How to Combat Swirly Brain Zombies

Business zombies don’t just want to eat your brains.  We could stop that with our tin foil hats.  (Right?  Doesn’t my hat protect me from that?)

No, they want to turn your brain into a swirling mass of confusion that keeps you from making decisions and moving forward.  Business zombies are very good at this.

How can you stop them?

1. Set Clear Goals.

If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there?

Where is your business going?  Do you have clear goals about what you want your business and your life to look like?

Take some quiet time for yourself and really consider what your big goals are and what life would look like for you then.  Be specific.

2. Plan Specific Action Steps.

Once you know your goals you can break it down into specific steps that you need to take to reach them.  If you’re great at planning, you can do this yourself.  Or you can call in backup and ask your coach, mentor, or mastermind group to help you break down the steps.  You might also look for a checklist/ebook/blog post that covers how to do something that can help you plan your steps to your goal.

I use mind maps to organize my thinking.  It’s a bunch crazy looking bubbles like this that are used to put lots of information into a logical order:

I create mind maps with the free program Freemind.  You can download it free at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/freemind/ (And if you’d rather learn it fast than tinker around figuring out what does what, check out Bob the Teacher’s Discover FreeMind training–that’s what I personally used to learn it quick.)

It’s a great way to just get everything out of your brain and onto “paper” in a way that lets you move it around and organize it.  From there it’s easier to take smart action.

3. Follow Your Plan to Reach Your Goals.

Sounds simple, right?  The hard part often isn’t the goal setting or the strategy planning.  It’s implementing that plan in a consistent way to reach the goals.

Here are some ways to keep yourself on track:

• Work with an accountability partner
• Tell your coach you NEED accountability and ask them to help you
• Let your mastermind group know you need support to stay on track
• Put your action steps on your calendar where you’ll see them and remember to get them done
• When you set dates to achieve specific parts of your plan, also set rewards for yourself

What methods work for you?  Have you found strategies that work great, or don’t work at all, in making progress towards your goals?