-DOUBT & START GETTING CLIENTS: The 3 Keys For New Coaches To 10X Your Business Confidence" - October 13th and October 14th 2021. Click Here To Register, and I'll see you there!