How to Experience More Lift & Less Drag in Your Business | Blog
How to Experience More Lift & Less Drag in Your Business
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” – Tina Fey
Why are some people able to make things happen while others are still trying to figure out the first right move? Have you struggled to find the ‘right’ thing or the ‘right’ direction? Do you hold yourself back waiting for more information or to be better prepared?
If so, I can relate. A few years ago, I had an insight and I could see how I had a habit of hesitation. I would get inspired about an idea and start to move forward but then I would slow myself down by thinking through things. By overthinking things. Somehow, I thought if I thought it through enough, I would guarantee a certain outcome or a better result.
But here’s what I saw…my reasonable and rationale thinking was nothing more than doubt.
I wanted to experience more lift and less drag in my business. And I realized the only way to do that was to be willing to stop hesitating and start engaging.
What if the secret to creating in business and life is the simple act of engaging? Specifically, engaging with nothing on it and with no attachment.
Getting started, getting engaged can feel hard but finding a way to step into our businesses and our lives with more freedom of mind and creativity is the secret to more joy, inspiration and results.
We cannot build a business, have more impact, reach more people by thinking about things. It requires we step into our lives and our work. We engage. We begin.
There is a mistaken belief that we need to ‘work it out’ internally before we act. We feel we need to get our “ducks in a row” beforehand. We prioritize analyzing all the possible failure scenarios before we commit.
What if none of these are necessary? What if success is the result of engaged action that feels good and is informed by your own wisdom? What if progress is simply the culmination of engaged action.
Momentum requires movement. When we get willing to take the next step, to follow our inspiration or those inner nudges we get more information. As we engage, we see more. We get informed. We experience more fulfillment.
When I started my podcast, Real Business Real Lives, I spent a huge amount of time thinking through the format, the title, how it would connect to my business, etc. I spent a long time thinking about all of this. No clarity came. This lasted for over a year. Finally, I decided to just start. And here’s what I saw…it was so much more fun to be in the act of engaging in the conversations and interviews than it was to be thinking about them!
That may sound simple or obvious to you, but it was striking to me how much more joy and fulfillment I felt. That joy, the fulfillment in engaging, reminded me that this is where inspiration lives. It lives in the moving forward, not the preparation.
I learned so much more by doing the interviews than I ever could have by researching or thinking about how to do it all. I learned about technology, sound quality, asking questions, drawing out the guests as I did the interviews. These lessons were invaluable and helped shape the podcast into what it is. I realized, none of that could have been forecasted, it was through doing that we learned what worked best.
Bringing our engaged presence to the task at hand is full of insight, joy and fulfillment. We are designed to evolve and learn, and we do that by engaging.
When entrepreneurs talk to me about wanting more impact, more reach and to grow, I know the most leveraged thing they can do, is go beyond all their ideas, their thinking and engage. To step into action, stay present, listen, adjust and keep going.
In the simple and powerful act of engaging in the next step magic happens. We get clear, we get informed, we get inspired. Momentum gathers and we tap into the creative flow. This is how results happen: one engaged action at a time.