Have you ever known anyone that seems to always be doing something but never actually accomplishes or finishes anything? As a former pastor turned business coach, I would watch this happen in ministry a lot. Pastors and staff members would have a “great idea” about a program or a curriculum or a book or a ministry that could reach or impact a lot of people. They would start working on this project, and somehow it never became anything. For years I could not understand this phenomenon. More recently, as a business coach, I have realized that it is a common issue with business owners as well. They will have all these ideas, but nothing will ever get accomplished and they live in a perpetual doom loop of lack of success. The reason stems from not knowing their main thing.
What is a “main thing”?
Well…. A main thing is a purpose behind your actions. For example, if you are wanting to go to your friend’s house, but your car is low on gas, then your main thing is to get gas in your car so that it can run and you can drive to your friend’s house. Seems simple, but you would not believe how many pastors or business owners say they want to “get to their friend’s house” and that they are low on gas, but then, instead of doing the actions that will put fuel in the tank so that they can get there, they allow themselves to get distracted and end up running out of gas and sitting on the side of the road wondering why they can never accomplish their goals…. Metaphorically of course.
If you are a business owner and your business is going to be the vehicle that is supposed to get you to your goals, then the first thing you better know is what is the destination. Why are you working so hard to build a business? Why did you hire a business coach? What is the end goal? This is the ultimate “Main Thing”. If you don’t know this then you are doomed from the start. Once you have established what the ultimate main thing is, then you must establish the daily action items that are like the fuel in your car that you must do to help you get to the ultimate main thing. These are the daily main things. If you don’t take the time to identify needed daily main activities that are going to get you to your ultimate main thing, then you will never get there. This is where most entrepreneurs are. They know where they want to get, but they haven’t identified the daily main things that they have to focus on to keep the car moving. When you know these things, then you are able to say no to anything that is not the main thing.
Success only happens when you keep the main thing, the main thing
As a business coach, my goal is to help you achieve your goal. Because of this, I must fight the natural tendency that most of my clients have to do anything other than the main things that they need to do to hit their business coach goals. Some clients complain that there are not enough new things on their path to success. That is when I have to gently, or not so gently, remind them that success only happens when you keep the main thing, the main thing. You can’t have a lot of main things. The more divided you are the less quality everything you do will become. Today, sit down and actually determine what your ultimate main thing is that you are moving towards. After you do this, take the necessary time to identify the daily actions that will get your business there. Put these actions into your schedule and do them every day. Say no to anything that is not these things. If you do this consistently then you will get to your ultimate goal.
