Sooo many awesome conversations were sparked from the message I shared with you about self-imposed deadlines last Tuesday (thank you!), and today I want to build on that momentum by talking about another thing that keeps coming up in my coaching calls — Navigating your bandwidth.
This is a hot topic for us entrepreneurs! We’re go-getters. At any given time, we probably have 100+ different ideas running through our minds.
Having so many ideas is a blessing… but it’s also a curse in the way that there just isn’t enough time or energy on earth for us to do them all (at least not well, lol 😅).
Here’s how you can make your dreams a reality while staying within your bandwidth:
FIRST STEP: Sit down and reflect on the areas that might get you in a bind once you begin to pursue a specific goal.
For example, if your dream is to be the host of a podcast, I’d encourage you to reflect on 4 main areas…
- Team. If you want to be a podcast host, you likely enjoy connecting with people and having meaningful conversations. To keep you in the seat of what you love doing the most, you’d want to delegate as much of the nitty-gritty work (booking, pre-interview prep work, editing, publishing, promoting, etc.) out to other people.
- Cost. In addition to the investment that goes into building your team, a top-tier podcast that will generate a top-ranked show will be $30-40k to start, plus ongoing costs. The other kind of cost is the cost of your time doing the show. Which leads to…
- Monetization. Alongside being fun and fulfilling, you need to make sure there is a strategy in place to monetize so that you not only cover the cost of the show, but of the time it pulls you away from in the other areas of your life where you’d typically be monetizing. Because…
- Time. If you’re mindful of protecting your time, there will still be the “extra” time in finding guests, communicating with guests, followers, potential guests, and more. Also, you have to consider the time of the thinking you’ll be doing for the show that will pull you away from thinking time for other areas of your life.
See, the intention here is NOT to scare yourself out of action.
By taking the time to reflect and really explore what it will take to bring your idea to life from all angles, you will gather all the information you need to decide whether you have the bandwidth (and want) to move forward.
SECOND STEP:
If you determine you DO have the bandwidth… then you’ll be able to pre-plan for these areas. You can properly position yourself to grow your goals toward a fulfilling long-term vision. When you do this, you put yourself in a protective bubble while still doing what you love. 🙂
And if you don’t have the bandwidth… then it’s time to consider what idea(s) you do have the bandwidth for on your list of 100+ 😉and save the rest for a later date.
Have a tip for navigating your bandwidth? Click here and let me know. I’d love to hear (and learn) from you!
