One of the most common questions I get from people who are considering hiring a coach is: “I just feel that I have something undone professionally. But, how can I start taking action if I don’t know exactly what I want to do?” Since early days, we are so drilled into goal orientation, that it almost seems impossible to start acting until we have a clearly defined goal and a master plan to bring us the results we are looking for.

When people are facing a major professional decision, it´s so easy to fall into procrastination mode and start using excuses for not taking action. I should know, as I did it for years.

What strikes me after looking back on my own professional journey and now benefiting from helping others play bigger professional games is that there are a few, key success factors characterizing those who start acting without knowing exactly what they want.

First of all, they are able to visualize what it feels like to be in professional role they are passionate about. Secondly, they are willing to learn new skills, to experiment outside of their comfort zone and to reflect about their insights. And finally, they are assuming an open attitude towards opportunities emerging as part of the process.

When I decided to enter into my current professional adventure as a small business owner, I knew what I wanted to do more of and less of when moving on. I had basically no knowledge nor any guaranties of business partners nor the supplementary services and tools I was about to discover. In fact, some of them did not even exist when I made my professional move, and today these partners, services and tools allow me to offer create my own, unique professional platform.

Which moves did I make? I decided to learn, explore and experiment with services in demand and stayed open to new opportunities coming my way. I made mistakes, I lost time and I stumbled to define my niche. Move-by-move, I started to align more and more with my professional intentions of becoming a business woman supporting my ideal clients no matter where they are located in the world.

I have mentioned it many times before: Everyone has an opportunity to attract professional opportunities in line with their area of passion, but sometimes we need to remind each other to play the BIGGER game. To learn, explore and experiment as part of the process. Nobody should have to feel checkmate in their professional opportunity game. So, which move is next for you?

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Today’s social media tools enable us to listen to the market and communicate with colleagues, potential employers, customers and business partners in a new way, and this gives you a chance to tell your story, demonstrate your ambition and build your network effectively for long term relationships. You will also find yourself in a position where you can start attracting professional opportunities which may not even exist yet!

Surprisingly, many seems to believe that it will be sufficient to create those opportunities simply by creating an account and proving that they are part of the community without a defined strategy nor adding the behavior required.

Let me be very clear: It is not enough to “show up” at the social media scene, you need to successfully ENGAGE with others to build a trustworthy presence to build and nurture long term relationships. These relationships can then result in real life business opportunities and significant business results.

I have personally experienced the power of social media for creating new business via tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and now I’m in a position where I can help others do the same. Looking back on the early days of my business, I wish someone had told me that you need a strategy for this as well, like in any other major area of your business.

When people ask: “What would you have done differently now if you knew then what you know now”, my answer remains crystal clear: “I would have spent time initially to go on discovery. I would have loved to listen more carefully to where my target groups hang out, what they are preoccupied by and what they are struggling with. Then I should have investigated more carefully which social media preference I have, and where I should ask for help. And finally, I should have pulled together a simple 1 pager to spell out my social media strategy and STICK TO IT with patience.

I often hear people complain about the time spent on social media with unclear return on investment. It doesn’t have to be that way when you know by whom you want to be found and where you need to hang out to engage with your target market. You need to know what to ignore and what not to ignore, though.

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Today, I have the privilege of supporting others in discovering limiting beliefs and strengthen their instrumental beliefs, the beliefs that will help them nail their own WHY and make it easier to lead and inspire others. No doubt, the more superficial WHY will change from time to time, but the REAL WHY, the reason we are here to contribute will probably not. It just takes some time to declutter the scene. There are plenty of people to get inspired by, just watch the video once more, or reflect about what your best manager ever did to inspire you into action and why…

I am sharing some of my instrumental beliefs in the attached presentation. Are you prepared to share yours with your world?

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