One Day Today
Commit to yourself, start now
Have you ever put something off?… “I’ll do it tomorrow”… “I’m too busy”…”One day”…
One day will never come. One day will never come until you put one foot in front of the other and make it happen. This is it for me. It’s the day I finally commit to writing a blog.
I have wanted to do this for years; many half written posts, skeleton websites and a bundle of excuses later, and I have bought my domain and host server. The hardest thing isn’t always coming up with the idea, it is the planning, commitment and follow through that defines success. Regardless of your endeavour here are some tips on how to get started.
- Define
- Decide on what you are going to do and most importantly the ‘why’ behind it. Motivation will not always be there but your innate passion and belief will drive you to success.
- Decide on what you are going to do and most importantly the ‘why’ behind it. Motivation will not always be there but your innate passion and belief will drive you to success.
- Plan
- Create an outline of your idea in a way that is simple but covers all the bases of what you want to achieve (goals) and the steps to get there (action plan). Once you have this at a high level work backwards and fill in the smaller steps that you need to take to get to each major milestone. For example, for this blog I bought an excel tracker from Etsy to help me define and envision what I wanted this blog to represent from aesthetic to content categories and platforms. Once you have a clear vision you can move on to Step 3.
- Create an outline of your idea in a way that is simple but covers all the bases of what you want to achieve (goals) and the steps to get there (action plan). Once you have this at a high level work backwards and fill in the smaller steps that you need to take to get to each major milestone. For example, for this blog I bought an excel tracker from Etsy to help me define and envision what I wanted this blog to represent from aesthetic to content categories and platforms. Once you have a clear vision you can move on to Step 3.
- Execute
- Based on your plan that you defined in Step 2; start at the start. Take the first task and complete it. For me, I needed to set up a host and domain. I needed to meet up with an expert to advise me on the best options as I am not knowledgable fully in this field. When planning in Step 2 this is the type of granular level task you need to consider when building out a plan to reach your milestones.
- Based on your plan that you defined in Step 2; start at the start. Take the first task and complete it. For me, I needed to set up a host and domain. I needed to meet up with an expert to advise me on the best options as I am not knowledgable fully in this field. When planning in Step 2 this is the type of granular level task you need to consider when building out a plan to reach your milestones.
- Monitor
- Once you implement your vision and begin to get traction monitor your progress by key performance indicators (KPIs) that you define. For a blog this could be traffic, number of posts per week or advertising revenue. By monitoring your KPIs this enables you to see what is working and what needs to be adapted in order to improve your outcome based on what your goal is.
- Once you implement your vision and begin to get traction monitor your progress by key performance indicators (KPIs) that you define. For a blog this could be traffic, number of posts per week or advertising revenue. By monitoring your KPIs this enables you to see what is working and what needs to be adapted in order to improve your outcome based on what your goal is.
- Adapt
- After gathering your data in Step 4 analyse and reflect on it. What do you need to change? Or do you need to change at all? Use your plan from Step 2 in order to tailor your next actions.
Steps 3, 4 & 5 will be on loop. You need to be flexible and agile to ensure your original idea and plan are being followed and if not what can you do to get back on track.
By nature plans change and that is not a bad thing. A plan offers structure to your idea but if you start off and need to take a change of direction that’s ok! A plan is not set in stone, it offers guidelines and support to reach a certain target – if that target changes, adapt the plan.
I am filled with boundless ideas, overflowing creativity and limitless dreams and this blog is a channel for me to share these. If this reaches and resonates with people that is amazing, and if it only reaches me – that is perfect.
Always
Amy Elizabeth
