60-Minute Entrepreneur: Entrepreneurial Clarity
Can you be an effective entrepreneur in only 60 minutes? YES!
What is this series of posts? When I started coaching entrepreneurs with the conflicting priorities of starting, building, and running a business I came up with this thought experiment to help identify the actions they could do to optimize and accelerate their business. The question is, “If you only had 60 minutes this week to focus on your business. What would you do?”
It may seem unusual to think of building a successful business in only 60 minutes a week. But, when you have limited time and resources this question is a great tool to identify the immediate and actionable steps to take.
In this post, I talk about Clarity and Focus and the questions you can ask yourself to optimize for Clarity.
Clarity is the Why. Focus is the What.
The challenges of 2020 have pushed many of us to our limits and learning how to thrive and build anew during these times is paramount to our success. Having Clarity will be essential. Having Clarity as an entrepreneur is required.
To have Clarity is to possess the qualities of coherency, intelligibility, and purity. For me, Clarity is the Why in our actions and it directs our activities on our path.
Our Focus is our areas of interests and activities. For me, Focus is the What of our actions.
As a coach, the science and art of coaching on how to gain clarity are front and center in my mind. And yet, much of what I have learned about clarity has come from life experiences and reflections. Recently, I’ve been experiencing clarity with my lack of running and have gained insight during this time on how it applies to entrepreneurs.
When I began my running five years ago I never imagined I would run one marathon let alone that five years later I would have run eight marathons and have nearly achieved my 3-hour marathon goal. When I began running it was a time of challenges and transitions for me, much like 2020, and running became an outlet and provided a sense of needed solace. From barely running a few miles a week it was soon into running that it became an essential part of my being, routine, and identity.
As the global and national challenges of 2020 continue to impact all of us it was the back injury recently that caused havoc in my running and removed an essential sense of my being.
Questions To Attain Clarity
The emotional and physical journey over the last month to get back into running has provided me an opportunity to see where in my routines I’m focusing on the What of my actions at expense of the Why of my actions. After the initial disappointment of not being able to run, I began taking a deeper look and reflect on the Why of my routines. I realized there was tremendous opportunity in this new challenge and the potential for a renewed sense of being.
These are questions I’ve been using to gain Clarity. These questions I’ve discovered can be applied to any situation to gain renewed Clarity. As an entrepreneur, I’m sharing them with you to help you navigate the challenges you are experiencing in your journey.
What frustrates you most about your situation right now?
When do you feel most free in your situation?
What is the strength you bring to your situation?
What do you think it would take to double your feeling of freedom in your situation?
What is it you are trying to accomplish in this situation?
I continue to work on the challenges a lack of clarity causes as an entrepreneur, coach, and marathoner. What I can tell you is a focus on what without the clarity of why leaves people unmotivated.