I don’t know about you but I tend to overthink things which then leaves me essentially paralysed with uncertainty, which way do I go? Which task do I complete first? Unless I have a huge, scary goal on the horizon, I can definitely lose a little of my usual focus. Small goals just seem inconsequential, not worth the effort. This is probably the absolute worst thing that can happen when you’re a solopreneur, working from home and relying on that very quality (as well as your mad skills, of course!) to bring home the bacon, month after month. We don’t have a regular pay-check to rely on, we don’t have a boss breathing down our neck making sure that we stay ‘busy’ or, at least give the illusion of being so. We don’t always have co-workers to help keep us on track when we need a little nudge. So, what do we do to regain that laser focus, that is an absolute necessity when striving for career success?

For me, the massive lightbulb moment came when I realised that the trick is to look inwards, I know right!? So simple! Often when we lose focus, or feel unsure of where we should be headed, the first thing we do is look outside of ourselves for inspiration. We look on blogs and websites, which are obviously just gateway drugs to Instagram and Facebook and then before we know it we’ve watched 300,212 cat videos and seen just how successful everyone else in social media land is (spoiler alert – not everything is exactly as it seems on the ‘gram!). Which of course leaves us feeling even more frustrated at our own perceived lack of success and even more confused about which direction we should be taking our careers in.

Stop, right there.

As new agey as this might sound, everything you need to be a success is already within you. You’ve just got to reveal it and then chip away at it, work on the processes and habits that will enable you to one day (soon, hopefully) make money from it all.

I’m not saying you need to ban all outside influences (wouldn’t that be ironic as I sit here crafting motivational posts for you to read) because inspiration, of course, is a super important factor in doing great work and in being successful, especially in creative fields. (On that note, sit tight regarding a super exciting announcement from us soon regarding my new baby – no, not that kind, sorry Mum! Head over and sign up quick sharp to make sure you’re the first to know about all the exciting stuff we have in the pipeline.)

But the real thing that will help you reach great and dizzying heights, is looking inwards to figure out exactly what it is that you want to offer people, that thing that above all else you want to be known for. Get real specific here, people. Then once you’ve figured that out, you can work backwards to fill in the gaps and start adding in all those steps that you need to take to get yourself there. You know… The sometimes boring, most often un-sexy, work bit.

Did you scroll to the bottom of this post? Well here’s a bitesize takeaway…

Feeling overwhelmed and unfocused?

The next time you catch yourself drifting, or find yourself paralysed by the endless possible courses of action, log out of your socials, back away from the phone and really think about what it is in your career (and life) that you want to be known for. What do you want to be an expert in? As soon as you’ve figured that out, I would bet money that you’ll be back on track and full steam ahead towards your goals in no time at all.