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6 steps to deal with overwhelming tasks

The Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting

Written by Ben Ivey

1. CLARIFY YOUR OUTCOME

outcome

The first step is to clarify what is the outcome of the project you are working on. Very often as entrepreneurs we can easily focus on completing a project but lose track as to why it is so important.

We want to clarify in this first step the outcome you want to achieve. Make sure to be specific, the more specific you make this outcome the easier it is to measure progress towards completing it.

2. EXTERNALISE YOUR MIND

The second thing you need to do is to externalise your mind. This is a very important step for you to do. It will enable you to clearly see all the tasks that are involved.

By moving the series of tasks out of your head and onto paper or a system, you can more easily tackle the project. Make sure you keep writing down ideas until you feel that you have more than enough options.

3. CHUNK TASKS INTO DIFFERENT GROUPS

Our brains aren’t very good at remembering more than 7 things at any one time. It is much easier to approach groups of tasks than it is a list of 30 different items.

You want to group similar tasks together so that you can easily see all the different steps that are involved. This also allows you to effectively outsource all parts of tasks to someone else as opposed to going back and forth.

4. PRIORITISE & PLAN TASKS

When moving through the tasks that we need to complete, planning is of paramount importance. You want to prioritise which tasks to do first and in which order to help you achieve the outcome you desire.

Very often entrepreneurs become stuck on a task because they are waiting on other people to complete certain elements. Stay on track by effectively planning and prioritising accordingly.

5. ESTIMATE TIME NEEDED

You need to have an estimate on how long you think each task will take. Be as realistic as possible and give yourself a little bit more time than you need.

As you start to do this more, you will estimate the time of tasks even more efficiently. It’s important to estimate the time so that you can more effectively schedule the tasks you want to complete.

6. CREATE MUST TIME

The Pareto principle was created by Vilfredo Pareto, he noticed 20% of pea pods created 80% of the beans. In life and in business very often 20% of what we do creates 80% of the result. We will apply this to our tasks so that we can be more efficient in completing them.

You’ll notice to begin with we focused on the outcome we want to achieve. The truth is that you won’t need to do all the tasks to complete the outcome you desire. In this step you’re looking at the most important tasks that lead to 80% of the outcome being completed.

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8 challenges sustainable business
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8 biggest challenges to overcome to create a sustainable business

The Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting

Written by Ben Ivey

1. Too comfortable

When things are going right in business it’s easy to put your foot off the gas and relax. When clients are coming in, your cash flow reserves are increasing you may think: “Why reinvest in the business?” Yet what I’ve found especially over the past 2 years, is that many businesses that were too comfortable became complacent. They didn’t innovate fast enough and stuck to what they knew which meant their business struggled even more to adapt. You must be able to innovate quickly and not settle in being comfortable where you are.

2. No Focus

It’s easy when you’re building a business to focus on too many things. This can cause you to be unproductive and waste time doing activities that don’t directly impact your business growth. Too many target markets, too many offers and too many market channels can cause you to spread yourself far too thin. It’s very important when you start out to have a clear focus to help you build sustainably.

Solution: You must learn to let go of people pleasing

There are many struggles of being a people pleaser and some exact steps to take to overcome it. Learn about these steps in the 8 lifestyle blocks, preventing your business success.

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Don’t quit the 9-5 until

The Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting

Written by Ben Ivey
mindset

The following list are some of the most common suggestions that I have found really help entrepreneurs to create a flying start to their business after leaving their job. I hope you find it useful!

1. Have an emergency fund

emergency fund

This emergency fund should be at least 6 months of your expenses. Now some people want to have 12 months, I’ve even heard of 2 years!

However you must know what you feel comfortable enough with so that you can take the risks necessary to build your business. Having this financial cushion is of vital importance so that you aren’t living in scarcity struggling to get by.

2. Have a side business to transition into

Some people just quit and go straight into business. (This is actually what I did but I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone.)

