Until Elaine alerted me, I had no idea that the whole post wasn’t published yesterday…and now the rest has disappeared. We can be fairly sure that it was user error, but I’m mad and blaming it completely on Word Press!  Here goes… Take 2.

My friend Rachel and I were processing yesterday about the challenge of taking new information and implementing it into our ministry.  It’s one thing to listen to a conference call, attend a conference or read a resource book, but it’s quite another to put it all into practice.  I don’t know about you, but procrastination, busyness and insecurity are only a few of the reasons that I often find myself stuck in a rut and unable to implement things that I was excited about only days ago.

For those of you who participated in last week’s conference call, I hope that these tips today will help you as you “brain dump” and work on a tagline.  For those of you about to attend She Speaks, you’ll need these tips to avoid the discouragement of overload when you come home.  For everyone else, I hope these tips aid in giving you a needed push forward.

Here are a few simple ways to move from “want-to” to “done”:

• Create an action item list.  Lots of times I receive new information without ever thinking about how I can practically work on the ideas that I’m learning.  Read a book or listen to a speaker with a notepad at your elbow.  When you have the thought, “Oh!  I need to do that!”, write it down.
• Prioritize the list.  When you finish the book or get home from the conference, sit down with your list and organize it into the order in which you want to implement the tasks.  If you look at the whole list, it may seem overwhelming, but doing one thing at a time is manageable.  (See yesterday’s post for cute cartoon.  Ha!)
• Give yourself deadlines.  After you’ve prioritized the list, begin to put deadline dates at the end of each action item.  I’ve found that if I don’t have a deadline that busyness, procrastination and/or insecurity takes over, and nothing ever gets finished.  You may have to push the deadline back if you run into the snags of life, but at least you’ve set a concrete goal.
• Enlist accountability.  There needs to be somebody who is asking you about your work and deadlines.  You need to pick somebody who’s a little tough and won’t let you off the hook.  It also needs to be someone that you won’t be mad at if they push you a little.  That’s why my husband won’t work–poor guy.    A faithful friend works, but it’s especially effective to partner with another sister in ministry.  Karen and I want to build a little Speaker-Girl community here so that you can work as a team on our Twitter and Facebook pages.  If you are attending She Speaks or another speaker conference, build friendships and connections there that can serve as your encouragement/accountability team.

I hope these tips are helpful for everyone. To those who took part in last week’s conference call, we want to hear about your “brain dumping” and new taglines!  She Speaks attendees, don’t forget your notebook to create an action items list in your breakout sessions.

This week the theme on our Facebook and Twitter feeds is “Achieving Goals”.  Tune in there for more encouragement and links to extra resources.

Amy

Whitney is very sick this week, so we’re going to extend some grace and let her vlog for us next week.  Would all of you join me in praying for her?  She’s got 4 little children, and we all know that moms aren’t allowed to get sick….  Let’s pray for her sweet hubby too as he takes care of the household.

So today what you’re getting is what’s at the top of my brain.  I hope it’s understandable!

My friend Rachel and I were processing yesterday about the challenge of taking new information and implementing it into our ministry.  It’s one thing to listen to a conference call, attend a conference or read a resource book, but it’s quite another to put it all into practice.  I don’t know about you, but procrastination, busyness and insecurity are only a few of the reasons that I often find myself stuck in a rut and unable to implement things that I was excited about only days ago.

For those of you who participated in last week’s conference call, I hope that these tips today will help you as you “brain dump” and work on a tagline.  For those of you about to attend She Speaks, you’ll need these tips to avoid the discouragement of overload when you come home.  For everyone else, I hope these tips aid in giving you a needed push forward.

Here are a few simple ways to move from “want-to” to “done”:

• Create an action item list.  Lots of times I receive new information without ever thinking about how I can practically work on the ideas that I’m learning.  Read a book or listen to a speaker with a notepad at your elbow.  When you have the thought, “Oh!  I need to do that!”, write it down.
• Prioritize the list.  When you finish the book or get home from the conference, sit down with your list and organize it into the order in which you want to implement the tasks.  If you look at the whole list, it may seem overwhelming, but doing one thing at a time is manageable (just like this cartoon!).