Running a business today often feels like mission impossible - trying to accomplish more while facing enormous challenges along the way. It’s not easy, but in order to succeed, you need to be clear on exactly what you need to accomplish. Too many make the mistake of just doing, and not really focusing on what that truly entails. They run to the finish line, but once there, realize what is waiting for them is not necessarily what they had in mind. That’s why you need to be crystal clear on your business objectives, what needs to be done, and by whom. The key is to work with a mission in mind.

Here are some tips for accomplishing more in your business:

Write down what you want to accomplish. Once again, it’s important to first know what you need to do to achieve your goal(s). You need to write it down and be more specific than just saying, "I want to make more money." Think back over the last few weeks. Write down what you were working on. Now write down the goal you had in mind with those tasks. And finally, write down the steps you took to get there. This exercise will show you a number of things. First it will show you if you are working on the right things to get the right results. That alone is an eye opener. Next, it will show you what all you are doing (the steps) to get the desired result(s) and if there is any way to improve the process. And finally, it will show you if you are doing it all, or too much yourself. It will show you if one of the biggest problems in your business is that you are holding on to too much and simply haven’t relinquished control. (All of that from one simple exercise. Amazing!)

Determine what help you need to accomplish your mission – You’ve got to be clear regarding what it is you need. Don’t even consider doing it alone. Repeat. Don’t consider doing it alone. (There, that’s done.) Instead, start identifying the tasks you can outsource - if you aren’t already. That’s the mark of a true professional; someone who knows they need help … someone who knows they will be able to accomplish so much more with the help of others. However, from the exercise we did in the first step, you should be able to see if you are doing it right. You might already have an online support specialist or two. But are you taking full advantage of the services they provide? Stop and review. Take a look at the tasks you are doing yourself, but shouldn’t be, and find out if they can take over these tasks as well. You’ll be so glad you did. Also, take the time to review the steps you are doing with your online support specialist. Are there better ways to do something? It might be time to schedule a call and talk about your goals again. Review the services that are available. Are you taking full advantage of everything that is offered? Do you even know all of the services that are available to you? It might just be time for another strategy session, so make the call.

Mission Impossible. The above exercise should also point out some of the challenges you face. Many hope that if they just don’t think about them, they will magically go away. That’s rarely the case. You need to address your challenges so you can figure out the best solutions. This can be as simple as saying, "When I do this, I get this result, but I honestly need this result instead. What can I do differently this time?" It’s time to write down your challenges and actively work on them. Face them head on and continue to make progress. Also, don’t feel you have to solve everything at once. If you see a challenge that might take time to overcome, write down the steps you can take to overcome the challenge, and how they will help you move forward.

Can you see how you can make a difference by doing this? One important thing to keep in mind is that this is something you want to do regularly. So many of us start off the new year by reviewing their goals and what they want to accomplish, but instead of setting a plan and focusing on what they need to do to throughout the year, they get busy and things get put off until the next year when they start all over again. Obviously, this is not an effective way to accomplish your goals. By reviewing your goals and mission on a monthly basis, you will keep them in the forefront of what you’re trying to accomplish. The more you do this, the more amazed you’ll be at the results, and the more you will feel that sense of "Mission accomplished. I did good."