Thanks to the power of the WONDERFUL world wide web, I am fortunate to make and meet cyber-allies like Coach Al Johnson of Inspiratude Coaching Solutions.  Al heard about Web Marketing Therapy after he attended one of our wild webcasts through Brighttalk.com.  We emailed, had a call, my avitar fell in love his avitar, and I now consider Al to be one of our virtual wild web men.  I asked Al to share his expertise with you to move from entrepreneurial thoughts to entepreneurial action.

As a professional marketer, career ownership & performance coach, and young professional entrepreneur myself, I must admit that I once had a severe case of EIS and a crystal clear idea of what type of company I wanted to start, but felt very reluctant to take action.

If this sounds like you today, the coaching tips and action items in this post will serve as your prescription to cure your case of EIS!

Before reading any further, it’s important for you to realize that it all starts inside of you by changing the way you think about your abilities. It’s time to erase those negative mental tapes, and start playing some new, positive ones. Leverage the following coaching tips and actions items to move closer to taking action…and achieving your dream.

Lets get started with the first tip!

1. Visualize your success

When I played basketball in high school, my coach used to always tell me to picture myself making the free throw before I shot one in the game. This mental exercise helped boost my confidence, shape the right attitude, and suppress any doubts I had. I didn’t make every free throw, but I made more then I would have had I not thought positively. If an entrepreneur is what you want to be, start visualizing yourself as a successful entrepreneur. All the improvements that you will accomplish in your external life are directly tied to the improvements you make to your internal life.

Action Item #1: For the next week, spend five minutes before bed (you can do this as you lay in bed) mentally envisioning yourself as an up and running, successful entrepreneur. Think it into existence!

2. Realize starting your own business is not as hard as it sounds!

Now that you can see it, lets work on being it. Most people don’t get around to starting their own business out of fear that it’s too hard, the risks are too high, and/or they don’t think they are smart enough. Don’t believe the hype! While starting your own business is not the easiest thing you’ll ever do, it’s far from impossible. In most cases, when it comes to building a successful business, you will come to find that common sense and a positive mental attitude play a larger role in getting yourself up and running than special training, talents, or certifications.

Action Item #2: Identify three entrepreneurs (preferably, but not limited to, someone doing what you want to do) and pick their brain for ten minutes on how they got started. If you don’t know anyone – do a google search, find a random small business, and give them a call asking to speak with the owner. Where there is a will there is a way!

3. If you don’t start your own business, don’t expect someone to start it for you!

Now that you know it’s not as hard as you think, you have to also realize it’s not magic – it won’t just happen from thoughts alone. You are in the driver’s seat of your life. All that you do or don’t do in life is directly tied to the story of your life which you believe. If you believe you can do it, you will. If you believe you can’t, you won’t. One activity we all do in life is invest our time. What we choose to invest our time in is usually tied to those activities we feel will deliver the greatest value for our time. No investment of your time will have a greater ROI then the time you invest in yourself and your dreams. If you have an entrepreneurial itch, invest in yourself by scratching it.

Action Item #3: Visit your local bookstore and spend about $15 on a business plan book. I suggest “Business Plan In A Day” by Rhonda Abrams. Get your thoughts on paper in an organized fashion. Aside from $15 it will only cost you a few hours of your time to get started…just make sure you get started!

4. Take a leap of faith – you’ll grow your wings on the way down!

Okay, so you’re in the middle of the plan and you have a freak out! “But I’m not ready now!” Inside secret: you never fully will be either. Entrepreneurship is about taking risks. It’s about taking that leap of faith. When I was in the seed stage of starting my own business, Les Brown, a world renowned motivational speaker told me, “Al, I know you don’t think you are ready. But there is no time like the present to take that leap. Leap, and grow your wings on the way down.” To be fully ready is to be perfect. And perfection is the enemy of progress. Certainly conduct your proper due diligence, but don’t let mental doubts stop you from moving forward.

Action Item #4: After you finish your business plan, share it with two people you know and trust. Make revisions based on feedback. Find one more person. Make revisions based on feedback. Now GO! Make future revisions after you are up and running.

5. Your habits form your success, so form the right the habits!

And last, once you start taking action – take the right actions. Actions will form habits and your habits will play a huge part in determining the type of success you have in both your personal and professional lives. There are four habits successful business people form, especially critical for entrepreneurs: self-motivation and inspiration, a positive mental attitude, goal setting and results delivery, and hypnotic influence. In the beginning you need to be able to push yourself when no one else cares or knows about your dreams. Staying positive will help you defy the odds and keep you driving forward. Setting goals and being accountable to delivering on them, even to just yourself, will give you small wins to build momentum towards bigger ones. And when others see you leading yourself with such passion and conviction, you will be able to influence others to join and support you.

Action Item #5: Write a commitment charter and call out the four habits you will begin to form and/or strengthen as you start your journey. Come up with your own or use the four above.

As a part-time entrepreneur I spend 20-30 hours a week building and marketing my start-up career ownership & performance coaching firm. Before I could work up the nerve to start my own business, I had to market my capabilities to myself!

The same goes for you. You have to believe in your own dreams before others will. I’ve used the five coaching tips and action items above to move the dial on my entrepreneurial dreams and know they can help you as well.

By staying true to my own coaching tips and partnering with great resources like WMT, I look forward to growing my business on the web. Refer back to the questions I started this post with and answer the last one:

If you answered “yes” to the first question and have an idea or thought for the second one, when it comes to taking action…what are you waiting for?!?!?

I welcome any questions or comments on anything I’ve written. I also welcome any coaching tips you would like to share to motivate others to move from entrepreneurial thoughts to entrepreneurial action.

See YOU at the top,

Coach Johnson

About the author: Al Johnson is the President and Chief Career Ownership & Performance Coach at Inspiratude Coaching Solutions. Coach Johnson is also an author and professional speaker who specializes in helping young professionals take ownership, take charge, and take their careers to the next level. For more information e-mail CoachJohnson@inspiratude.com.

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