One similarity I’ve noticed between entrepreneurs and two-year-olds is they get out of bed ready to embrace the day. They are excited about new things to come and ready to tackle new challenges head-on. The difference between them should be planning and strategy. 

A two-year-old does not get out of bed with a plan for the day - and most of their activities are directed by adults in their lives. This is not how an entrepreneur should attempt to run a business. 

The best things will happen for an entrepreneur if they plan out their three big things for the day the night before. Each evening (or whatever time you set your working schedule to be), an entrepreneur should look over the next day and develop a plan and strategy for all that needs to be done. It’s best to write down your top three priorities for the day. We all know that there is so much to do and so many distractions to take us off course each day that it makes it hard to focus on just a few things. Having a plan and strategy will get you on track first thing in the morning and help you not to derail.

Want to take this to the next level? Look at your list of three things and answer these questions:

• Are they working ON your business or IN your business tasks?

• Are they the best things for you to do to move your business forward one step today?

• Are they below my pay grade tasks?

It is necessary to establish what tasks are ON your business tasks vs IN your business tasks. IN your business tasks include client care, administrative tasks, social media posting, etc. ON your business tasks include strategy and planning, managing your team, etc. At least one of your tasks each day should embrace your inner two-year-old and bring out the curiosity and creativity inside of you to build your business. 

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you build a business? One step at a time. If you’re not willing to take one step forward, you will never get off the launchpad and your business will fail. This might sound harsh, but it’s true. What’s the one step you need to do today?

If the tasks on your big three are not the tasks you should be doing in the business, they should be outsourced. Do them one last time and document each step you take to complete the task, and then hire someone else to do it. Free up your time to do the big things in your business that will move the needle forward or you’ll get bogged down in these tasks. You and your business will only be able to sustain this to a certain level and then it will plateau or bend in the wrong direction. 

For a great book on how to build these three core ideas into your business, I recommend Systemology by David Jenyns. The author breaks down the steps it takes to build a systematized and sustainable business.

I hope you wake up every day ready to Embrace the Day!