Action, impact, energy, technique

The transformational work I do with most clients falls into two distinct progress phases:

1. 'Clear the runway'

2. 'Take-off'

'Clearing the runway' is the mindset piece

It is naming, reframing, explaining and then disarming the stories, beliefs, meanings and decisions that have been creating the interruptions and hesitations within their journey.

We dismantle the comfort zone that their brain has built around what 'safe' used to look like for them. We move them out of their own way.

'Take-off' is the strategy piece

It is where we pursue the honest and deeply personal answers to two invaluable questions:

1. What is it you really want (I mean REALLY want)?

2. Why is that so important to you that you are prepared to embrace fear and take the brave and brilliant action required to make it happen?

The answers to those questions give us our true north. Everything beyond that has to serve this ultimate destination (one that we check in on continuously throughout our time together).

To get there, we consistently hold ourselves accountable with four more principles.

Action, impact, energy, technique

Action – What will we do to make it happen?

Impact – How do those actions make us (and those around us) feel?

Energy – What is the cost and the reward of those actions (and their impact)?

Technique – Is there a better way?

When I talk about these four at events, or in presentations, I often do so using the analogy of being a drummer – one who considers action, impact, energy and technique in every beat:

Action

Before I strike the drum (before I take action), I sense check – does this beat serve the song? Is it a beat I need to play? Or would the song benefit from a little more space?

Impact

What is the impact of that action? Does it interrupt the rhythm, or does it add to the infectious groove? Will it bring more people onto the dance floor? How will it make them feel?

Energy

It takes effort to bring the stick up and then back down (to take action). Am I wasting energy with unnecessary actions? Newton's Third Law of Motion kicks in and the drum head sends energy back, up the stick, into my hand, forearm and beyond.

What is that energy giving me back? If I'm not careful, it could hurt me (carpal tunnel, RSI, tendonitis...)

Or the energy from my actions can become fuel – I'm boosted by the dopamine the audience are releasing in response to the rhythm. As they flock to the dance floor, so their vibe is fuelling my next action; my next stick swing.

Technique

If I loosen my grip on the stick, I'm no longer choking it. I won't absorb all that energy back into my fingers, hand, arm etc. That reciprocal energy has to go somewhere. So it causes the free-flowing stick to rebound. It bounces back up, then gravity kicks in... it falls and strikes the drum a second time.

Two actions for the price of one. Double the impact for the same exertion. If I work on my technique, could I make that three actions, four... more?

There is a whole chapter on the science and history of drum technique in my book – How to Embrace the Four Fears® of Business Ownership – but let's bring it back to business (and business strategy).

• What actions are you taking in your business?

• What impact are they creating – how are they making your audience feel? What is their reaction?

• What are you having to give up in order to deliver this strategy?

• What are you getting back (results)?

• Is there a better way?

Ask yourself those five questions regularly. Acknowledge what you subsequently choose to do more of (and do less of). Let me know in the comments.

After all, your business isn't a two and a half minute pop song. It's a stadium-filling spectacle... and you will want to be playing your socks off in the encore.

Mark Franklin is The Four Fears® Guy: a transformational mindset coach, speaker and author working with creative professionals and small business owners who are ready to close the gap between the business they have and the one they actually deserve.