For most people being able to transition slowly into business especially when you have responsibilities and a family makes much more sense.

One of the best ways to do this transition is to build up your side business whilst you are working until it matches or exceeds your current income. This then gives you the certainty you need to make the transition without sacrificing your lifestyle or responsibilities.

3. Hire a coach or mentor

Starting a business and going on the entrepreneurial journey will be filled with peaks and troughs. Having someone who has been there and knows what it’s like can be incredibly helpful so that you can start to build up the business without burning out in the process.

Avoiding overwhelm, creating your own schedule, managing your health are a few of many challenges that you’ll have as you start to venture out on your own.

4. Be ready to WORK HARD

Your mindset going into entrepreneurship is incredibly important. you must be willing to put in the hours and the hard work necessary so that you can build up a business that is sustainable and gives you the lifestyle, freedom or financial goals that you desire.

If you are looking to do less work and think that being your own boss is easy, you’re in for a big surprise! It takes hard work and dedication, but on the other side is something that most people can only dream of.

5. Decide it’s time

No one can decide for you that now is the time to be an entrepreneur. I remember hearing the saying, jump out the plane and build the parachute on the way down.

Now personally given that I’ve skydived and gone out of a plane, this probably isn’t the best analogy for me as I was petrified throughout the process, however, making the decision and making the leap is incredibly important.

Set a deadline, make a decision and stick to it, and it may be the best decision you have ever made.

Share this with anyone you think will benefit who is also setting out on their own entrepreneurial journey!

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6 challanges
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The 6 biggest challenges entrepreneurs face in creating a 6 figure business

The Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting

Written by Ben Ivey

1. No Focus

It’s easy when you’re building a business to focus on too many things. This can cause you to be unproductive and waste time doing activities that don’t directly impact your business growth. Too many target markets, too many offers and too many market channels causes you to spread yourself far too thin. It’s very important when you start out to have a clear focus to help you build sustainably.

2. Lack of Marketing

lack of marketing

Perhaps you’re spending too much time on your product and not enough time marketing. It’s an easy mistake to make yet what I see is too many people building their amazing business in the middle of nowhere where people don’t know about it. Now more than ever, you must create an online presence and have a brand that stands out from the crowd.

3. Analysis paralysis

With so much going on when you’re building your business, it’s easy to become stuck in analysis paralysis. Where you spend so much time planning and not enough time implementing what you need to move the business forward. You must make sure that you’re a leader, making key decisions that really move the business forward.

4. Lack of or No Delegation

Many entrepreneurs spend far too much time doing things that they aren’t skilled to do. Whether this is website design, accounting, sales pages, copywriting … the list is endless. Make sure that you hire people to fill in your weaknesses. The jack of all trades is not something that can help your business scale. You want to make sure that you’re working on the business expansion and not getting bogged down with day to day admin.

5. Non Scalable Business Model

non scalable business

You want to make sure that you have a business model that is scalable. Many entrepreneurs especially in the consulting training industry only have themselves as the product. If you’re only doing 1 to 1 coaching or training there is a limit on how much you can scale. If you don’t have a business model that works alongside yourself or without you, it will be very challenging to scale the business to a point where you can create the income that you desire.

6. No Mentor/Coach

No one is self made. Everyone has people that help them on their journey to success. Yet one of the biggest mistakes I see are entrepreneurs looking to reinvent the wheel and not having guidance to help them on their journey. It’s important to have a coach and/or mentor, on your entrepreneur journey so that you can build your business efficiently long term.

Do you want some support in building your business whilst living a great lifestyle?

Book a FREE Business and Lifestyle Evaluation to find out the 5 biggest factors holding you back and the #1 strategy to help you move forward.

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change business
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5 ways I drastically changed my business this year

The Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting

Written by Ben Ivey

1. Branding

branding business

I moved my brand from the Fulfilment Artist to The Entrepreneur Lifestyle. This was a huge change for me, yet it was of great importance to help me expand more sustainably online.

