How to decide the ONE thing to focus on

Guess what was playing on the radio when I gave birth to my youngest daughter? ‘Baby Love‘ by The Supremes.

At the time, I thought it was pretty apt. I’m proud of my two daughters. I’ve been running my business since 2012, and in that time, my girls have developed an entrepreneurial mind.

What I love about my business

One of the things I love about running my own business is that I’m in charge of deciding what to do next.

One of the things I find frustrating about running my own business is that I’m in charge of deciding what do to next.

Independence brings incredible opportunities for creativity but also frustration because I can’t do everything. If you have been following me for a while, you know I encourage women to focus on just ONE thing. Sometimes, I have so many ideas I don’t know which one thing to pick.

I LOVE working with women, whether one-to-one or in a group. I notice group work is incredibly powerful because there’s such a richness to the contributions. Every woman brings valuable knowledge and background, even if she doesn’t have personal experience of the other women’s challenges. Women in a group are willing to give, to share and are open to new ideas. So I know I want to do more group programmes.

Three ideas but which to choose

I have three ideas …

A. The Art of Confidence: spend time together every month (a combination of face-to-face and over the telephone), to explore each of the 5 elements [contribution | wellness | work | family | the feminine] that contribute to your inner confidence, in a more intense and highly personalised way. One-on-one attention, group support and monthly assignments.

B. is Business Confidence, a 6 month programme for mums in business, combining education with mastermind. I would love more mums to benefit from the power of the business mastermind but often the financial investment is a barrier. You can pay anything upwards of £6,000 to join a full one year business mastermind, some of which run in 5 star luxurious venues.

To me there’s something incongruent about a luxury experience as a business investment. It just doesn’t sit well. Some money coaches tell me that is about my money mindset. But I don’t buy that. (By the way, the two money coaches that I admire are profit strategist Morena Russell and money mindset mentor Denise Duffield-Thomas. You might want to check them out).

However after many years of group facilitation, I absolutely appreciate that a comfortable and spacious venue with tasty food, away from your everyday pressures, has a significant impact on how you feel, what you learn, how you respond, and how open you are to creativity and new ideas. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever attended a training course with uncomfortable chairs, or spent all day in a room that was too hot, or too cold, or you couldn’t get a decent cup of tea …. (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, anyone?)

C. is a Confident Business School – a shorter online programme with a 2 hour class every week for 6 weeks, aimed at mums in the early stages of starting a business. Recorded if you can’t make the session live. Covering basics such as clarity on your business idea, list building, profit strategy, mindset, balancing business with family, performance management, perhaps inviting expert speakers to contribute. Finish with a day together when each mum presents her business to the rest of the group. Along the lines of Dragon’s Den but a celebration not a competition.

These 3 ideas have been bubbling for a few weeks. Last night, I came across an email from one of my Career Confidence clients “…. When I listened to the first class, you talked about how important it was start working on one of the five, instead of trying to solve all of them which is what I have been trying to do and ending up in knots! ”

YES!  But how to decide which one? And this is where my daughters helped. This morning, we drove over to the DIY shop to choose bedroom paint and wallpaper. Oh the irony. As we dithered, I felt my irritation levels rising. JUST MAKE A DECISION, I was yelling inside my head. “Excuse me – can you hear yourself Sherry? Why can’t you JUST make a decision about which programme to create?”

How to decide which ONE thing to focus on

So on the way back in the car (without paint OR wallpaper), I asked my family. “What would you do if you had 3 or 4 bright ideas, and you didn’t know which one to pick?”

My husband said “Ask the opinion of somebody whose opinion you trust.”

My eldest daughter said “Pick the idea that you are going to enjoy the most, that will give you the most profit, AND that your audience wants.” Wise words from a teenager.

The youngest daughter “Which will be the most fun? Which will you be able to sell most easily? Which ones means you get to stay home the most?”

And the ONE thing I have chosen to focus on is …

Well, actually, I STILL haven’t decided. Still stumped. If anything, point 4 is just giving more ideas every time I sit down to do Morning Pages.

What I do know is that I want to have a big impact so that I can show women all over the world how to be powerful. I want to have fun & laughter. That is part of my big mission in life. I want children (not just my children) to have happy memories of family life. I love to nurture and inspire. I love to teach. I love working as part of a group.

These ideas will provide for that. I’ve worked out costings for all of them – some will bring in less income but have less expenditure. The investment for the participants will vary based on how much face-to-face contact there is (therefore venue expenses), and how much time I would spend on each. They will appeal to women at different stages. Every one would be fun – the more face-to-face contact, the more fun.

If you opened this post hoping to find the answer to your ONE thing dilemma, read again what my family suggested. If you were my client, those are the questions I would ask. Take a blank sheet of paper, and jot down your answers. Just pop down the thoughts that pop into your mind. Don’t edit. Don’t use logic.

As for my ONE thing dilemma … Perhaps you can help me to decide. Which one would you love to see A, B or C? And why? Put your choice in the comments below.