Josh Friberg

When you make the decision to start new habits and activities, you will invariably need to say "NO" to make space and time for these new activities. 

Many of us feel very uncomfortable saying "No" to a reasonable request. Perhaps we don't like the discomfort, don't want to reject a person, or feel compelled to justify our no. When you say "no" to a request, it's not about the other person, it's not about accepting or rejecting them.  Your "no" is about your choices and your values.

To say "yes" to what matters to you, you must say "No" to what (by default) matters less to you. 

What do you need to say no to today?

When you decide that there are activities that you have been neglecting, by necessity, you will need to stop doing some of your current actions to make time. However, you have created a network and web of people depending on you to continue to show up as you have.

You cannot simply stop what you've been doing, instead, you must intentionally negotiate with these people.  Good News!  When done well, your family, coworkers, clients, and everyone else become your allies in your new life and work changes. Instead of impeding you, they help clear the path for your new success. 

What do you need to negotiate that you would stop doing to make time for something important that is not being done?

What you DON'T Do has as much impact on your results as what you DO.  What is it that you are not doing, that if you did do it, would change your outcomes?

The first step in discovering these is to take a personal time audit. Carry a notebook for 3-5 days and record every hour what you actually did. 

After this time, review your time and look not only at what you did, but what is conspicuously missing? It's time to make time to get these missing actions done.

Do the same items on your to-do list remain unfinished and migrate once again onto the next week's to-do list?

Do you do things you would rather not, and so leave unfinished the things that matter most?

What you don't do matters.  Those undone activities could make the biggest difference in your productivity and fulfillment.  Additionally, you will need to intentionally choose what NOT to do to make space for the things that matter most. 

This next two weeks, we will explore What You Don't Do Matters.

As you choose a niche-a market segment in which you become the agent-of-choice, recognize, this will not happen in some grand moment. One email, blog post, announcement, or press release. Instead, it will happen with the hundreds of little activities taken consistently and frequently.

As we've discussed before, consistency beats intensity. And this is especially true in branding to earn market share. When you meet someone and give them your business card, you are forgotten within minutes. When you show up week in and week out providing value, great insight, and incredible customer service, you are unforgettable.

What community do you show up in every week that is THE lane for your business?

When we consider the narrow market niches in which we have influence, our faith community has important considerations. 

What is appropriate for conducting business during faith gatherings? Who do I have permission to market to? How do I bring my business resources and skills in to serve the inside and outside my faith community?

What are your personal and professional guidelines for the intersection of your business and your faith community? 

Now that you've decided on a nich which fits your ideal schedule and interests, you must be certain that your community contains a viable market. Are there enough leads within your community to support your business?

You may love left-handed ornithologists named Burt, but are there enough of those who will do business with you to support your business?

We want to pick a narrow lane, but not too narrow.

What lane does your business specialize in?

Don't be just another voice in the crowd, be distinguished as THE expert in your chosen niche. 

Importantly, choose a niche that fits your ideal schedule and is something you actually care about. 

What is your niche? I'd love to hear and share with the world about your chosen focus.

When you create an abundant business and an abundant life, you will need to create a business built around one very narrow and particular niche. When I coach real estate agents, we look for that community and area of expertise around which the agent can focus all their energy.

With new challenges and competitors entering the marketplace, our business will remain defensible when it meets the very specific needs of one community at an extremely high level.  

What is your lane? What niche are you mastering?

Whenever I ask business owners and real estate agents for their business plan, if they have one (few do), they often have to dig in a drawer and dust it off. They certainly have not been executing on it.

The Abundant Agent Business Plan fits on ONE index card. 

On one side, write the big vision for the year, including revenue, profit, and 1-2 key measures, like units sold or new clients.

On the other side, write three key rhythms: daily, weekly, and monthly. For your daily rhythm, what are the 3-4 activities you must complete daily? For your weekly rhythm, build an ideal week, where every day is different, but every week is the same. For example, follow up on Mondays, new business on Tuesdays, B2B on Wednesdays... Monthly, have a rhythm for projects or major marketing pieces and time with your money.

By having a simple execution strategy that you can achieve week in and week out, day in and day out, your big yearly vision will be guaranteed!