While many entrepreneurs start their businesses with a vision, passion, and an idea for how they want to change the world, one crucial skill is often missing from the equation: execution.
This is often because they don't know how vital execution is, or they don't know where to start when it comes time to get their idea off the ground. The pattern is always the same: It begins with a lot of excitement and motivation and then quickly fizzles out because they didn't know how to execute correctly somewhere along the line while trying to achieve their goals.
If you're an entrepreneur who wants your company off the ground but isn't sure how best to do so, or if you're a leader looking for ways better to execute your vision for your team and company, then this article will help you understand why execution matters so much—and how you can improve yours!
Execution is the act of carrying out a plan, and it is the last step in creating something new; it can be described as "the ability to make things happen."
It is not one of those skills that can be taught in school or mastered just by reading this article. It's something you have to learn and practice for yourself - taking your ideas and turning them into reality, however big or small that truth may be.
A great plan can be useless if you do not follow it!
You can have all the great ideas in the world, but if you never execute them, you will not get anywhere. Having a great plan and not following through with it is like having a big house full of furniture but no electricity: It looks good and is comfortable enough to sit in, but there's no use for any of it because nothing works.
The same goes for your business or career. If you want to be successful, you must do the work, and it's about taking action daily toward those great ideas and goals.
Execution means doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it.
In our day-to-day lives, we always make commitments: "I'll pick up dinner on my way home" or "I'll help with laundry tonight." But how many of us actually follow through? How often do we make promises and then break them? How often are we reliable? It's easy for these things to slip through the cracks when our lives become busier than ever before—and yet this is precisely why it's so crucial for entrepreneurs to focus more attention on execution.
Don't wait until you have all the answers or are 100% ready to execute your ideas.
While you should always strive for excellence and perfection, there will be times when you don't have all the answers and can't predict every possible outcome of your actions. This is okay! The real world doesn't work in perfect timelines, so why should yours?
Don't wait until everything is perfect to start. You will never be 100% ready, so don't let that stop you from moving forward with your idea. Take action, learn from your mistakes and make adjustments along the way.
The best way to get better at execution is actually to execute!
You must practice execution in every aspect of your life, not just business.
Do you want to be a successful entrepreneur? Great! Now, do you want to be a successful parent? Of course, you do. How about a successful friend? Or a prosperous neighbor? Well, what if I told you that how you treat people and conduct yourself as a parent, friend, or neighbor is just as important as how you teach yourself at work? It is!
To be successful in any area of life—whether it's business or fitness—you have to learn how to execute. And practicing execution means repetition and consistency over time, and it means showing up every day and doing the work required of you until it becomes second nature. But here's the thing: when we practice execution at work, we can also practice it everywhere else in our lives.
We can apply what we've been working on in our day jobs to our relationships; we can learn from failures and successes on the job and use them in our hobbies; we can grow from the challenges we face to become better people overall. And it works the other way around as well!
Practicing execution in all aspects of your life will help you become the person you want to be; it will help you succeed in business and outside of it.
If you don't know how to, seek guidance!
If you are not sure how to move forward, get help. There is no shame in asking for help, especially regarding business. If you have an idea but don't know how to execute it, reach out to someone with experience in that area. If you don't know how to write copy, then hire someone who does. If you aren't sure how to design a website, find a graphic designer or web developer who can help.
We all have the power to make things happen. We can procrastinate and put off what needs to be done or set aside the time to do it right. We can allow our emotions and fear to get in the way of making decisions or acting like leaders and making tough choices. The choice is always ours.
