Getting started and finishing are worlds apart. Some people I know are starters, others are finishers. Some are along for the ride.
So, which one are you?
When it comes to booking your tour dates, working on a new recording project or book a show, there is always a start a middle and an end. The problem is, in order to make it to the end you have got to start the process.
For me, the process always begins at the end. I always like to identify what I want the end result to look like or to be. Then I work backwards and identify a time-line—how long do I think this will take—and then I have a good laugh and add twice as much time, because it never goes smoothly. I gave myself six months to write my book—HA! Two years later I had a book.
Whatever the project is, I always identify the audience who will benefit from the project or appreciate it. If you don’t identify an intended audience, you don’t have a clear focus on either the material or the marketing. I like to know how I’m going to market the project before I create the project. I want to understand whether there even IS a market for what I’m about to invest my time, money and talent into. But that’s me and perhaps you as well. If not, it may be a great habit to get into though.
Getting started is just plain hard sometimes.
What gets in the way? Sometimes the project just needs time to marinate, gel in my mind before I can dive in and start writing or creating. I believe that creative time hardly ever begins when you actually sit down with your computer or instrument—you need to give yourself permission to let an idea grow and develop in your mind, in your heart, before diving in to make it official. If you procrastinate too long, maybe you have not sold yourself on the project—maybe you don’t believe in it yet. Maybe you never will or maybe it’s not yet time for it.
Be honest with yourself. Is it the IDEA of the project that is exciting or is the actual project exciting enough to jump in and make it happen. If it’s the latter, then take the plunge and begin with something, a small step, a tiny step, but something that gets you to the beginning. Getting to the end may take twists and turns and tons of growth and learning. But, over time, you will get there and then you will have been on a journey that got you to your intended end result. The tour will take place, the recording will get mastered, the book printed and the show will go on. Let me tell you from experience, what an incredible feeling it is to hold that thing in your hand that was just once an idea. It is so worth getting started!
This week, make a start on something dear to you.
Do you have trouble getting started? How have you dealt with that in the past? What steps have you taken recently towards getting started on a project?
Leave me a comment below or on the Performingbiz Success Strategies Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PerformingbizSuccessStrategies.
I can’t wait to hear about your success.
Now, Thanks to the Band Curfew from the UK for providing the Biz Booster theme Music, “Future Dance.” Check them out at www.curfew.co.uk
And for more career boosting tips, articles, books, resources, tele-seminars and online courses, visit me at Performingbiz.com
