Where is your bottleneck?

We’ve all got one (at least one!). The thing that stops progress in its tracks; upends motivation and makes an enemy of deadlines. Our bottlenecks. Where the initial rush of enthusiasm and certainty begins to coagulate… slowing down and sometimes eventually stopping the flow entirely.

What’s stopping you getting that thing done? What’s preventing you from publishing your content or committing to a regular schedule, getting that brochure done or starting your manuscript?

Here’s my top three bottlenecks and how you can get beyond them.

1. Ideas

   You have more ideas than you realise! Keep a document or notebook on the go for jotting down when inspiration strikes. Great sources for ideas include:
   ▶ your customers (you know their pain points better than most)

   ▶ the news - your take on a topical issue

   ▶ latest research or data

   ▶ time of year - e.g summer recharge, graduate recruitment, EOFY

   ▶ your wins - no need to name clients, zero in on something that went when, the learning you sparked.
   

2. Time

   If creating content is never a priority then you will never make time for it. Instead of making it a priority, make it a habit.
   
   

   “What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.”

   Gretchen Rubin
   
   

   It doesn’t have to take a lot of time. If you want to be more active on social media, for example, bookend your day with 15 minutes looking through your feed and interacting with peers, save any articles of interest and commit to reading two over the weekend.

   Your blog shouldn’t be an epic read (save that for your book). Each blog needs to express or unpack one idea and set-up an action. Go to your list of ideas and write a short, sharp piece, with one reference or quote to back it up.

   Ultimately though, if you don’t think your content is important you won’t spend the time on it. So if you’re not interested in reaching your audience, don’t care about staying on top of industry trends, are not looking to make connections or develop and test your IP… then by all means - don’t spend any time on your content.
   

3. Belief

   This is a biggie. It could be belief in yourself, your ideas, your creativity, your technical skills, your worth. It could be the belief that you have to know where something is going before you start.

   Instead of suggesting you believe in yourself, I’m channeling Nike and saying ‘Just Do It’. The belief will come later. But only if you start now with the small steps that will help you to justify to yourself what you are doing and why.

   There’s never been a more level playing field for creating connection with your audience - there are easy to use tools and platforms, great value services from around the globe, how to guides and videos on everything from presenting on camera to curating the perfect Pinterest account. Don’t waste this by not thinking you are good enough.

   Be you (you can’t be anyone else) and don’t overthink it - because your audience isn’t!

   And like that sauce in the bottle that just won’t come out, sometimes a hefty whack releases the blockage and all that good stuff comes flooding out!