by Phindile Tapula (Ndlovu)
I used to lay awake at night thinking about my business. I would have these ideas about scaling and launching. I would be so excited and eventually sleep would come and as you can imagine, when I woke up, I would have a hazy view of my ideas. I would grow so frustrated trying to remember that million dollar idea, I would even try to pen my idea down, yet I would not manage to remember everything. “Why wasn’t writing my idea down?” would be what I would ask…
This led to the implementation of half-baked ideas. I had to pause and relook at my business and my products. I saw that the missing piece to the puzzle was how I was planning and organizing my ideas. I was all over the place and I saw that I needed to quickly invest in systems that would help organize my thoughts. I needed systems that would help me identify gaps and plan for challenges.
A Journal was this answer. Thinking also to dream big and journal allows you to go back on your big ideas and establish a plan - a solid plan. This is what has helped me to feel more confident about my ideas because I am sure I have thought of almost everything that may go wrong or challenges that might lay ahead.
My biggest weakness was that I would not start until I felt 100% ready, I had to be 100% sure that it would work. It wouldn’t work because I didn’t know my gaps and my limitations. When failure occurred, I got demotivated to try again and waited until I would be 100% sure. So, the cycle continued. Writing down became liberating because I checked all the boxes and didn’t need to thumb suck everything from the top of my head.
I have also come to realize that I am an extremely anxious person because I am a perfectionist. Imagine a perfectionist that has poor planning skills - a total nightmare! Journaling and reflecting helped me put thoughts and ideas onto paper and allowed me to also get them out of my head because once my ideas are on paper, I get to critique them and fix them immediately, as opposed to trying to remember what I was thinking.
So, if you are looking to start again, or if you have changed some stuff about your business. Or, if you feel stuck and are wondering if entrepreneurship is the right thing for you, here are some journals prompts for you:
Will I consider myself and my business successful?
What purpose does my business serve? Who does it serve?
Failure to me is…
Productivity to me looks like…
I hope these journal prompts will help you understand your ‘Why’. It will help you understand what your customers need and the problem you are solving. This will help you learn to dance with failure and embrace it as a tool you can use to do better. I don’t believe in failure by the way - take it from an entrepreneur who has launched two products and didn’t make profit on both occasions and has not been able to back down. Failure for me now after embracing journalling has become exactly what I needed to understand which areas of my life I need to work on. Journaling came to me because of the number of failures I had to endure, and it has since become my biggest teacher!
These prompts will also help you to set realistic expectations for how you spend your day. Productivity to me for the longest time was about doing as many things as possible. Journaling about productivity or reflecting on my week has taught that I must strive for impact and for good balance. I know many moms struggle with balance because we want to do everything at the same level of intensity, but this is not possible. Hence, I always advocate for juggling. Focusing on the next important thing to be done and being mindful when doing it.
I hope these prompts help you to stop planning your business in your head and instead to gather the bravery to put ideas to paper. This will help you have a fuller view of what needs to be done. This has worked for me, and I know it will work for you.
Phindile Ndlovu–Tapula is passionate about Community Development pertaining skills development and education for the youth. She is experienced in driving life changing community development campaigns. Passionate about self-development and leadership, she works and speaks with young people across the Gauteng Province in South Africa, motivating and coordinating her vision and goal setting workshops through her organization, Bhekizenzo Foundation. Her skillset is based on project design, brand awareness and organizational surveys, amongst many others. Phindile has strong, professional media and communications expertise, particularly with event coordination and campaign strategy planning. She has obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Studies and Sociology at the University of Witswatersand Johannesburg. Learn more.
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