When I ask my husband to go to the garage to get something, I know there is a 50/50 chance he’ll be back in immediately with that item. He doesn’t do it on purpose but he is easily distracted. In fact, if he had grown up more recently, I’m pretty sure he would have been diagnosed with ADD. He behaves very much like that children’s story, “If you give a moose a muffin.”After I’ve given him a few minutes to bring back what I requested, I often venture in to see what has happened. He is always surprised by how much time has passed and tells me he meant to get the item, but then saw that the trash was full, so he took that out and then, when he was outside, he noticed that the nozzle was still on the hose, so he removed that and had to drain the water in the hose, and so on and so on.
I bring this up not to humiliate my husband but because I think a lot of us have ADD when it comes to developing our businesses. We have good intentions and start down the right road, but it’s all too easy to let the urgent overtake the priority.
One of the ways you have started down the right road is to join this chapter of BNI. You probably first did it triumphantly, excited to see how BNI might help you grow your business. But then, the craziness of life and entrepreneurialship happened and you were off on a rabbit trail, forgetting to schedule 1-2-1’s, failing to plan your 45-seconds or even considering inviting other business owners to visit.
So, here are some ideas for helping you stay on track with BNI, for the good of your business:
- Have yourself committed. Decide to commit and give it a real shot. 100% effort. Try to schedule at least one 1-2-1 a week. Do it immediately after the meeting is over, so you won’t forget.
- Get organized. Set goals. Select a day of the week when you will read all of the BNI-related emails that you saw come across your cellphone while you were out on a job or otherwise distracted. While you’re at it, send your Dance Card to the member you are going to meet for your one-to-one. Follow up referrals and plan the content of your 45-second talk.
- Be goal-oriented. Set goals and then create “To Do” lists based on those goals. I love making lists, and sometimes write things down so I can immediately cross them off and feel like I’ve gotten something accomplished. But don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by your goals. They should be tools for good, not evil.
- Enjoy the journey. Don’t forget to have fun along the way. You need to be here anyway, so why not make it something to look forward to? Develop friendships. Reach out to each other not as associates but as trusted allies.
“If we are paying attention to our lives, we’ll recognize the defining moments. The challenge for so many of us is that we are so deep into daily distractions and ‘being busy’ that we miss out on those moments and opportunities that — if jumped on — would get our careers and personal lives to a whole new level of wow.” ~Robin Sharma