Stop Procrastinating and Start Automating

If you’re like me, the overwhelm and uncertainty of how to move forward stops you in your tracks, so I’m here to give you some ideas on how to move forward towards your goals to stop procrastinating and start automating.

While I’m not a tax expert, I am a systems expert that has implemented many new systems, but that doesn’t mean I don’t do the same thing you may be doing…procrastinating.

I thought I’d bring you behind the scenes to see what I’ve been going through in my business and how I’ve been able to stop procrastinating to be able to move towards my goals of helping others with automating their businesses.  

Over the last 18 months, we’ve been growing Workflows for Tax Pros and serving lots of amazing people; the community is growing, our team is up to 3 people now, and as much as I fight it, I can’t have everything living in my head.  If you’re like me, as a business owner it all lives in my head and bounces around until I go crazy, but yet I never feel like I have the time to get it down on paper, delegate to my team, or just generally get it out of my head; the cycle just goes on and on!

When you want to move forward fast, you often look to your car to get you there, right?  Well we can use that same CAR to get us through the procrastination and to achieving our goals quicker.

Commitment is Key

We have to commit! I’ve been procrastinating setting up a project management system for my team.  We have so many projects in marketing, content, templates, workflows, etc. that I can’t let it live in my head anymore; my team needs an organized and efficient way to receive the information from my brain to theirs.  I’ve talked to my team for three months about my plans to improve, but talking about it isn’t COMMITTING.  I had to make that commitment. I had to step up for me, my team, and our clients.  So, I finally set a meeting and committed to getting this system up and running.  

You’ve probably been there yourself; you have some pain points that are always poking you, your team, and your clients.  Once you start to focus on and identify those points, you may find that it’s that clients aren’t communicating well with you, maybe they are delivering items too late for your timelines, or you just find yourself constantly chasing them for one reason or another.  This is where you need to establish the specific thing you are trying to fix, and once you identify it, you can decide what you want to create.  What is your vision?  Does it feel peaceful?  Organized? Efficient and streamlined?  What is it that you’re truly trying to create?

Once you’ve decided what that vision looks like, and you can see yourself in that amazing place down the road, you’ll find that you’re way more inspired to move forward and in turn way more ready to make a commitment to resolve that painful feeling.  It’s a huge step!

Accountability Can Take You Far

Accountability can be challenging; it means you have to take action on that commitment you made, but the actual step in itself is easy, it’s just a small conversation!  To help hold yourself accountable for taking action on your commitment, ask someone to check in on you.  We often get so busy and lost in everything we’re doing to slow down and focus on the bigger picture; we work so much IN our business that we struggle to work ON our business!  An accountability partner could be a business partner, a colleague from a mastermind or networking group, or even a spouse or close friend.  

Another great option for an accountability partner is US!  As a member of our community, you have us as coaches and cheerleaders to be there for you during this building process.  Our program has checkpoints where we check in on your to make sure you’re meeting your goals; if we don’t help you celebrate along the way, we aren’t helping you get to your goals.  We’re so excited to see better practices, more efficiencies, and more profitability grow within your business as you achieve each goal.  

Rewards Will Keep You Motivated

We all love a reward, big or small, so why not give one to yourself for taking the steps necessary to move your business forward?  Tax season is coming; what are you going to do to automate your practice?  Focus and prioritize what needs to happen to get where you want to be and reward yourself for getting there!  The best part about giving yourself or your team a reward is that you get to set when and how you get that reward; you know yourself best and what will motivate you most, so use that to your advantage.  

If you’re really struggling, set very small goals.  For me, once I committed and had set up the meeting, I decided that the reward was going to be a nice lunch for us after the meeting.  Some people may choose to put the reward right after the meeting is scheduled, then another after the meeting, or you may choose to not put the reward in place until the entire project is done; it’s so customizable to motivate you and your unique needs.  The priority is purely to get the momentum going; it starts with a calendar invite, then a meeting, then a plan, and before you know it, your system is up and running and your business is thriving!

 Next Steps for You to Keep Moving Forward

So if you find yourself outside of the CAR, knowing that you need to automate, but not knowing where to start, we are here for you!  We’re here to support, provide step by step instructions, and cheer you on along the way.  Commit to your journey, your timeline, and what feels right to you; if you wait until January it’s going to hurt, but we can help you avoid that pain by slashing the typical automation implementation process down from 100 hours to about 20-25 to take advantage of automations that will revolutionize your firm and client experience.  

We invite you to kick procrastination to the curb, decide and commit to what you’re going for, ask for accountability from a trusted source, and set that reward for yourself!  We look forward to being that accountability buddy for you if you desire, and celebrating with you when you achieve the reward you’ve been working so hard for.  Cheers to taking big steps in moving your business forward and reliving some of the pains you’ve been feeling!