Benjamin Franklin once said, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” We’ve all heard that phrase in one form or another. It’s easy to procrastinate when there’s nothing bearing down on you and no one else holding you accountable. But when you’re in business, you have to hold YOURSELF accountable for the successes and failures of your company.

So ask yourself, what’s the one BIG thing you’ve been avoiding or putting off? Is there a big decision you’re unwilling to make? Is there a mess you’ve been dodging? Is there a broken business system you’ve been unwilling to try to fix? You have CHOSEN to ignore that one big monster and, although it’s going to be uncomfortable to deal with, every day you continue to ignore it, it’s going to get worse.

The real problem for most entrepreneurs and business owners is not the issue itself, but rather the refusal to deal with that issue. Every business runs into snags and challenges, but not working through those as they come up means there are issues festering in the undercurrent of your company. We all play the occasional game of denial – in business and in life – but we also all know how that case of denial can weigh down on you. That monster in your life is eating away at you, constantly picking at your brain, causing you stress, stealing your energy, hurting your health, impacting your confidence and costing you real money. As is always the case, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Here are a few questions that should help face your monsters:

• What is the big decision you have been avoiding and afraid to make? The big decision or company problem that is eating away at you morning, noon and night?
• What is the major “mess” in your personal or professional life that is unresolved, draining your energy, causing mental anguish, and needs to be cleaned up?
• What are some of the tough, cost-cutting measures you have swept under the rug for months? What critical marketing or sales strategies have you failed to pull the trigger on? What personnel problems are you intentionally avoiding or denying?
• What important meeting with a customer, vendor, supplier, banker, CPA, attorney, financial adviser, investor, partner or employee are you avoiding and failing to schedule?
• What family/home issues or problems need to be discussed and addressed?

Of those answers, which one is the biggest monster? Decide which issue is causing you the most turmoil and costing you the most money and fix it NOW. The other items can be put on your schedule for December or 2016, but you need to set a deadline to fix that one big problem – and fast. Commit to fixing that problem within the next 7 days and schedule a time to make it happen. You must take decisive action to move forward! Once you slay that monster, you can move onto the next items on your list.

If you are having trouble making those adjustments within your business, your local Growth Coach can help. Find your coach now.

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