When you start any project, do you expect your process to be linear?

Here’s the deal. No journey is completely straight. No new journey, anyway. And if you’re going to be a pioneer in your small business and stand out, you need to take that road less traveled. 

I initially learned this lesson when writing my books. 

Each book I write for small business is a multi-year project. In this video, you see the beginning stages. It shows the first hour of work, a lot of it, unused. (And clearly not environmentally friendly. I promise to recycle.)

This brainstorming session? And the ones after? Completely necessary, and not garbage. To get your next project right, you have to dig, extract what works, get rid of what doesn’t, then dig some more. While it may not feel like you’re clearing the finish line as fast as you want, this is the most integral part of the process. 

When it comes to strategizing and planning in your business, remember that it’s the exploration stage that leads you to your destiny. You must be open to the fluidity of the process. You may end up with an entirely different – and better – project. It can get messy, but please don’t ignore this critical exercise. Don’t devalue what doesn’t work. All of the ideas that you explore, but don’t use? Those ideas are almost as important as what you do use. What you discover doesn’t work is just as important as what does.