entertainment industry coach question 365:How do you do anything (business related) for 365 days straight?

WELL OF COURSE I HAD TO CHOOSE THIS ONE! Thank you everyone who contributed your questions for the 365th day of my blog! I will answer all of them that came in. You have to admit, this person was savvy. He knew I was going to choose his. Why? It's timely, it ties into the theme of today, AND he specifically put in "business related" so I couldn't remind him that he eats, drinks, and possibly showers every day. So, well played, my friend. YOU are the one-year-anniversary question.

How do you do something business related for 365 days straight? Here's how I did it and will continue to do it...

1. I made a decision to commit to the business related task

2. I built in MAJOR accountability

3. I knew people needed my help and were counting on me

Let's take each one individually so you can apply it to your career:

1. Make a decision to commit to a daily business task that you KNOW will improve your business. It can be committing to 1 business phone call or email/day, saying a daily power statement, posting on business contacts' walls on Facebook, a daily business tweet, etc.

These are easy examples. You can commit to more complex daily business tasks, like committing to 1 power hour of focused business work, posing a daily video on YouTube branding you as an expert, etc.

2. Building in accountability was KEY for me. As you may recall, there were about 3 blogs that I posted after midnight, dating the blog for the next day. I would write, "Because I haven't gone to sleep yet, this still counts for Tuesday." As a career coach, I am setting the bar. To miss a day, may have been human, but I prefer to be a superhero for my followers. My readers are important to me and I didn't want to disappoint them.

Whose opinion is important to you? Who can hold you accountable for your daily business task. Can you post a status on a social media site daily so you know people are watching and seeing how consistent, dependable, and professional you are?

3. What's bigger than you? On those nights that I was falling asleep after speaking for 11 hours straight after my Greenlight Your Career Bootcamp, a voice would pop into my head and say, "wake up, you forgot to blog!" I could have answered the voice, "it's just one day, they'll understand." But it wasn't about me and it wasn't about how understanding everyone would've been. It was about making a commitment to something bigger. Sleep could wait a few more minutes.

Who do you care about so much that letting them down is not an option? You may not know them personally. They may be the people who need the message of the work you want to produce. How can you get your work out there if you're not doing the "business work" it takes to get your work seen?

Or maybe you do know them. Maybe it's your family; parents whom you want to see you succeed, children whom you want to be a role model for, a spouse who always believed in you who you want a better life for.

How can I blog everyday for 365 days straight? How can I not? I'm committed to your success, and as long as you're out there reading, and sending me questions I will stay committed to you for as long as I'm physically able. SO KEEP THOSE QUESTIONS COMING!

It's been a pleasure to serve you this past year and I look forward to the many blogs to come...

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.TheGreenlightCoachBlog.com

Question 79: I am astonished by the amount of things you do each day and each week and wonder how you do it.

The question continues: ... How do you prioritize between doing one thing and another? What criterion do you use to make that decision? 

My criteria is simple: 

1. What is my "fastest path to cash?" In other words, what must be done immediately to grow my company and help my clients succeed?

2. Deadlines given to me by  others in order to market myself aka articles, seminars, interviews, etc.

3. Then I have my specific must-do commitments, like my commitment to answer a question on my blog everyday

4. Once my business "business" is done, I prioritize my entertainment industry career to-dos. I only give my entertainment career about 10% of my time. That time though, is spent working SMART, not hard

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.thegreenlightcoachblog.com 

Question 76: You say I'm 100% responsible for my career but I feel I can't control anything. What do I do?

True, there are very few things in the entertainment industry that you can truly control. When you look at other industries, though, I'm sure you'll find plenty of people who struggle with the same issue; the stock market, changing technology and trends, etc. Since I focus on entertainment let's address what you CAN control:

1. Your commitment: I always say you have to act like the CEO of your own company. Are you committed to the amount of work that goes into running a company? Are you committed to creating new relationships and maintaining old ones? Are you committed to investing in your business knowledge, marketing materials, and craft? If your answer is yes, you can control how much of a commitment  you make in each area.  

2. Your attitude: Politics, economy, natural disasters, work slow down, runaway production, others working when you're not, no agent, etc.,- you can't control. Your attitude toward all of the previous- YOU CAN CONTROL. Educate yourself on the nature of our industry, so you can have a good attitude, despite what ever the world throws at you. This is not about positive thinking, this is about taking control of your outlook regarding your career. If you're not optimistic about your future, then why pursue it?

   

3. Your choices: You have control over the friends/colleagues you make and keep, accepting the jobs offered to you, your reactions to what happens to you, and the decision to stay in this industry.

Our industry is no different than any other industry where there is potential to make big money. There is risk involved and in so, a lack of control. That lack of control is also the loophole that allows, unknown, unconnected, unexperienced people, to get their foot in the door and potentially make it big...

So embrace what you can and cannot control.

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.theGreenlightCoachBlog.com