Overwhelm sucks.

It will suck the soul from your bones and crush your dreams if you don’t corral it.

More small business owners and entrepreneurs are overwhelmed than ever before.

You might be one of them.

Let’s put an end to it starting right now.

Create a practically fool-proof system for getting the RIGHT things done (without overwhelm).

You are about to learn the simplest, most powerful three questions that you can ask yourself to get your business super focused, add more sales to your bottom line and make being an entrepreneur a wildly good time again.

1. What the hell do I REALLY want?
It blows my mind how few people have ever asked themselves this blatantly obvious question…and then actually took the time to answer it. 

Okay, it’s time to get hippy groovy, light some incense and slip into a dark quiet place for at least 30 minutes. Hit the snooze button on your left brain and allow yourself to paint a vivid picture of what your ideal workday looks like.

What are you doing? Where are you living? Who are you hanging with? See it clearly – smell the smells – hear the voices.

Do not skip this. You must do this before you answer questions 2 and 3. After the exercise, I encourage you to either record a video for yourself to capture the details or write it out clearly.

2. Who is my perfect client?
I’m sure that this isn’t the first time that you’ve seen this question. Still, most people never get serious about answering it. Now, I want you to answer it in the context of your ideal day (Question 1). 

Start by defining your target market. “Executives” isn’t tight enough; “Women Executives” is much better. A chiropractor can serve just about anyone, but a chiropractor who becomes known as the rock star that makes chronic lower back problems disappear can OWN a slice of the market.

Now, how about your perfect client’s personality? Are they funny – articulate – highly motivated – laid back? What values are important to them – authenticity – compassion – respect – freedom?

If you’ve been avoiding defining your target market and perfect client, just remember that old saying, “It’s a lot easier to be a big fish in a small pond than a little fish in a big pond.” Think about it.

3. How do I solve my perfect client’s biggest problem?
Chances are you do lots and lots of stuff for your clients. The problem is that if you are trying to do too many things, you get, well…overwhelmed. The other problem is that you never become known in your industry for anything in particular. 

Of course, a bunch of “doing” won’t do a damn bit of good if you’re doing the WRONG things. You must focus on solving your perfect client’s biggest, hairiest problem. I’m talking about the stuff that is killing their dreams and forcing them to reach for the Tums every night.

And don’t just assume you know. Pay really close attention and ask lots of questions. Once you have a handle on your perfect client’s biggest problems (no more than 3), here’s an easy way to determine what you will actually do to solve them.

a)   Take a piece of paper and write down all of the different services that you can provide your clients on the left hand side.

b)   Draw three columns next to your list. On the top of the page write “Solves my client’s big problem” over the first column, “This is a strength for me” over the second column and finally, “I love the hell out of this” over the third column.

c)    Now, rate every one of your services with a 1-5 in each of the three columns, with 1 being “not at all” and 5 being “without a doubt.”

d)   Pick the three with all fives (or at least all fives in the first column).

e)   Now you know what to hang your hat on.

Once you answer these three critical questions, you simply use them as your “Mack Daddy” filtration system. Every email, every “gotta have” shiny new tool, every potential new initiative …basically everything you encounter in your business life, should have these questions asked of it:

“Does this relate to my perfect client?”

“Does it help solve their biggest problem?”

“Does this fit in with what I REALLY want?”

If the answer is NO to any of the questions, pass on it. Before long, you will see overwhelm in your rear view window.

Has overwhelm been stunting your potential? Do you have any strategies or tricks that have helped you tame the overwhelm monster?