If you know me even a bit you probably know I’m on a mission and always have been. Not some made up marketing-speak mission, but a real one.
Ever since all that stuff happened back in the early ‘90s; my parents losing their business and home, the fast growing business I worked for going bust, and losing my own home too, I’ve been driven to understand why so many businesses just don’t work. Too often businesses give their owners a life of stress and worry, with a lack of financial skills being at the heart of the problems.
But lately I’ve been challenging myself. Am I playing it too safe? And what would it look like if I really stepped into my mission and did what needs doing to make the difference?
If I wanted to influence and inspire business owners across the country to take control of their finances (and realise it’s not so scary or difficult after all) then what would I be doing differently right now?
Writing the first book
I’ve wanted to write a book for as long as I can remember. Specifically a book about hands-on practical cash flow in a small business.
And yet I haven’t.
So why?
Well everyone who’s written a book tells you how torturous it is, how painful, how it takes over your life. Well I don’t mind hard work, and running a business is pretty torturous at times, so I don’t think that’s the problem.
It’s fear.
Fear that I could put all that effort in for nothing.
Fear that no one would ever read my book.
Fear that “people” will think its rubbish and I don’t know what I’m talking about. Fear that I’d put my heart and a ton of effort into something that didn’t work.
JFDI
On Sunday last week I decided I had to get over myself and just do it. So I started writing the book right there and then. The thing is I must have written the damn thing a dozen times or more in my head, and I don’t need to do any research; it’s stuff I know backwards and teach people every day.
A sign it’s the right thing to do?
As a bit of accountability I published a short post on LinkedIn on Sunday morning saying I’d started my first book, figuring not many people would see it (or care). It’s been a complete shock that over the week so far, that post had 4,139 views and 54 likes, including my first order for the book!
And now I’ve made that decision, and started, it really doesn’t feel like a big deal. I know it will happen. Rather than turn it into a huge project – needing a publisher, a ton of money for the print, and making it the “everything you ever needed to know about your finances” book, it’s going to be a shorter book, very specifically about cash flow challenges in small business, and it’s going to be a Kindle book on Amazon.
You know how I like to make things simple!
So I’m wondering, what are you putting off in your business right now?
What’s that big thing you’ve always wanted to do?
What would make all the difference to your business and to your customers?
Why the hell aren’t you doing it?
And is there a simple way to just get started?
Why not email me and let me know? Random idea here, we could publish them here on the blog as a bit of public accountability! Who’s brave enough to step up to that challenge