I know I’m about to state the obvious here, but when you’re running a race you have to start at the beginning.
It’s not possible to skip ahead. Sure, there are shortcuts (and detours) but you still have to start and the beginning, put one foot in front of the other and finish at the end.
In Part 1, we warmed up for the race to build our audience by starting to build real, genuine Relationships based on gratitude.
In Part 2, we started the race by creating our own valuable content and gave ourselves a little boost by drafting behind someone that’s going a little faster than us to help Amplify our content (yes, that’s a NASCAR reference and no, I don’t get to choose what’s on TV on Sunday, and given the choice between NFL and NASCAR I’ll nap through a NASCAR race all day).
So we can warm up and we can start, but if we don’t put one foot in front of the other over and over and over again, we’re not going to get anywhere.
Which brings me to the third step in the RACE Strategy: Consistency
Relationships
Amplify
Consistency
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Honestly, consistency is one of my biggest life challenges.
Oh, I work my ass off and hustle like crazy, but I can be all over the place, living my life on autopilot and fitting my side hustle in around putting out fires. Which is pretty much like treading water, right? A whole lot of effort to keep from sinking – but not really moving forward.
When I think about what I’ve been able to accomplish by treading water, I’m totally amazed. So I can only imagine what I’ll be able to accomplish when I’m totally in control of my time and I’m able to put consistent habits in place that move me forward.
So what do I mean by Consistency? I mean consistently and with intention implementing the tactics I’ve outlined in the past two blog posts:
- Reaching out and thanking people whose content you consume and find useful and helpful.
- Creating your own helpful, useful content.
- Sharing that content on social media and using tactics to amplify it.
- Repeat.
Sounds easy, right? If it was that easy, we’d all be doing it.
So I want to share with you some things that I’m implementing in my day to day to help me with the consistency I know I need to create in my life in order to get the results I want.
Schedule
I’ve got the getting up early thing down, however, I got out of the habit of getting up at the same exact time each day and following a morning routine. Some days I’m up at 5, others not until 7, so that really messes with what I’m able to accomplish each morning before I lose control of my day once I go to work.
My ideal work day starting in January looks like this:
5:30AM – Wake up, let the giant puppy out, feed her, drink a glass of water and make a cup of coffee. Throw on some tennis shoes, find my phone and queue up a podcast, grab the poop bags and take Scarlett for our morning walk.
6:30AM – Return home, finish that cup of coffee and pass Scarlett off to my husband while I go to my office and journal, make my to do list and plan my day.
7:00AM – Shower & get ready while listening to a podcast. Post an inspirational quote to Instagram and send a note on social media or email to that day’s podcast host and guest thanking them for the awesome content.
8:00AM – Facebook Live
8:15AM – 9:00AM – Project Management – making sure my team has what they need to move forward on their work.
9:00AM – Leave for work (um, only for 75 more days, and then it will be Start Working)
Right now I do all my work and all the client work on weekends, and sometimes I take a day off during the week to do it. Starting in January though, this is what I want the rest of my day to look like:
9:00 – Noon, I’ll work on my own stuff. Writing blog posts, interacting on social media, prepping for my latest launch, special projects.
From Noon to 1PM: take a mental break, prep and each a healthy lunch.
1PM – 2PM – Answer Emails and Facebook Group questions
2PM – 5PM – Client projects, except Thursdays when I’ll block all day for client projects.
5PM – whenever – FREE TIME (unless I’ve got some webinars or office hours scheduled!!!)
So my challenge to you this week is to write down your daily schedule and then commit to it for at least a week.
This blog post is going live on a Wednesday, so I’m committed to following this schedule starting tomorrow! Are you with me?? Post in the comments below if you’re with me.
Planning
Just because I put something on my to do list for the day does not mean that it’s humanly possible to get it done. Being more strategic with my time and planning is something that is a must if I’m going to build the kind of momentum I want to build.
The schedule I just created above is the only way I’ll be able to accurately figure out how much time I actually have to get something done. If I’ve scheduled 3 hours a day to work on my own projects and it takes me 3 hours to write one blog post, I probably should plan to pick one day just for writing a blog post, right?
That goes against my tendency to put 25 items on my to do list and try to fit them all in and then feel like I got nothing done that I really needed to get done even though I was “working”.
Treading water.
I have pre-scheduled planning days every week, month, quarter and year so I can look at my schedule and plan out the work instead of just floating wherever the current takes me. Now I just gotta use them effectively.
Boundaries
Just because I have a schedule and a plan doesn’t mean I won’t have a people-pleasing moment of weakness and put someone else’s priorities and deadlines above my own.
If you want to know my kryptonite, just tell me you need my help right now and that no one else could possibly fix this urgent problem for you.
My adrenaline goes up, my stress level rises and I start thinking about how I’m going to fit your problem into my schedule. Oh, I can write that blog post tomorrow, and then I’ll just tell my husband I’ll be late and he needs to pick up the dog from day care, and then I’ll just pick up Chipotle on my way home because now I don’t feel like cooking…
I just want you to LIKE me and think I’m NICE and sooooo HELPFUL!!
Meanwhile everything else starts falling apart. But hey, you like me, so…
Clearly I need some therapy around this issue, but for now business-coaching is helping tremendously for setting boundaries.
I still need lots and lots of practice, so if you want to help me out, leave me a comment asking me to solve your urgent problem, and I’ll practice my boundary-setting responses 😉
How scheduling, planning and boundaries create consistency
When you create a schedule and plan out your tasks in proportion to your schedule and then guard that time with your life, you’re able to consistently do the things you need to do to build and amplify your relationships.
But it all starts with a SCHEDULE. Boundaries mean nothing if you having nothing to guard, and your plan is just a wish-list if you have no real time set aside to execute.
So now, it’s time to make a decision to actually pull out a piece of paper, write down a realistic schedule that will allow you time to relationship build and amplify and then commit to it for just one week. One week! Because after that if something’s not working for you, you can make adjustments and try again.
If you want more help with scheduling and planning, I’ve got two amazing resources for you.
The first is from my business coach, Vicki Fitch and it’s called the Rockstar Guide to Getting It Done. It will give you a step by step strategy for creating your schedule and planning and getting it all done.
Then second is Kerryn Hewson, a systems and productivity strategist who has helped me systematize my web design process. She talks about focus and productivity and time management over at https://www.kerrynhewson.com/time-workshop – get on her list and you’ll get it together in no time!
Next week, I’m going to share with you the final part of the RACE Strategy, the one that’s going to give you the AHA moment you need to turn all this consistency into cash.
