What’s your tractor?

August 15, 2014

The other day I left the office a bit late to get my daughter from nursery. I would have probably got there on time – except I got stuck behind a tractor. This really slowed me down, and whilst it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, it prevented me from getting there as quickly as I would have done.

What does the tractor look like that stops you getting to your destination as quickly as you’d like? From reaching your goals, achieving success, getting to where you want to be? (Tweet this)

This could be money, lack of knowledge, time, energy, illness, kids, your family, confidence, your mindset – the list is endless.

I know for some of my clients they come to me because they feel that their business image is their tractor. It isn’t doing their business justice, it’s not inline with how their business has changed or it’s just not working for them. Obviously I can help with this but sometimes there are other stumbling blocks getting in the way to prevent people from having a brand that works. They could be worried about the time it’ll take up, worried about the cost or not sure exactly why they need it.

If you’re worried about time then you will need some help – and if you want to know if it’ll make a difference to your business then read this post to find out why branding is important. If you’re worried about the cost then here’s 4 tips to make a difference to how your business looks without spending a penny:

1. Get hold of my Design Success Toolkit. Fill it in. Use it. Spend some time with it.

2. If you’re going to do it yourself then keep it simple. Use tools like Canva and PicMonkey – and make sure not to overcomplicate your work. Be consistent – make yourself some rules and make sure you stick to them.

3. You might find that you can pay in instalments or you might find that you could do a skills swap – especially if what you have to offer is something relevant and useful to the designer.

4. Get feedback. Ask the people who understand your business and who you can trust to tell you the truth.

For me, my tractor is definitely ME! I’m really good at getting in my own way and it’s only since I started trying really hard NOT to get in my own way that I’ve felt a change in my business. One of those changes has definitely been making these videos.

I made my first video – a video testimonial – in September. It’s not great but it’s real and you should all go on a Business Makeover event if you get the chance! I was really uncomfortable doing it – it didn’t feel natural. This was the start of me getting out of my own way and just letting myself do what needed to be done. Now of course I do these videos every week, and I’m really pleased with myself that I decided to get over my fears and just do it.

Since doing the videos I gained the confidence to speak at a networking event and I’m doing this again twice in October. I would never have said yes to this at this point last year. I’m also finding that people I’ve never met are contacting me to work with me because they feel like they know me already!

Seth Godin blogged this week about doing the best we’re comfortable doing. He says “great work makes us uncomfortable”. We need to do things that make us feel uncomfortable – that don’t at first feel natural – in order to move forward – in order to do the great work. We need to stretch ourselves to get past the tractors that we have in our way.

We are great at making excuses for not doing things aren’t we? I can’t possibly do that, I’m too nervous, I don’t have the confidence, people might laugh at me, I might fluff my lines, I can’t afford it, I don’t think people will want to listen to me, I’m not that sort of person, I’m not comfortable doing that.

So this week I want to know what you’ve said YES to that’s made a difference in your business? Or what’s the tractor in your life that’s stopping you from getting where you want to get to fast?