Have you ever struggled to balance planning in your business, with taking action and actually making great progress on your goals? That’s what we’re addressing today! I want to share 4 recommendations for how to balance planning with action as a solopreneur…
This was originally recorded as an episode on Indie Author Weekly, in relation to writing a book—tune in to listen to that episode, or keep reading below:
If you’ve attended any of my trainings or taken productivity coaching with me, then you’ve probably heard me say this before: Planning without taking action is just as problematic as taking action without planning.
→ That’s why I love teaching about how to create STRATEGIC action plans, because that’s really how we can get to the sweet spot of balancing planning and action-taking.
People typically fall into one end of the spectrum or the other… they either a) focus on taking a bunch of action (AKA doing “busy” work) without being strategic about those tasks, or b) spend all their time planning meticulously, without ever executing on those tasks.
Neither one of these is better or worse than the other. But we want to make sure that we’re achieving our goals! That’s why the work I do with clients includes a lot of success coaching—to make sure you are making real progress on those big, dreamy, audacious goals of yours.
…Because the LAST thing we want is for you to spend months or years on unnecessary busy tasks, OR on planning without ever taking action. We don’t want you to miss out on making real progress on your goals!
THAT is why we need a strategic action plan in place.
There are a few things to keep in mind for the balance of planning and taking action…
#1: It’s not a race
You don’t need to force yourself to achieve your goals as fast as possible! It doesn’t need to be a race or a sprint if you don’t want it to. You get to make your own rules. You get to call the shots. You’re the author of your own life and business. It’s okay to take your time as you work toward your goals.
…That being said, WHEN are you going to achieve those goals?
That brings us to the next tip…
#2: Create a timeline with deadlines
Actively working on your goals on a regular and consistent basis (no matter how small those steps may be) is a great way to make progress.
A good rule of thumb is to check in with whether you’re any further along this month than you were last month. If you are, then that’s a good sign you’re on the right track with making progress on your goals.
…If your progress has stagnated, however, then either a) you’ve just been thinking or talking about your goals and not actually executing them, b) you are getting in your own way and trying to perfect something that frankly can’t be perfected (because nothing will ever be perfect), or c) you are working on all the wrong tasks.
That brings us to our next tip…
#3: Conduct weekly check-ins
This is how you will track your progress, including doing audits and assessments to identify where you’re holding yourself back and how you can overcome those hurdles. These work like magic for me and my clients!
It’s a great way to force yourself to be honest with yourself, to develop self-trust, and to celebrate your progress on an ongoing basis—which then motivates you to continue making even more progress.
Creating some kind of timeline for yourself and adding weekly check-ins built into your schedule so that you can be really honest with yourself about whether or not you’re making progress, will help ensure that you are truly making progress on your goals.
More details on how to conduct your weekly audits (including step-by-step instructions and guided questions) in Productivity Powerhouse: SaganMorrow.com/powerhouse
#4: Keep perspective on your goals
Your goals should align with your vision, values, and mission statement. It’s easy to get caught up in the weeds, lost in the details, and totally forget about the big picture! That’s how many solopreneurs make the mistake of working on the wrong tasks. 
Because of my background as an anti-hustle Productivity Strategist & Success Coach, and with my 120+ hours of coaching training, I find that self-coaching or mentoring myself through the process of achieving my goals is extremely powerful.
If balancing the planning with action-taking is something you’re struggling with, then I strongly encourage you to get support or a mentor to help you out.
→ Case in point: I recently had a session with a client who said, “Wow. I feel like I come to you with these questions that seem so big in my head, and then we talk it through and solve it within 3 minutes!”
...That is the power of hiring a coach to support you and guide you ♥
By the way, I’d love to be there for you in your solopreneur journey!
We can create a customized coaching experience to keep you productive and on track with your goals when you hire me as your coach...
...Visit SaganMorrow.com/ceo for full details and to book your spot today.
To sum up, here are today’s tips for how to balance planning with taking action on achieving your goals:
- Remember that it’s not a race
- Create a timeline for your goals
- Check in with yourself and track your progress
- Keep perspective on your goals—ideally by getting support or a mentor as needed to help you in your solopreneur journey
Understanding your goals, having a clear vision for your strategic action plans, creating a check-in strategy for tracking your progress, all of these things can contribute to you finally making legit progress on achieving your goals.
The sweet spot is always to have a sort of equilibrium of planning with action-taking—which is why *strategic action plans* are so powerful. If you start to veer too much to one side with just planning or just action-taking, things can get a little messy. The more you can balance this, the better positioned you’ll be to making amazing progress and achieving your goals with confidence.