I know a few strong contenders popped into your head when you read this title.
- · “Tax return” might have been up there.
- · “Algorithm updates” may make your blood run cold.
- · And “WiFi disconnected” made the top five, for sure.
Believe me; I’m with you on all three! But there are two words that are even more infuriating, stress-inducing, and just plain toxic:
“Just do.”
Oh, I know what you’re thinking:
“What the F is so bad about ‘just do’?”
After all, these innocuous little words usually precede well-worn business advice. They’re meant to motivate you, to give you a kick up the butt when your business is stagnating. They’re a starting point for new ideas and strategies:
- “Just do this business accelerator course.”
- “Just do reels.”
- “Just do a YouTube channel.”
And what’s so wrong with that? Thousands of people have boosted their business with accelerator courses, reels, or video marketing. And thousands of business owners feel a teensy bit lost about where to go next and are absolutely desperate for someone to come along and tell them to “just do x”.
But here’s the problem with about 99% of the things that follow a “just do” statement:
It's one size fits all advice that's (1) generally useless and (2) not how you need to be thinking about making decisions anyway.
If you caught last month’s email, you already know that business is inherently personal; to have someone try to dictate otherwise is an assault on your self. To have them suggest that ‘just doing’ any one thing is the key…is to misunderstand how we build successful businesses.
Because if you really want to move the needle in your business, generic advice just won’t cut it: you have to concentrate on YOU and your stuff first.
“Who meeeee?” How can my stuff possibly matter that much?
I know, I know — that all sounds super weird. Because you’ve been taught that it’s not really about you. For years you’ve been told to focus entirely on your clients/customers when making almost ANY decision about your business. What do they need? What makes them tick? What do they want from you?
So to shift focus like this feels counter-intuitive. It feels weirdly self-centred.
Here’s why it isn’t:
You aren’t in business for the fun of it, right? You started this because you wanted a change, because you wanted to do something you love, to spend more time at the park with your kids, to provide a better life for you and your family, or whatever your primary motivation was.
It’s very much ALL about you. The ideas come from YOU, from the stuff in your gut, from your unique code, your experience of life.
It isn’t about anyone else or about following the ‘just do…’ crowd. It isn’t about doing reels or YouTube because that’s the latest ‘can’t fail’ business strategy; it’s about you understanding how you work in your unique way. It’s about knowing who you are and understanding where you are right now, so that you can figure out the best way to move forward.
Because when you do that? When you create a business and systems that are based on who you are and where you are with your business, rather than who you wish you were or where you wish your business was?
That’s when you start showing up in all kinds of wonderful ways that benefit you AND your clients.
When you do that, you realise that you never actually needed the ‘just do x’ advice or the kick up the butt — you just needed to figure out your own unique roadmap to business success.
Until next time,
Jonathan.