A 30-day personal & business challenge? Another challenge, more to do’s, more goals to set and reach? No quite the opposite…or sort of opposite. I enjoy reading articles about motivation, becoming a better business owner, reaching my goals in life, how to eat better, live better, workout better, be a better parent. Here seems to be the problem, we (or at least I do ) spend too much time reading, researching, asking for validation & direction and not just DO. There are an endless selection of books, workshops, blogs and personal & business coaches to choose from, and each can offer a great deal of help and direction. But none of what you learn means a darn if you don’t put it into action. It is sort of like an analysis paralysis – we think and over think which creates self-doubt, fear and overall inaction. I have received some great advice from people that I really respect and the common denominator answer is ‘just do it’. Stop waiting for an idea to be perfect, stop waiting for the right day and the right time, stop waiting for someone to tell you ‘GO FOR IT!’.

So I started to think about what would happen in both personal and business life if a small action/step was taken each and every day. Just try it out for 30 days and note the progress. Don’t make a long list of goals that have to be reached and never achieved, just take a small step. Some steps can seem so small that one might wonder ‘why bother?’. I think the biggest challenge in this is to create a habit of just doing something and not just talking about it. Not letting fear or procrastination get in the way. Ever wonder what you can do in both your personal & business lives by just making some changes. The what if’s? As I type this please don’t think for a second that I am not talking to myself too. I am always up for a challenge, like to start new projects, help others, find ways to be a better business owner and serve my clients more, be a better mom and friend, etc. But sometimes we make one too many lists, say ‘yes’ way too much and get bogged down, or just say ‘I will do it tomorrow’. Sometimes there isn’t a tomorrow. In the last year I have lost two friends to cancer. One was sudden and the other had battled it for some time. I stayed in touch but honestly not as much as I should have because I was too busy with my to do lists and daily life. Never ever want regrets like that in life.

So what the heck is the challenge? The challenge is a small daily action. One that is personal and one that is business related. Personal can be as simple as smiling at a stranger, saying something nice to yourself, having one less cup of coffee, spending 5 extra minutes sitting with your kids to just chat, do 10 push ups, take a photo of you and your kids, take a photo of your family pet..anything. It doesn’t need to be some big life goal, just an action. Next think of one business action to take. Email a client to just touch base, do one thing that you fear the most, believe in yourself even if it is just for a few moments…just say ‘I can do this’. Write down a crazy goal you have just for the sake of having it in writing – a way of putting it out to the universe. Write a thank you note or send a $10 Starbucks gift card to a client or vendor. For those that are photographers, freshen up that website by just changing your profile photo or add a few new images to your portfolio, send a favorite photo from a recent engagement session to your client just to say “I appreciate you”, stop comparing yourself to others and love YOUR style, stop trying to be a star and just be…but be your best. Turn off your computer and refresh the mind and body for 30 minutes. The idea here is to just do something small each and every day even if it seems like it won’t matter. The challenge is also a bit of an experiment. It will be interesting to see what if anything changes in 30 days.

Many of us take business classes, read motivational books, go to workshops, spend money on the latest thing that is going to bring us success and really sometimes I think it is a matter of just doing something each and every day small or big. This should create a habit of just doing things and not just talking about them. Who knows, big things could happen!

So each day write down the personal and business action taken. I will do it too and I will blog as well..would love to hear from you on what you did!! I think success can be achievable by just doing. What success means will vary from person to person, this doesn’t mean you have to be the next billionaire like Sara Blakely, the creator of Spanx, but ya never know. Oh and by the way…Spanx = billion dollar success story. HOLY COW!

At the end of thirty days let’s see what changed. How about we start on Monday??

Just know that there is no easy pill or magic workshop or book that will do this for you, it is just a matter of doing things. Thank you for stopping by!

~lisa