A mentor I worked with many years ago had an antidote to the inertia a lot of self-employed people feel coming out of the holidays.
It’s not hard to let the holiday slowdown continue for weeks into the new year, or even months.
He came up with a concept called The Big Drive, which was a challenge to kick off the new year with a huge amount of momentum.
He would compare it with a skier going to the biggest hill, and letting momentum do its part. The trick was to put themselves at the top of that hill in the first place.
Basically, if you commit to your January being your most profitable month ever, you’ve guaranteed yourself an incredible year to follow.
Back then, I used that inspiration as a spark to kick off the marketing of my hypnosis tours. I combined the concept of the Big Drive with Blue Ocean Strategy. I purposely didn’t create busy work, or jump into the red oceans of what everyone else was doing. I came up with a market I knew no one else was touching.
Hypnotists back then were all trying to cash in on New Years resolutions like weight loss, quitting smoking, and other self-improvement. Everyone and their dog pitching the same concepts to the same people. I see this going on today in the coaching world.
Instead, I created a unique war plan. I allocated weeks on my calendar for months later, April, May, and June, to be in different parts of the country. I worked out on the calendar where I planned to be, and then I started the work of filling those dates. I started work on this immediately on the first work day after New Years. It gave me a lot of clarity. It wasn’t necessarily about the cash itself coming in right away, because it usually lags, but about setting myself up. I was generating leads and confirming dates. Basically, I was selling into the future.
The first year I did this, I booked 10 high schools on my tour even though I had never performed at one. Let that sink in – I had zero experience performing at high schools, and I booked 10! They didn’t question me, because who else would be booking themselves on a national tour, certainly not some newb who only had some bar shows to their credit?
I’m in a different place today but I’m using the spirit of the Big Drive this year as the inspiration for my Ask Me Anything. I was very intentional of once again choosing the very first work day of 2022. I’m using it to put myself into a productive mindset, and I hope to share with others this same mindset by being on the Zoom with me in addition to sharing my wisdom in however it’s called upon.
I can have fits of productivity, and I’m as guilty as anyone for letting days or weeks pass me by without doing more than the bare minimum. Even this article that I’m writing, I’m writing it at the last possible moment because I’ve been slacking over the holiday. The Ask Me Anything is already giving me focus to start my year off strong. I’ve found a new ski hill. I’m hoping I’ll get some material out of it that I can use for my next book.
Like most things, these are very simple concepts, and the difference always comes down to intentionality and taking action.
What does your Big Drive look like?
