Have you ever had an idea that seemed good at the time but never came to fruition? Without a plan and the ability to put them into action, ideas are essentially worthless. You can have a great idea, but without a plan for how you’re going to move forward with your project or goals, it will never materialize, and you’re just back to an idea. It’s the execution of that idea that counts.
In CF Plainfield, when new clients come into the gym with ideas, Scott would ask 10 thought-provoking questions;
- Who will we be serving?
- How will we be serving them?
- What’s the time to start?
- Where are we going to do this?
- What space is needed?
- How will we fit it into our schedule?
- What are the funds needed?
- Who will do the work?
- How long will it take to be a profitable price point for the customer?
- What do they need from us?
So, for any idea to be a plan to execute into a thing, these ten questions need to be addressed. Ideas are the easy part, everyone has a lot of them. We can plan too much but once we over-plan we tend to take no action. Hence, you must have a solid plan in place for how you intend to proceed.
This is where SOPs come into play, as this is where you define your standard operating procedures. What are the fundamentals you’ll cover when you run this program? And then teach it to your staff. Too much detail can actually hinder them, resulting in no execution because your staff becomes engrossed in the details so just put in the basics.
A lot of learning happens once you actually start implementing it. Once you start taking action, things will become more clear, but keep in mind that nothing will ever be perfect so stop trying to make it perfect. Also, everything will never all be done, it means you’re never going to completely finish because things are going to change as you grow. Everything is a lifelong learning process, so give yourself some grace. You’re at where you’re at because that’s what you can handle right now. Even if it feels like you’re going backward, keep taking action, get back to the basics. Things will work out for you as long as you just stay consistent and keep moving forward and keep taking action.
What works on paper does not always work in practice, so once you begin implementing it, you must be prepared for roadblocks and be able to adjust on the fly, adapt to situations, and overcome these issues. Yes, there will be problems, but it is how you deal with them, overcome them, and take action on them that will determine your success.
Remember that ACTIONS TRUMPS EVERYTHING!