Sometimes You Just Gotta Do The Next Thing

I'm sitting in the ER with my sweet 14 yr old son, Bobby, Saturday morning writing this weeks article. He's been battling a bad cough & sore throat with high fever for several days so we're getting the antibiotic to kill this bug!

Making the most of my time and my life, I’ve got my iPhone and I’m writing. Inspiration came to me during this challenge.

Nearly every week I receive an email or post on FB or Twitter asking me the question "How do you do it!!" Most people don’t ever say what “it” is. Assuming the "it" they are referring to is homeschooling, running a growing company & managing 50,000 clients & 5 team members, my answer is always the same. I just do the next thing.

Far too many budding business owners get stuck way too soon. Life happens, computers crash, projects get ruined on the hard drive and they believe they aren’t ‘cut out’ to do this sort of thing.

My advise is just get unstuck and do the next thing.

When you’re faced with a life threatening situation you don’t weigh the odds and see whether or not you’d ‘like’ to live, do you? Is there an option? The same holds true for business. Especially when you feel you're called & designed with the purpose of business in your life.

Life was never created to be easy but it was designed to be lived fully.

In the course of 24 hours, on this particular Saturday, I’m starting out in the ER. Then we’ll take good care of Bobby, make him comfy, put hubbie on duty. I’ll run to get my nails done, grab a few errands before my trip to Las Vegas next week with Kevin Hogan’s group. Then I’ll head home for a call with Hollywood Producer Gary Goldstein, be grateful I put a roast, potatoes and carrots in the crockpot before I left and then settle in for dinner. At the end of the day I’ll jump on the phone for a conference call with Kevin’s group and be grateful I live such rich life.

Our days aren’t always this full. I do schedule a day or two per month where I do nothing but vegetate and watch silly happy movies. I don’t put makeup on everyday, my computer does stay off a few days per month. But all in all it’s a rich full life and it’s a blessing to call it mine.

Entering our 20th year of homeschooling I'll admit that there are days when my brain lacks enough cells to keep up with the tasks. But having a sense of humor, a strong circle of friends and enough skill makes it easier. Don’t ever try to build a business without these three things. Let me repeat them:  A sense of humor, strong circle of friends and enough skill.

When Bobby woke up really sick today there wasn't a question of whether I'd be sitting here at the ER. I didn’t deliberate, get distracted and ponder on the importance of such a trip outside of my ‘scheduled' day. It just became a part of my day. Business owners could learn well to adapt the same kind of mindset when things go off schedule during the work week. Let’s just deal with it, do the next thing and keep moving.

Champions don’t get stuck and pause for a week. Neither should we.

My tasks today were to jump into the shower fast, pack my iPhone & my To Do list. This has become a normal way of acting so it didn't take much forethought. I knew I’d be writing while I waited because it’s natural to me to watch ever hour and give an account for where it went. Whether it’s an hour that is a well deserved nap, a funny happy movie, Sushi with my guys or unplanned ER trips, it all fits into the aspect of a full life.  My life isn't filled with gaping holes of time for distraction and whining…..

Most days I just do the next thing.

When a morning is filled with homeschooling during the school year and a client coaching in the afternoon, social media updates, rewriting copy & creating a business plan there is no time for drama, whining or other emotional issues.

Life happens though…. So what do you do when it happens in over drive? The next thing. You just do the next thing. It's not so much about getting everything done on the To Do list all at once, as it is getting it done & having the list to keep you moving. Far too many people just don't "do" when faced with challenges.

For the new business owner challenges can sometimes seem like a sign of sabotage. To the experienced business owner it's a normal part of life. Businesses have challenges, customers have challenges, the internet has challenges, human beings have challenges. To believe a successful business is one without challenges is to believe in a delusion! It’s not the challenges that are the issue…. It’s knowing what to do next. My advice is to DO the next thing.

When I was a young Mommy and days without sleep were the norm, I remember looking at my To-Do list (because I’ve always had one, charts and the whole 9 yards) and feeling super overwhelmed.

Back then my standard was ridiculous- I felt as if I was a failure if everything on my list wasn’t done that particular day. Now….. things have changed a great deal. If it did get done, anything on the list, the day was a success!  Ironically changing that ‘standard’ and giving myself a reward for every accomplishment has made finishing tasks a whole lot easier now. A LOT more gets done as well. It’s the lifestyle of… do the next thing.

As a budding writer years ago I would struggle to put some thing, any thing, on the page and felt a total loss for words.  Now this might sound shocking to anyone who knows me well but yes, I did lack words and didn’t know what to write about. A secret tip that always worked was to change my environment. Go somewhere else!

I’d go grocery shopping, run errands with my guys or even go to the coffee shop for a date with my teens. Maybe I’d clean a room, do a load of laundry, take a walk or do something with my pets. It worked every time… on the way home the ideas would be flowing and I’d get the writing started and finished.

Something to consider is this- was it the change of scenery that caused the words to flow again or was it that I just ‘did the next thing?’

Momentum is what you want in your business and getting momentum in your life will help considerably. You might not always know what the next thing is but the key is to never get stuck, never give in, and never back down.

Far too many people fail in business simply because they don’t start. Or worse yet, as soon as a trial or challenge comes, they back down and stop.

Remember this saying the next time there’s a challenge- no matter what it is:  “Do The Next Thing”!

Sandi Krakowski spent 6 years in the Direct Sales industry building a $ 4 million dollar company that was run 100% online through eCommerce, building large sales forces in network marketing and home business industries. After earning $ 1.8 million dollars in a home based business market in 31 months, she went onto build a 7-figure marketing and copywriting firm in just 20 months. Currently she runs one of the fastest growing training venues teaching beginners to experts how to really use the internet to it's fullest capacity.