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Day One. Any day can be your day one. Is today yours? I tried to pinpoint my own day one, that first real step knowing that THIS thing was now a business. That I was an entrepreneur, a title I never planned to own. Day one: that I was starting right there, where I stood, and the rest would be history.
The truth is, I feel like I’ve lived many day ones in many different stages of my journey. Day one has felt like entire seasons of trying new things and learning what worked. It’s a lot of testing strategies, creating systems, investing in new tools and education to keep growing. It’s feeling like a failure some moments, and the next, I’d be catching myself thinking, “Heck yeah, I am so good at this.”
When I opened up another Ask Jenna Anything on Instagram and Facebook, as an educator I was so excited to see all of the questions about getting started. How EXCITING is it that you know you want to start something right now, and you have so many questions about where to begin?
As a woman and entrepreneur who started her business from day one just like you, it doesn’t matter how far away I am from the day I began, I still remember those anxious, nervous, often doubt-filled feelings. And I want to walk you through yours.
I know my business looks wildly different from day one. Maybe you can’t picture yourself in this setting… Yet. But in this episode I’m answering your questions about DAY ONE. Where to start, how to begin, and what to do when you finally decide to start right now.
How Do I Find My Passion?
We look at other people who are crushing their goals and making money off the things they’re most passionate about and thing, “If only I could find my ONE thing.” Have you been there? I know the feeling
When you’re trying to narrow down your passion and decide where to apply all the big new things you’re learning, either from this podcast or from a course or just watching those around you, try this little brainstorming activity.
Imagine your perfect day. How would you spend your perfect day? Try to relate it to business or career (because I totally get wanting to lounge on the couch and watch the Real Housewives for your perfect day!) When people ask you a question on a topic, you get fired up and have so much to share on that topic.
What are you pinning on Pinterest? When your friends need advice on something and they turn to you, what is that something? Sometimes we’re just too close to our genius spots and passions that we forget about them. We fail to realize that what comes naturally to us doesn’t come naturally to everyone.
But here’s the key thing to remember when thinking about your passion from an entrepreneurial standpoint: It’s not just about finding your passion. The sweet spot is finding where your passion and action meet. Press play to hear how this applied to the start of my business and how it can help clear the fog for you.
How to I Get My Spouse on Board?
This is such a common question. Here’s how I think about it. Even from the start of my business, my husband Drew knew what was going on, he knew what I did to earn an income, but he wasn’t intimately involved in the details. I knew he trusted me to make good decisions and if anything were to impact our livelihood, we’d have that conversation together.
If you’re concerned about a family member, spouse, partner, or anyone else not fully understanding your vision for your business, I want you to become an excellent vision caster.
When faced with the questions you will undoubtedly hear, like: What happens if it doesn’t work out? What will you do? What are the actions you will take to make this thing really work? Be prepared to answer completely and confidently.
Write yourself an action plan and answer this one big question for yourself. What will happen if you fail? If you’ll update your resume, get back on the interview circuit, apply what you learned as an entrepreneur to land a new job working for someone else… Whatever your plan looks like to pick yourself back up if you do fall, get so solid on that so when people challenge your vision you’re prepared to answer it.
Invite those people into the pieces and the places where they need to be involved, but protect that vision of yours. If you need a deeper dive into this topic, listen to episode 231: How to Get People On Board with Your Business.
How to Go from Plan to Action
I am an action taker, not a planner. I take action fast, not because I want to rush, but because I know the power of taking action first and worrying about “perfection” later. Imperfect action makes things happen.
But if you are a planner and you find yourself stuck in the planning phase, never really rolling into any sort of action, it’s time to do two things. First, start setting deadlines for yourself. And second, identify the first thing on your list and if that first task is too big, break it down.
What would it look like if you took tiny imperfect action? Send the email. Share the photo. Bring people into what you’re working on so you feel held accountable to your plan.
If emotions or anticipation of emotion is stalling you before you start, I encourage you to work on separating emotion from entrepreneurship so you can start making decisions and moving forward without concern for emotion.
This concept might seem daunting, especially for deeply emotional people (myself included), but press play to hear all of my thoughts on separating emotion from business.
You’re Allowed to Evolve
When as listener asked what to post as the very first photo on Instagram for the business, what I heard was an objection. That very first photo, episode, blog post, anything can feel like the biggest barrier preventing you from just starting.
When I started this podcast, the thing that held me up the most was actually hitting record on the first episode. I put so much pressure on myself to have the perfect intro, nail the format, lock down the best content, and all of those things.
Looking back on those early episodes, the show has evolved so much. I’ve given myself permission to change and grow and improve as I figured out how to be a podcast host. Give yourself that same permission and the first step, that first Instagram post, won’t feel so daunting.
More Answers to Your Questions
How to know where to invest your time in a business before you even launch? How do you find time or make time to work on your business at the beginning? Should you start with a website or a social media account or creating content? Where can I find clients other than word of mouth? How can you stay organized from day one? I loved answering all of these questions and I hope this episode is the invitation and permission you need to start right now. Today is your day one.
