I spend a lot of time speaking with small business owners, freelancers and content creators. Lately, I’ve been having similar conversations with many smart, deeply passionate people, and it all boils down to one central question:

“Do I need to XYZ before I can move forward?”

The XYZ part is different for different people, and don’t get me wrong: these are questions about real business decisions. They can be obvious and pressing, or they can be low-level nagging questions that never quite get answered.

These distractions cost us money. They block us from seeing what’s holding us back. They’re often small scale, manageable problems that are tempting to solve, if only because they’re so solvable! And so much of any project can be big, unwieldy and intimidating to take on.

Your core genius is bigger than which email marketing program you use. Click to tweet it!

And you know that. I know you do! (I do too, and I just forced myself to decide on mine.)

The worst part, of course, is that when you’re in the middle of them, they’re hard to figure out. Part of you is worried that you’re falling into a “this before that” trap, but there are good reasons for to figure them out before moving forward.

So in case you find yourself in this position, I’d like to try to help.

I offer you, a list of things that are usually non-crucial, but time intensive distractions from sharing your genius with the world.

Distractions:

• Finding the perfect theme for your website
• Deciding if your big idea is an eBook or a course
• Choosing a platform for your next big thing
• Making sure you’re with the right website hosting company
• Implementing feedback from people who aren’t your ideal client
• Using social media because you feel obligated to
• Choosing a delivery method for your next big thing
• Emailing designers asking them to make a change to a pre-made theme
• Deciding what currency to bill in, or show on your website
• Asking for feedback on your logo
• Worrying about which colour of buttons get more clicks
• Protecting yourself from other small business owners
• Closely monitoring your competition
• Taking online courses you don’t implement
• Taking online courses you only sort of implement
• Waiting for the perfect idea
• Not starting a blog / course / project until you have the right name
• Waiting until you’re more ready
• Your fear of failure (& mine too)

I struggle with this too, and I’m not saying that they don’t matter. I’m saying that the only wrong choice is not to choose and take action.

You won’t choose perfectly, but you’ll learn more by moving forward than you will by calculating the risks. And that alone will make your next decision better. Likely much better than any decision you could make now,

And just to be clear, these are not distractions:

• Evenings
• Weekends
• Days when you’re not productive
• Asking yourself what hours you would really like to work
• Listening to your intuition
• Precise wording
• Establishing and honouring your boundaries
• Volunteering or pro-bono work
• Giving other people the benefit of the doubt, especially when it’s hard to
• Considering opinions that are different than your own
• Thinking up ways to delight the people your business touches
• Staying with hard things
• Giving yourself time to work it out
• Trusting the process
• Having deep conversations about what matters
• Refocusing on the big picture
• Asking clarifying questions
• Taking the time to remember and voice the ground rules for what we want to create

And in case you need to bust through some of those distractions that might be pulling you off course, here are some questions that might help you find your way through.

Helpful questions for distraction busting:

• Do I know I will lose significant business, time or money if I don’t move forward with ___________?
• Will the quality of my work suffer if I don’t ___________?
• Have I listed my exact criteria, and does _____________ meet them?
• Will _____________ make create a more seamless and delightful experience? If so, is it significant?
• What would I do if I knew I already had exactly what I need, and this was the right time to just start?

Good luck out there today, good luck staying focused!

What’s your biggest distraction right now?