What the heck is messy massive action? Well, to give you an example, we started recording this episode and then realized partway through that we weren’t recording our faces for YouTube. So, we just hit record and started from where we were at in the episode. Unfortunately, somehow that file completely disappeared, so we ended up having to record Episode 15 twice. 

We are committing to showing up on YouTube – even if it’s messy, even if we blow it the first time. Even if we have to re-record an episode, we are gonna do it! Actually, we are doing it, and you can find our channel here. 

Have you ever gotten stuck in the trap of spending HOURS educating yourself and eventually realizing you are exhausted, overwhelmed, and don’t know what to do next?

 

This is called analysis paralysis, and the cure is some good old fashioned messy massive action.  You just need to start. Get that Instagram account or Facebook group. Just sit down and start it.

Once you start moving down the road, things will get easier every day after that. So maybe you want to start an online membership for your horse training business or create a course on stretching that complements your equine bodywork sessions.

Why Haven’t You Started Yet?

Maybe you’re feeling super overwhelmed, you don’t feel like you have the skills to succeed, or you feel like someone else is already doing what you want to do. 

There’re tons of people doing what we do in our businesses, but we’re still going after it because we believe that people still need our help. There’s enough work out there for everyone.

Somebody needs to hear your message from you. The way you talk about it could be completely different than the way somebody else talks about the same topic. Your way of delivering your message will resonate with your ideal client in a way your competitors doesn’t. 

Every idea and topic has already been covered by someone, but never in the way you approach it. We are the Queen’s of taking massive, massive action. We’re going to show up as our imperfect selves and keep it 100% real for you guys. 

Here’s a Secret for You

Honestly, we don’t know what we’re doing, but we’re doing it anyway, and it’s working for us! One year ago, Laura had 0 Facebook Group members, 14 people on her mailing list, and an audience of 1k social media managers and copywriters on Instagram.

Just in case you’re wondering, that’s her competition, not her ideal client. That Instagram audience wasn’t doing her any good at all. Unhappy with that reality, she went out and changed it. She’d never built a Facebook Group before. She’d never grown an email list. 

She just started looking at what other people were doing and diving in. She paid attention to what worked and what didn’t and went from there. Today, she has a Facebook group of over 500 horse business owners. We have this podcast, and she has an email list of 400 people that regularly brings her clients.

Another excellent example of messy massive action is this website. April dove in over the holidays and made us a beautiful website. She got it done in under a month. 

We’d been talking about having a website for a while, and we knew that it’s hard for podcasts to rank well online because there are no SEO transcriptions unless you have a website. When you look for a podcast, you can only see them on all the different players. There’s nowhere to go and find out more information about the people or content.

We knew we needed to take some messy action and build a website, but he had to find the time. April, in her wonderful techiness, enjoys working on sites, so as soon as she finished her MBA, she got started (because that’s how any good Techie Equestrian chooses to celebrate, right?!).

She wasn’t sure how to make the episodes display on the website, so she started researching and found a theme she liked and went with it. Google is your friend when you can’t figure something out. Just type it in there and take it 1 step at a time.

She’d work on a few pages and then take a break. She knows her strengths are in coding and setting up the template. Laura’s strengths are with a copy, so she wasn’t going to spend too much brain space writing. 

This is a perfect example of finding someone to help you when you need it. Know your strengths, and recognize when you should not be doing something. We aren’t afraid to defer to the other person in the interest of saving time and energy. 

Now that we have this beautiful website It’s Laura’s turn to take some massive messy action. She will be writing a blog post to go along with each episode. 

Your takeaway here is to your strengths and know your weaknesses. Accept your shortcomings and be okay with them. Find somebody to work with who can pick up the slack for you. 

Horsey Update – 2020 Horse Goals

April is VERY excited to be reunited with King in 2020 after spending 3 years in Germany. Her biggest goal with him is to earn a buckle. She plans to get back into Western Dressage or Ranch Riding. 

Regardless of their progress, just being back with him is going to be incredible. She’s looking forward to picking him up in Washington, riding on the beach, and maybe evening swinging through Sacramento for a trail ride with Laura and Molly Jane if schedules and routes allow.

Laura’s number one goal relates directly to that trail ride! She doesn’t want April to come to Sacramento to wander around in an Arena, meaning she needs to get MJ solid under saddle. They’re in a place today where they have great days that fill them with excitement and hope, but also plenty of really tough days too. 

Laura and Molly Jane have the same personality. Quinn (Laura’s husband) loves opinionated, stubborn, tough as nails, women who are willing to stop at nothing to reach their goals. Laura found him the perfect horse, and it’s her in horse form! 

When Laura and MJ have separate ideas, the headbutting is fierce. Those days are tough, and Laura has to remember to step back and laugh and realize she’s fighting with herself, so she has to find another way.

By the end of 2020, Laura wants to be able to saddle up (rain or shine) and ride the 1.5-mile loop around the block with a super relaxed, happy horse. She wants that to be the ride they take when they are butting heads and need to reset their relationship and their goals. 

It’s going to take some pretty messy, massive action for Laura to cowgirl up and trust MJ for that first ride outside of the arena. She is breaking it down into manageable steps.

Step 1 was a pony ride around the neighborhood. She felt ridiculous, a fully blown adult being led around on her horse, but MJ handled it beautifully. Some guy was running a chainsaw, a puppy ran after them, and MJ plodded right along without missing a beat.

Despite her fears and embarrassment, Laura got it done and gained a ton of confidence in her horse in the process. For you, maybe riding a horse around the block is no big deal. But in your business, you are terrified to launch a program, go live on Facebook, start email marketing, or take some other form of messy massive action.

You Can Do It!

We all have to find a way to do it anyways. When we started this podcast, we decided to go for it, recorded Episode 1, and launched a week later. We didn’t have any of our social media platforms, or much of a plan, we just got started.

Here we are at Episode 15, with a massively growing audience, and it’s crazy to think that we just started this thing. It’s a perfect example of messy action. Just do it. 

April just started her Facebook group. She was nervous, thinking, “What do people want to learn from me? What do I have to teach?” Once she got started, she realized there’s always plenty of stuff to share with people. 

Another huge learning curve for April was YouTube videos. She had to learn to look at the camera. She was nervous, but after practicing it a ton, it comes naturally to her now. 

The bottom line is that to grow your business, you have to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy! It can be uncomfortable. You will fail. But, the most important thing is getting back up and moving forward even though you’re learning, and it’s not perfect.

You’ll be surprised at what will happen by just getting started and staying consistent. Your herd is waiting for you to show up and inspire them. Get started!