Breaking Big Things Down into Little Steps
Over the past several months we’ve been talking about building a successful construction business. We’ve compared it to an actual building. You need to know what it is you’re building, what kind of ground you’re going to build on, and why it is you’re building.
Clarity of what you want to build and having a plan is critical to success.
Then comes the hard part … if you’re going to get it built, you have to do something. Making a decision and then taking action is hard. Especially when it involves something as big and overwhelming as building a business.
This is the place where most people fail.
So, how does one move forward when faced with a large, daunting project?
You don’t focus on the huge, intimidating thing. Instead, you break it down into bitesize pieces. Then you start by taking the first next step.
I closed last week’s post by talking about how I chose to incorporate The Seven Decisions into my daily routine and how something as small as a butterfly moving its wings can lead to amazing outcomes.
I use my computer for keeping me on task each day. This next section is part of my daily routine. I use OneNote to organize and track these things.
After I read through the decision for the day, I read through the overview of all seven decisions.
Next, I step back and think big. Why am I here and what is it that I’m supposed to be doing?
Being a believer in Christ, I remind myself that it’s important to not be afraid to dream big (Mark 11:23-24) because nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37).
This is followed by the illustration below of how I can turn those big dreams into results:
DREAMS → VISIONS → GOALS → ACTIONS → RESULTS
Start with Dreams – Turn Dreams into Visions – Visions into Goals
Goals are bitesize Visions
“A vision that is ready to go to work is a Goal”
ACTION – I can only do ONE thing at a time, what will it be?
If I’m going to accomplish the big things, I need to remember to break them down into small ACTIONS.
At this point, I read through a list that I call the “FIRST NEXT STEP”. This list starts my day off in a proactive mindset. By reading through this list daily, it helps me to incorporate these things when I start something new or switch from one project to another.
FIRST NEXT STEP:
- Start with prayer
- Get off my “BUT”, stop making excuses
- Put it on the calendar
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help (delegation / accountability / education)
- Take goals seriously (create a sense of urgency early)
- Maintain positive forward momentum
- Celebrate wins
- Don’t overthink it
- Break the goals down into brick size pieces
- Make goals about giving and not about getting
- Review progress regularly, and be accountable
This process helps me make big things doable. Sure, it takes time to incorporate this into my daily routine. Ultimately, it comes down to making a decision. I can choose to do this or do something else. But for me the time spent is worth it.
The same process isn’t going to work for everyone. This is where you need to decide if you just want to roll the dice on the outcome of your business or if you want to take control.
Breaking big things down and taking the first next step makes big things doable.
Ultimately, it is up to you to do something different to get a different outcome. Or you can just keep doing things the way you are.