Failure to execute

Let’s be real…

If we could just come up with ideas all day and then check the stats, that’d be PERFECT! We wouldn’t have to DO anything!

Ahhh…. a man can dream. šŸ˜‰

But, that’s not how things roll in reality. About that…

One of the things I sometimes need to remind myself of is what an EXECUTIVE does.

I mean, if you’re building up and growing an online business of any kind, YOU are the executive. You might be a one-man show (or one-woman show), but you’re the executive.

You also happen to be the employee, the janitor… everything. šŸ™‚ That’s what it is like when you work for yourself. But, that role of EXECUTIVE is super important and many people forget to wear it.

You’ve likely heard before about the distinction between working ON your business versus working IN your business. It is pretty much another way of stating that there are different “hats” in your business. One is executive and the other is worker.

What is the job of the executive? I view it as 2 things…

  1. To create strategic plans.
  2. To ensure planning becomes actuality.

Now, if you look at those 2 things, are you doing both? Are you fully being the executive?

Personally, I’m pretty good at #1. But, I sometimes fall flat on #2. Not always. Obviously, if I totally bombed on #2 all the time, there’d be no Blog Marketing Academy. šŸ™‚ But, there are certainly things I have plans for which haven’t been done.

The job of the executive is to ensure plans become REAL. That they happen. And when plans are not being accomplished, that is a failure of executive leadership.

The twist on the whole thing is that… those of us working for ourselves sometimes forget about that separation of hats. We forget that executive is a separate role – a VITAL role – that must be done even if we’re the ones doing all the work.

If you want 2018 to rock for you, you need to wear that hat of the executive.

It’s funny… many of us tend to do that at the beginning of the year. We come up with those fancy “new years resolutions”. We make those plans. We look at our lives and think about things we can and should do in the coming year.

But, then too often those plans don’t happen. And that’s because most of us dropped the role of EXECUTIVE once we get into mid-January. So, plans don’t become actuality.

I’ve done it, too. My scale shows it. šŸ˜‰

The root of the word “executive” is EXECUTE. Execute means “carry out or put into effect (a plan, order, or course of action).

So, ask yourself this…

What systems and new habits can you put in place to help ensure you continue to be the executive throughout the next year?

Yesterday, I talked about the morning routine. Part of my routine is to review the goals, the plans and the tasks for the day. In other words, every morning I am reviewing (or will be) the strategic plans and my plan to make planning become actuality. That, for me, is a big “hack” to help ensure I don’t forget to be the executive.

I also put in quarterly outings in my RV just for some executive planning time. Even though it is also an excuse to use the RV by myself, it works. šŸ˜‰

What can you do that works for you?

No…

WhatĀ WILLĀ you do?

Because, coming up with an idea is the easy part. Making planning become actuality… that’s the true test. That’s where the rubber meets the road.

– David