2. Business model

I changed my business model from 1 to 1 coaching, to creating a more scalable business model that allows me to still offer immense value whilst not taking up the majority of my time.

3. Funnels

I started to put together the right systems and funnels so that I could automate the sales process. This means I can work hard once and have leads coming into my funnel that are nurtured organically.

4. Marketing

branding

I started to do much more online marketing compared to previously where I would speak at multiple events in different countries throughout the year. From online events, to blogs, mini workshops and even being a guest on other people’s podcasts.

5. Impact

I started a podcast to be able to have even more of an impact to entrepreneurs all over the world. This goes in line with my long term strategy of creating more partnerships to have a much larger impact internationally and out in China.

I hope that you can learn from how I changed my business model, to help you have more business success this year.

Do you want some support in building your business whilst living a great lifestyle?

Book a FREE Business and Lifestyle Evaluation to find out the 5 biggest factors holding you back and the #1 strategy to help you move forward.

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Losing everything is the perfect opportunityLosing everything is the perfect opportunity
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Losing Everything is the Perfect Opportunity

The Entrepreneur’s Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting

Written by Ben Ivey

Now you’re probably thinking: Really Ben?? Losing EVERYTHING is that really an opportunity? Since working with many business owners, who have had everything and lost it multiple times, I can tell you that it is.

The sad thing is that most people don’t have this perception; they often remain stuck in a victim mentality. They say things like: “why does this always happen to me?” or “I am just so unlucky in life.” Instead, I want you to start taking responsibility, to hit the reset button and start preparing for an even more sensational future.

Once you have had the experience of losing many things in your life it actually allows you to think about what truly matters to you. You can think about your purpose and consider what you actually want to build in your life.

Many people never have the space, or the opportunity to start again. I personally have hit rock bottom many times in my life. Be it with relationships, health, business, finances or emotions. I think we have all had our fair few negative experiences and I wanted to share one with you.

This experience was when I almost became broke in China.

It was when I was first building my business to help people transform their life. I had no idea what to niche in and was exploring helping people from all walks of life. I started going to talks, speaking at events and even hosting my own free events to bring potential people in.

However, despite all my effort for months I didn’t sign a single client. Perhaps you too can relate, where you put so much effort into a business yet nothing happened. I didn’t have any other income at the time and I remember watching the cash in my bank account very rapidly decrease.

What made it even more challenging was that I was in an international relationship and needed to afford flights and accommodation. I was in fact flying in between Los Angeles, London and Shanghai! (I definitely should have chosen cheaper cities!!!) Nonetheless this pressure I started to put on myself, made me feel stressed, worried and depressed. I felt like I needed the very thing that I was offering others. Yet I found that with no money in the bank account my mindset as an entrepreneur was starting to move into scarcity and I seriously started to doubt myself.

I spoke to a friend Andrew at the time, who said it would be smarter to get a job and use that income to build up the business. Although I think this is a fantastic piece of advice I hadn’t ever had a REAL job and didn’t want to start teaching English in China.

It was at that moment that I made a key decision. I decided that I would do anything possible to avoid having to get a job. I didn’t want to work to make someone else’s dream a reality. I knew what I had to give was valuable and I would make sure to over deliver to the clients that I would work with.

I took some massive action and started to attend even more events, meet more people and conduct many 1 on 1 coaching conversations. A few more weeks went by with no results!

I was less than 2 weeks away from having nothing in my account.

Then I finally took my first high ticket client on. I can’t tell you what a relief that was! Suddenly I knew I could do it and that everything would be ok!

It was only through this belief that I MUST make it work that I prevailed in reaching the outcome I desired. Remember that persistence is key in life! In these challenging times we are in, it’s easy to be down on ourselves and put an immense amount of pressure to achieve specific results.

I challenge you to slow down and to reflect about what is it that you really want in life? What is your purpose and mission? Only then can you have the inner drive and motivation to really follow through on what it is that you desire.

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