Are you already feeling overwhelmed by your projects this year?
Feeling overwhelmed is a by-product of lacking CONFIDENCE in your plans.
Why? Because when you’ve got 100% confidence your plans are the right ones, you also know with certainty which plans are wrong. And when you know that, you can just say “NO” to distractions, put your head down, and execute the job you’ve laid out for yourself.
On the other hand, if you’re not SURE your plans are correct, you’re always thinking “Is this the right project for me to be working on? Maybe there’s something better? Would this other opportunity over here work out better for me? Did I make a mistake in choosing this first one?”
Then, if you’re an entrepreneur–and this is the downside of having NO boss breathing down your neck to keep you focused, on time, and on point–lacking confidence in your plans you choose whichever opportunity makes you FEEL best at the time.
Take a second and breathe that in again…
Lacking confidence forces you to make important choices with your EMOTIONS. Consumers make choices with their emotions… but successful Marketers make choices with their HEAD (their intellect).
How do you GET the confidence you need to conquer your projects with focus and determination, and move yourself to the next level in your business?
One word — spreadsheets.
I’m not talking about ultra-precise, rocket science engineered, high octane spreadsheets accurate to 7 digits after the decimal point.
I’m talking about, for your important decisions (like which projects to work on, what your bullseye keyword target is, whether or not to take a job offer, etc), listing out the important criteria, then listing your choices, and coming up with a way to “score” each option. (EXAMPLE: A few days ago I posted an ultra simple video and spreadsheet for making decisions)
For example, choosing between major projects to execute in a given year may involve considerations of short term profit, long term profit, likely pitfalls, fun and enjoyment, independence and control, fit with other successful projects, joint venture opportunities, etc.
And of course, in the hyper-responsive club we review in detail how to choose your single most important keyword using a spreadsheet which accounts for volume, relevance to your ideal prospect, and bid price. (If you’re planning an SEO strategy, you also consider competition)
But the point is, breaking up a decision into it’s component parts, thinking through how those parts fit together (should some be weighted more heavily than others in the scoring formula?), and then systematically applying this scoring system to the choices at hand leaves you not only with a much clearer picture of the relative merits of each choice, but also with a system for quickly re-evaluating when things change. In short, … CONFIDENCE.
Now, I’ve got my special formulas I’ve worked on over the long haul in Glenn Club, and of course I’d like to sell you on using those. But I’d also like you to know there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you developing your own formulas and spreadsheets. You don’t have to wait for anyone to grant you a certificate, give you permission, or promise not to call on you in class tomorrow.
Spreadsheets are just kind of a special way of “thinking on paper” in numerical format, and if you’ve ever used a journal (and you understand basic arithmetic), there’s really nothing stopping you from spreadsheeting your own unique problems and situations.
For what it’s worth,
Dr. G 
Glenn Club | Coaching | A to Z Product for Newbies | Advanced Adwords Seminar
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
For us visual thinkers, it helps to do a mind map for the initial brain dump and to get things recorded and sorted out. I swear by mind maps and find that if I’m stuck, they always get things moving. Clearly Glenn is a “verbal” but a lot of us are “visuals”. Once you’ve got your legs under you, use spreadsheet/numerical weighting etc. to fine tune, prioritize and track.
Also, as a trained project manager I use this rule: If you don’t know WHAT to do next shift your thinking UP one level to the overall strategy; if you don’t know HOW to do something shift down a level and break up a project into smaller tasks. Don’t worry. Be happy.
I’m another one that finds MindMapping an essential – great for getting ideas onto paper (or screen – MindMapping software is incredible) and this can help me make decisions.
I also use spreadsheets to help me with my decison making when it comes down to the fine detail. I’ve used something similar to Glenn’s decison making spreadsheet for years and swear by it.
Thanks to both Glenn and Ron W for bringing these great tools to everyone’s attention.
I do Mind Mapping first too…then spread sheets. It\’s the spread sheets I use every week in my \"meetings with myself\" a little time to make sure I am on track and nothing slips through the cracks. When I meet consistently things get done, when I don\’t major slips occur. I encourage all my coaching clients to invest 5% of their time in working on their business for major productivity results.
I think the lead point about lack of confidence leading to execution problems is dead on. In my many years (decades even) of project management, I’ve seen plenty of evidence of that happening.
However, I do think the suggested solution is a bit simplistic. I’ve used the spreadsheet (and other tools) concept many times and it contains lots of subjective elements (the specific criteria, weighting and scores to name some). It does however require you to be specific on the thinking behind a decision and that’s very valuable by itself even if it is subjective.
In other spot though, Glenn, I thought you gave an even better answer to this quandary. You mentioned that, as long as one had a rigorous testing and monitoring regime, the starting point mattered less than the execution itself. Many generals have made the same observation re battles (albeit with different wording). So the real beauty in the spreadsheet (or mindmap or project plan or …) methodologies is that it allows one to take action. Then, as long as one tests and adapts, you’re much farther ahead than the person who never takes action because s/he’s not sure that the plan is perfect enough.
Was having some of the anxiety you describe above yesterday. A friend told me, “You can only do so much.” Really put things into perspective.