Consider the Costs of Inactivity

Not many people consider the price of inactivity when considering a move towards small business from Corporate America. When you consider the differences between the two, however, the cost of inactivity towards small business becomes large. Corporations reward you for a certain set of actions. These don't always naturally align with the skills and steps required to get into and be successful in small business.

Activity doesn't have to be the final jump itself, but you must stay in motion towards your goal. If you let the trail get cold, it is much harder to pick it back up. Get in the habit of adding to-do's for your personal objectives to your task list the same way that you would for items to be done on your job. This can serve 2 purposes. First, it forces you to consider your next steps in order to determine what to put on your list. The second is that the simple act of checking an item off the list can provide a mini-confidence boost.

A practice that I adopted was to create a weekly to-do list on paper that stayed in my pocket. Next to each task, I would mark the day that I targeted to do that action. At the end of the week, items that were not checked off would be added to Monday's list. I took a suggestion from a book to add tasks from all parts of my life. This led to my personal objectives related to making the leap to small business. The practice forced me to continue taking steps in the direction of my goal.

It is imperative that you drive this process. Your big company sure isn't going to do it for you. Keeping your eyes on that goal will also influence the way you go about the tasks of your current work.